33. He did not say: I desired judgments, but: I desired to desire. For just as to live is more than simply living (for living is a common attribute even of this life, but to live is the attribute of the blessed), so to desire in order to desire the judgments of God is more than simply desiring judgments. For we desire to desire, as if desire were not within our power, but within the grace of God. For when the Lord sees that we take pleasure in desiring His judgments, He increases our sober affection. But when we sin, we do not desire to desire the judgments of God. For a sick person does not desire to be burned or cut so that they can receive healing. The one who is seriously ill avoids being burned, cut, bound, or abstaining from food. But the one who has good health confidently seeks out a doctor. Hence, the Lord also says not in vain: “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you” (Luke 22:15); not only desiring, but also desiring with doubled desire to grant the remission of sins. Let us therefore desire the judgments of God. A good conscience, when examined, is proven. And let us desire and long for in every moment, so that no moment of good may pass without the longing of desire.
34. (Ver. 21.) You rebuke the proud: cursed are those who turn away from your commandments. When the Lord Jesus redeemed the human race through obedience and restored justice, the serpent introduced sin through disobedience; we can estimate the extent of this vice, of which the author is the devil, whom the Prophet introduces saying: I will set my throne above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:14). Therefore, since he is most wicked, he did not give honor to our Lord God; nevertheless, he educated worse disciples. For he exalted himself in such a way that he wanted to be equal and similar to the Most High: but his disciple, as signified by the Apostle, would be indignant to be considered equal and similar to God. For it is written: When the man of sin and son of perdition is revealed, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god (2 Thess. 2:3-4). Therefore, the teacher considers himself similar, this one superior. And so the Lord said to his disciples: You will do greater things (John, XIV, 12); so that to those whom the serpent had taken away more than he himself had lost, Christ would give greater things than he had done on earth. For he wanted to deceive the prince of the world in himself, to triumph in the disciples.
35. Therefore, willing to avenge the human race for such a great crime, he introduced the Pharisee and the publican in the temple praying (Luke, XVIII, 10 et seq.); and he taught that even if a person has other good qualities, what offends more is pride, rather than humility, for one who is not supported by any virtue; for the devil strives to overthrow those who are intent on good works. How much effort that Pharisee made, so as not to take what belonged to others, so as not to be unjust, so as not to commit adultery! How hard he labored so as not to sin, just as the tax collector sinned! How hard he labored to fast twice on the Sabbath! How hard he labored to give a tenth of everything he acquired! Who among us does these things? How many have possessions and only care about their own gain, storing up the harvest for themselves alone! The devil noticed this and infected him with a serious sore; so that he would not hold his head high, inflated with pride; and in the very thing he believed would be praiseworthy, there he would be judged more reprehensible. Indeed, be grateful to God that he was not a robber, adulterer, or unjust. How wickedly the serpent struggled against him, and bound him with heavy coils! He made himself higher, to cast him down from a greater height: he made himself lower, to overthrow him from a higher position with a heavier fall. The downfall of arrogance is a great ruin, which took away his higher status. This is the wicked struggle of the serpent, in which it twists itself in many turns.
36. He wanted to inflate both himself and Paul. Which Paul? Certainly not the apostle by men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ (II Cor., XII, 7-8). And he had nearly been deceived, to the point that he asked for the removal of the goad of his flesh, which was humbling him. But the good Lord, who wanted to make Paul stronger through his infirmities, sent him the angel of Satan; so that the devil would be conquered by his own tricks. The Pharisee was not lying, but he was even speaking the truth: but everyone who exalts themselves, even if they speak the truth, offends (Luc., XVIII, 14). Finally, the Pharisee entered the temple, more probable than the tax collector; and yet, condemned, he left. How great a crime is pride, that even adulteries are preferred to it!
37. Finally, the Lord, who gives to others, resists the proud, and as if engages in combat with those who exalt themselves, and claims this contest for himself: and he rebukes the arrogant who show compassion to others; because there is nothing more serious than despising our poor brothers with a proud eye, rejecting them from us with intolerable disdain, judging them unworthy of our grace because they are poor: when poverty is easier for God than a more acceptable treasure.
38. Cursed, he says, are those who deviate from your commands. Above he had said: Do not hide your commands from me; and so, knowing the revealed commands, he condemns those who have deviated from heavenly commands. And he rightly says: those who deviate; for the command is straightforward, so no one should deviate from it.
However, he moves in the following way, saying: Do not hide your commandments from me. For what is hidden becomes obscure and hidden; since he said above: The commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 18:9). If the commandment is clear, how is it hidden; for no one puts a lamp under a measure? Unless perhaps it is one clear commandment, but many commandments are hidden. For, he says, your judgments are like a deep abyss (Psalm 35:7). Judgment is not like an abyss, but judgments are spoken.
40. But see the order. Above he says: Do not reject me from your commandments; below he says: Do not hide your commandments from me; here he says: Cursed are those who turn aside from your commandments. Truly cursed are those who turn aside from your commandments, who ought to give thanks: first, because they are not rejected; second, because they have not deserved to have divine commandments hidden from themselves. Therefore, someone turns aside from what he desired.
41. (Verse 22.) It follows: Remove from me scorn and contempt; for I have sought your testimonies. If contempt is considered in the place of scorn, how is it written: God has chosen the despised things of this world (I Corinthians, 1:28)? But consider that it is said despised things of this world, not of God. For what is contemptible in this world is precious in the sight of God. Finally, humility is despised in this world, but is approved by the judgment of God. And if a tax collector humbles himself, he is exalted. Listen to whom God loves, and do not consider it as nothing. Whoever is holy, who lives without blemish, guards the truth, did not desire his neighbor, he is not diminished in the sight of the wicked; he has rejected everything that is evil (Psalm 14:2-4): even if he is a gentile, he is proven by God through the devotion of humility. But the proud, like the Pharisee, are considered worthless because of their arrogance. Finally, gentility is not enduring, but devotion remains forever. So be careful not to be a disgrace to Christ. I do not want anyone to curse me or despise me as a sinner; how grave it would be if Christ were to deem me worthy of disgrace! Woe to you, he says, Corozaim and Bethsaida (Luke, 10, 13). They are condemned because they did not repent of their sins. Therefore, let us act so that disgrace is taken away from us. But who is there who is not worthy of disgrace? Those who seek the testimonies of the Lord. There are indeed many who wish to bring reproach upon your servants, but they themselves are more disgraceful; for to suffer glorious reproach for your name is honorable.
42. (Vers. 23.) And therefore he says: For indeed the rulers sat and opposed me. The voice of the martyr is, who being brought to the judgment of persecutors, when he was forced to offer sacrifice to idols, and steadfastly resisted; but the judges sitting in their tribunals, surrounded by their attendants, being indignant that their commands were not obeyed, decided what punishment they considered fitting; he stood fearless, saying: The rulers sat and opposed me. Is this also the voice of the Lord, when the presbytery of the people, and the chief priests and scribes had assembled, and he had been brought before the council of the Jews, saying: Why do we still need witnesses? for we have heard from his own mouth (Mt. XXVI, 65); and he stood before the governor, and was led to the cross, what more beautiful could he say, than: The princes sat, and opposed me, that is, while I was standing, the princes sat? And because the tribunals were exalted on high supports, they did not see the Lord. So they sat, they were at the pinnacle of power, and they did not think of the Prince of princes. But this is not enough. Against me, they objected. I had come as their Redeemer, I had come to cleanse the sins of all, to restore the lost, to restore the inheritance of the holy Jacob to paradise; and they objected against me. And therefore, my imitators, my disciples, do not be ashamed of injury if you stand before princes in my name; for I have stood for your salvation.
43. Finally, Peter, along with the other apostles, was handed over to custody. And on the next day, standing before the council, he boldly declared: 'Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. (Acts 4:8-10)' In other words, it is you who are responsible for crucifying Christ. We consider this to be a great injustice, for we are being accused regarding the health of a sick man. This inheritance has been left by the Savior of all to his faithful servants. But they conferred among themselves, saying: What shall we do with these men (Ibid. 16)? And they let them go. Therefore Peter and the other apostles gloried, for they were considered worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ. So it was right for them to say then: For indeed princes sat, and spoke against me.
44. The princes sat against Isaiah, and argued that he should be cut: but he did not fear what they said: Hear . . . O princes of Sodom (Isaiah, I, 10). They sat against Jeremiah to throw him into the pit. They sat against Zechariah, who was killed between the temple and the altar. They sat against Susanna, and judged against the chaste woman: but to show that the counsel of the princes was not good, the Lord stirred up the spirit of a young boy; and the prophet absolved the same woman, whom the princes had declared guilty of death, from the complete accusation of wrongdoing.
45. There are also other leaders who criticize us, about whom it is said: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians, VI, 12). These are the ones who sit and watch, to see who is righteous in this world, who serves God diligently as a Christian, and is eager for good works and deeds. They speak ill of him, saying: Let us lay a trap for him, let us hinder him, let us prevent him from achieving what he desires, let us crush his mind, let us break his spirit with frequent and sudden adversities; and if he is approved by God because of his righteousness, let us ask to be given his temptations. For not even such a great prophet could have had the power over his many temptations if the Lord had not allowed it for the purpose of testing his soldier, so that He might crown him with greater glory. Who then stirred up king Saul against him, if not an evil spirit, as we read, who was troubled whenever David soothed the king's mind and spirit with the sound of the harp or with the strains and strings of good advice and good works (1 Samuel 16:23)? Who incited Doeg the Edomite to wickedness, so that he would betray the holy man and endanger the life of the priest (2 Samuel 22:9-10)? Who inflamed the passion of Amnon, so that he defiled the prophetic house and caused distress to his father, one with incestuous desire and the other with injury (2 Samuel 13:14)? And yet, he who prophesied to others could not foresee the evils in his own house? Who armed Absalom with fury, to exclude his father from the house, and to pursue him in deadly battle (2 Sam. 15:14)? But when the holy man was now almost weakened by the power of the kingdom, he extinguished with this one thing the poisoned arrows of the devil that were being launched against him, because even though the son sought the death of his father, he still entrusted the safety of his son to his piety with affection.
46. Therefore the leaders of the people, like Achitophel and other leaders of the warriors, sat (2 Kings 18:5). The leaders of the people dealt with Absalom against the Prophet (2 Kings 15:31). And so he says: Indeed the leaders sat, and they opposed me: but your servant was engaged in your justifications. We observe the weapons of the just, with which he repels the attacks of all adversaries. Elsewhere he says: They surrounded me and attacked me without cause: for they detracted from me in order to show their love, but I prayed (Psalm 108:3-4): here he says that his zeal was not for practicing the arts of war, nor for deceiving the enemy with any cunning of the heart; he fought against those whom he could not see, and in him there was greater piety than military strength of the body. And so he was engaged in the justifications of God; in order to wound the devil with a contrary blow. The devil was trying to lead him away from the intention of justice and the zeal of devotion, with warlike occupations; but he was more occupied with the meditations of divine work and worship. And so the Lord protected him, in whom he had hoped, with whom he spoke, to whom he clung with all his affection. For the righteous person either speaks with God in prayer, or speaks of divine works in praise; and he always speaks of the works of God, so that his mouth does not speak the works of men. The just man speaks nothing earthly, he does nothing mortal.
47. (v. 24) Therefore he says: Truly, your testimonies are my meditation, and your counsels are my justification. Notice what he teaches, that these should be the counsels of the righteous, that they meditate on God's commands, and exercise themselves in praising God and in praying; that they may always justify the Lord. The one who does what God commands, who believes that it pleases God, justifies God. This can be understood from reading the Gospel (Luke 7:30), as the Evangelist says that the Pharisees rejected the counsel of God, not having been baptized with John's baptism. In this book, you have this: those who refused to be baptized did not justify God. Therefore, the Lord said to John, 'I must be baptized by you, and you are coming to me.' John replied, 'Allow it for now, for it is necessary for us to fulfill all righteousness' (Matthew 3:14-15). Therefore, whoever obeys God's commandments justifies God, because they do His righteousness. It is good for human plans to follow God's certain plan, as our plans are often uncertain and proven by the outcome of events.
Sermon 4. Daleth.
The fourth letter according to the Hebrews, Daleth, signifies in Latin fear, or (as we have found elsewhere) birth. But both can be fitting and consistent in meaning. Birth is indeed what is generated in this world, through which we understand the corporeal and material, which are transient, and therefore not far from fear; for fear is born from corporeal and material things. For what is earthly birth, if not fear?
Verse 25. Finally, the verse begins: My soul clings to the ground: revive me according to your word. By the ground, we understand the earth, and by the earth, we understand material things. But to the sinner it is said: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen. 3:19), because he did not consider it necessary to adhere to divine commandments, but turned towards material and worldly things, which are marked by the pleasures of this secular life. Finally, expelled from paradise, that is, from that sublime and heavenly place to which Paul was caught up, whether in the body or out of the body, he did not know, therefore, cast down from that high place to the earth, Adam laments saying: My soul clings to the ground; as he elsewhere says: My soul is humbled in the dust, and my belly clings to the earth (Psalm 43:25). This is the voice of one doing penance, who remembered that while attached to God, he did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body (which Paul also did not discern), so he did not feel any weakness or laziness of the body, to which the presence of the Lord clung. Therefore, the prophetic spirit, who expressed the pain, or the Lord, who took on his weakness, represents the person of Adam and assumes his condition.
Therefore, Adam spoke: My soul clings to the ground. He who previously enjoyed the most blessed heavenly air, knew nothing of the cares and weariness of this life, is now weighed down by the anxieties of this world, enslaved to the pursuit of luxury and the desire for wealth, like a fox entering its den and hiding in earthly hiding places. He rightly clung to the dust, for he could not lift himself unless Christ lifted him up on his cross. He rightly clung to the ground, which hid him from Christ. He does not adhere to the ground to which Jesus says: Follow me (John 1:43). He does not adhere to the ground who hears and follows the Law saying: You shall walk after the Lord your God, and you shall adhere to Him (Deuteronomy 10:20).
4. Therefore, how does each person adhere to the ground, how does one adhere to God, hearing Him say: What adheres to a prostitute is one body... but the one who adheres to God is one spirit (I Cor., VI, 16 and 17). This earth on which we walk, captivates us with certain enticements of a prostitute, and smears certain false appearances of bodily pleasures; so that the truth may hide in them and deceive those who approach with a certain outward appearance. But when the inner eye of the mind is covered by the passage of time, afterwards, however, the emptiness of the charm of these pleasures can easily be detected, as the grace of this age or of the body is shaken off like a certain dust of delights.
Therefore, it is good to adhere to the Lord and not to have a stubborn neck to the yoke of the world. And so, the Church, or strong souls, says Wisdom: Your neck is like the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks: a thousand shields hang upon it, all the armor of the mighty (Song of Solomon, 4:4). For the neck that is raised towards God and is fit for the yoke of Christ, will not be curved by the enticements of the world, just as the tower of Christ's kingdom cannot be imposed with his yoke by Nebuchadnezzar. For David, that strong man, built that tower and constructed it high above the walls; so that it may serve as both a defense and a decoration: a defense, because it foresees and repels the enemy; a decoration, because it not only surpasses the lowly, but also the lofty. Yet, it serves as a defense or decoration, if it contains within itself the teachings of the word like certain ornaments, and if it also possesses the spears of powerful prophets, which are aimed at every exalted height that opposes itself to the arms of faith.
Therefore, do not drag your soul into the dust of death, to whom the Lord has also given a natural height and the strength to rise and lift itself up. Hence, this appropriate saying about the union of the soul and the body is understood: because in the mystery of our natural life, the soul is connected to the body like it crawls on the ground and clings to the earth: partly because of this earthly dwelling, partly because this body is from the earth. And so, the inn of the region and the very matter of our body agrees with this opinion. Therefore, the Apostle desires to be freed from the death of this body (Rom. VII, 24), because we are enclosed in a certain prison, and we are ensnared in the whirlpool of lust, and we are enveloped in the darkness of sins.
So let us walk according to the will of God, that we may be thought to cleave unto God. For he who lives according to the desire of the flesh, is flesh: but he who lives according to the precepts of God, is spirit. Therefore, let not our soul become flesh, that is, let us not be called flesh like those who perished in the flood, of whom it is said, 'For they are flesh' (Gen., VI, 3): but rather let our flesh obey the helm of the soul, let it become soul, and let it deserve to be called by that name, as the family of the patriarch Jacob was called, and his holy offspring. For it is written: These are the sons of Bala, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob, seven souls. And elsewhere: All the souls that came with Jacob to Egypt, that came out of his loins besides Jacob’s wives, were sixty-six souls. And in the beginning of Exodus we read: Now all the souls that descended from Jacob were seventy-five, who were with Jacob. Therefore, those who lived with Joseph and came out of Egypt are souls.
8. But when they were angels of God, that is, imitating the life and grace of angels (for those who do not take wives or marry will be like angels in heaven), those who were seen with angels were captivated by feminine beauty, they are of the flesh, as the Lord God said: My spirit will not remain with these men forever, because they are of the flesh (Gen., VI, 3). And rightly they are compared to angels who are free from lust: they are not in the flesh, but in spirit; just like those who followed the teaching of the Apostle, to whom he said: But you are not in the flesh, but in spirit (Rom., VIII, 9). But those who are captured by the desire for women's bodies are carnal: and would that they were only carnal, and not also neighing like horses; for they would neigh at their neighbor's wife (Jeremiah 5:8).
Therefore, he who feels the dejection of his soul curved down to the ground, in order to be revived according to the word of God, which draws souls to itself and, desiring to alleviate them by its mercy, draws them away from the earth. But the soul is revived, which walks in the ways of Christ, dead to sin but alive to God, so that sin may no longer have dominion over it, after it has been buried with Christ and justified from sin. But whoever desires to be justified, should declare his ways beforehand.