Psalms 77

"When our Lord had arrived and had entered the boat with Simon, the wind abated." The Arian, therefore, who contradicts the birth [of the Lord] is also rejected, through the word that those who were in the boat spoke, "They came and worshiped him, and they were saying to him, 'You are indeed the Son of God.' " It is he of whom it is written, "The waters saw you and trembled, and the depths too were stirred up. Your pathways are on many waters, and your footsteps are not known." So they confessed by their word that he, concerning whom these things were spoken, was indeed the Son of God.

Prayers are recited early in the morning so that the first movements of the soul and the mind may be consecrated to God and that we may take up no other consideration before we have been cheered and heartened by the thought of God, as it is written: "I remembered God and was delighted," and that the body may not busy itself with tasks before we have fulfilled the words "To you will I pray, O Lord; in the morning you shall hear my voice. In the morning I will stand before you and will see."

Sufficient defence has been offered on these points, and as for that which Eunomius says by way of calumny against our doctrine, that "Christ was emptied to become Himself" there has been sufficient discussion in what has been said above, where he has been shown to be attributing to our doctrine his own blasphemy. For it is not one who confesses that the immutable Nature has put on the created and perishable, who speaks of the transition from like to like, but one who conceives that there is no change from the majesty of Nature to that which is more lowly. For if, as their doctrine asserts, He is created, and man is created also, the wonder of the doctrine disappears, and there is nothing marvellous in what is alleged, since the created nature comes to be in itself. But we who have learnt from prophecy of "the change of the right hand of the Most High,"—and by the "Right Hand" of the Father we understand that Power of God, which made all things, which is the Lord (not in the sense of depending upon Him as a part upon a whole, but as being indeed from Him, and yet contemplated in individual existence),—say thus: that neither does the Right Hand vary from Him Whose Right Hand It is, in regard to the idea of Its Nature, nor can any other change in It be spoken of besides the dispensation of the Flesh. For verily the Right Hand of God was God Himself; manifested in the flesh, seen through that same flesh by those whose sight was clear; as He did the work of the Father, being, both in fact and in thought, the Right Hand of God, yet being changed, in respect of the veil of the flesh by which He was surrounded, as regarded that which was seen, from that which He was by Nature, as a subject of contemplation. Therefore He says to Philip, who was gazing only at that which was changed, "Look through that which is changed to that which is unchangeable, and if thou seest this, thou hast seen that Father Himself, Whom thou seekest to see; for he that hath seen Me—not Him Who appears in a state of change, but My very self, Who am in the Father—will have seen that Father Himself in Whom I am, because the very same character of Godhead is beheld in both." If, then, we believe that the immortal and impassible and uncreated Nature came to be in the passible Nature of the creature, and conceive the "change" to consist in this, on what grounds are we charged with saying that He "was emptied to become Himself," by those who keep prating their own statements about our doctrines? For the participation of the created with the created is no "change of the Right Hand." To say that the Right Hand of the uncreated Nature is created belongs to Eunomius alone, and to those who adopt such opinions as he holds. For the man with an eye that looks on the truth will discern the Right Hand of the Highest to be such as he sees the Highest to be,—Uncreated of Uncreated, Good of Good, Eternal of Eternal without prejudice to Its eternity by Its being in the Father by way of generation. Thus our accuser has unawares been employing against us reproaches that properly fall upon himself.

Let us flee from here. You can flee in spirit, even though you are kept back in body. You can both be here and be in the presence of the Lord, if your soul clings to him and you walk after him in your thoughts, if you follow his ways, not in pretense but in faith, and take refuge in him. For he is a refuge and a power, and David says to him, "I fled to you for refuge, and I was not deceived." And so, because God is a refuge, and because he is, moreover, in heaven and above the heavens, surely we must flee from here to there, where there is peace and rest from labors and where we can feast upon the great sabbath, even as Moses said, "And the sabbaths of the land shall be food for you." For it is a banquet, and one filled with enjoyment and serenity, to rest in God and to look on his delight. We have taken refuge with God; shall we return to the world? We have died to sin; shall we seek sins again? We have renounced the world and the use of it; shall we stick fast again in its mire?

This is not the only example of the obedience of water available to us, for elsewhere we find it written, "The waters saw you, O God; the waters saw you, and they were afraid." What is said here of the waters does not seem to be without a semblance of truth, since elsewhere the prophet also speaks in the same manner: "The sea saw and fled; Jordan was turned back." Who does not know how in actual fact the sea fled at the crossing of the Hebrews? When the waters were divided, the people crossed over, believing because of the dust under their feet that the sea had fled and that the waters had vanished. Therefore, the Egyptian believed what he saw and entered in, but the waters that had fled returned for him. The waters, then, know how to gather, how to fear and how to flee, when commanded to do so by God. Let us imitate these waters, and let us recognize one congregation of the Lord, one church.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Let no man then so understand the words of the Psalmist, "Shall God forget to be gracious? shall he shut up in his anger his tender mercies" as if the sentence of God were true of good men, false of bad men, or true of good men and wicked angels, but false of bad men. For the Psalmist's words refer to the vessels of mercy and the children of the promise, of whom the prophet himself was one; for when he had said, "Shall God forget to be gracious? shall he shut up in his anger his tender mercies?" and then immediately subjoins, "And I said, Now I begin: this is the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High," he manifestly explained what he meant by the words, "Shall he shut up in his anger his tender mercies?" For God's anger is this mortal life, in which man is made like to vanity, and his days pass as a shadow. Yet in this anger God does not forget to be gracious, causing his sun to shine and his rain to descend on the just and the unjust; and thus he does not in his anger cut short his tender mercies, and especially in what the Psalmist speaks of in the words, "Now I begin: this change is from the right hand of the Most High;" for he changes for the better the vessels of mercy, even while they are still in this most wretched life, which is God's anger, and even while his anger is manifesting itself in this miserable corruption; for "in his anger he does not shut up his tender mercies." And since the truth of this divine canticle is quite satisfied by this application of it, there is no need to give it a reference to that place in which those who do not belong to the city of God are punished in eternal fire. But if any persist in extending its application to the torments of the wicked, let them at least understand it so that the anger of God, which has threatened the wicked with eternal punishment, shall abide, but shall be mixed with mercy to the extent of alleviating the torments which might justly be inflicted; so that the wicked shall neither wholly escape, nor only for a time endure these threatened pains, but that they shall be less severe and more endurable than they deserve. Thus the anger of God shall continue, and at the same time he will not in this anger shut up his tender mercies.

"O God, Thy way is in the Holy One." He is contemplating now the works of the mercy of God around us, out of these he is babbling, and in these affections he is exulting. At first he is beginning from thence, "Thy way is in the Holy One?" What is that way of Thine which is in the Holy One? "I am," He saith, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Return therefore, ye men, from your affections. ..."Who is a great God, like our God?" Gentiles have their affections regarding their gods, they adore idols, they have eyes and they see not; ears they have and they hear not; feet they have and they walk not. Why dost thou walk to a God that walketh not? I do not, he saith, worship such things, and what dost thou worship? The divinity which is there. Thou dost then worship that whereof hath been said elsewhere, "for the Gods of the nations are demons." Thou dost either worship idols, or devils. Neither idols, nor devils, he saith. And what dost thou worship? The stars, sun, moon, those things celestial. How much better Him that hath made both things earthly and things celestial. "Who is a great God like our God?"

"With my voice," he says, "to the Lord I have cried" [Psalm 77:1]. But many men cry unto the Lord for the sake of getting riches and avoiding losses, for the safety of their friends, for the security of their house, for temporal felicity, for secular dignity, lastly, even for mere soundness of body, which is the inheritance of the poor man. For such and such like things many men do cry unto the Lord; scarce one for the sake of the Lord Himself. For an easy thing it is for a man to desire anything of the Lord, and not to desire the Lord Himself; as if forsooth that which He gives could be sweeter than Himself that gives. Whosoever therefore does cry unto the Lord for the sake of any other thing, is not yet one that leaps over....He does indeed hearken to you at the time when thou dost seek Himself, not when through Himself thou dost seek any other thing. It has been said of some men, "They cried, and there was no one to save them; to the Lord, and He hearkened not unto them." For why? Because the voice of them was not unto the Lord. This the Scripture does express in another place, where it says of such men, "On the Lord they have not called." Unto Him they have not ceased to cry, and yet upon the Lord they have not called. What is, upon the Lord they have not called? They have not called the Lord unto themselves: they have not invited the Lord to their heart, they would not have themselves inhabited by the Lord. And therefore what has befallen them? "They have trembled with fear where fear was not." They have trembled about the loss of things present, for the reason that they were not full of Him, upon whom they have not called. They have not loved gratis, so that after the loss of temporal things they could say, "As it has pleased the Lord, so has been done, be the name of the Lord blessed." [Job 1:21] Therefore this man says, "My voice is unto the Lord, and He does hearken unto me." Let him show us how this comes to pass.

"You have led home Your people like sheep in the hand of Moses and of Aaron" [Psalm 77:20]. Why He has added this is somewhat difficult to discover....They banished Christ; sick as they were, they would not have Him for their Saviour; but He began to be among the Gentiles, and among all nations, among many peoples. Nevertheless, a remnant of that people has been saved. The ungrateful multitude has remained without, even the halting breadth of Jacob's thigh. [Genesis 32:32] For the breadth of the thigh is understood of the multitude of lineage, and among the greater part of the Israelites a certain multitude became vain and foolish, so as not to know the steps of Christ on the waters. "You have led home Your people like sheep," and they have not known You. Though You have done such great benefits unto them, hast divided sea, hast made them pass over dry land between waters, hast drowned in the waves pursuing enemies, in the desert hast rained manna for their hunger, leading them home "by the hand of Moses and Aaron:" still they thrust You from them, so that in the sea was Your Way, and Your steps they knew not.

With weariness he had pined away; by calling to mind God, he had been delighted, again in babbling he had fainted: what followeth? "All mine enemies have anticipated watches" (ver. 4). All mine enemies have kept watch over me; they have exceeded in keeping watch over me; in watching they have been beforehand with me. Where do they not lay traps? Have not mine enemies anticipated all watches? For who are these enemies, but they of whom the Apostle saith, "Ye have not wrestling against flesh and blood." ...Against the devil and his angels we are waging hostilities. Rulers of the world he hath called them, because they do themselves rule the lovers of the world. For they do not rule the world, as if they were rulers of heaven and earth: but he is calling sinners the world. ...With the devil and his angels there is no concord. They do themselves grudge us the kingdom of Heaven. They cannot at all be appeased towards us: because "all mine enemies have anticipated watches." They have watched more to deceive than I to guard myself. For how can they have done otherwise than anticipate watches, that have set everywhere scandals, everywhere traps? Weariness doth invest the heart, we have to fear lest sorrow swallow us up: in joy to fear lest the spirit faint in babbling: "all mine enemies have anticipated watches." In fine, in the midst of that same babbling, whiles thou art speaking, and art speaking without fear, how much is oft-times found which enemies would lay hold of and censure, whereon they would even found accusation and slander-"he said so, he thought so, he spake so!" What should man do, save that which followeth? "I have been troubled, and I spake not." Therefore when he was troubled, lest in his babbling enemies anticipating watches should seek and find slanders, he spake not. ...

"You have redeemed in Your arm Your people" [Psalm 77:15]. "With Your arm," that is, with Your power. "And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" [Isaiah 53:1] "You have redeemed in Your arm Your people, the sons of Israel and of Joseph." How as if two peoples, "the sons of Israel and of Joseph"? Are not the sons of Joseph among the sons of Israel?...He has admonished us of some distinction to be made. Let us search out our spirit, perchance God has placed there something— God whom we ought even by night to seek with our hands, in order that we may not be deceived— perchance we shall discover even ourselves in this distinction of "sons of Israel and of Joseph." By Joseph He has willed another people to be understood, has willed that the people of the Gentiles be understood. Why the people of the Gentiles by Joseph? Because Joseph was sold into Egypt by his brethren. [Genesis 37:28] That Joseph whom the brethren envied, and sold him into Egypt, when sold into Egypt, toiled, was humbled; when made known and exalted, flourished, reigned. And by all these things he has signified what? What but Christ sold by His brethren, banished from His own land, as it were into the Egypt of the Gentiles? There at first humbled, when the Martyrs were suffering persecutions: now exalted, as we see; inasmuch as there has been fulfilled in Him, "There shall adore Him all kinds of the earth, all nations shall serve Him." Therefore Joseph is the people of the Gentiles, but Israel the people of the Hebrew nation. God has redeemed His people, "the sons of Israel and of Joseph." By means of what? By means of the corner stone, [Ephesians 2:20] wherein the two walls have been joined together.

"The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel" [Psalm 77:18]. What is this? How are we to understand it? May the Lord give aid. When boys we were wont to imagine, whenever we heard thunderings from Heaven, that carriages were going forth as it were from the stables. For thunder does make a sort of rolling like carriages. Must we return to these boyish thoughts, in order to understand, "the voice of Your thunder is in the wheel," as though God has certain carriages in the clouds, and the passing along of the carriages does raise that sound? Far be it. This is boyish, vain, trifling. What is then, "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel"? Your voice rolls. Not even this do I understand. What shall we do? Let us question Idithun himself, to see whether perchance he may himself explain what he has said: "The voice," he says, "of Your thunder is in the wheel." I do not understand. I will hear what you say, "Your lightnings have appeared to the round world." Say then, I had no understanding. The round world is a wheel. For the circuit of the round world is with reason called also an "orb:" whence also a small wheel is called an "orbiculus." "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel:" Your "lightnings have appeared to the round world." Those clouds in a wheel have gone about the round world, have gone about with thundering and with lightning, they have shaken the abyss, with commandments they have thundered, with miracles they have lightened. "Unto every land has gone forth the sound of them, and unto the ends of the orb the words of them." "The land has been moved and made to tremble:" that is, all men that dwell in the land. But by a figure the land itself is sea. Why? Because all nations are called by the name of sea, inasmuch as human life is bitter, and exposed to storms and tempests. Moreover if you observe this, how men devour one another like fishes, how the stronger does swallow up the weaker— it is then a sea, unto it the Evangelists went.

"Or will God forget to be merciful?" (ver. 9). In thee, from thee unto another there is no mercy unless God bestow it on thee: and shall God Himself forget mercy? The stream runneth: shall the spring itself be dried up? "Or shall God forget to be merciful: or shall He keep back in anger His mercies?" That is, shall He be so angry, as that He will not have mercy? He will more easily keep back anger than mercy.

It is quite in vain, then, that some--indeed very many--yield to merely human feelings and deplore the notion of the eternal punishment of the damned and their interminable and perpetual misery. They do not believe that such things will be. Not that they would go counter to divine Scripture--but, yielding to their own human feelings, they soften what seems harsh and give a milder emphasis to statements they believe are meant more to terrify than to express the literal truth. "God will not forget," they say, "to show mercy, nor in his anger will he shut up his mercy." This is, in fact, the text of a holy psalm. But there is no doubt that it is to be interpreted to refer to those who are called "vessels of mercy," those who are freed from misery not by their own merits but through God's mercy. Even so, if they suppose that the text applies to all men, there is no ground for them further to suppose that there can be an end for those of whom it is said, "Thus these shall go into everlasting punishment." Otherwise, it can as well be thought that there will also be an end to the happiness of those of whom the antithesis was said: "But the righteous into life eternal." But let them suppose, if it pleases them, that, for certain intervals of time, the punishments of the damned are somewhat mitigated. Even so, the wrath of God must be understood as still resting on them. And this is damnation--for this anger, which is not a violent passion in the divine mind, is called "wrath" in God. Yet even in his wrath--his wrath resting on them--he does not "shut up his mercy." This is not to put an end to their eternal afflictions, but rather to apply or interpose some little respite in their torments. For the psalm does not say, "To put an end to his wrath," or, "After his wrath," but, "In his wrath." Now, if this wrath were all there is in man's damnation, and even if it were present only in the slightest degree conceivable--still, to be lost out of the Kingdom of God, to be an exile from the City of God, to be estranged from the life of God, to suffer loss of the great abundance of God's blessings which he has hidden for those who fear him and prepared for those who hope in him--this would be a punishment so great that, if it be eternal, no torments that we know could be compared to it, no matter how many ages they continued.

"I have thought on ancient days" [Psalm 77:5]. Now he, as if he were one who had been beaten out of doors, has taken refuge within: he is conversing in the secret place of his own heart. And let him declare to us what he is doing there. It is well with him. Observe what things he is thinking of, I pray you. He is within, in his own house he is thinking of ancient days. No one says to him, you have spoken ill: no one says to him, you have spoken much: no one says to him, you have thought perversely. Thus may it be well with him, may God aid him: let him think of the ancient days, and let him tell us what he has done in his very inner chamber, whereunto he has arrived, over what he has leaped, where he has abode. "I have thought on ancient days; and of eternal years I have been mindful." What are eternal years? It is a mighty thought. See whether this thought requires anything but great silence. Apart from all noise without, from all tumult of things human let him remain quiet within, that would think of those eternal years. Are the years wherein we are eternal, or those wherein our ancestors have been, or those wherein our posterity are to be? Far be it that they should be esteemed eternal. For what part of these years does remain? Behold we speak and say, "in this year:" and what have we got of this year, save the one day wherein we are. For the former days of this year have already gone by, and are not to be had; but the future days have not yet come. In one day we are, and we say, in this year: nay rather say thou, today, if you desire to speak of anything present. For of the whole year what have you got that is present? Whatsoever thereof is past, is no longer; whatsoever thereof is future, is not yet: how then, "this year"? Amend the expression: say, today. You speak truth, henceforth I will say, "today." Again observe this too, how today the morning hours have already past, the future hours have not yet come. This too therefore amend: say, in this hour. And of this hour what have you got? Some moments thereof have already gone by, those that are future have not yet come. Say, in this moment. In what moment? While I am uttering syllables, if I shall speak two syllables, the latter does not sound until the former has gone by: in a word, in that same one syllable, if it chance to have two letters, the latter letter does not sound, until the former has gone by. What then have we got of these years? These years are changeable: the eternal years must be thought on, years that stand, that are not made up of days that come and depart; years whereof in another place the Scripture says to God, "But You are the Self-same, and Your years shall not fail." On these years this man that leaps over, not in babbling without, but in silence has thought.

"And I have meditated in the night with my heart" (ver. 6). No slanderous person seeketh for snares in his words, in his heart he hath meditated. "I babbled." Behold there is the former babbling. Watch again, that thy spirit faint not. I did not, he saith, I did not so babble as if it were abroad: in another way now. How now? "I did babble, and did search out my spirit." If he were searching the earth to find veins of gold, no one would say that he was foolish; nay, many men would call him wise, for desiring to come at gold: how great treasures hath a man within, and he diggeth not! This man was examining his spirit, and was speaking with that same his spirit, and in the very speaking he was babbling. He was questioning himself, was examining himself, was judge over himself. And he continueth; "I did search my spirit." He had to fear lest he should stay within his own spirit: for he had babbled without; and because all his enemies had anticipated watches, he found there sorrow, and his spirit fainted. He that did babble without, lo, now doth begin to babble within in safety, where being alone in secret, he is thinking on eternal years. ...

..."My soul hath refused to be comforted" (ver. 2). So great weariness did here possess me, that my soul did close the door against all comfort. Whence such weariness to him? It may be that his vineyard hath been hailed on, or his olive hath yielded no fruit, or the vintage hath been interrupted by rain. Whence the weariness to him? Hear this out of another Psalm. For therein is the voice of the same: "weariness hath bowed me down, because of sinners forsaking Thy law." He saith then that he was overcome with so great weariness because of this sort of evil thing; so as that his soul refused to be comforted. Weariness had well nigh swallowed him up, and sorrow had ingulfed him altogether beyond remedy, he refuseth to be comforted. What then remained? In the first place, see whence he is comforted. Had he not waited for one who might condole with him? ..."I have been mindful of God, and I have been delighted" (ver. 3). My hands had not wrought in vain, they had found a great comforter. While not being idle, "I have been mindful of God, and I have been delighted." God must therefore be praised, of whom this man being mindful, hath been delighted, and hath been comforted in sorrowful case, and refreshed when safety was in a manner despaired of: God must therefore be praised. In fine, because he hath been comforted, in continuation he saith, "I have babbled." In that same comfort being made mindful of God, I have been delighted, and have "babbled." What is, "I have babbled"? I have rejoiced, I have exulted in speaking. For babblers they are properly called, that by the common people are named talkative, who at the approach of joy are neither able nor willing to be silent. This man hath become such an one. And again he saith what? "And my spirit hath fainted."

"In the day of tribulation I have sought out God" (ver. 2). Who art thou that doest this thing? In the day of thy tribulation take heed what thou seekest out. If a jail be the cause of tribulation, thou seekest to get forth from jail: if fever be the cause of tribulation, thou seekest health: if hunger be the cause of tribulation, thou seekest fulness: if losses be the cause of tribulation, thou seekest gain: if expatriation be the cause of tribulation, thou seekest the home of thy flesh. And why should I name all things, or when could I name all things? Dost thou wish to be one leaping over? In the day of thy tribulation seek out God: not through God some other thing, but out of tribulation God, that to this end God may take away tribulation, that thou mayest without anxiety cleave unto God. "In the day of my tribulation, I have sought out God:" not any other thing, but "God I have sought out." And how hast thou sought out? "With my hands in the night before Him." ...In this tribulation therefore, that is to say in this life, this man that leapeth over hath sought out God. How? "With my hands," he saith. What is, "with my hands"? With my works. For he was not seeking any thing corporeal, so that he might find and handle something which he had lost, so that he might seek with hands coin, gold, silver, vesture, in short everything which can be held in the hands. ...What then, to us belongeth not the seeking with hands? It belongeth to us, as I have said, to seek with works. When so? "In the night." What is, "in the night"? In this age. For it is night until there shine forth day in the glorified advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. ...There is therefore to come day after this night, meanwhile in this night a lantern is not lacking. ...In this then which is now day and yet night; night in comparison with the future day for which we yearn, day in comparison with the past night which we have renounced: in this night then, I say, let us seek God with our hands. Let not works cease, let us seek God, be there no idle yearning. If we are in the way, let us expend our means in order that we may be able to reach the end. With hands let us seek God. ..."With my hands in the night before Him, and I have not been deceived."

Just now in that reading, which most recently sounded in your ears, what did you hear Thomas saying? I do not believe unless I touch. And the Lord to Thomas himself: Come, touch, put your hands into my side, and do not be unbelieving but believing. He said, If you think it too little that I offer myself to your eyes, I offer myself also to your hands. For perhaps you are one of those who sing in the Psalm: In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord with my hands, and my hands were stretched out in the night without ceasing. Why was he seeking with his hands? Because he was seeking in the night. What does it mean, he was seeking in the night? He was carrying the darkness of disbelief in his heart. However, this happened not only for himself but also for those who were going to deny the true flesh of the Lord. For Christ could have healed the wounds of his flesh in such a way that no marks of the scars would appear: he could, therefore, not bear the marks of the nails on his limbs, not bear the mark of the wound in his side; but those scars were allowed to remain in the flesh so that the wound of disbelief in human hearts would be removed, and the signs of the wounds would cure true wounds.

"And I said." Now leaping over himself he hath said what? "Now I have begun," when I had gone out even from myself. Here henceforth there is no danger: for even to remain in myself, was danger. "And I said, Now I have begun: this is the changing of the right hand of the Lofty One." Now the Lofty One hath begun to change me: now I have begun something wherein I am secure: now I have entered a certain palace of joys, wherein no enemy is to be feared: now I have begun to be in that region, where all mine enemies do not anticipate watches. "Now I have begun: this is the changing of the right hand of the Lofty One."

"You are the God that doest wonderful things alone" [Psalm 77:14]. You are indeed a great God, doing wonderful things in body, in soul; alone doing them. The deaf have heard, the blind have seen, the feeble have recovered, the dead have risen, the paralytic have been strengthened. But these miracles were at that time performed on bodies, let us see those wrought on the soul. Sober are those that were a little before drunken, believers are those that were a little before worshippers of idols: their goods they bestow on the poor that did rob before those of others...."Wonderful things alone." Moses too did them, but not alone: Elias too did them, even Eliseus did them, the Apostles too did them, but no one of them alone. That they might have power to do them, You were with them: when You did them they were not with You. For they were not with You when You did them, inasmuch as You made even these very men. How "alone"? Is it perchance the Father, and not the Son? Or the Son, and not the Father? Nay, but Father and Son and Holy Ghost. For it is not three Gods but one God that does wonderful things alone, and even in this very leaper-over. For even his leaping over and arriving at these things was a miracle of God: when he was babbling within with his own spirit, in order that he might leap over even that same spirit of his, and might delight in the works of God, he then did wonderful things himself. But God has done what? "You have made known unto the people Your power." Thence this congregation of Asaph leaping over; because He has made known in the peoples His virtue. What virtue of His has He made known in the peoples? "But we preach Christ crucified,...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." [1 Corinthians 1:23] If then the virtue of God is Christ, He has made known Christ in the peoples. Do we not yet perceive so much as this; and are we so unwise, are we lying so much below, do we so leap over nothing, as that we see not this?

And he continues how? "The waters have seen You, O God, and they have feared and the abysses have been troubled" [Psalm 77:16]. What are the waters? The peoples. What are these waters has been asked in the Apocalypse, [Revelation 17:15] the answer was, the peoples. There we find most clearly waters put by a figure for peoples. But above he had said, "You have made known in the peoples Your virtue." With reason therefore, "the waters have seen You, and they have feared." They have been changed because they have feared. What are the abysses? The depths of waters. What man among the peoples is not troubled, when the conscience is smitten? You seek the depth of the sea, what is deeper than human conscience? That is the depth which was troubled, when God redeemed with His arm His people. In what manner were the abysses troubled? When all men poured forth their consciences in confession.

In praises of God, in confessions of sins, in hymns and in songs, in prayers, "There is a multitude of the sound of waters. The clouds have uttered a voice" [Psalm 77:17]. Thence that sound of waters, thence the troubling of the abysses, because "the clouds have uttered a voice." What clouds? The preachers of the word of truth. What clouds? Those concerning which God does menace a certain vineyard, which instead of grape had brought forth thorns and He says, "I will command My clouds, that they rain no rain upon it." [Isaiah 5:6] In a word, the Apostles forsaking the Jews, went to the Gentiles: in preaching Christ among all nations, "the clouds have uttered a voice." "For Your arrows have gone through." Those same voices of the clouds He has again called arrows. For the words of the Evangelists were arrows. For these things are allegories. For properly neither an arrow is rain, nor rain is an arrow: but yet the word of God is both an arrow because it does smite; and rain because it does water. Let no one therefore any longer wonder at the troubling of the abysses, when "Your arrows have gone through." What is, "have gone through"? They have not stopped in the ears, but they have pierced the heart.

"I have been mindful of the works of the Lord." Now behold him roaming among the works of the Lord. For he was babbling without, and being made sorrowful thereby his spirit fainted: he babbled within with his own heart, and with his spirit, and having searched out that same spirit he was mindful of the eternal years, was mindful of the mercy of the Lord, how God will not repel him for everlasting; and he began now fearlessly to rejoice in His works, fearlessly to exult in the same. Let us hear now those very works, and let us too exult. But let even us leap over in our affections, and not rejoice in things temporal. For we too have our bed. Why do we not enter therein? Why do we not abide in silence? Why do we not search out our spirit? Why do we not think on the eternal years? Why do we not rejoice in the works of God? In such sort now let us hear, and let us take delight in Himself speaking, in order that when we shall have departed hence, we may do that which we used to do while He spake; if only we are making the beginning of Him whereof he spake in, "Now I have begun." To rejoice in the works of God, is to forget even thyself, if thou canst delight in Him alone. For what is a better thing than He? Dost thou not see that, when thou returnest to thyself, thou returnest to a worse thing? "For I shall be mindful from the beginning of Thy wonderful works."

And you have found what? "God will not repel for everlasting" [Psalm 77:7]. Weariness he had found in this life; in no place a trustworthy, in no place a fearless comfort. Unto whatsoever men he betook himself, in them he found scandal, or feared it. In no place therefore was he free from care. An evil thing it was for him to hold his peace, lest perchance he should keep silence from good words; to speak and babble without was painful to him, lest all his enemies, anticipating watches, should seek slanders in his words. Being exceedingly straitened in this life, he thought much of another life, where there is not this trial. And when is he to arrive there? For it cannot but be evident that our suffering here is the anger of God. This thing is spoken of in Isaiah, "I will not be an avenger unto you for everlasting, nor will I be angry with you at all times." [Isaiah 57:16] ...Will this anger of God always abide? This man has not found this in silence. For he says what? "God will not repel for everlasting, and He will not add any more that it should be well-pleasing to Him still." That is, that it should be well-pleasing to Him still to repel, and He will not add the repelling for everlasting. He must needs recall to Himself His servants, He must needs receive fugitives returning to the Lord, He must needs hearken to the voice of them that are in fetters. "Or unto the end will He cut off mercy from generation to generation?" [Psalm 77:8].

"Your way is in the sea" [Psalm 77:19]. But now Your way was in the Holy One, now "Your way is in the sea:" because the Holy One Himself is in the sea, and with reason even did walk upon the waters of the sea. [Matthew 14:25] "Your way is in the sea," that is, Your Christ is preached among the Gentiles...."Your way is in the sea, and Your paths in many waters," that is, in many peoples. "And Your footsteps will not be known." He has touched certain, and wonder were it if it be not those same Jews. Behold now the mercy of Christ has been so published to the Gentiles, that "Your way is in the sea. Your footsteps will not be known." How so, by whom will they not be known, save by those who still say, Christ has not yet come? Why do they say, Christ has not yet come? Because they do not yet recognise Him walking on the sea.

"And I will meditate on all Your works, and on Your affections I will babble" [Psalm 77:12]. Behold the third babbling! He babbled without, when he hinted; he babbled in his spirit within, when he advanced: he babbled on the works of God, when he arrived at the place toward which he advanced. "And on Your affections:" not on any affections. What man does live without affections? And do ye suppose, brethren, that they who fear God, worship God, love God, have not any affections? Will you indeed suppose and dare to suppose, that painting, the theatre, hunting, hawking, fishing, engage the affections, and the meditation on God does not engage certain interior affections of its own, while we contemplate the universe, and place before our eyes the spectacle of the natural world, and therein labour to discover the Maker, and find Him nowhere unpleasing, but pleasing above all things?

What mind can understand this mystery, what tongue has the capability of explaining this grace? Iniquity turns back into innocence, oldness into newness. Strangers come into adoption, and foreigners enter on an inheritance. Godless people have started to be just, the covetous to be beneficent, the incontinent to be chaste, the "earthly" to be "heavenly." What has effected "this change" but the "right hand of the Most High"? For "the Son of God came to undo the devil's works." He grafted himself into us and us into himself in such a way that God's descent to human affairs became the elevation of human beings to those divine.

For immediately a man remembereth God, if it be that the remembrance of Him hath been accurately depicted in his soul, he is greatly moved and troubled, and he is filled with fear and trembling, and stupefaction rusheth upon him suddenly because of his former contempt; even as saith the holy Prophet who knew how to fear God, and who had felt what things the fear of God worketh in the soul, "I remembered God, and I was troubled." And behold the remembrance of God should not be one of trouble; O holy Prophet, and why wast thou troubled at the remembrance of Him? And why did the beloved remembrance of Him clothe thee with trembling? "Because I have sinned against Him, and I remembered mine offences, and I became mindful of the Judge, and I was filled with fear; I considered my sins and His vengeance, and the remembrance of Him troubled me." Wheresoever the conscience is pricked by sin, there doth fear, the remembrance of the Judge, dwell; for the offender who remembereth the Judge is troubled, and the evildoer is filled with trembling at the remembrance of punishment. It was for this reason that the Prophet said, "At the remembrance of God I am troubled. I meditate and my spirit is overwhelmed. Giddiness hath seized my eyes; I am silent and I speak not. I have considered the days of old, and I have remembered the years which are past. I have meditated in the night season, and I have communed with my heart, and examined my spirit, and said, Hath the Lord forgotten me for ever? Will He be favourable unto me no more?" With such thoughts as these did the prophet of God keep watch, and he prayed upon the cushions of his bed as in the church of the saints, being mindful of the things which he was bound to pay back to God. And he considered the days and the generations which had gone by, and he considered how each of the righteous men [of old] had in his time pleased God, and how and with what manner of life he had been victorious before Him. And these things which the Prophet called to remembrance were [intended] to make all those who were to come after him to remember, and to teach every man to fear God in this same manner, and [to teach] that a man himself should reckon with himself, and should consider also other men who were before him, and how they led their lives in all watchfulness.

Notice, too, what the psalmist said. When he told them, "On the day of my distress I sought God," he also added, "My hands were stretched out"; further, "by night" and also "before him." What is distress? What does it mean to stretch out one's hands, and what does it mean to do so before God? There is distress when we suffer annoyances and stretching out of hands [when we engage] in good deeds. Searching by night occurs in this world when the truth has not yet shed light. This world will certainly come to an end and will meet Christ [in judgment]. And when Christ comes, he will be like the sun shining in the hearts of all people. Why did he add "before him"? The person who stretches out his hands performs good deeds. However, the person who thus performs good deeds in order to please people does not do so before God; that is, in order to please him rather than human beings. Quite rightly, then, "I was not deceived" follows; a person who has sought God in this way [may say,] "I have not been deceived." He has found what he was seeking, and therefore he has told us, "Ask, seek, knock."

I cannot express in words, most excellent son, how much I am delighted with thy work and thy life. For on hearing of the power of a new miracle in our days, to wit that the whole nation of the Goths has through thy Excellency been brought over from the error of Arian heresy to the firmness of a right faith, one is disposed to exclaim with the prophet, "This is the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High." For whose breast, even though stony, would not, on hearing of so great a work, soften in praises of Almighty God and love of thy Excellency? As for me, I declare that it delights me often to tell these things that have been done through you to my sons who resort to me and often together with them to admire. These things also for the most part stir me up against myself, in that I languish sluggish and unprofitable in listless ease, while kings are labouring in the gathering together of souls for the gains of the heavenly country.

In the second place, a saint's life must be pure, that is, everything must be done out of love for God, and not out of love for something else, since all love is suspect if it is not addressed to God. That is why Augustine — and also Bernard in a letter to a certain monk — write that the apostles' love for the bodily Christ prevented the coming of the Spirit. What of other forms of love addressed to creatures? "My soul refuses comfort."