augustine expos 2 of ps 30

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1 TEXTUAL SOURCE: Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms 1-32, tr. Maria Boulding, OSB, The Works of Saint Augustine, vol. III (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2000): Exp. 2 of Ps. 30, pgs. 322-334 SHORT INTRODUCTION: In this text, Augustine (d. 430) expounds upon Psalm 30. For Augustine, the Psalms are spoke “in the person of Christ.” For Augustine, Christ is not merely the man who lived in Palestine two-thousand years ago. Christ is both head and members. Together, head and members make up the whole Christ, or as Augustine puts it, the totus Christus. All of the Psalms are spoken “in the person of Christ,” but some are spoken by the Head, others by the members, and yet others by both. The way he expounds these texts tell us something deeply about how he understood the Church. The intimacy between Christ and the members of his body is such that, when expounding these Psalms, he cannot invoke one without referencing the other. For Augustine, the fact that Christ, the Head, can speak in our words and that we can speak in his is itself a marvel that comes from the work of salvation. In the same way that the eternal Son of God emptied himself and became man, so that He can share in our human nature and we can therefore share in his divine light, so also the eternal Son of God emptied himself into human speech and into our words and we can share in his words as he shares in ours. For Augustine, the fact that the Psalms can be said either by Head or members or both is itself a marvelous work of the Incarnation, of our intimate union with God in Christ. Exposition 2 of Psalm 30 The First Sermon to the People †1 Verse 1 1. Let us try to probe the secrets of this psalm we have just sung, and chisel out from it a sermon to offer to your ears and minds. The title of the psalm is To the end, a psalm for David himself, an ecstasy. If we have come to know Christ, we know what to the end means, because the apostle tells us that Christ is the end of the law, so that everyone who believes may be justified (Rom 10:4). He is an “end” not in the sense of finishing it off, but of bringing it to its perfection. You know how we speak of the “end” of something in two different ways: either what puts out of existence something that did exist, or what brings to full perfection something that had only begun to exist. So you can see that to the end means “to Christ.” What does “ecstasy” imply? 2. A psalm for David, an ecstasy. The word ecstasy is Greek. Its meaning is best conveyed for us by the phrase “standing outside,” but ecstasy strictly means being out of one's mind, or “being beside oneself.” Now, we can think of two possible reasons for this condition: one is fear; the other is the contemplation of heavenly things so intense that the realities of life here below seem to slip out of the mind. The saints experienced this kind of ecstasy, all those saints at least to whom were revealed the hidden mysteries of God that transcend this world. Paul spoke about being beside oneself, being in ecstasy, and hinted that he was referring to himself, when he said, Whether we are beside ourselves, for God, or in our right mind, for you, the charity of Christ constrains us (2 Cor

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Readings for Jesus in Scripture and Tradition;prerequisite theology intro. course @ University of Notre Dame

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TEXTUAL SOURCE: Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms 1-32, tr. Maria Boulding, OSB, The Works of

Saint Augustine, vol. III (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2000): Exp. 2 of Ps. 30, pgs. 322-334

SHORT INTRODUCTION: In this text, Augustine (d. 430) expounds upon Psalm 30. For Augustine, the

Psalms are spoke “in the person of Christ.” For Augustine, Christ is not merely the man who lived in

Palestine two-thousand years ago. Christ is both head and members. Together, head and members

make up the whole Christ, or as Augustine puts it, the totus Christus. All of the Psalms are spoken “in the

person of Christ,” but some are spoken by the Head, others by the members, and yet others by both.

The way he expounds these texts tell us something deeply about how he understood the Church. The

intimacy between Christ and the members of his body is such that, when expounding these Psalms, he

cannot invoke one without referencing the other. For Augustine, the fact that Christ, the Head, can

speak in our words and that we can speak in his is itself a marvel that comes from the work of salvation.

In the same way that the eternal Son of God emptied himself and became man, so that He can share in

our human nature and we can therefore share in his divine light, so also the eternal Son of God emptied

himself into human speech and into our words and we can share in his words as he shares in ours. For

Augustine, the fact that the Psalms can be said either by Head or members or both is itself a marvelous

work of the Incarnation, of our intimate union with God in Christ.

Exposition 2 of Psalm 30 The First Sermon to the People†1

Verse 1

1. Let us try to probe the secrets of this psalm we have just sung, and chisel out from it a

sermon to offer to your ears and minds. The title of the psalm is To the end, a psalm for David

himself, an ecstasy. If we have come to know Christ, we know what to the end means, because the

apostle tells us that Christ is the end of the law, so that everyone who believes may be

justified (Rom 10:4). He is an “end” not in the sense of finishing it off, but of bringing it to its

perfection. You know how we speak of the “end” of something in two different ways: either what puts

out of existence something that did exist, or what brings to full perfection something that had only

begun to exist. So you can see that to the end means “to Christ.”

What does “ecstasy” imply?

2. A psalm for David, an ecstasy. The word ecstasy is Greek. Its meaning is best conveyed for

us by the phrase “standing outside,” but ecstasy strictly means being out of one's mind, or “being

beside oneself.” Now, we can think of two possible reasons for this condition: one is fear; the other is

the contemplation of heavenly things so intense that the realities of life here below seem to slip out

of the mind. The saints experienced this kind of ecstasy, all those saints at least to whom were

revealed the hidden mysteries of God that transcend this world. Paul spoke about being beside

oneself, being in ecstasy, and hinted that he was referring to himself, when he said, Whether we are

beside ourselves, for God, or in our right mind, for you, the charity of Christ constrains us (2 Cor

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5:13-14). What he means is: “If we choose to do nothing else, and simply contemplate what we see

when we are beside ourselves, we would not be available to you, but would be so rapt in heavenly

things as to seem uncaring about you. And when you with your uncertain steps tried to follow us to

those higher, heavenly realms, would we not still seem uncaring, but for the fact that the charity of

Christ constrains us, so that we consider ourselves your servants? And so out of gratitude to him

who had granted us higher graces we

― 322 ―

would not disdain lower needs for the sake of the weak, and would accommodate ourselves to people who could not join us in the vision of heavenly realities, like Christ, who being in the form of God, deemed it no robbery to be God's equal, yet emptied himself and took on the form of a slave” (Phil 2:6-7).†2 You notice that Paul says, Whether we are beside ourselves, for God, because God alone sees his own mystery and only he can reveal his secrets; we only see them in ecstasy. And the man who is speaking here is the one who testifies that he was seized and carried off to the third heaven, where he heard inexpressible words, which no human being may utter.†3 So completely was he beside himself that he could say, Whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows (2 Cor 12:2).

If the title of our psalm refers to ecstasy like this, if it envisages this mode of being beside

oneself, we must certainly expect its author to have weighty and profound things to say. The author

is the prophet, but more truly the Holy Spirit who spoke through the prophet.

Could Christ be genuinely afraid?

3. But suppose “ecstasy” means fear? The text of our psalm will have plenty of relevance to

this other meaning of the word, for it looks as though it is going to talk about the passion, in which

fear played a part. Whose fear? Christ's certainly, since the psalm was entitled, to the end, and we

understand “the end” to be Christ. Or our fear, perhaps? Surely we cannot attribute fear to Christ as

his passion loomed, when we know that was what he had come for? When he had reached that

suffering for which he had come, was he afraid of imminent death? Surely even if he had been

human only, not God, he could have been more joyful at the prospect of future resurrection than

fearful because he was about to die, couldn't he?

Head and body speak as one

But in fact he who deigned to assume the form of a slave, and within that form to clothe us

with himself, he who did not disdain to take us up into himself, did not disdain either to transfigure us

into himself, and to speak in our words, so that we in

― 323 ―

our turn might speak in his.†4 This is the wonderful exchange, the divine business deal, the transaction effected in this world by the heavenly dealer. He came to receive insults and give honors, he came to drain the cup of suffering and give salvation, he came to undergo death and give life. Facing death, then, because of what he had from us, he was afraid, not in himself but in us. When he said that his soul was sorrowful to the point of death,†5 we all unquestionably said it with him. Without him, we are nothing, but in him we too are Christ. Why? Because the whole Christ consists of Head and body. The Head is he who is the savior of his body,†6 he who has already

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ascended into heaven; but the body is the Church, toiling on earth. Were it not for the body's linkage with its Head through the bond of charity, so close a link that Head and body speak as one, he could not have rebuked a certain persecutor from heaven with the question, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:4). Already enthroned in heaven, Christ was not being touched by any human assailant, so how could Saul, by raging against the Christians on earth, inflict injury on him in any way? He does not say, “Why are you persecuting my saints?” or “my servants,” but Why are you persecuting me? This is tantamount to asking, “Why attack my limbs?” The Head was crying out on behalf of the members, and the Head was transfiguring the members into himself. It is like the tongue speaking in the foot's name. It may happen that someone's foot is trodden on in a crowd, and it hurts: the tongue cries out, “You”re treading on me!” It does not say, “You are treading on my foot”; it says it is being trodden on. Nobody has touched it, but the crushed foot is not severed from the tongue.

This will help us to understand about the ecstasy of fear. What am I to say, brothers and

sisters? If people who were destined to suffer were completely fearless, why would that prophecy

have been made to Peter, the one we heard on the feast day of the apostles? The Lord foretold

Peter's future passion by saying to him, When you were younger you fastened your belt and went

where you liked; but when you have grown old, someone else will fasten it for you, and take you

where you do not want to go. He said this, scripture asserts, indicating how Peter would die (Jn

21:18-19). If the apostle Peter was so perfect that he willingly went where he did not want to†7 (I

mean he did not want to die, but he did want to win his crown), why wonder if there is some fear

when the righteous suffer, even the saints? Fear springs

― 324 ―

from human weakness, hope from the divine promise. Your fear is your own, your hope is God's gift in you. In your fear you know yourself better, so that once you are set free you may glorify him who made you. Let human weakness be afraid, then, for divine mercy does not desert us in our fear.

So it is a frightened person who begins the psalm: In you, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me

not be shamed for ever. He or she is both afraid and trustful, you see; and you see too that the fear

is not devoid of hope. Even if there is some turmoil in this human heart, divine comfort has not left it

alone.

4. Christ is speaking here in the prophet; no, I would dare to go further and say simply, Christ

is speaking. He is going to say certain things in this psalm that we might think inappropriate to

Christ, to the excellent dignity of our Head, and especially to the Word who was God with God in the

beginning. Some of the things said here may not even seem suitable for him in the form of a servant,

that form which he took from the Virgin; and yet it is Christ who is speaking, because in the members

of Christ there is Christ. I want you to understand that Head and body together are called one Christ.

To make this quite clear he says, when speaking of marriage, They will be two in one flesh; so they

are two no longer, but one flesh (Mt 19:5-5). But perhaps it might be thought that he only means this

to apply to any ordinary marriage? No, because listen to what Paul tells us: They will be two in one

flesh, he says. This is a great mystery, but I am referring it to Christ and the Church (Eph 5:31-32).

So out of two people one single person comes to be, the single person that is Head and body,

Bridegroom and bride. The wonderful, surpassing unity of this person is celebrated also by the

prophet Isaiah, for Christ speaks prophetically in him too: The Lord has arrayed me like a

bridegroom adorned with his wreath, or a bride decked with her jewels (Is 61:10). He calls himself

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bridegroom and he calls himself bride: how can he say he is both bridegroom and bride, except

because they will be two in one flesh? And if two in one flesh, why not two in one voice? Let Christ

speak, then, because in Christ the Church speaks, and in the Church Christ speaks, and the body

speaks in the Head, and the Head in the body. Listen again to the apostle as he expresses this even

more plainly: As the body is a unit and has many members, and yet all the members of the body,

many though they be, are one body, so too is Christ (1 Cor 12:12). He was speaking about Christ's

members—the faithful, that is—but he did not say, “So too are Christ's members.” He called the

whole entity he had spoken about, “Christ.” A body is one single unit, with many members, but all the

members of the body, numerous as they are, constitute one body; and it is the same with Christ.

Many members, one body: Christ. All of us together with our Head are Christ, and without our Head

we are helpless. Why? Because united with our Head we are the vine, but if cut off from our Head

(God forbid!) we are only loppings, of no use to the vine-tenders and fit only for the bonfire. This is

why Christ himself says in the gospel, I am the vine, you are the branches, and my Father is the

vine-dresser; and he warns us, Without me you can do nothing(Jn 15:5.1). If we can achieve nothing

without you, Lord, we can do

― 325 ―

everything in you. Yes, because whatever work he does through us seems to be our work. He can do plenty, or rather everything, without us, but we can do nothing without him.

Verse 2. Profitable shame

5. Whether the speaker's ecstasy is the product of fear or of being beside himself, let him

speak on, then, because either way what is to be said befits him. Let us who are within Christ's body

say—and let us all say it as one, because we are a unity—In you, O Lord, I have put my trust; let me

not be shamed for ever. The shame I truly dread, he says, is the shame that lasts for eternity. There

is a temporary shame that is profitable to us, the shame of the mind that reviews its sins, and is

horrified by the review, and ashamed at the horror, and is shamed into correcting itself. This is why

the apostle too asks, What glory did you have in those doings of which you are now ashamed? (Rom

6:21); he is saying that the believers are ashamed not of their present gifts, but of their past sins. A

Christian does not fear that kind of shame; indeed, if we have not undergone it, we shall be

ashamed for ever. What is eternal shame? That of which scripture says, Their lawless actions will

convict them to their faces (Wis 4:20). The wicked flock will gather at the Lord's left hand as their

iniquities convict them to their faces and the goats are separated from the sheep, and they will hear

their sentence: Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil

and his angels.And if they ask why? I was hungry and you did not feed me (Mt 25:41.42). They were

contemptuous, then, when they refused food to Christ in his hunger, refused him a drink when he

was thirsty, gave him no clothing when he was naked, did not take him in when he was a traveler,

failed to visit him when he was sick; they were contemptuous then. But when this list begins to be

read out to them they will be ashamed, and this shame will last for all eternity. This is the shame that

the speaker in the psalm fears when he is either terrified out of his mind, or beside himself for God,

and prays, In you, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me not be shamed for ever.

Justification is God's work

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6. In your justice set me free, and rescue me, for if you take my “justice” into account, you

cannot but damn me. In your justice set me free. There is a justice that belongs to God, but becomes

ours as well when it is given to us. It is called God's justice to ensure that humans do not imagine

that they have any justice as from themselves. Paul affirms this by saying, When someone believes

in him who justifies the impious, that faith is reckoned as justice to the believer (Rom 4:5). What

does that mean, God who “justifies the impious”? It means he changes one who was impious into a

just person.

― 326 ―

The Jews, on the contrary, assumed that they were able to achieve perfect justice by their

own efforts, and in consequence they tripped over the stumbling-stone, the rock of scandal,†8 and

failed to recognize the grace of Christ. All they received was a law that could show them up as guilty,

not one by which they could be freed from their guilt. What does the apostle have to say about

that? I bear this witness against them: they have zeal for God, indeed, but it is not informed by

knowledge (Rom 10:2). What does he mean by saying that the Jews have zeal for God, but then

adding that it is not informed by knowledge? Listen: he goes on to point out the consequence of this

lack of knowledge: They failed to recognize the righteousness that comes from God, and by seeking

to set up a righteousness of their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness (Rom 10:3). If

their uninformed zeal for God consists in ignorance of God's justice and the wish to set up their own,

as though they could become just by their own efforts, it follows that the reason why they did not

recognize God's grace was that they did not want to be saved gratis. For who is saved gratis?

Everyone in whom the Savior has found nothing to crown, but only what he must condemn, one in

whom he has found nothing that deserves rewards but only what merits torments. If he is to act as

the law's provisions truly demand, the sin must be condemned. If he were to act on that principle,

whom could he acquit? He found all of us to be sinners; he alone, who found us sinners, himself

came without sin. The apostle confirms this: All have sinned, and are in need of the glory of

God (Rom 3:23). And what does that mean, are in need of the glory of God? That you need him to

set you free, for you cannot do it by yourself. Because you have no power to liberate yourself you

need a liberator. What have you to boast about? How can you give yourself airs about the law and

righteousness? Do you not see what the law collides with inside you, what it testifies about you, and

against you? Do you not hear someone fighting, confessing, and imploring help in the struggle? Do

you not hear the Lord's athlete begging the superintendent of the games to help him in his contest?

God does not look on as you compete, in the same way as the one who puts on the games watches

you if you are fighting in the amphitheatre. This man can award you the prize if you win, but cannot

help you if you are in danger. God does not look on like that. No, indeed not; notice what Paul says: I

take great delight in God's law as far as my inner self is concerned, but I am aware of a different law

in my members that opposes the law of my mind, and imprisons me under the law of sin inherent in

my members. Who will deliver me from this death-ridden body, wretch that I am? Only the grace of

God, through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:22-25). Why call it “grace”? Because it is given gratis.

And why is it given gratis? Because there were no preceding merits on your part; God's benefits

forestalled you. To him, then, be the glory, to him who sets us free, for all have sinned, and are in

need of the glory of God.

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― 327 ―

With this in mind, in you, O Lord, have I put my trust, not in myself. Let me not be shamed for

ever, because I trust in him who does not shame me.†9 In your justice set me free, and rescue

me. Because you have found in me no justice of my own, set me free in yours; let me be freed by

what renders me just, what makes a godless person godly, what enables a blind person to see, what

raises up one who is falling, what makes a mourner rejoice. That is what sets me free; I do not

liberate myself. In your justice set me free, and rescue me.

Verse 3. Time is very short

7. Bend your ear toward me. God did this when he sent Christ himself to us, for he sent one

who bent his head low and wrote in the earth when an adulterous woman was presented to him as

deserving of punishment.†10 Already he had bent down to the earth; for God had bent down to the

humans who had been told, Earth you are, and back to earth you shall go (Gn 3:19). God does not

bend his ear to us by some kind of shift in bodily position, nor is he confined by a determined bodily

shape, as we are. We must exclude any human fantasies of this kind when thinking about God. God

is Truth. Now truth is neither square, nor round, nor long. Truth is everywhere, if the eye of the heart

is open to it. But God bends his ear to us when he pours down his mercy upon us. What greater

mercy could there be, than that he should send his only Son, not to live with us, but to die for

us? Bend your ear toward me.

8. Make haste to rescue me. His prayer, make haste, is heard. This verb was used to help you

understand that the whole stretch of time during which the world rolls on its way, this time that

seems to us so long, is really no more than a moment. Anything that has an end is not long. The

time from Adam to the present day is over and done with, and certainly far more time has passed

than remains ahead, yet if Adam were still alive, and were to die today, what difference would it have

made to him to have been here so long, to have had such a long life? So why this prayer for haste?

Because the years are flying past, and what seems to you long-drawn is very brief in God's eyes. In

his ecstasy the psalmist had understood how quickly time passes.

You cannot escape from God

Make haste to rescue me. Be to me a protecting God, and a home of refuge to save me. Be a

home of refuge for me, O God my protector, a home of refuge; for sometimes I am in peril, and I

want to flee—but where? What place can I flee to,

― 328 ―

and be safe? A mountain? A cave somewhere? Some fortified building? What fortress can I hold? What defensive walls put up around me? Wherever I go, there is someone following me: myself. You can flee from anything and everything, poor mortal, except your conscience. Go into your house, lie down on your bed, seek the ultimate privacy: you will find no secret place to run to from your conscience, if your sins are gnawing you. But in saying, “Make haste to rescue me, and set me free by your justice, forgive my sins and build up your own justice in me,” he is saying, “You will be the

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home where I can take refuge, and to you I flee for safety; for where else can I run to, away from you?” If God is angry with you, where will you run? Listen to what is said in another psalm by someone who fears God: Whither shall I go from your spirit, and whither flee from your face? If I mount to heaven, you are there; if I sink down to hell, even there you are present (Ps 138(139):7-8). Wherever I go, I find you there. If you are angry, I find you as an avenger, if you are appeased, as a helper. Nothing is left to me but to flee, not from you but to you. My brothers and sisters, if any one of you is a servant, and you want to evade your master, you run to some place where your master is absent; but if you want to evade God, it is to the Lord that you must run, for there is no place where you can go to escape God. All things are immediately present and naked to the eyes of the Almighty.†11

The Lord is the good Samaritan

“Do you yourself be my home, then,” prays the psalm, “a home where I can take refuge. If I

have not been saved, how can I escape? Heal me, and I will take refuge in you. I cannot walk unless

you heal me, so how will I be able to run?” Where could a person go, or run to, if he was unable to

walk and lying half-dead in the road, after being wounded by robbers? A priest passed him by, a

Levite passed him by, but a Samaritan who chanced that way took pity on him (see Lk 10:30-35);

and this is our Lord, who took pity on the human race. The word “Samaritan” means “guardian.” And

who will guard us, if he abandons us? The Jews said to him, Are we not right to say that you are a

Samaritan, and that you have a demon? and they spoke truly, even though they meant it as

vilification. The Lord rejected one charge but embraced the other: I have no demon, he said (Jn

8:48-49); but he did not say, “I am no Samaritan,” because he wanted it to be understood that he is

our guardian. In his loving pity he drew near to the wounded traveler, healed him, took him to the

tavern, and lavished his mercy on him in every way. The patient can now walk, and therefore can

also run, and where should he run to, if not to God, where there is a home of refuge waiting for him?

― 329 ―

Verse 4. God our mother

9. You are my fortified place and my refuge. For the honor of your name you will be my

leader, and you will nourish me. Not for my deserts, but for the honor of your name, so that you may

be glorified; and not because I am worthy of it, you will be my leader, so that I do not stray away

from you; and you will nourish me, so that I may be strong enough to eat the food you give the

angels. He who has promised us the food of heaven has nourished us here below with milk, in his

motherly mercy. A nursing mother causes the food which her child is not yet capable of eating to

pass through her own flesh, and pours it out again as milk; the baby gets the same food he would

have received at table, but because it has passed through her flesh it is suitable for a young child.

So too the Lord put on flesh and came to us, to make his wisdom palatable for us as milk. The body

of Christ speaks here: You will nourish me.

Verse 5. Temptation

10. You will lead me out of this trap†12 they have hidden for me. Already there is a hint of the

passion here: you will lead me out of this trap they have hidden for me. But it does not refer only to

the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the devil has set his trap for all time. Woe betide anyone

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who falls into that trap; and fall into it anyone will, who does not trust in the Lord, and does not

say, In you, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me not be shamed for ever. In your justice set me free,

and rescue me. The enemy's trap is stretched out ready; there are twin loops in it, error and terror:

error to entice, terror to break and grip us. You must shut the door of greed against error, and the

door of fear against terror; and then you will be led clear of the trap.

Your Commander gave you an example of how to fight in this way. He deigned even to be

tempted for your sake, and displayed the example in himself. At first he was tempted by alluring

possibilities, as the devil tried the door of greed in him, suggesting, Say to these stones, “Become

loaves of bread.” Worship me, and I will confer these kingdoms on you. “Throw yourself down, for

scripture says, 'He has charged his angels to take care of you, and they will carry you in their hands,

so that you will not even stub your foot on a stone'” (Mt 4:3.9.6). All this was enticement, meant to

tempt him to greed. But when the devil discovered that in Christ, who was being tempted for us, the

door of greed was closed, he changed his tactics and tried the door of fear instead, preparing the

passion for him. That is why the evangelist ends the story with the words, when all the temptation

was finished, the

― 330 ―

devil left him, biding his time (Lk 4:13). What does that suggest, biding his time? That he meant to return and try the door of fear, having found the door of greed shut.

Now the whole body of Christ undergoes temptation to the very end. Think, my brothers and

sisters, how it was when some harmful measure was enacted against Christians. The whole body

was hit at once, the whole body took the thrust; that is why a psalm contained the words, I was

pushed at like a heap of sand to make me topple, but the Lord held me up (Ps 117(118):13). Then

when all those attempts to strike down the whole body were over, temptation began to assail

separate parts. The body of Christ is still tempted: although one church may not be suffering

persecution, another will be feeling the blows. It no longer has to suffer the fury of an emperor, but it

endures the rage of a wicked populace. How much devastation has been caused by mobs?†13How

much harm has been done to the Church by bad Christians? They are like the fish that were caught

in the net and became so numerous that they weighed down the fishermen's boats, on that occasion

when the Lord aided their catch before his passion.†14 A similar load of temptation is never lacking.

Let none of us tell ourselves, “This is not a time of temptation.” Any who think so are promising

themselves peace, but those who promise themselves peace are invaded unawares. Let the whole

body of Christ pray,You will lead me out of this trap they have hidden for me, for our Head has been

led out of the trap they concealed for him, those people we heard about just now in the gospel. They

were all ready to say, This is the heir. Come on, let's kill him and the inheritance will be for us. But

when the Lord questioned them they pronounced sentence against themselves. “What will the

landlord do to those rascally tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and let the

vineyard to other gardeners.” “What? Have you never read the text, The stone rejected by the

builders has become the headstone of the corner?” The phrase, rejected by the builders, has the

same implication as they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him (Mt 21:38.40-42.39). Christ

was delivered; our Head is there on high, and free. Let us cling to him now by love, so that later on

we may be even more strongly cemented to him by immortality; and let us all say, You will lead me

out of this trap they have hidden for me, for you are my protector.

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Verse 6. Christ is speaking in the psalms

11. Let us listen now to something our Lord said on the cross: Into your hands

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I commit my spirit (Lk 23:46). When we hear those words of his in the gospel, and recognize them as part of this psalm, we should not doubt that here in this psalm it is Christ himself who is speaking. The gospel makes it clear. He said, Into your hands I commit my spirit; and bowing his head he breathed forth his spirit (Lk 23:46; Jn 19:30). He had good reason for making the words of the psalm his own, for he wanted to teach you that in the psalm he is speaking. Look for him in it. Bear in mind how he wanted you to look for him in another psalm, the one “for his taking up in the morning,”†15 where he said, They dug holes in my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones. These same people looked on and watched me. They shared out my garments among them, and cast lots for my tunic (Ps 21:17-19(22:16-18)). He wanted to make sure you would understand that this whole prophecy was fulfilled in himself, so he made the opening verse of that same psalm his own cry: O God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Yet all the same he transfigured the body's cry as he made it his own, for the Father never did forsake his only Son. You have redeemed me, Lord God of truth, carrying through what you promised, unfailing in your pledge, O God of truth.

Verse 7. Futile preoccupations

12. You hate all those who pay futile regard to vain things. Who does so? Anyone who dies by

fearing death. Such a person tells lies out of fear of dying, and so dies before the time comes for

death, even though the object of the lies was to carry on living. You are afraid to die, and so you

want to tell lies, so you tell lies and you die! While attempting to evade one death, which you may

postpone but cannot banish altogether, you fall into two deaths, dying first in your soul and later in

your body. How does this come about, if not through paying futile regard to vain things? And all

because this passing day is pleasant to you, and those years that fly by are pleasant; yet you can

catch hold of no part of them and, what is more, you are caught yourself. You hate all those who pay

futile regard to vain things. But I, who do not, have put my trust in the Lord. If you put your trust in

money, you are paying futile regard to vain things; if you put your trust in high office or some exalted

rank in human government, you are paying futile regard to vain things; if you put your trust in some

powerful friend, you are paying futile regard to vain things. When you put your trust in all these,

either you expire, and leave them all behind, or they will crumble while you are still alive, and what

you trusted will have let you down. Isaiah points to futility like this: All flesh is but grass, and all its

splendor like the flower of the field; the grass is dried up and its flower wilted, but the word of the

Lord abides for ever (Is 40:6-8). For my part, I do not put my trust in empty things as they do, nor

pay futile regard to them; I have put my trust in the Lord, who is not empty.

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Verse 8. The soul's constraints

13. I will exult and be glad in your mercy, not in any righteousness of my own. Because you

have looked kindly on my humble state, you have saved my soul from its constraints, and have not

shut me up into the power of the enemy. What are these constraints, from which we want our souls

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plucked free? Could anyone list them? Or heap them up, so that we can size them aright? Or

suggest suitable means to avoid or escape them? The first constraint that hems in the human race,

and a harsh one it is, is our ignorance of anyone else's heart, our tendency often to think badly of a

faithful friend and to value an unfaithful one. This is a hard constraint indeed! What are you going to

do about it, to gain insight into the hearts of others? What kind of eye can you bring to the job, you

weak, pathetic mortals? What do you propose to do today, to read the heart of your brother or

sister? You have not the wherewithal.

Another major constraint is that you do not even see what your own heart will be like

tomorrow. And what am I to say about the constraints of mortality itself? We are constrained to die,

and no one wants to. Nobody wants something that constrains us all. No one wants something that

will happen whether we like it or not. That is a mighty constraint, to dislike something unavoidable. If

it were possible, we would certainly choose not to die; we would wish to become like the angels, but

by some transformation that did not involve dying, as the apostle suggests: We have a building from

God, a home not made by hands, an everlasting home in heaven. We groan over our present

condition, longing to have our heavenly dwelling put on over this one, so that being clothed in it we

may not be found naked. Yes, we who are still in this earthly dwelling groan under our burden; not

that we want to be stripped of it, but wishing to be invested with the other one on top, so that what is

mortal may be swallowed up by life (2 Cor 5:1-4). We want to reach God's kingdom, but not to travel

there through death; yet constraint stands there saying, “This way.” Do you hesitate to go that way,

poor mortal, when by that same route God has come to you?

Then what about the constraints of overcoming bad habits? Conquering a habit entails a hard

fight, as you well know. You see that your behavior is wrong, that it is detestable and makes you

unhappy, yet you go on behaving in the same way. You did so yesterday, and you will today. If you

are so uncomfortable when I put it to you like this, how much more uncomfortable does it make you

to think about it yourself? Yet you will go on doing it. What is dragging you along? Who is leading

you off captive? Could it be the law in your members that is in conflict with the law in your mind? If

so, cry out, Who will deliver me from this death-ridden body, wretch that I am? Only the grace of

God, through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:24-25). Then the psalm-verse we have just read will be

true for you: I have put my trust in the Lord. I will exult and be glad in your mercy. Because you have

looked kindly on my humble state, you have saved my soul from its constraints. How was it

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saved from its constraints? Only because he looked kindly on your humble state. He who had the power to free you from constraints would not have heard your plea unless you had first humbled yourself, as that man humbled himself who cried, Who will deliver me from this death-ridden body, wretch that I am? But the Jews were not humbled, the Jews who failed to recognize the righteousness that comes from God, and by seeking to set up a righteousness of their own, did not submit to God's righteousness (Rom 10:3).

Verse 9. Freedom from the real enemy

14. You have not shut me up into the clutches of the enemy. This does not mean the clutches

of your neighbor, or your business-partner, or someone you fought with and wounded, or someone

you may have chanced to injure in your town. For people like that we are bound to pray.†16 We have

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a different enemy, the devil, the ancient serpent. All of us are set free from his clutches when we die,

provided we meet death well; but any who die a bad death, who die in their iniquities, are shut up

into his power, to be damned with him at the end. The Lord our God delivers us from the clutches of

our enemy, but the enemy tries to entrap us through our lusts. When these lusts are powerful, and

we submit to them, they are justly called constraints. So if God sets us free from our constraints,

what will there be in us for the enemy to grab? How can we then be imprisoned in his clutches?

15. You have guided my feet into open spaces. Well, yes, the path is narrow.†17 To the

laborious plodder it is narrow, but to the lover it is wide. The same path which seemed narrow now

seems to have widened. You have guided my feet into open spaces, says the psalm, for if my feet

were squeezed too close together they might tread on each other and trip me up. So what does he

mean by saying, You have guided my feet into open spaces? It must mean, “You have made right

living easy for me, though it was once so difficult.” That is what the line means: you have guided my

feet into open spaces.

Verses 10-11. A hurried conclusion

16. Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Under your anger my eye is confused, my

soul too and my belly. For my soul faltered in the pain, and my years faded amid sighs. This will

have to do for now, dearest friends.†18 With the Lord's help I may be able to make up what is still

due, and go home with the psalm finished.†19

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FOOTNOTES

†1 Probably preached at a country church near Carthage, possibly in the summer of 411.

†2 The preceding passage could be understood in a slightly different way: “… when you with

your uncertain steps tried to follow us to those higher, heavenly realms, would we consider

ourselves your servants? Would we not deem it right, and not ungrateful to him who had granted us

higher graces, to refuse to neglect lower needs and our ministry to the weak? Would we

accommodate ourselves to people who could not join us in the vision of heavenly realities—would

we, if the charity of Christ did not constrain us? This is the Christ who….”, etc.

†3 See 2 Cor 12:2.4.

†4 Here and in the following paragraphs Augustine articulates his most profound conviction on

the psalms: the “I” who speaks is always Christ, either Christ in his own person, or Christ in the

person of his members, or the totus Christus, Head and members, Bridegroom and bride. The texts

he quotes (Acts 9:4; Eph 5:31-32; Is 61:10) are among his favorites for making the point, and recur

frequently, as do the key phrases, transfigurare nos in se, una quaedam persona, una vox.

†5 See Mt 26:38

†6 See Eph 5:23.

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†7 Variants: “unwillingly went where he did not want to”; “went as though willingly where he did

not want to”; “was led where he did not want to go, though also willing it.”

†8 See Rom 9:32.

†9 Variant: “because whoever trusts in him is not shamed.”

†10 See Jn 8:6.

†11 See Heb 4:13.

†12 Muscipula, literally a mousetrap.

†13 Perhaps an allusion to the Circumcellions; see note at Exposition of Psalm 10, 5.

†14 See Lk 5:7.

†15 See the title of Psalm 21(22).

†16 See Mt 5:44.

†17 See Mt 7:14.

†18 Caritati vestrae.

†19 Apparently the foregoing sermon, and the two following sermons on the same psalm, were

preached at some country church away from Hippo.