32. They could not be confined in Paul, in whom was the depth of wisdom and the breadth of faith. For how could they be confined in him who was the vessel of eternal election? But they are confined in themselves; for the wicked are confined in themselves, strangled by the snares of their own malice. Establish for me a greedy man, constantly extending the boundaries of his estates, excluding his neighbors; does he not seem to you to be expanding, not restricting, whom even the earth itself cannot contain? No matter how much space his house extends, it is confined within the narrow limits of his own opinion, to whom what he has is not enough. But he is not of such a character who can say: And I entered into spaciousness. He also added a reason: Because I sought out your testimonies.
33. (Verse 46.) And I spoke concerning your testimonies in the presence of kings, and I was not put to shame. This voice of the martyr is fitting, who, called to sacrilege, did not blush when reproached by kings for crucifying Jesus, but rather boasted in the cross of Christ and affirmed that it is the salvation of the world through heavenly testimonies. Christ calls these people in the Bride, saying in the Song of Songs: 'Come, my dove, to the shelter of the rock, near the fortress' (Song of Songs 2:14); that is, come near the Gospel. The fortresses of your faith are the deeds of Christ: your walls are the supports of the Lord's words: the passion of the Lord's body is your strength. Show me your face, and reveal your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is beautiful. Your voice is sweet, because by your mouth confession is made unto salvation; and your face is beautiful, for it does not blush before the Author, nor is it ashamed of the Redeemer. Therefore, she shows her face, bearing the seal of the Cross, and reveals her voice, assuming the authority of preaching. For in the covering of Christ's body, by which it was redeemed from sin, she found the defense of divine grace: so that she both experiences and speaks that which is advantageous to her. Therefore, a sweet voice was speaking in divine testimonies: a beautiful face, which was not ashamed in the sight of kings.
34. We can understand those kings to whom it is said by Peter: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession (I Pet. II, 9). For there are kings who offer in Jerusalem the gifts of their wisdom, to whom grace is given to speak the word, and with a certain royal power to bend peoples, and to soothe the souls of the saints, not being ashamed of it; because they speak nothing foreign to honesty, whom no one may rebuke and repel, as if they were unworthy, whom Christ has made worthy ministers of the new Testament, and now they are not ashamed; because they feared not lest they should be confounded by the opposite assertions of disputers. Therefore, a king is one who is not ashamed, so that he may not be criticized or condemned in his actions or in his words. This is because both his life and his speech should be founded on truth. Therefore, even though a Prophet may be perfect enough that he does not feel ashamed in the presence of kings, he still meditates on God's precepts at all times of his life and elevates his works, doing nothing that clings to earthly desires.
Therefore he says: And I meditated on your commandments, which I loved exceedingly. And I lifted up my hands to your commandments, which I loved exceedingly: and I was exercised in your justifications. This is a most beautiful order, that we first meditate on those precepts which we love, and that meditation becomes a familiar practice for us. For through the meditation of heavenly commandments, the use of good works is acquired. For just as the end of memorizing words is memory, so the intention or end of meditating on heavenly precepts is action, and a direct act towards fulfilling divine precepts, which unless someone loves, they will not be able to fulfill. And they should not only love, but love exceedingly.
Therefore, he first said: And I meditated upon your precepts, which I loved exceedingly. And he added: And I raised my hands to your precepts, which I loved exceedingly. For after meditation, it is good to direct our actions towards the commandments of God, and to do so with charity and joy, so that our good may not be out of necessity, nor with sorrow and sadness, but voluntarily; for a reluctant servant performs, but a willing friend. However, let us strive to be told: I no longer call you servants, but friends (John 15:15), because you have carried out the commandments of God as friends according to your own will. But the one who meditates and loves, and lifts up his actions, in order to do what pleases God: he ought not to neglect or pass over divine commands, but to be exercised in them, to dwell in them as much as possible, frequently pondering the justifications of God with a solicitous affection of the mind.
Sermon 7. Zain.
The letter Zain in Hebrew signifies 'duc te' in Latin, elsewhere it signifies 'huc'. The interpretation of this is not sufficiently clear, unless perhaps so that each person may govern himself and be his own guide. Or it may direct the way, that is, where the letters of this verse call it to go. And rightly it immediately seeks its rest in the first line, because it is the seventh letter and a number of rest. But what greater rest is there than to rest in the word of God, and to be sweetened by His grace and consolation.
2. (Verse 49.) Remember, says he, O Lord, your word to your servant, in which you have given me hope. The word of God has led us, who were cast down and lowly, to heavenly grace; so that we desire eternity, despise the present, are indifferent to temporal things, and seek after future and invisible things. Therefore, the Word of God calls us to himself, as it is written: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matthew 11:28). Therefore, let us follow the calling of the Lord Jesus, so that we may transition from worldly things to eternal ones, and learn to govern ourselves.
Therefore David, because he was often invited to heavenly answers, to which he hoped for a reward of faith and merits, as you have written, God saying through the prophet Nathan: I took you from the sheepfold, from following the flock, that you should be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you (2 Samuel 7:8-9). And further: I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth (ibid. 11). Upon receiving this response, David said, 'Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house, that you have loved me in this way? Yet even the least of these things have been remembered before you, Lord, and you have spoken concerning the house of your servant in the distant future.' And further he said: 'And now, my Lord, you are God. and your words are true, and you have spoken these good things for your servant. And now, begin to bless the house of your servant, that I may be in your presence forever; for you, my Lord, have spoken, and by your blessing the house of your servant shall be blessed forever.' Therefore, with this response and others, David continues to hope and, through the authority of prophetic faith, he encounters the Lord; that he may remember his promises, of which he is accustomed not to be forgetful. For He is accustomed to fulfill whatever He has promised to the saints, being forgetful of our iniquities and not forgetful of His own promises. Indeed, it is written: I am, I am He who blots out your iniquities . . . and I will not be mindful; but you be mindful and let us be judged (Isaiah 43:25-26). He desires to forget whatever threats He has made against sinners, if they would only turn their ways. He also desires to be reconciled, so that if anyone, having pursued the proposed virtues, has competed well, he may expect the fruit of reward, or even demand it, as it is written: I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; the crown of justice is reserved for me (2 Timothy 4:7). For it is not an arrogant usurpation, but a faithful one; for it confesses that the true God cannot deceive. Therefore, it admonishes, as David says, that the Lord may remember His word; thus it prompts us to hope, so that we may renounce earthly things and cling to heavenly ones.
Therefore, David says: I have fought a good fight, I seek the reward of your word, which you promised to me; remember your promises, which you have made to your servant. I have not hoped presumptuously for what you have made me hope for. I am a servant, I expect food from the Lord; I am a soldier, I demand pay from the emperor; I am called, I ask for what was promised by the inviter. However, he modestly tempered the authority of his faith, by saying that he is a servant; for the eyes of servants are in the hands of their masters (Psalms 122:2). These words from the persona of David are well spoken.
5. Moreover, if anyone considers the information of each person, he can weigh the common promises lightly, as you have: Give Levi his men, give Levi his witnesses (Deut. 33:8). This discourse can also be applied to the chosen people, to whom through the type of Joseph, first in the type of his name, then through the tribe, the divine promise was transferred to the heirs of the first election, as Moses said: The firstborn of his bull carries the glory, his horns are like the horns of a unicorn; with them he shall gore the nations together to the ends of the earth (Ibid., 17). For this unique Word of God is foretold by the oracle that it is to be spread throughout the whole world among the nations. Therefore, the promise of the resurrection of the Church, though hesitant of its own worthiness, seems to demand the hastening of common progress.
6. (Verse 50.) And he added: This has comforted me in my lowliness, because your word has brought me life. This is the hope, this which has come to me through your word, has comforted me so that I may endure the bitter things of the present. While Paul does something against his own name, he lacks the consolation of hope; while he suffers for the name, he draws hope from consolation. And when he has become faithful, how he consoles us, listen: Who shall separate us, he says, from the love of Christ? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, danger, sword? As it is written: For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered (Rom. 8:35-36). And in what way can these things be patiently endured, he added: But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us (Ibid., 37). Therefore, if anyone wants to overcome adversity, whether it is persecution, danger, death, severe distress, attacks by robbers, confiscation of property, or whatever of those things that are considered adversities in this world, they can easily be overcome if there is a comforting hope. For even if those things happen, they cannot be considered serious to someone who says: For I believe that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come (Ibid., 38). For whoever hopes for better things is never broken by lighter things.
7. Therefore, in the time of our humility, there is consoling hope that does not disappoint: the time of temptations, I consider, is the time of the humility of our soul. For our soul is humbled when it is handed over to the tempter, to be tested by harsh labors, so that it may struggle and fight, experiencing the encounter of contrary power: but in these temptations, it is revived by the speech of God. For this is the vital substance of our soul, by which it is nourished, and fed, and governed. And nothing else is there that makes the rational soul live than speech with God. For just as the word of God is increased in our soul as it is received, understood, and comprehended, so also is His life increased; and as, on the contrary, speech with God diminishes in our soul, so His life in us also incurs a defect. Therefore, just as this connection of our soul and body is animated, nourished, and sustained by the vital spirit, so our soul is vivified by the spiritual grace of the word of God. Wherever we should study in every kind, having put all other things aside, let us gather to ourselves the conversations of God, and let us gather in our mind, in our thoughts, in our concerns, and in our actions; so that our actions may coincide with the conversations of Scripture, and our actions may not seem to disagree with the sequence of heavenly precepts, by which we may also say: For your word has given us life.
8. (Verse 51.) The third verse is: The proud acted unjustly: but I did not turn away from your law. The greatest sin in man is pride; since from there flowed the origin of our offense. With this weapon the devil first wounded and struck us. For unless man, deceived by the persuasion of the serpent, had wanted to be like God and know the true and the false, which he could not fully discern due to human frailty; and therefore, what he had received by following, so that he would not fall from that happiness of paradise by reckless usurpation: unless, I say, man, not satisfied with his own boundaries, had violated the prohibitions, the inheritance of the fatal guilt would never have come to us. And what about man? He himself, through pride, lost the grace of his own nature. Finally, while saying, 'I will set my throne above the clouds... and I will be like the Most High' (Isaiah 14:13-14), he fell from the company of the angels: condemned by the deserving reward of his crime, he sought a partner in man, into whom he could transfer his shared offense.
9. What, therefore, can be worse than this sin that begins with an injury to God? And for this reason, Scripture says: The Lord resists the proud (Prov. 3:34). As if to say, He takes on a special struggle against pride as a repeller of His own reproach; as if to say, This adversary of mine, who provokes me, owes me this contest. Hence, the Apostle declared that pride is the source of manifold guilt, saying of the heretic: He is proud, knowing nothing, but sick about questions and word battles, from which envy, contentions, sacrileges, evil suspicions, conflicts of minds of corrupted men, and opposing the truth, come forth, thinking that godliness is a means of gain (1 Tim. 6:3-5). Therefore, how much pride has been expressed as the cause of these offenses? Hence, David, wanting to commend his devotion, which was not tainted by any wickedness of the proud, says: The proud acted wickedly indeed. He not only declared the wickedness of those who acted, but also the excessive wickedness, which would befit the proud: of whom, lest he be tempted by any contamination, listen to what someone else says elsewhere: With a proud eye and an insatiable heart, I will not eat this (Psalm 100:5).
Therefore, since he had shown how great the power of evil is in pride, he ought to teach us how it should be conquered: and rightly, like a good doctor, he shows the remedy, who has emphasized the poison. Therefore, listen to how you can exclude the virus of pride: 'I have not turned aside from your law,' he says. Therefore, only God's law is able to contain the virus of pride, which has instructed the man dedicated to devotion about how he should govern himself with caution. For many, not only strangers to faith, but even those who seem to have grasped not insignificant precepts of the Scriptures, are accustomed to be tempted by the prosperous ways of the proud: seeing those who transgress the law as judges of impiety, arrogant, despisers of the faithful, exalting themselves against those who humble their hearts according to the fear of God and the heavenly precepts, abounding in this world with riches, fame, honors, powers; and the more serious offenses they have committed, the more successful they are in following the advantages of the secular world: on the other hand, just men generally suffer from poverty, the loss of children, and the sterility of their wives; thereby agitated and disturbed, they incline the sense of their minds to think that God's judgment in this matter is in some way mistaken: not holding onto the head of truth, by which it is most clearly understood that our reward for merits is not stored up in this world, but in the future.
11. But only a few notice this. In the beginning, even David himself was tested, as it is written: 'Behold, the sinners and the rich in this world have obtained riches, and I have said: Did I justify my heart in vain, and wash my hands among the innocent, and am I scourged all day long?' (Psalm 72:12-14). Therefore, each one of us, who are not yet perfect, seeing this, says: Where is the providence of God, where is justice? That arrogant man abounds with pride, that arrogant man is rich, that wicked man is happy and powerful: but the righteous man, you see how he lies low and is lacking, you see how he is in need of even basic sustenance: he is afflicted with insults by that wicked man, he is trampled upon by that insolent man, he is excluded? Surely this is no small temptation, unless you look ahead to what is to come, unless you are more fully instructed by heavenly precepts.
12. Finally, David thought that he knew these things beforehand, but he did not know, and therefore he labored with an anxious and wavering mind. Hence he says: 'And I thought I knew; this is a labor before me, until I enter into the sanctuary of God and understand in the end' (Ibid. 16 and 17). In these words, through what the proud have exalted themselves, he saw in his prophetic spirit that they would be brought lower, and he says: 'How are they made desolate, suddenly they have failed and are wiped out because of their iniquity, like a dream of one waking up' (Ibid. 19 and 20)? Therefore, the success of the wicked in this world is like a dream, not reality: their benefits appear to last only as long as they are asleep. Once they wake from their dream, those who seemed to be drinking are thirsty, those who feasted are hungry, and nothing substantial is left from that dream, only a fleeting memory. And secular men sleep well in their dreams, for although they are vigilant in the world, they sleep in God, about whom the holy Job, who marveled at their prosperity, says: 'For they are tossed by the wind like chaff, and are scattered by the whirlwind like dust.' . . . but they die with bitterness of soul, eating nothing, having nothing good. (Job 21:18 and 25). But the righteous, having confidence in a good conscience, rejoices more in his final moments and understands that he is being freed from the labors of this life and seeks the reward of good works and deeds, saying: A crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who love His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8).
13. But this, he says, who was able to say: I have not swerved from your law; in which not only the grace of good works shines forth, but also the interior purity of conscience. For the law not only informs the duty to act, but also cleanses the hidden affection of the mind. For we do not only fight according to the law of the Lord in our works, but also in the very hidden things; because the law says: Let no unjust word be hidden in your heart, so that you may not only not transgress in deeds and actions, when you see the proud glorying and when you do not stumble in speech, but also that in your innermost heart, while you argue about the judgment of God, you may not contract the offense of iniquity: which is supposed to be the more hidden, the more it is accustomed to be more frequent; because each one thinks safely that such disputations, as if surrounded by his own bowels, are trusted to his own conscience; since he himself will be his own accuser on the day of judgment; because the hidden things of the heart are revealed, as our conscience testifies to our accusations.
14. Therefore, the nature of the holy man's purpose is made clearer in this passage. First, he must remember the promises of heaven; second, he must consider the rewards that are due to the living; third, the holy man's purpose is to find comfort in the hope that he has derived from the Scriptures, even when he is faced with dangers and adversities. Fourth, the holy man's purpose is to not turn away from the law, even when he sees the wicked and sacrilegious, and the proud who unjustly abound in wealth in this world; but instead, he must persevere in its ways and avoid the contagion of the proud. For every unclean person contaminates: and the proud person is unclean, of whom it is written: Every person with a proud heart is unclean before God (Prov. XVI, 5).
15. The fourth goal of the holy man is to remember the judgments of heaven, as David asserts, who said: I have remembered thy judgments from of old, O Lord; and have been comforted. For unless each person, being instructed and informed by examples of the law, believes that God's judgments are always true, he quickly deviates from the law. But whoever reviews the past and gathers from it the series of antiquity, knows that neither the sinner escapes the punishment of his wickedness, nor the righteous is deprived of the rewards of his equity. For it is known that Adam, from the beginning, was expelled from the paradise on account of his heavenly commandment transgression and Cain, guilty of fratricide, was condemned by divine authority. It is known that Enoch, due to his devotion, was taken up to heaven and escaped the corruption of earthly evil. It is known that Noah, victorious in righteousness over the flood, became the survivor of the human race. It is known that Abraham, due to his faith, spread the seed of his posterity throughout the whole world. It is known that Israel, due to his endurance of labor, consecrated the people of believers with the seal of his own name. It is known that David himself, due to his gentleness, was honored with the royal dignity and surpassed his older brothers. It is known that Elijah, due to his zeal for God, was raised to the sky in a chariot and acquired the hospitality of a heavenly abode for the new generation.
16. Whoever knows how to recount these things has a source from which to acquire the grace of consolation. And the opposite is true: because the judgments of God are true, as you have: The judgments of God, justified in themselves, are more desirable than gold and precious stone, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. Indeed, to the one who keeps them, divine judgments are sweet; but it is without doubt that they are bitter to the one who neglects them, because he realizes that the fulfillment of the divine sentence awaits him in the disgraceful shame of sins. But those who are truly aware of themselves are not disturbed, saying: We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified together (Rom. VIII, 17).
17. But who of us, in such a situation, consoles himself by considering the series of divine judgments? Human judgments are fearful enough for sinners; how much more so are divine judgments? Indeed, if we consider those things that are truly eternal, we see in this world that the innocent eagerly hasten to judgment, hating delays and desiring the swiftness of judgment; but the guilty flee and tremble, postponing, evading, and finally becoming sorrowful when they hear that the day of judgment is appointed. Blessed therefore is he who eagerly awaits that heavenly judgment. For he knows that the kingdom of heaven is prepared for him, along with the fellowship of angels, and also the crown of good deeds.
18. (Vers. 53.) Let us now consider what the holy man's intention is, and let us judge from what follows. Cowardice, he says, has held me back from those who forsake your law. This is not common among many; for it is the majority who are saddened if they suffer any injury from someone, if they are harmed, if they are desired, if they are discolored. But our case is different: we, the weaker ones, grieve that we have been deceived by some. But the stronger person does not grieve for his own insult, but for the sins of others; and in his own injury, he laments the downfall of the one who harms, and regrets that he was the cause of the offending error. Take the example of the Apostle; for Paul wept over someone else's sin, as he himself says: For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears (2 Corinthians 2:4). And even though he himself was sorrowful, he did not want those whom he was rebuking to be sorrowful. Finally, he added: Not to make you sad, but to make you aware of the abundant love I have for you. For he wanted them to be saddened until they reached repentance, not to a deeper sorrow; only so that those who were being rebuked, their sorrow would be turned into joy. Therefore, he says: For if I make you sad, who is there to make me glad, except the one who is made sad by me? So he reproves in order to alleviate the duration of sorrow, so that repentance may lead to salvation: he condemns in order to absolve, he excludes in order to receive, he does not forgive in order to set free. Therefore Paul, being well versed in the law, knew the commandment of the one who said: Cowardice prevented me from forsaking your law.
David was grieved, not because he was despised, not because he himself was desired, but because the law of God was abandoned; and he grieved for those who were doing this, because they were perishing to God. Just as a good father, when his sons in a fit of madness curse him, beat him, and treat him with insults, laments not his own but the illness of the sick; he is grieved by the insult, not because it is inflicted upon him, but because the sick person in his madness knows not what he does: so a good man, when he sees a sinner not respecting and honoring even the white hair of the elderly, in their presence doing something unworthy; not recognizing, in a kind of madness for sinning, the disgraceful and dishonorable acts he commits, he grieves as if for a dying man, he groans as if for one given up by doctors; and just as a good doctor first advises and then, even if the patient suffers serious injuries, nevertheless endures them as if he himself were ill, even if he is beaten, he does not leave him; and he does not deny whatever medicine he can apply, nor does he abandon him as obstinate, but rather he strives with all his effort to heal him as one who has deserved well of himself, exercising not only the skill of his art, but also the kindness of his mind.