Homily 10, on Psalm 76
Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos , Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin).
With my voice I cried out to the Lord: with my voice to God, and he gave heed to me. In the day of my tribulation I sought out God. See how he is in tribulation, and he beseeches God, God, God — and yet God is one. With my voice I cried out to the Lord. A cry is necessary at that time when he who cries is far off. So what this man says is this: since on account of my sins I am far from you, therefore I cry, that you may hear me. With my voice to God, and he gave heed to me. It is the same thing he says also in another place: "To the Lord, when I was in tribulation, I cried, and he heard me." In the day of my tribulation I sought out God. He is speaking of a difficult thing. When we are in tribulation, we are cast down to the ground, we think of nothing else but our trouble; but this man in his tribulation is prompted to beseech God. For example: I have lost my son, my house has been burned, I have come to beggary — I do not seek what I have lost, but I seek the Lord. For if I find him, in him I find all things. "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you."
With my hands by night before him: and I was not deceived. In the Hebrew it reads otherwise: "My hand is stretched out by night, and does not rest." With my hands by night before him. Understand: I cried out. See, then, that our very works cry out to the Lord while we ourselves are silent. Therefore it is said: "The word of the Lord came in the hand of the prophet Aggeus." It does not come to him in his mouth, that is, in speech, but in his hand, that is, in work. "For the kingdom of God is not in speech" but in the hand, that is, in work. With my hands by night: that is, I cried out, I cried out with my hands. Therefore it is also said to Moses: "Why do you cry to me?" And surely it is not written there that Moses cried to God; but because his heart cried "Abba, Father," and his heart cried out, therefore he says, Why do you cry to me? Hence it is that it is said in Jeremiah: "The pupil of my eye was not silent." See, then, that even the pupil of our eye is not silent, but as often as we shed tears, so often do we cry out to God with our hands. By night before him. Hence it is said: "In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless the Lord." In the night of this world and in the darkness, while others hastened to their vices, I lifted up my works to you alone. And I was not deceived. Because I cried out thus, and cried out in work, I was not deceived. It is understood in two ways: either I obtained what I wished, or at least I was not deceived by the snares of the devil, which were eager to encircle me. But in the Hebrew it is written: "My hand is stretched out by night, and does not rest." The hand is always stretched out to virtues, it is never drawn back for sins.
My soul refused to be comforted. Insofar as it depended on my sins, I could not comfort myself with having no hope. I remembered God, and I was delighted. Insofar as it lay in my sins, I could find no comfort; again I thought of God, and in his mercy I was delighted. In the Hebrew it reads otherwise: "I remembered God, and I was troubled." I considered his gentleness, I considered his tenderness, I considered his purity; and seeing myself unclean, I was vehemently troubled. And I was exercised, and my spirit failed. In the Hebrew it reads better: "I was speaking within myself, and my spirit failed" — whether from despair, or from longing for God.
My eyes anticipated the watches. In the Hebrew it reads otherwise: "I held in check the gaze of my eyes, I was struck dumb and did not speak." What he means is this: considering my sins, I did not dare to lift my eyes to heaven. "For to the sinner God has said: Why do you declare my statutes?" Therefore I was struck dumb, I was afraid, I could not speak. This is according to the Hebrew. My eyes anticipated the watches. Before anyone else was awake, I was awake. We read also in Daniel: "And behold," he says, "an ir," that is, a watcher. "He shall not slumber nor sleep, who keeps Israel." Therefore the monk who does not keep watch cannot say this verse. I was troubled, and I did not speak. This is what the apostle says: "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." I was troubled, as a man; I did not speak, as a Christian. Anger began in my heart, but I did not bring the anger forth into words.
I thought upon the days of old, and I had the eternal years in mind. Insofar as it lay in my sins, I was despairing, and my soul had refused to be comforted. I began to think from the beginning of the world, when God made man, all the way to my own year, from Adam down to my own time.
I meditated by night with my heart, and I dug over my spirit. I was not thinking of my anger, I was not thinking of my enemy; but my whole thought was of God. The night, which is wont to be either for rest or for lust, was for me a thinking upon the virtues. I meditated with my heart, and I dug over my spirit: that is, I dug like a field, that there I might cast the seed of the Lord's teachings.
Will God cast off for ever? This was my whole thought. God made man from the earth, and promised him eternal life: how then was he cast out of paradise, out of the kingdom of God? And will he no more be pleased to show him favor? Or will he cut off his mercy for ever, from generation and generation? That is, will he cast off both generations, both of the former people and of the later? Suppose he had cast off the people of the Jews: will he cast off the people of the Gentiles too? Or will he in his anger hold back his mercies? He could not have said it more beautifully. However long he restrains himself so as not to have mercy, yet his mercy conquers him.
And I said, Now I have begun. In the Hebrew it reads otherwise: "And I said, It is my weakness" — that is, what I suffer is not from the cruelty of God, but from my sins. This is the change of the right hand of the Most High. That the Lord should have mercy, that he should give his grace to the whole world, that he should not hold back his mercies in his anger — this is the change of the right hand of the Most High. Unless his right hand, that is, his Son, had been changed and had taken the body of a man, we could not receive mercy. And I said, Now I have begun: this is the change of the right hand of the Most High. "Who, though he was established in the form of God, did not think it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant."
I was mindful of the works of the Lord: which he had done for Moses, which he had done for the saints. For I will be mindful of your wonders from the beginning: and I will meditate on all your works, and I will be exercised in your devices. My whole thought is of your virtues. I consider how you had mercy on those men, and about myself I do not despair.
God, your way is in the holy place. Whoever, then, is not holy, the way of God is not in him. What is the way of God? "I am the way, and the life, and the truth." This the Savior says. The way of God, then, is the Son. But the way of God is only in the holy one. If we wish that Christ should dwell in us, let us be holy: for the way of God is in the holy one. What God is great like our God? For just as "there are many gods, and many lords" (this the apostle says. "God stood in the assembly of the gods." "I have said: you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High." And to Moses, "I have made you a god to Pharaoh"): they are called holy gods. Those are gods according to grace, but you are God by nature. You are the God who does wonders. He did not say, who has done; but, who does. Daily God does wonders, and works — both the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You are the God who does wonders. Yesterday a robber, today a Christian: yesterday a fornicator, today continent: yesterday you were seizing what belonged to others, now you hand over what is your own.
You have made known your power among the peoples. "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God": "the mystery which had been hidden from the ages"; now you have made known your power among the peoples. You have redeemed with your arm your people. "Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" You have redeemed with your arm your people: that is, in Christ. The sons of Jacob and of Joseph. Both peoples, both of the Jews and of the Christians: Jacob, in the people of the Jews, and Joseph, in the people of the Gentiles. Indeed, Joseph is interpreted in the Hebrew tongue as "increase." Those, then, went before, and we have been joined on: therefore it is said "the sons of Jacob and of Joseph."
The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you, and they feared. For the moment let us speak according to the letter; let us cling to the earth for the sake of the simpler folk. When the people passed through the Red Sea and through the Jordan, the waters understood their Creator, and the people did not understand. And the depths were troubled. "The sea saw, and fled: the Jordan was turned back." The great sound of the waters. "The clouds shook out the waters," it has in the Hebrew. The clouds gave forth their voice. And this they interpret of the time when God was seen on Mount Sinai. For your arrows pass through: the voice of your thunder in the wheel. And this they interpret of the lightnings, and they say: When God thunders, he makes a sound like a wheel. You see how I still cling to the earth and speak according to the letter that kills.
Your lightnings shone upon the world. Here what do you do, O Jew? Your way is in the sea, and your paths in many waters. Make even this to be said either of the sea or of the Jordan. And your footsteps shall not be known. This, according to the letter, how do you understand it? For the sake of the simpler folk we have spoken according to the letter: let us return, then, to the spiritual understanding. The waters saw you, O God. Let us speak from the Revelation of John. "The many waters," he says, "are many peoples." The waters saw you, O God. What waters? "And let the waters that are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord." The waters saw you, O God. What waters? Pure minds and souls. The waters saw you, and they feared. The fear was not from hatred, but from faith. And the depths were troubled. Let us say something according to the spiritual understanding. In the beginning of Genesis it is written: "And over the waters," it says, "the Spirit was borne." And then it is written: "Over the depths," it says, "darkness was borne." See, then, what is said in the beginning of Genesis. This according to the spiritual understanding. Over the waters, it says, the Spirit was borne. Already at that time baptism was signified. For there could be no baptism without the Spirit. But over the depths, darkness. This is the abyss into which the demons beg not to be sent by Jesus. Over the depths, then, darkness. In the waters was cleanness, in the depths darkness. What the depths are, you understand while I am silent: since the demons dread to go into the abyss. The clouds gave forth their voice. The clouds are the prophets: who kept silence to the Jews, but spoke to us. The clouds gave forth their voice. For your arrows have passed through. The preaching of the word of Christ has run into the whole world. The voice of your thunder in the wheel. Thunder is properly a great voice. Indeed, at that time when God spoke, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," there was made a voice of thunder like a wheel. Indeed, therefore it is written: "Deep calls to deep in the voice of your cataracts": that is, the two testaments, the new and the old. The voice of your thunder in the wheel: the voice of your preaching in the wheel. Therefore it is called a great voice, because the preaching is great. The voice of your thunder in the wheel: in the whole world round about. It is not only heard in Judea: but you speak, and it is heard unto the age. This we have said in a general way: but let us speak also in particular of the inner man. The wheel stands upon the earth with only some small trace of contact, and it not only stands, but as it were runs on: it does not stand still, but touches and passes by: finally, when it is rolled, it always mounts up to higher things. So too the holy man, because he is in the body, has the necessity of thinking some things about earthly matters; and when he has come to food and clothing and the rest of such things, having food and clothing, with these he is content, touching the earth, and he hastens to higher things. In him who runs and hastens to higher things, in him is your word. We read also in the prophet: "Holy stones are rolled upon the earth." See what he said: Holy stones are rolled upon the earth. For because they are wheels, therefore they are rolled upon the earth and hasten to higher things. Do you wish to know of more wheels? We read: "And a wheel within a wheel"; we read in Ezekiel: "The wheels cling one to another." The two wheels are the new and the old testament. This wheel clings to that, and that to this. Yet see what is said in Ezekiel: "And wherever," it says, "the spirit was leading, thither the wheels also followed." This is said also in Ecclesiastes, at the consummation of the world: "And the wheel," it says, "shall be rolled over the cistern." There are many things that might be said about wheels: but the discourse hastens on to the rest.
Your lightnings shone upon the world: the apostolic preaching. The earth was moved and trembled. Unless our earth had been moved and troubled, we would not be Christians. The earth was moved and trembled. For the Spirit of the Lord rests upon no one, save upon him who is humble and quiet and trembles at his words.
Your way is in the sea: where the waves are, where the bitter water is, where the dragon dwells, where the little tiny fishes cling. Your way is in the sea. You who were in heaven came down to earth. According to the letter we can say: At the time when Moses led the people out, it was you who led them out. Your way is in the sea. Then we can also, according to the history, say it otherwise: The seas were a way for you. But that he did once; for the rest, daily he speaks to the sea: "Be still, be silent." The Lord calms you, that we may be able to pass through this world. Your way is in the sea. He came, the fountain of life, to sweeten the sea, the bitter sea, the Dead Sea. Therefore, according to Ezekiel, there goes forth from the temple of the Lord a fountain of living water, and it goes to the Dead Sea, which had nothing living. For no little fishes could be in the Dead Sea, nothing lived in the Dead Sea. From the temple of the Lord, that is, from his bosom, the Savior went forth, and sweetened the Dead Sea and the bitter waters. Your way is in the sea. And your paths in many waters. Therefore your way is in the sea, that you might make a way, and your apostles might follow you. And your paths in many waters.
And your footsteps shall not be known: you led out your people like sheep. The good shepherd led out his people like sheep. By the hand of Moses and Aaron. This he did according to the letter: for the rest, daily he does it in us. By the hand of Moses, that is, in the law (and we know that the law is spiritual): in the spiritual law. And of Aaron: that is, in the priesthood. In your spiritual law, and in your spiritual priesthood, you led out your people. Let us understand this according to the letter of Moses and Aaron. Moses indeed was led out, and Aaron, but not led into the land of promise. Jesus succeeded him. See what is written. Moses died in the desert, Aaron died, Miriam died; and this is what is written in the prophet: "And I will strike," it says, "three shepherds in one month." They died: for they could not enter into the land of promise. They only saw over against the land of promise, and could not enter. The Jews saw the land of promise, and could not enter. For they died in the desert, and their corpses are in the wilderness, of those who died in the desert. We, the sons, under Jesus as leader, came to the Jordan, and entered into the land of promise, and came to Gilgal, and were a second time circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, and the reproach of Egypt was taken away from us. Then Jesus himself our leader holds the sword, and always goes before us, and fights for us, and conquers our adversaries, and for seven days we go around Jericho, that is, this world. We sing with the priestly trumpets, and we go around Jericho, that is, this world, and its walls fall, and we enter in, and we are the victors. Then we conquer the city of Ai: afterward we come to Jebus, we come to Hazor, we come to other cities; we conquer the adversaries whom under Moses we could not conquer. Let us give thanks, then, to our leader Jesus: for with him as leader, with him fighting, we conquer. He commanded the sun to stand still, and it stood still, and that great man was a type of this one: he was commanding, but the Lord was accomplishing it. He came forth the victor: he, as I have often said, slew five kings in the cave: he led us into the land of promise. To him let us give thanks; he is the son of Nun, which we read as Nave: he it is who was called Osee, which we read as Ause. For according to the Hebrew truth it is not said Ause, but Osee, that is, "savior." Truly a savior: for he saved us, and led us out of the desert, and led us into the land of promise.