Speaker 1: Psalm one hundred nineteen, Discourse thirty of Expositions on the
Speaker 1: Book of Psalms, Volume five. This is a LibriVox recording.
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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, verse one
Speaker 1: hundred fifty three. Let no man said in Christ's body
Speaker 1: imagine these words to be alien from himself, since in
Speaker 1: truth it is the whole body of Christ, placed in
Speaker 1: this humble state, that speaketh. Whence beginneth the reading of
Speaker 1: this Psalm concerning which we have now undertaken to treat, Oh,
Speaker 1: consider my humiliation and deliver me, for I forget not
Speaker 1: Thy law. In this place. We cannot understand any law
Speaker 1: of God so suitably as that whereby it is immutably
Speaker 1: determined that every one that exalteth himself shall be abased,
Speaker 1: and every one that humbleth himself shall be exalted. The
Speaker 1: proud therefore is involved in evils, that he may be humbled.
Speaker 1: The humble is delivered from evils that he may be exalted.
Speaker 1: Verse one hundred fifty four. Avenge thou he saith my cause,
Speaker 1: and deliver me. The former sentence is here almost repeated,
Speaker 1: for the words oh, consider mine humiliation answer unto these.
Speaker 1: Avenge thou my cause, and the words deliver me also
Speaker 1: occur above. And what is theirs said? For I do
Speaker 1: not forget thy law. Agreeth with what we read here,
Speaker 1: Quicken me according to thy word. For these words are
Speaker 1: the law of God, which he hath not forgot, so
Speaker 1: that he hath abased himself and will therefore be exalted.
Speaker 1: But the words quicken me pertain to this very exultation,
Speaker 1: for the exultation of the saints is everlasting life. Verse
Speaker 1: one hundred fifty five. Health he saith is far from
Speaker 1: the ungodly, for they regard not thy righteousnesses. For who
Speaker 1: discerneth thee? O Thou who hast said health is far
Speaker 1: from the ungodly? Who separated THEE from the ungodly? So
Speaker 1: that health is not far from THEE. But with THEE,
Speaker 1: this separateth THEE. That what they have not done, thou
Speaker 1: hast done. That is, thou hast regarded the righteousnesses of God.
Speaker 1: But what hast thou that thou hast not received. Art
Speaker 1: thou not he who a little before didst say, I
Speaker 1: call with my whole heart. Hear me, O Lord, I
Speaker 1: will keep thy righteousnesses. Thou therefore hast received from Him
Speaker 1: unto whom whom thou didst call, the power to keep them.
Speaker 1: He therefore doth himself separate thee from those from whom
Speaker 1: health is far, because they have not regarded the righteousnesses
Speaker 1: of God verse one hundred fifty six. This he saw
Speaker 1: himself also, for I should not see it. Say if
Speaker 1: I saw it in him, say if I were in him.
Speaker 1: For these are the words of the Body of Christ,
Speaker 1: whose members we are. He saw this, I say, and
Speaker 1: at once added, great are thy mercies, O Lord, even
Speaker 1: our seeking out thy righteousnesses than cometh of thy mercies
Speaker 1: quicken me according to thy judgment. For I know that
Speaker 1: Thy judgments will not be upon me without thy mercy
Speaker 1: Verse one hundred fifty seven. Many there are that trouble
Speaker 1: me and persecute me. Yet I do not swerve from
Speaker 1: thy testimonies. This hath been realized. We know it, we
Speaker 1: recollect it, we acknowledge it. The whole earth hath been
Speaker 1: crimsoned by the blood of martyrs. Heaven is flowery with
Speaker 1: the crowns of martyrs. The churches are adorned with the
Speaker 1: memorials of martyrs. Seasons distinguished by the birth days of martyrs,
Speaker 1: cures more frequent by the merits of martyrs. Went this
Speaker 1: save because that hath been fulfilled which was prophesied of
Speaker 1: that man, who hath been spread abroad around the whole world.
Speaker 1: Many there are the trouble me and persecute me. Yet
Speaker 1: have I not swerved from thy testimonies? We recognize this
Speaker 1: and render thanks to the Lord, our God, for thou man,
Speaker 1: thou hast thyself said in another psalm, if the Lord
Speaker 1: himself had not been on our side, they would have
Speaker 1: swallowed us up. Quick behold the reason why thou hast
Speaker 1: not swerved from his testimonies, and asked one the palm
Speaker 1: of the heavenly calling amid the hands of the many
Speaker 1: who persecuted and troubled thee Verse one hundred fifty eight.
Speaker 1: I have seen he saith the foolish, and I pined, Or,
Speaker 1: as other copies read, I have seen them that keep
Speaker 1: not covenant. This is the reading of most. But who
Speaker 1: are they who have not kept covenant? Save they who
Speaker 1: have swerved from the testimonies of God, not bearing the
Speaker 1: tribulation of their many persecutors. Now this is the covenant
Speaker 1: that he who shall have conquered shall be crowned. They who,
Speaker 1: not bearing persecution, have by denials, swerved from the testimonies
Speaker 1: of God, have not kept the covenant. These then the
Speaker 1: Psalmist saw and pined, for he loved them, for that
Speaker 1: jealousy is good, springing from love, not from envy. He
Speaker 1: addeth in what respect they had failed to keep the covenant,
Speaker 1: because they kept not Thy word. For this they denied
Speaker 1: their tribulations Verse one hundred fifty nine. And he commendeth
Speaker 1: himself as differing from them, and saith, behold, how I
Speaker 1: have loved Thy commandments. He saith, not, I have not
Speaker 1: denied Thy words or testimonies, as the martyrs were urged
Speaker 1: to do, and when they refused, suffered intolerable torments. But
Speaker 1: he said this, wherein is the fruit of all sufferings.
Speaker 1: For if I give up my body to be burned
Speaker 1: and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. The Psalmist,
Speaker 1: praising this virtue, saith, behold, how I have loved Thy commandments.
Speaker 1: Then he asketh his reward, O Lord, quicken me according
Speaker 1: to thy mercy, these put me to death? Do thou
Speaker 1: quicken me? But if a reward be asked of mercy
Speaker 1: which justice is bound to give, how much greater is
Speaker 1: that mercy which enabled him to gain the victory on
Speaker 1: account of which the reward was sought For Verse one
Speaker 1: hundred sixty. The beginning, he saith of thy words is truth.
Speaker 1: All the judgments of thy righteousness endure for evermore from truth,
Speaker 1: he saith, thy words do proceed, and they are therefore
Speaker 1: truthful and deceive no man, For in them life is
Speaker 1: announced to the righteous punishment of the ungodly. These are
Speaker 1: the everlasting judgments of God's righteousness. End of Some one
Speaker 1: hundred nineteen Discourse thirty