Psalms 62 · The Lantern

The titil of the two and sixtithe salm. `The salm of Dauid, `whanne he was in the desert of Judee.

God, my God, Y wake to thee ful eerli. Mi soule thirstide to thee; my fleisch thirstide to thee ful many foold.

In a lond forsakun with out wei, and with out water, so Y apperide to thee in hooli; that Y schulde se thi vertu, and thi glorie.

For thi merci is betere than lyues; my lippis schulen herie thee.

Let us cleave, therefore, to those who cultivate peace with godliness, and not to those who hypocritically profess to desire it.

"But they have thought to cast away my price; they ran in thirst: they blessed with their mouth but cursed with their heart." The price of [humanity's redemption] is the blood of Christ: "You have been bought," it is said, "with a price; do not become the slaves of people." The soldiers of Satan planned, therefore, to make this price useless to us, leading again into slavery th…

"Nevertheless, mine honour they have thought to drive back" (ver. 4). Conquered while they slay men yielding, by the blood of the slain multiplying the faithful, yielding to these and no longer being able to kill; "Nevertheless, mine honour they have thought to drive back." Now because a Christian cannot be killed, pains are taken that a Christian should be dishonoured.

So Y schal blesse thee in my lijf; and in thi name Y schal reise myn hondis.

Mi soule be fillid as with inner fatnesse and vttermere fatnesse; and my mouth schal herie with lippis of ful out ioiyng.

So Y hadde mynde on thee on my bed, in morewtidis Y shal thenke of thee;

for thou were myn helpere. And in the keueryng of thi wyngis Y schal make `ful out ioye, my soule cleuede after thee;

thi riythond took me vp.

Then he brings up a decision for all that was said, not now from his own words but one that he heard from God. "God has spoken once, these two things have I heard," he says. And let it not disturb anyone that what was said is, as it were, incredible, namely, that God spoke once and the prophet heard two things.

"Nevertheless, vain are the sons of men, and liars are the sons of men in the balances, in order that they may deceive, being at one because of vanity" [Psalm 62:9]. Certainly many men there are: behold there is that one man, that one man that was cast forth from the multitude of guests.

Thus to those who wish to have happiness in the goods of present things, the psalm says, "How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?

Forsothe thei souyten in veyn my lijf, thei schulen entre in to the lower thingis of erthe;

thei schulen be bitakun in to the hondis of swerd, thei schulen be maad the partis of foxis.

But the king schal be glad in God; and alle men schulen be preysid that sweren in hym, for the mouth of hem, that speken wickid thingis, is stoppid.

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