Exposition of Psalm 37:21
10. "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again" (ver. 21). He
receiveth, and will not repay. What is it he will not repay? Thanksgiving.
For what is it that God would have of thee, what doth He require of thee,
except that He may do thee good? And how great are the benefits which the
sinner hath received, and which he will not repay! He hath received the
gift of being; he hath received the gift of being a man; and of a being
highly distinguished above the brutes; he hath received the form of a body,
and the distinction of the senses in the body, eyes for seeing, ears for
hearing, the nostrils for smelling, the palate for tasting, the hands for
touching, and the feet for walking; and even the very health and soundness
of the body. But up to this point we have these things in common even with
the brute; he hath received yet more than this; a mind capable of understanding,
capable of Truth, capable of distinguishing right from wrong; capable of
seeking after, of longing for, its Creator, of praising Him, and fixing
itself upon Him. All this the wicked man hath received as well as others;
but by not living well, he fails to repay that which he owes. Thus it is,
"the wicked borroweth, and payeth not again:" he will not requite Him from
whom he hath received; he will not return thanks; nay, he will even render
evil for good, blasphemies, murmuring against God, indignation. Thus it
is that he "borroweth, and payeth not again; but the righteous showeth
mercy, and lendeth" (ver. 21). The one therefore hath nothing; the
other hath. See, on the one side, destitution: see, on the other, wealth.
The one receiveth and "payeth not again:" the "other showeth mercy, and
lendeth:" and he hath more than enough. What if he is poor? Even so he
is rich; do you but look at his riches with the eyes of Religion. For thou
lookest at the empty chest; but dost not look at the conscience, that is
full of God. ...
Exposition of Psalm 49:19
7. Let your love observe: "For his soul shall be blessed in his life"
(ver. 18). As long as he lived he did well for himself. This all men
say, but say falsely. It is a blessing from the mind of the blesser, not
from the truth itself. For what sayest thou? Because he ate and drank,
because he did what he chose, because he feasted sumptuously, therefore
he did well with himself. I say, he did ill for himself. Not I say, but
Christ. He did ill for himself. For that rich man, when he feasted sumptuously
every day, was supposed to do well with himself: but when he began to burn
in hell, then that which was supposed to be well was found to be ill. For
what he had eaten with men above, he digested in hell beneath. Unrighteousness
I mean, brethren, on which he used to feast. He used to eat costly banquets
with the mouth of flesh, with his heart's mouth he used to eat unrighteousness.
What he ate with his heart's mouth with men above, this he digested amid
those punishments in the places beneath. And verily he had eaten for a
time, he digested ill for everlasting. Is then unrighteousness eaten? perhaps
some one saith: what is it that he saith? Unrighteousness eaten? It is
not I that say: hear the Scripture: "As a sour grape is vexation to the
teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is unrighteousness to them that use it."
For he that shall have eaten unrighteousness, that is, he that shall have
had unrighteousness wilfully, shall not be able to eat righteousness. For
righteousness is bread. Who is bread? "I am the living bread which came
down from heaven." Himself is the bread of our heart. ...Is then even righteousness
eaten? If it were not eaten, the Lord would not have said, "Blessed are
they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." Therefore "since
his soul shall be blessed in life," in life it "shall" be blessed, in death
it shall be tormented. ...
8. "He shall confess to Thee, when Thou shalt have done him good."
Be not of such sort, brethren: see ye how that to this end we say these
words, to this end we sing, to this end we treat, to this end toil-do not
these things. Your business doth prove you: sometimes in your business
ye hear the truth, and ye blaspheme. The Church ye blaspheme. Wherefore?
Because ye are Christians. "If so it be, I betake myself to Donatus's party:
I will be a heathen." Wherefore? Because thou hast eaten bread, and the
teeth are in pain. When thou sawest the bread itself, thou didst praise;
thou beginnest to eat, and the teeth are in pain; that is, when thou wast
hearing the Word of God thou didst praise: when it is said to thee, "Do
this," thou blasphemest: do not so ill: say this, "The bread is good, but
I cannot eat it." But now if thou seest with the eyes, thou praisest: when
thou beginnest to close the teeth thou sayest, "Bad is this bread, and
like him that made it." So it cometh to pass that thou confessest to God,
when God doeth thee good and thou liest when thou singest, "I will alway
bless God, His praise is ever in my mouth." How alway? If alway gain, alway
He is blessed if sometime there is loss, He is not blessed, but blasphemed.
Forsooth thou blessest alway, forsooth His praise is ever in thy mouth!
Thou wilt be such as just now he describeth: "He will confess to Thee,
when Thou shalt have done him good."
Exposition of Psalm 89:51
"The blessing of the Lord for evermore. Amen and Amen" (ver.
51). Thanks to His mercy, thanks to His grace. We express our thanks: we
do not give them, nor return them, nor repay them: we express our thanks
in words, while in fact we retain our sense of them. He saved us for no
reward, He heeded not our impieties: He searched us out when we searched
not for Him, He found, redeemed, emancipated us from the bondage of the
devil and the power of his wicked angels: He drew us to Him to purify us
by that faith, from which He releases those enemies only who believe not,
and who for that reason cannot be purified. Let those who still remain
infidels say every day what they choose; day by day they shall be fewer
and fewer that remain; let them revile, mock, accuse, not the death, but
the change of Christ. Do they not see that, when they say these things,
they fail in purpose either by believing or by dying? For their curse is
temporal: but the blessing of the Lord "for evermore." To confirm
that blessing is added, "Amen and Amen." This is the signature of
the bond of God. Secure then of His promises, let us believe the past,
recognise the present, hope for the future. Let not the enemy lead us astray
from the way, that He, who gathers us like chickens under His wings, may
foster us: lest we stray from His wings, and the hawk of the air carry
us off while yet unfledged. For the Christian ought not to hope in himself:
if he hopes to be strong, let him be reared by his mother's warmth. This
is the hen who gathers her young together; whence is the reproach of our
Saviour against the unbelieving Jerusalem. "Behold, your house shall be
left unto you desolate." Hence was it said, "Thou hast made his strongholds
a terror." Since then they would not be gathered together under the wings
of this hen, and have given as a warning to teach us to dread the unclean
spirits that fly in the air, seeking daily what they may devour; let us
gather ourselves under the wings of this hen, the divine Wisdom, since
she is weakened even unto death of her chickens. Let us love our Lord God,
let us love His Church: Him as a Father, Her as a Mother: Him as a Lord,
Her as His Handmaid, as we are ourselves the Handmaid's sons. But this
marriage is held together by a bond of great love: no man offends the one,
and wins favour of the other. Let no man say, "I go indeed to the idols,
I consult possessed ones and fortune-tellers: yet I abandon not God's Church;
I am a Catholic." While thou holdest to thy Mother, thou hast offended
thy Father. Another says, Far be it from me; I consult no sorcerer, I seek
out no possessed one, I never ask advice by sacrilegious divination, I
go not to worship idols, I bow not before stones; though I am in the party
of Donatus. What does it profit you not to have offended your Father, if
he avenges your offended Mother? what does it serve you, if you acknowledge
the Lord, honour God, preach His name, acknowledge His Son, confess that
He sitteth by His right hand; while you blaspheme His Church? Does not
the analogy of human marriages convince you? Suppose you have some patron,
whom you court every day, whose threshold you wear with your visits, whom
you daily not only salute, but even worship, to whom you pay the most loyal
courtesy; if you utter one calumny against his wife, could you re-enter
his house? Hold then, most beloved, hold all with one mind to God the Father,
and the Church our Mother. Celebrate with temperance the birthdays of the
Saints, that we may imitate those who have gone before us, and that they
who pray for you may rejoice over you; that "the blessing of the Lord
may abide on you for evermore. Amen and Amen."
