22. Let us consider whether goodness is repelled by negligent work or rather retained. And let us take an image of this matter from other arts. The physician cares for the sick person, but negligently, and the laziness of the physician allows the deep wound to spread. Therefore, it is better to remove such a physician who wastes time, since the wounded person feels no improvement; so that the duty of healing is transferred to a physician who can assist the sick person more diligently and promptly! Is it not more merciful to drive away someone who is making no progress, than to hold them back at the brink of illness? Establish someone in charge of those who are building, or even those who are weaving, who should explain the main work; which of the two seems more preferable to you, if they diligently focus on it, and if they happen to notice someone who is careless about those who are working on a certain building, to drive them away, believing that it is better not to build than to have what has been built collapse due to gaping cracks; and to appoint someone in their place who will build diligently? Similarly, you would not approve of a supervisor who allows lazy people to continue in their negligence, instead of replacing them with diligent workers, as this would cause the quality of the work to deteriorate due to their carelessness. Would you not also disapprove of someone who allows the lazy to persist in their negligence?
23. Now go to those who build the commandments, and weave the law, and receive the healing of each soul. If anyone of them builds the house of God with justice, weaves the garment with diligence, heals the soul with grace, is he not doing a good work? But if someone lazy and careless occupies the place of a builder, weaver, spiritual doctor, like the high priest, like the elder, like the minister of the sacred altar; is it not more advantageous not to take on each duty that he cannot fulfill, than to undertake it while not fulfilling it diligently, and take away the place from another who can diligently protect it? What! Because even the one who is more lenient, when he himself is consulted, is repelled, so as not to create even more offense.
24. Now let us consider what it means to be repelled; for it is written: Like the wounded who sleep, cast aside in tombs, whom you no longer remember; indeed they are repelled from your hand (Ps. 87:5). Therefore, let us take note of those who are wounded and cast aside in tombs, whom you no longer remember. These are the ones who are repelled from the commandments of God. And to the sinner, God said: Why do you declare my justices (Ps. 49:16)? And because they are repelled from the commands of God, they are certainly repelled from the hand of God. And it is well foreseen lest anyone seem to be snatched from the hand of God; for no one can snatch anyone from the hand of God. Therefore, whoever is deprived of the duty or favor of the received gift is not snatched, but rejected, as the Lord Jesus said to Jerusalem: How often have I desired to gather your children . . . . . and you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be left to you desolate (Matthew 23:37-38). He took away from them sanctification, the altar of incense, and the sanctuary of prayer, the propitiatory altar of sacrifices, the ministries of priests and Levites; and yet, when all these things that they had according to the commands of the Law were taken away, the Apostle says: Did God reject his inheritance... No, he says, he did not reject... but he confined everything in unbelief, that he may have mercy on all (Rom. XI, 1, 2 and 32).
So there are those who, for a time, are turned away from commandments out of mercy; just as those who are vomiting are taken care of. For just as what remains in the body that is to be vomited becomes more bitter; so too, the one who should be excluded, if retained and does not correct himself, corrupts the whole body. And rightly have you called the faithful and true angel of Laodicea: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot: but because you are lukewarm, I am about to vomit you out of my mouth (Apoc. III, 15 et 16). Open negligence is more severely condemned by judgment than imprudence. For he is cold who does not know faith; he is warm who is inflamed by the fervor of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, for the one who does not have the warmth of faith, it would be more tolerable for him not to have accepted faith than to have neglected it. For the lukewarm is worse than the cold, like the Jew who thinks he has faith when he does not. How much more tolerable does the pagan have, who can say: I did not know the Law, I did not hear the prophets, therefore I did not believe, than he who reads everything from which he would believe in Jesus and still did not believe! Neither indeed is excused, neither he who reads, nor he who refuses to read: but he sins more, who denies what he has read, than he who does not perform the works which he does not know he should do. But how great is the grace of faith and justice, that it should be in the mouth of God, who holds faith and exercises the works of justice: and how much does he lose whom the Lord Jesus vomits out of his mouth, and casts out from his bowels! How pious, however, is he who holds the righteous in his mouth, and does not vomit out the unrighteous until he declares them to be vomited out! So that those who are converted by this admonition can accomplish something worthy, by which they are not disgusted. Now let us consider the third verse.
26. (Verse 11.) In my heart, he says, I have hidden your words, so that I may not sin against you. Therefore, it is good to keep the mystery of the king secret; for it is a sin against God to consider the entrusted secret mysteries as something to be divulged to the unworthy. Therefore, there is danger not only in speaking falsehoods but also in speaking truths to those who do not deserve it. This vice is fourfold, either flattery, or greed, or boasting, or careless talk; for when someone wants to flatter the person they are speaking to, they reveal the secret. Some people even pursue profit as the reward for betrayal; they sell by keeping silent. Others, to seem to know more and boast about their knowledge, reveal what they should keep hidden. Many, while speaking without judgment, utter a word that they cannot take back. Therefore, a man is praised later, and not in vain. There was a man who concealed his conversations, like the apostle Paul, who knows what to say to each person and when to say it. Wherefore he says at Corinth: I have given you milk to drink, not meat; for you were not able as yet. But neither indeed are you now able; for you are yet carnal. For, whereas there is among you envying and contention, are you not carnal, and walk according to man? For while one saith, I indeed am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollo; are you not men? What then is Apollo, and what is Paul? The ministers of him whom you have believed; and to every one as the Lord hath given. I have planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the increase. Therefore, neither he that planteth is any thing, nor he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth, and he that watereth, are one. And every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour. For we are God’s coadjutors; you are God’s husbandry; you are God’s building. According to the grace of God that is given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble: Every man’s work shall be manifest. For the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are.
27. Moreover, above all, the Lord Jesus declares in his Gospel, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a hidden treasure in a field' (Matthew XIII, 44). Surely, the kingdom of heaven cannot be obtained by gold, silver, or money, but by the words of the Lord, pure words, silver refined by fire, through which the kingdom itself is acquired. Therefore, this treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden in the field, in which the words of the heavenly Scriptures are planted; when a man finds it, he hides it in his heart and does not divulge it, knowing that if he were to disclose the treasure of God to the Babylonians, he would incur great offense, so that it may be said to him in prophetic words: 'They will take from your descendants, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king' (Isaiah XXXIX, 7). Through this, it is signified that the one who betrays divine mysteries cannot have a future for his soul and a seedbed of merits.
28. So be careful not to betray your riches to deceitful people: and if they pretend friendship, do not open the innermost parts of your house to them; do not unlock the royal treasures, which the Babylonians must not know; lest they come and capture your descendants, and cut off the seedbed of virtue. This is also what the Lord says in the Gospel: Do not throw your pearls before swine (Matthew VII, 6). Therefore, he does well who hides the words of the Lord in his heart, as the prophet David hid them, as Mary, who kept all the words of the Lord Jesus in her heart (Luke II, 51). For if it is good for a man to hide his words, how much more should we hide the word of God in the depths of our hearts, we must conceal it!
29. (Verse 12.) In the fourth verse, it says: Blessed are you, O Lord: teach me your commandments. For not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of God. Therefore, this person who has corrected his way from his youth, kept the words of God in his whole heart, sought his Lord God, was not rejected by God's commandments, and was deemed worthy to be entrusted with the secrets of wisdom, has hidden them in his heart so as not to sin against God; as if he possessed the words of God, he gives thanks, saying: Blessed are you, O Lord; and desires to have the teacher himself, desiring to know the secrets of the Law, and how to have the interpretation: If you buy a Hebrew servant and he serves you for six years (Exodus 21:2), and the rest, with which it is preceded to learn these commandments, which he presents in the sight of the children of Israel; he seeks to learn these from the Lord, which men could not teach; unless God had taught them beforehand. After the apostles learned from Christ, the Church says: The King has brought me into his chamber (Song of Songs 1:3), that is, into his secret place where the treasures of his knowledge and understanding are. Therefore, it is said to you: When you pray, go into your inner room (Matthew 6:6), which signifies the secret place of the mind and soul. In this chamber of justice, the Bride has asked to be led; after the fragrance of the ointment has spread, which always flows and never fails.
30. (Verse 13.) Therefore, as a learned prophet, he says in the fifth verse: In my lips, I have declared all the judgments of your mouth. And how does he say elsewhere: Your judgments are like a great abyss (Psalm 36:7)? And how does the Apostle say: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways that cannot be traced! For who has known the mind of the Lord (Romans 11:33-34)? If his judgments are unsearchable, how then are there judgments? How have you pronounced all things, says the Prophet, the judgments of your mouth? But perhaps the judgments of God are not the same as the judgments of his mouth. If they are different, it is well said: Who will be like your thoughts? (Psalm 39:6) And therefore his judgments are inscrutable; because we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But if no one says this except Christ, who can say: I and the Father are one? (John 10:30)
However, let us distinguish, and let us not fear that it contradicts itself or the venerable Scripture with contrary things. For let us consider that it did not say: The judgments of His mouth are like a deep abyss, but it said: Your judgments; and the Apostle did not say: The inscrutable judgments of His mouth, but: The inscrutable judgments of Him. For we can estimate the judgments of God, which He has not revealed to us as hidden; but the judgments of His mouth, which He has announced and spoken through the mouths of prophets. It is understood that the prophet of God is referred to, to whom it is said: Cry out; and he said, What shall I cry out? And it was inspired to him to say: All flesh is grass (Isaiah 40:6). This, of course, spoken, is a function of the mouth of God; for he has spoken the judgment of God. Therefore, prophetic oracles are now not only like an abyss, but they are also the abyss itself; for no one could open the book in heaven or on earth, except Christ. Let us now come to the sixth verse.
32. (Verse 14.) On the way, he says, I am delighted by your testimonies, just as in all riches. Some delight in gold, others in silver, others in clothing; some in possessions, vineyards, olive groves; others in works of painting, marbles; in the end, each person has their own pleasures: the spiritual person delights in the way of heavenly testimonies, as if possessing every inheritance, rich in all things; as the Apostle says: I always thank my God for you in the grace of our God, which has been given to you in Christ Jesus: for you have become rich in all things in him, in all speech, and in all knowledge (I Cor. 1, 4 and 5). The Apostles in Corinth made such great progress in their teaching that those who previously could only drink milk like infants, later abounded in all the riches of knowledge and word. Therefore, David delighted in all the riches of knowledge, science, wisdom, and in every act of good works. And if anyone now, attentive to divine things, were to draw from that threefold discipline of wisdom, theoretical, practical, and logical, with earnestness for acquiring knowledge, they would hold a more beautiful grace for carrying out rational and moral doctrine. Whoever understands the prophetic enigmas revealed by the Spirit of God, comprehends the depth of the Gospel in works and counsels, and pays attention to the moral teachings of the apostolic discourse; such a person, like a rich person in all things, will receive abundant pleasure.
33. And because bodily pleasure is pleasant, it is not compared to spiritual [pleasure] as if by the quality of grace; but rather it is called forth as a testimony to pleasantness. Indeed, the Apostle teaches that the invisible and eternal things of God are understood by us through those things which have been made (Rom. 1:20). In Song of Songs we also have written: I have likened you, my beloved, to my horses in Pharaoh's chariots, my companion. In which, when the likeness of the Church seems to be compared to the course of swift horses, the wealth of her grace is esteemed. Therefore, do not take just one horse of a rich king, but rather take the entire cavalry, as we have often said, which is like a sheep among a flock of sheep. Therefore, Pharaoh, as the most powerful and wealthy king, had powerful horses, as the Scripture says, the chariots of Pharaoh; like the most powerful kind for use in war and for support in battle. In the end, with these chariots, Pharaoh easily captured the fleeing Hebrews. Therefore, just as horses together pull a chariot with harmony, and willingly bear the yoke, and carry themselves with grace, and become tame through the acceptance of that yoke; so too the congregation of nations boasted before the unyielding customs of the gentiles; but when it accepted the yoke of the one saying: 'Take my yoke...' Because it is light: and my burden, because it is sweet (Matt. XI, 29-30); and the Bride of Christ began to be exalted by the harmony and gentleness of the people, and to be carried throughout the whole world, like a chariot snatched up by swift horses above the world, she ascended to the Bridegroom.
34. Finally, in the later parts of the Songs, it says: I have set you as the chariot of Aminadab (Song of Songs 6:12). The Church has many chariots within itself, which the Lord guides with spiritual reins. And one soul has many thoughts, which the Lord's rein restricts and recalls, lest our chariot here be carried into a precipice. Aminadab, however, is interpreted as the father of good pleasure, whose son is read about in Numbers as the leader of the people (Numbers 2:3), who should be understood as serpent-like in interpretation; and you recognize this, if you recall, for just as the serpent hung on the tree that redeemed you.
Therefore, the soul is the charioteer of God, so that his anger, desire, fear, and all worldly desires may be restrained. The Church is also the charioteer of God, which is to be governed by the helm of Christ; so that the movements and controversies of different peoples may not disturb it. Naason is also well understood as Christ; because the rod of Aaron, turned into a serpent, devoured those Egyptian serpents (Exodus 7: 12). Therefore, let us have these riches, let us delight in them, so that reasonable horses may run for us and let us abide by their commandments.
36. (Verse 15.) And therefore he says: In your commandments I will be exercised, and I will consider your ways. For whoever is exercised in the words of the apostles knows the commandments of Jesus the Lord, and considers his ways, in which the end is Christ, who says: I am the way (John XIV, 6).
37. (Verse 16.) And in your justices I will meditate, I will not forget your words. This passage reminds us that we should be mindful of the Scriptures and meditate on His righteousness not only in word, but also in deed. For it is not those who discuss the Law, and do not do what the Law requires, but those who are doers of the Law who are justified.
Sermon 3. Gimel.
Sermon 3. Gimel.
The third letter according to the Hebrews is Gimel, which is called 'retribution' in Latin. Finally, this is shown in the very first verse.
2. (Verse 17.) 'Repay,' he says, 'to your servant.' Just as David said above: 'Do not repay us according to our sins, nor reward us according to our iniquities' (Psalm 102:10); and here he demands retribution? That voice seems to be that of the sinner, whereas this voice belongs to those who are well conscious of themselves, who ask for the rewards of good deeds. Hence, we can also understand this, that this psalm is formed about the person of him who, born of the Virgin, presumes to sit at the right hand of the Father for the redemption of the whole world, as he himself says: 'From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power' (Matthew 26:64).
3. However, it is not strange, nor arrogant, if even David asks for compensation from the Lord his God for his outstanding efforts. It is the prerogative of faith and righteousness to claim reward from the favor of the Lord. Indeed, Peter is reproved (Matthew 14:31) because, while walking on the waves, he hesitated more from human emotion than he presumed from apostolic authority. We are also taught in the Gospel to have faith (Luke 17:6) and not to hesitate in performing things that are above human capability. Therefore David deservedly, as though still imperfect in his previous sins, refuses and avoids being punished, but in this psalm which comes later (Psalm 102, 10), he prays to be rewarded according to the progress of his virtue and the struggles of his faith and good works. Indeed, even Paul, who previously said, 'I am not worthy to be called an apostle' (1 Corinthians 15, 9), later says, 'The crown of righteousness is reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing' (2 Timothy 4, 8). And the Apostle promises there, but here he prays even more reverently: asking, of course, not out of insolent arrogance, but out of innocent conscience, to seek reward from the one whom you serve; for to despair is an excuse for laziness, but to hope is an encouragement for labor.
4. Therefore, Pete confidently, if his merits are supported, should strive more diligently in seeking such things, because the more worthy his requests are. Which athlete, if he despairs of the crown, would descend into the stadium, or if he seeks it as the victor, would offend? Testing creates hope, hope creates confidence. Therefore, the prayer of the just is like this: the Lord takes delight in such prayer, so that you may use authority for the sake of the purity of conscience.
However, to avoid appearing arrogant, he added: \"You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.\" (1 Corinthians 7:23-24)
Glorious servitude, by which Christ served for us. Blessed servitude, by which you also serve: but in such a way that the adversary cannot claim anything from your servitude for himself. Therefore, Christ loves the freedom of a good servant. Finally, in the Song of Songs it says: 'How beautiful are your cheeks like turtledoves, your neck like necklaces!' (Song of Songs 1:9). The face is freer when there is a consciousness of chastity: and it is sweet to bear the yoke of Christ, if you consider the ornaments of your neck to be light, not burdens. Therefore, always lift up your eyes to the Lord your God, and seek God that you may find. Raise your neck; you wear decorations, not chains. Many animals also delight in decorations and seem more adorned than bound. May your cheeks carry the insignia of modesty like turtle doves: the decorations of freedom raise confidence. For the yoke of Christ is light; and therefore, the neck is not pressed down but lifted up.
7. 'We will make likenesses of gold for you out of distinctions of silver,' he says, 'as long as the King is in his decline' (Ibid., 10). For from those who are of the Law and the prophets, they had believed moderately in the glory of the Lord Jesus, but his inheritance, spread abroad among the peoples, when examined more frequently, is all the more approved. For frequent persecutions of the Church have produced for us the titles of the righteous and the victories of martyrdom. So just as good gold, when it is burned, does not feel the loss, but rather its brightness increases; until Christ comes into his kingdom, and rests his head on the faith of the Church. When he came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he had nowhere to rest his head: but now faith is already fragrant; and therefore the Church says: My nard has given its fragrance (Ibid., 11). And she says it with presumption, awaiting retribution.