[1176] Lat. XL.
[1177] Gen. ii. 24; Eph. v. 31.
[1178] [He begins with the "Antiphon;" i.e., a verse selected from the Psalm as expressing the chief thought of the Psalmist or the spirit of the festival. This was interjected, at set places, in response to the reader.--C.]
[1179] John xii. 24.
[1180] Ps. cxvi. 15.
[1181] In the City of God, b. xviii. c. 53, 54, he mentions that the heathens had some Greek verses, in the form of an oracle, to the effect that the magical arts of Peter had prevailed to procure divine worship to Christ for 365 years, after which it was to terminate. This period, he says, if computed from the first Pentecost after the Resurrection, would expire in the consulship of Honorius and Eutychianus, A.D. 398. The next year, which ought to have seen paganism re-established, was marked by the demolition of idols by imperial authority.--Ben. [See vol. ii. p. 394, this series.--C.]
[1182] Ps. xli. 1.
[1183] 2 Cor. viii. 9.
[1184] Col. ii. 3.
[1185] Or "It," reading as Ben. Oxf. mss. have "not in that He is Man; and that which in Him was human, in thee He will raise again, and change to better, and lift to heaven." The future, "shall lift," is probably right. Ed. Ben. gives no various readings here; our mss. vary somewhat.
[1186] Matt. xxv. 35, 36.
[1187] Matt. xiii. 28.
[1188] Oxf. mss. "It is fulfilled in the Name," etc.
[1189] Ps. xci. 13.
[1190] 1 Tim. iv. 8.
[1191] Mark ii. 11.
[1192] Al. "he complained."
[1193] Heb. xii. 6.
[1194] Gen. iii. 19.
[1195] [On the Antiphon, p. 128, supra.--C.]
[1196] Al. "if they entered in."
[1197] Matt. x. 24.
[1198] Matt. xiii. 30.
[1199] "Than," etc., added from Oxf. mss.
[1200] 1 Cor. i. 10.
[1201] Mark xii. 7.
[1202] John x. 18.
[1203] Ps. iii. 5.
[1204] Job ix. 24.
[1205] Rom. v. 14.
[1206] Gen. ii. 21.
[1207] Gen. iii. 20.
[1208] John vi. 70.
[1209] John xiii. 26.
[1210] Matt. xxvi. 49.
[1211] [He recurs to ver. 1.--C.]
[1212] John xi. 48.
[1213] Luke xxiii. 21.
[1214] [Circa A.D. 400. Very noteworthy. Till the middle of our century only three hundred were permitted to dwell there; now nearly twenty thousand are said to inhabit Jerusalem. Is it a sign? Luke xxi. 24.--C.]
[1215] Ps. cxviii. 12.
[1216] John ii. 19.
[1217] Matt. xxvii. 39, 40.
[1218] Gen. xxv. 13.
[1219] Capsarii.
[1220] [Notably with reference to the book of Daniel. See Pusey on Daniel the Prophet, p. viii. preface, and 1-8, ed. Oxford, 1864.--C.]
Psalm XLII. [1221]
1. We have undertaken the exposition of a Psalm corresponding to your own "longings," on which we propose to speak to you. For the Psalm itself begins with a certain pious "longing;" and he who sings so, says, "Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks, so longeth my soul after Thee, O God" (ver. 1). Who is it then that saith this? It is ourselves, if we be but willing! And why ask, who it is other than thyself, when it is in thy power to be the thing which thou art asking about? It is not however one individual, but it is "One Body;" but "Christ's Body is the Church." [1222] Such "longing" indeed is not found in all who enter the Church: let all however who have "tasted" the sweetness "of the Lord," [1223] and who own in Christ that for which they have a relish, think that they are not the only ones; but that there are such seeds scattered throughout "the field" of the Lord, this whole earth: and that there is a certain Christian unity, whose voice thus speaks, "Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks, so longeth my soul after Thee, O God." And indeed it is not ill understood as the cry of those, who being as yet Catechumens, [1224] are hastening to the grace of the holy Font. On which account too this Psalm is ordinarily [1225] chanted on those occasions, that they may long for the Fountain of remission of sins, even "as the hart for the water-brooks." Let this be allowed; and this meaning retain its place in the Church; a place both truthful and sanctioned by usage. [1226] Nevertheless, it appears to me, my brethren, that such "a longing" is not fully satisfied even in the faithful in Baptism: but that haply, if they know where they are sojourning, and whither they have to remove from hence, their "longing" is kindled in even greater intensity.
2. The title then of it is, "On the end: a Psalm for understanding for the sons of Korah." We have met with the sons of Korah in other titles of Psalms: [1227] and remember to have discussed and stated already the meaning of this name. Yet we must even now take notice of this title in such a way, that what we have said already should be no prejudice against our saying it again: for all were not present in every place where we said it. Now Korah may have been, as indeed he was, a certain definite person; and have had sons, who might be called "the sons of Korah;" let us however search for the secret of which this is the sacrament, that this name may bring to light the mystery with which it is pregnant. For there is some great mystery in the matter that the name "sons of Korah" is given to Christians. Why "sons of Korah"? They are "sons of the bridegroom, sons of Christ." [1228] Why then does "Korah" stand for Christ? Because "Korah" is equivalent to "Calvaria."...Therefore, the "sons of the bridegroom," the sons of His Passion, the sons redeemed by His Blood, the sons of His Cross, who bear on their forehead that which His enemies erected on Calvary, are called "the sons of Korah;" to them is this Psalm sung as a Psalm for "understanding." Let then our understanding be roused: and if the Psalm be sung to us, let us follow it with our "understanding."...Run to the brooks; long after the water-brooks. "With God is the fountain of Life;" a "fountain" that shall never be dried up: in His "Light" is a Light that shall never be darkened. Long thou for this light: for a certain fountain, a certain light, such as thy bodily eyes know not; a light to see which the inward eye must be prepared; a fountain, to drink of which the inward thirst is to be kindled. Run to the fountain; long for the fountain; but do it not anyhow, be not satisfied with running like any ordinary animal; run thou "like the hart." What is meant by "like the hart"? Let there be no sloth in thy running; run with all thy might: long for the fountain with all thy might. For we find in "the hart" an emblem of swiftness.
3. But perhaps Scripture meant us to consider in the stag not this point only, but another also. Hear what else there is in the hart. It destroys serpents, [1229] and after the killing of serpents, it is inflamed with thirst yet more violent; having destroyed serpents, it runs to "the water-brooks," with thirst more keen than before. The serpents are thy vices, destroy the serpents of iniquity; then wilt thou long yet more for "the Fountain of Truth." Perhaps avarice whispers in thine ear some dark counsel, hisses against the word of God, hisses against the commandment of God. And since it is said to thee, "Disregard this or that thing," if thou prefer working iniquity to despising some temporal good, thou choosest to be bitten by a serpent, rather than destroy it. Whilst, therefore, thou art yet indulgent to thy vice, thy covetousness or thy appetite, when am I to find in thee "a longing" such as this, that might make thee run to the water-brooks?...
4. There is another point to be observed in the hart. It is reported of stags...that when they either wander in the herds, or when they are swimming to reach some other parts of the earth, that they support the burdens of their heads on each other, in such a manner as that one takes the lead, and others follow, resting their heads upon him, as again others who follow do upon them, and others in succession to the very end of the herd; but the one who took the lead in bearing the burden of their heads, when tired, returns to the rear, and rests himself after his fatigue by supporting his head just as did the others; by thus supporting what is burdensome, each in turn, they both accomplish their journey, and do not abandon each other. Are they not a kind of "harts" that the Apostle addresses, saying, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the Law of Christ"? [1230] ...
5. "My soul is athirst for the living God" (ver. 2). What I am saying, that "as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so longs my soul after Thee, O God," means this, "My soul is athirst for the living God." For what is it athirst? "When shall I come and appear before God?" This it is for which I am athirst, to "come and to appear before Him." I am athirst in my pilgrimage, in my running; I shall be filled on my arrival. But "When shall I come?" And this, which is soon in the sight of God, is late to our "longing." [1231] "When shall I come and appear before God?" This too proceeds from that "longing," of which in another place comes that cry, "One thing have I desired of the Lord; that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Wherefore so? "That I may behold" (he saith) "the beauty of the Lord." [1232] "When shall I come and appear before the Lord?"...
6. "My tears have been my meat day and night, while they daily say unto me, Where is thy God?" (ver. 3). My tears (he saith) have been not bitterness, but "my bread." Those very tears were sweet unto me: being athirst for that fountain, inasmuch as I was not as yet able to drink of it, I have eagerly made my tears my meat. For he said not, "My tears became my drink," lest he should seem to have longed for them, as for "the water-brooks:" but, still retaining that thirst wherewith I burn, and by which I am hurried away towards the water-brooks, "My tears became my meat," whilst I am not yet there. [1233] And assuredly he does but the more thirst for the water-brooks from making his tears his meat...."And they daily say unto me, Where is thy God?" For if a Pagan should say this to me, I cannot retort it upon him, saying, "Where is thine?" inasmuch as he points with his finger to some stone, and says, "Lo, there is my God!" When I have laughed at the stone, and he who pointed to it has been put to the blush, he raises his eyes from the stone, looks up to heaven, and perhaps says, pointing his finger to the Sun, "Behold there my God! Where, I pray, is your God?" He has found something to point out to the eyes of the flesh; whereas I, on my part, not that I have not a God to show to him, cannot show him what he has no eyes to see. For he indeed could point out to my bodily eyes his God, the Sun; but what eyes hath he to which I might point out the Creator of the Sun?...
7. "I thought on these things, and poured out my soul above myself" [1234] (ver. 4). When would my soul attain to that object of its search, which is "above my soul," if my soul were not to "pour itself out above itself"? For were it to rest in itself, it would not see anything else beyond itself; and in seeing itself, would not, for all that, see God. Let then my insulting enemies now say, "Where is thy God?" aye, let them say it! I, so long as I do not "see," so long as my happiness is postponed, make my tears my "bread day and night." Let them still say, "Where is thy God?" I seek my God in every corporeal nature, terrestrial or celestial, and find Him not: I seek His Substance in my own soul, and I find it not, yet still I have thought on these things, and wishing to "see the invisible things of my God, being understood by the things made," [1235] I have poured forth my soul above myself, and there remains no longer any being for me to attain to, save my God. For it is "there" is the "house of my God." His dwelling-place is above my soul; from thence He beholds me; from thence He created me; from thence He directs me and provides for me; from thence he appeals to [1236] me, and calls me, and directs me; leads me in the way, and to the end of my way. [1237] ...