Speaker 1: Psalm one hundred nineteen, Discourse thirty two of Expositions on
Speaker 1: the Book of Psalms, Volume five. This is a LibriVox recording.
Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Expositions
Speaker 1: on the Book of Psalms, Volume five by Saint Augustine
Speaker 1: of Hippo Psalm one hundred nineteen, Discourse thirty two, Verse
Speaker 1: one hundred sixty nine. Let us now hear the words
Speaker 1: of one praying, since we know who is praying, and
Speaker 1: we recognize ourselves, if we be not reprobate among the
Speaker 1: members of this one praying, Let my prayer come near
Speaker 1: in thy sight, O Lord, for the Lord is nighing
Speaker 1: to them that of a contrite heart. Give me understanding
Speaker 1: according to thy word. He claimeth a promise, for he
Speaker 1: saith according to thy word, which is to say, according
Speaker 1: to thy promise. For the Lord promised this when he
Speaker 1: said I will inform thee verse one hundred seventy. Let
Speaker 1: my request come before thy presence, O Lord, deliver me
Speaker 1: according to thy word. He repeateth what he hath asked
Speaker 1: for his former words. Let my prayer come near in
Speaker 1: thy presence, O Lord, are like unto what he saith.
Speaker 1: Let my request come before thy presence, O Lord, and
Speaker 1: the words give me understanding according to thy word. Agree
Speaker 1: with these, deliver me according to thy word. For by
Speaker 1: receiving understanding, he is delivered, who of himself, through want
Speaker 1: of understanding, is deceived Verse one hundred seventy one. My
Speaker 1: lips shall burst forth praise. When thou hast taught me
Speaker 1: thy righteousnesses. We know how God teacheth those who are
Speaker 1: docile unto God. For every one who hath heard from
Speaker 1: the Father and hath learned, comes unto him who justifieth
Speaker 1: the ungodly, so that he may keep the righteousnesses of God,
Speaker 1: not only by retaining them in his memory, but also
Speaker 1: by doing them. Thus doth he who glorieth glory not
Speaker 1: in himself, but in the Lord, and burst forth praise
Speaker 1: Verse one hundred seventy two. But as he hath now
Speaker 1: learned and praised God his teacher, he next wisheth to
Speaker 1: teach yea my tongue shall declare thy word, for all
Speaker 1: thy commandments are righteousness. When he seeth that he will
Speaker 1: declare these things, he becometh a minister of the word.
Speaker 1: For though God teach within, nevertheless faith cometh from hearing.
Speaker 1: And how do they hear without a preacher? For because
Speaker 1: God giveth the increase, is no reason why we need
Speaker 1: not plant and water Verses one hundred seventy three and
Speaker 1: one hundred seventy four. But He is aware what perils
Speaker 1: will follow from the adversaries and persecutors when he shall
Speaker 1: become a declarer of God's words. Wherefore he hath added,
Speaker 1: let thy hand be stretched forth, feart be made to
Speaker 1: save me. For I have chosen thy commandments that I
Speaker 1: might not fear, and that not only might my heart
Speaker 1: hold fast, but my tongue also utter thy words. I
Speaker 1: have chosen thy commandments and have stifled fear with love.
Speaker 1: Let thy hand therefore be stretched forth to save me
Speaker 1: from another's hand. Thus God saved the martyrs when he
Speaker 1: permitted them not to be slain in their souls, For
Speaker 1: reign is the safety of man in the flesh. The
Speaker 1: words let thy hand be made may also be taken
Speaker 1: to mean Christ the hand of God, in the sense
Speaker 1: of those words of Isaiah, and whom hath the arm
Speaker 1: of the Lord been revealed, For the only begotten was
Speaker 1: not created, since by him were all things created. But
Speaker 1: he was made of the seat of David, that he
Speaker 1: might be Jesus, that is, the Savior, who was already
Speaker 1: the creator. But as these are familiar scriptural phrases, let
Speaker 1: thy hand be stretched forth, literally made, and the hand
Speaker 1: of the Lord was made. I know not whether this
Speaker 1: sense can be found in all these passages. Certainly where
Speaker 1: we read the following words verse one hundred seventy four,
Speaker 1: I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord, even if
Speaker 1: all our foes be reluctant, Let Christ, the salvation of
Speaker 1: God occur to us. The righteous men of old confess
Speaker 1: that they longed for him. The Church longed for his
Speaker 1: destined coming from his mother's womb. The Church longeth for
Speaker 1: his coming at his father's right hand. Subjoin to this
Speaker 1: sentence are the words, and Thy law is my meditation.
Speaker 1: For the law. Giveth testimony unto Christ Verse one hundred
Speaker 1: seventy five. But in this faith, while with the heart
Speaker 1: we believe unto righteousness, and do it the mouth, confession
Speaker 1: is made unto salvation. Though the heathen rage furiously, and
Speaker 1: do people imagine a vain thing, though the flesh be
Speaker 1: slain while it preacheth Thee, my soul shall live and
Speaker 1: shall praise THEE. And thy judgments shall help me. These
Speaker 1: are those judgments which it was time should begin at
Speaker 1: the house of the Lord. But they will help me.
Speaker 1: He saith, and who cannot see how much the blood
Speaker 1: of the Church hath aided the Church, how great a
Speaker 1: harvest hath arisen in the whole world from that sowing
Speaker 1: verse one hundred seventy six. At length he open himself
Speaker 1: completely and show with what person was speaking throughout the
Speaker 1: whole Psalm, I have gone astray, He saith, like a
Speaker 1: sheep that is lost. Oh, seek thy servant, for I
Speaker 1: do not forget thy commandments. Some copies have not seek,
Speaker 1: but quickened, For there is a difference only of one
Speaker 1: syllable between the corresponding Greek words z zone and z tisone.
Speaker 1: Whence the Greek copies themselves derive the variation. But whichever
Speaker 1: of these be right, Let the lost sheep be sought,
Speaker 1: Let the lost sheep be quickened, for whose sake its
Speaker 1: shepherd left the ninety nine in the wilderness, and while
Speaker 1: seeking it was torn by Jewish thorns. But it is
Speaker 1: still being sought. Let it still be sought, partly found,
Speaker 1: Let it still be sought. For as to that company
Speaker 1: among whom the Psalmist saith, I do not forget thy commandments,
Speaker 1: it hath been found. But through those who choose the
Speaker 1: commandments of God, gathered them together, love them. It is
Speaker 1: still sought, and by means of the blood of its
Speaker 1: shepherd shed and sprinkled abroad. It is found in all nations.
Speaker 1: As far as I have been able, as far as
Speaker 1: I have been aided by the Lord, I have treated
Speaker 1: throughout and expounded this great Psalm, a task which more
Speaker 1: able and learned expositors have performed, or will perform better. Nevertheless,
Speaker 1: my services were not to be withheld from it on
Speaker 1: that account, when my brethren earnestly required it of me,
Speaker 1: to whom I owed this office. That I have said
Speaker 1: nothing of the Hebrew alphabet, in which every eight verses
Speaker 1: are ranged under a particular letter, and the whole Psalm
Speaker 1: arranged in this manner. Let no one wonder since I
Speaker 1: found nothing that related especially to this psalm, for it
Speaker 1: is not the only one which have these letters. Let
Speaker 1: those who cannot find it in the Latin and Greek versions,
Speaker 1: since it is not adopted there, know that every set
Speaker 1: of eight verses in the Hebrew copies beginneth with that
Speaker 1: letter which is prefixed to them, as is indicated to
Speaker 1: us by those who are acquainted with the Hebrew tongue.
Speaker 1: This is done with much more care than our writers
Speaker 1: have shown in their Latin or Punic compositions of Psalms,
Speaker 1: which they style a bsidiary, For they do not begin
Speaker 1: all the verses down to the close of a period,
Speaker 1: but the first only with that same letter, which they
Speaker 1: prefix to it. End of Psalm one hundred nineteen discords
Speaker 1: thirty two end of Psalm one hundred nineteen