Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia)

30. For ' the eye of Man' is the pity of the Redeemer, xv. which softens the hardness of our insensibility, when it looks upon us. Hence, as the Gospel witnesses, it is said, AndTuM^ei^, the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord. And he went out, and wept bitterly. But the soul when divested of the flesh ' the eye of Man' doth not henceforth at all regard, in that it never delivers him after death, whom grace doth not restore to pardon before death. For hence Paul saith, Behold, now is 2 Cor. the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation. ' ^* Hence the Psalmist saith, For His mercy is for the present Vs. 118, state of being ^; for this reason, that the man whom mercy doth not rescue now, after the present state of being, justice alone consigns to punishment. Hence Solomon saith. And Ecclef». if the tree fall toward the south or toward the north, in the^^^^' place where the tree falleth there it shall be. For when, at d V. ' in scecidmrij which is so taken by S. Greg, unlike its usual meaning.

Job 7, the moment of the falling of the human being, either the ■—-^ — Holy Spirit or the Evil Spirit receives the soul departed from the chambers of the flesh, he will keep it with him for ever without change, so that neither once exalted, shall it be precipitated into woe, nor once plunged into eternal woes, any further arise to take the means of escape. Therefore let the holy man, contemplating the ills of mankind, viz. how he is removed from the present world without the knowledge of his Redeemer, and buried in everlasting flames without remedy, and taking up their voice in his own person, give utterance to the words. And the eye of man shall not see me. Forasmuch as the man whom the grace of the Redeemer doth not now look upon to correct, it doth not then visit to keep from destruction. For the Lord, when He cometh to judgment, looketh on the sinner to smite, but He doth not look on him to acknowledge him in bestowing the grace of salvation. He taketh account of sins, and knoweth not the life of those that perish. Hence after that the holy man had averred that he could no more be ' seen by the eye of Man' after the present life, he rightly added at once; TJime eyes are upon me, and I shall not stand. ^^'i- 31. As though he said in plain words; * Thou, when thou comest in severity to Judgment, both seest not, to save, and yet seest, to smite, in that him, whom Thou lookest not on in the present life with the pitifulness of Thy saving care, hereafter looking on Thou dost extinguish by Thy law of justice. For now the sinner casts away the fear of God, and yet lives, blasphemes and yet prospers, because the pitiful Creator w^ould not in seeing punish him, whom He would rather by waiting for bring to amendment; as it is written, "Wisd. And icinkest at the sins of men for their repentance. But ' ' W'hen the sinner is then looked upon, he ' does not stand,' in that when the strict Judge minutely examines his deserts, the convicted sinner cannot bear up against his torments.

32. Not but that this likewise accords with the voice of the righteous, whose mind is ever anxiously fixed on the coming Judgment. For they have fears for every thing that they do, whilst they hecdfully consider who are the persons, and before what a Judge they will have to stand. They V)ehold the power of His Mightiness, and they consider wliat an amount of eruilt they are tied and bound with from their Book.... VIII. own imperfection. They reckon up the evil deeds of their '- own doing, and muhiply over against them the benefits of their Creator. They reflect how rigidly He judges wicked deeds, how minutely He examines good ones; and they foresee without a shadow of doubt that they w^ill be lost, if they be judged apart Irom pity: for even this very life that we seem to live righteously is sin, if, when He takes account of our lives, the mercy of God does not make allowance for it in His own eyes. For it is hence written in this very judged in His sight those very persons do also bear spots of defilement, that shine bright in the purity of holiness.

Therefore it is well said, T7iine eyes are upon me^ and I shall not stand. As if it were said in plain terms by the voice of the righteous man, * If I be sifted with an exact scrutiny, I cannot stand up in undergoing judgment, for life cannot bear up against punishment, if the mercilessness of just retribution bears hard upon it.' Now both the sin and the punishment of that same human race is well added in few words, where it is said immediately afterwards,

Ver. 9. As the cloud is consumed and vanisJietJt away; so he that goeth doivn to hell shall come up no more.

33. For a cloud is suspended in the higher regions, but it xvii. is condensed and driven by the wind that it flies, and it is scattered by the heat of the sun that it vanishes. Thus, thus verily is it with the hearts of men, which by the faculty of reason bestowed upon them dart on high, but driven by the blasts of the evil spirit, they are forced hither and thither by the bad impulses of their desires, but by the searching eye of the Judge above they are melted as if by the heat of the sun, and being once consigned to the regions of woe, never return for the benefit of working. Let the holy man then, in setting forth the elevation, the career, and the eclipse of the human race, exclaim. As the cloud, is consumed and vanishetJi away^ so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. As if he spake in plain words, saying, ' In flying on high he is brought to nought, who by exalting himself is advancing to destruction, whom, if sin once force

440 T7ie damned relum not to their old home.

Job 7, to punishment, mercy never more restores to pardon.' Hence — -^* — it is yet fm'ther added,

He shall return no more to his own house. xviii. 34. As the house of the body is a bodily habitation, so that becomes to each separate mind ' its own house,' whatsoever thing it is used to inhabit in desire. And so ' there is no more returning to his own house,' because, when once a man is given over to eternal punishments, he is henceforth no more recalled thither, where he had attached himself in love. Moreover by the designation of hell the despair of the sinner may also be set forth, of which it is said by the Ps. 6, 5. Psalmist, In hell, who shall confess to TJiee? Whence again Piov. it is written, JVhen the luujodlij man cometh into the pit of ^^' ^' sinners, he contemneth. Now whosoever yields himself to ungodliness, doth assuredly quit the life of righteousness by a proper death. But when a man after sin is furthermore overwhelmed by a mountain of despair, what else is this but that after death he is buried in the torments of hell.'' Thereibre it is rightly said. As the cloud is consumed, and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to hell shall come tip no more; in that it very often happens, that with the commission of wickedness despair also is united, and the way of returning is henceforth cut off. But the hearts of the despairing are rightly compared to clouds, in that they are at once darkened with the mists of error, and thick with the number of sins; but being consumed, they vanish away, in that being lighted up by the blaze of the final Judgment, they are scattered to the winds. ' The house' too is often understood for the dwelling-place of the heart. Hence it is said to one that Marks, was healed. Go to thine house; in that it is most meet that ^^* the sinner after pardon should turn back into his own mind, so as not to do aught a second time which may justly subject him to the scourge. But he that has ' gone down to hell,' shall no more ' ascend into his own house,' in that him, that despair overwhelms, it puts forth without from the habitation of the heart. And he cannot return back within, because when he has been ejected without, day by day he falls urged on into worse extremes. For man was made to contemplate his Creator, that he might ever be seeking after His likeness,

God no longer the dwelling of those who forsake Him. 441 and dwell in ihe festival ^ of His love. But beinp: cast with- Book out himself by disobedience, he lost the seat of his mind, in - —; — 1

1 sol emthat being left all abroad in dark ways, he wandered far from nitate the habitation of the true light. Whence it is further added with propriety,

Neither shall his place know him any more. 35. For ' the place' of man, but not a local place, the xix. Creator Himself became. Who created him to have his being in Himself, which same place man did then forsake, when on hearing the words of the deceiver, he forsook the love of the Creator. But when Almighty God in the work of redemption shewed Himself even by a bodily appearing. He Himself, so to say, following the footsteps of His runagate, came as a place where to keep man whom He had lost. For if the Creator could not in any sense be styled ' a place,' the Psalmist, in praising God, would never have said, TJte Ps. 102, children of thy servants shall dwell there^. For we i^CTera /^j^gj-g. say there, except when we mark out a place in a particular is not in manner. But there are very many, who even after they have lxx. received the succour of the Redeemer, are precipitated into the darkness of despair, and they perish the more desperately, in proportion as they despise the very offered remedies of mercv. And so it is rio^htly said concerning; him that is damned. Neither shall his place know him any more. For he is not known by his Creator in His sorer severity at the Judgment, in the same degree that he is not recalled even by His gifts to the grace of restoration. And hence it is particularly to be observed, that he does not say, ' Nor shall he know his own place any more;' but. Neither shall his place knoiv him any more. For whereas that ' knowing' is ascribed not to the person, but to the place, the Creator Himself is manifestly set forth, by the name of ' a place,' Who, when He cometh in strictness for the final account, shall say to all tliat abide in iniquity, I know yon not ichence ye are. But Lukei3, the Elect severally, in proportion as they consider that lost^^* sinners are unsparingly cut off, day by day purify themselves with greater diligence from the stains of the iniquity they have done; and when they see others on the brink of ruin grow cold in the love of life, they earnestly inllame themselves to tears of penitence. Hence it is well added,

Job 7, Ver. 11. There/ore also I will not refrain my rnoiith.

'- 36. For that man ' refrains his mouth,' that is ashamed to

^^ confess the evil he has done, ror to put the mouth to labour is to employ it in the confession of sin done, but the righteous man doth ' not refrain his mouth,' in that forestalliug the wrath of the searching Judge, he falls wroth upon himself

Ps.95,2.in words of self-confession. Hence the Psalmist saith, Let us come before His Presence icith confession^. Hence it is

Prov. delivered by Solomon, He that coveteth his sins shall not

' * prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have lb. 18, mercy. Hence it is written again, The Just man is first the accuser of himself. But the mouth is never opened in confession, unless at the thought of the searching Judgment the spirit is in straits from fear; and hence it is fitly said afterwards,

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. xxi. 37. For ' anguish of the spirit' sets the tongue in motion, so that the voice of confession is levelled against the guilt of evil practice. Moreover it is to be borne in mind, that oftentimes even the reprobate make confession of sins, but are too proud to weep for them. But the Elect prosecute ^-ith tears of severe self-condemnation those sins_.oi* theirs ] which they disclose in words of confession. Hence it was well that after blessed Job had pledged himself not to spare his lips, he added directly the anguish of the spirit. As if he avowed plainly, saying, ' The tongue doth in such sort tell of guilt, that the spirit is not ever let go loose amidst other things, ii'ee of the sting of soitow; but in telling my sins, I disclose my wound, and in thinking over my sins for their amendment, I seek the cure of the wound in the medicine of sorrow.' For he that tells indeed the evil deeds he has done, but holds back from lamenting what he has told, he as it were by taking off the covering discovers the wound, but in deadness of mind he applies no remedy to the wound. Therefore it is needful that sorrow alone should wring out the voice of confession, lest the wound, being exposed, but neglected, in proportion as it is henceforth more freely touched through the knowledge of our fellowcreatures, fester

Bitter and icholesome self-converse of penitents. 443 so much the worse. Contrariwise the Psalmist had not onlv Book disclosed the sore of his heart, but was furtheiTQore applying ^ to it thus laid bare the remedy of sorrow, when he said, / achioicledge my sin unto Thee^ and my iniquity uill Ps.32,5. I think on. For by so ' acknowledging' he discovered the hidden sore, and by thus ' thinking on' it, what else did he, than apply a remedy to the wound? But to the mind that is distressed, and anxiously thinking on its own ills, there arises a strife in behalf of self against self. For when it urges itself to the sorrows of penitence, it rends itself with secret upbraiding. And hence it is justly added afterwards,

I will converse with the bitterness of my spirit.

38. For when we are in trouble from dread of God's judgment, xxii. whilst we bewail some things done wrong, seeing that by the mere force of our bitterness alone we are sluTed up to enter into ourselves more observantly, we find in ourselves other things also to bewail more largely. For it often happens that what escaped us in our insensibility, is made known to us more exactly in tears. And the troubled mind finds out more surely the ill that it has done and knew not of, and its conflict discovers to it in a true point of view how far it had deviated from the peacewhich is of truth, in that its guilt, which while secure it thought not of, it finds out in itself when disturbed. For the bitterness of penance gaining ground urgently brings home to the confounded heart the unlawful things it has committed, exhibits the Judge arrayed against them in severity, strikes deep the threats of punishment, smites the soul with consternation, overwhelms it with shame, chides the unlawful motions of the heart, and disturbs the repose of its mischievous self-security, all the good gifts that the Creator has vouchsafed to bestow upon him, all the evil that he himself has done in return for the good things of His hand, are reckoned up, how that he was created by Him in a wonderful way, that he was sustained freely and for nought, that he was endowed with the substance of reason at his creation, that he was called by the grace of his Creator, that he himself even when called refused to follow, that the pitifulness of Him that calleth did not disregard him, not even when deaf and resisting, that he was enlightened with gifts, that of his own free will, even after these gifts received,

Job 7, he blinded himself by wicked deeds, that he was cleared

*^J 11 from the wrong doings of his state of blindness by the strokes

' of fatherly solicitude, that by means of the pains of these strokes he was restored to the joys of saving health by the remedy that mercy applied, that being subject to certain bad practices, though not of the worst sort, he does not cease to sin even in the midst of these strokes; that the grace of God even when slighted did not abandon its sinner. And thus whereas it upbraids with so much keenness the agitated mind at one time by a display of the gifts of God, another time by the reproaches of its own behaviour, the bitterness of spirit has a tongue of its own in the heart of the righteous, which speaks to it the more searchingly, in proportion as it is heard within. And hence it is not at all said, • I will talk in the bitterness of my spirit,' but / trill converse u:iiJi the bitterness; in that the force of grief, which taking each sin separately, stimulates the deadened mind to lamentations, as it were shapes words of converse to it, wherein it being chidden might find itself out, and henceforth rise up with better heed to the safe keeping of itself. And so let the righteous man say in his own voice; as bearing a figure of Holy Church, let him say in ours too; 1 trill converse with the bitterness of my s^nrit. As if he spake it in plainer words, saying, ' Within I hold converse with the anguish of my heart against mine own self, and without I hide myself from the lash of the Judge.' Now the mind that is borne hard upon by the pangs of penitence is gathered up close into itself, and severed by strong resolution from all the gratifications of the flesh, it longs to advance to things above, yet it still feels opposition from the corruption of the flesh. And hence it is rightly added immediately,

Ver. 12. Am I a sea or a whale, that thou hast compassed me about with a prison? xxiii. 39. Man is ' compassed about with a prison,' in that he very often both strives to mount on high by the strides of virtuous attainments, and yet is im]:)eded by the corruption of his fleshly part. Of which same the Psalmist rightly prays P8. 142 that he might be divested, saying, Bring my soul out of ^ ' yrison^ that I may praise Thy Name. But what have wc set forth by the designation of ' the sea,' saving the hearts of

Satan a whale, the carnal mind a sea,whicfi God restrains.44.6 carnal men tossed with swelling thoughts? and what by Book the name of ' a whale,' except our old enemy? who when ^^^^ in taking possession of the hearts of the children of this world he makes his way into them, does in a certain sort swim about in their slippery thoughts. But the whale is made fast in prison, in that the evil spint, being cast down below, is kept mider by the weight of his own punishment, that he should have no power to fly up to the heavenly realms, as Peter testifies, who saith, God spared not Mc'^Fet. Angels that simied^ but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto Judgment, * The whale' is fast bound in prison, in that he is prevented from tempting the good as much as he desires. The sea too is ' compassed about with a prison,' in that the swelling and raging desires of carnal minds, for the doing of the evil that they loug for, are clogged by the straitness of their inability. For they often long to have power over their betters, yet by the Divine ordering, that regulates all things marvellously, they ai*e made to bow beneath them. They desire, beingexalted high, to injure the good, yet being brought under their power, they look for consolation fi'om them. For the sake of fulfilling the gratification of the flesh, they covet length of years in the present life, yet they are carried off from it with haste. Concerning such it is well said by the Psalmist, ^ And He put the waters as it were in a skin. For Ps. 78, ' the waters are in a skin' when their loose desires, in that J y,, they find not the execution in deed, are kept down under a carnal heart. Therefore the whale and the sea are hemmed in by the close pressure of a prison, in that whether as regards the evil spirit or his followers, in whose minds he gathers himself and sets rolling therein the waves of tumultuous thoughts, the rigour of the Most High confines them, that they should have no power to accomplish the evil things that they ai'e set upon.

40. But holy men, in proportion as they contemplate the mysteries of heavenly truths with more perfect purity of heart, pant after them with daily increased ardour of affection. They long to be henceforth filled to the full at that fountain head, whence they as yet taste but a little drop with the mouth of contemplation. They long entirely to subdue

Job 7, the promptings of the flesh, no longer to be subject to any -— — ^ thing unlawful in the imaginations of the heart springing Wisd.9, from the coiTuption thereof. But because it is written, For the corruptible body presseth doivn the soul, and the earthy tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things, therefore they henceforth rise above themselves in purpose of mind, but being still subject to the capricious motions of their imperfect nature, they lament that they are confined in the prison-house of corruption. Am I a sea or a whale, that Thou dost compass me about with a prison? As if it were in plain words; * The sea or the whale, i. e. the wicked and their prime mover, the Evil Spirit, because they desire to have a loose given them for the mere liberty of committing iniquity alone, are justly held bound in the prison of the punishment inflicted on them. But I, that already long for the liberty of Thine eternal state, why am I still enclosed in the prison of mine own corruption?' Not that this is either demanded in pride by the righteous, in that being inflamed with the love of the Truth they desire completely to surmount the narrow compass of their imperfect condition; nor yet that it is unjustly ordered by the Author of the just, in that in delaying the wishes of His Elect, He puts them to pain, and in paining purifies, that they may one day be the better enabled by that delay, for the receiving that they desire. But the Elect, so long as they are kept away from the interior rest, turn back into their own hearts, and being there buried from the tumults of the flesh, as it were seek a retreat of infinite delight. But therein they often feel the stings of temptation, and are subject to the goadings of the flesh, and there they meet with the hardest toils, where they had looked for perfect rest from toil. Hence the holy man after the prison of his state of corruption that he told of, hastening to return to the tranquil regions of the heart, seeing that he experienced in the interior also all that same strife, to escape which he fled from things without, adds immediately, saying, Ver. 13, 14. When I say my bed shall comfort me, I shall be eased in speaking with myself on my couch, then Thou scarest me with dreams, and terrijiesi me through visions.

Tite ' heiT of the heart Irouhled with * visions' of Judgment. 447 41. For in Holy Writ a ' bed ' a ' couch ' or ^ litter ' is Book

hence that under the likeness of each separate soul, the Spouse, urged by the piercing darts of holy love, says in the Song of Songs, By night on my bed I sought him, whom my Cant. 3, soul love th. For ' by night and on the bed is the beloved^' sought,' in that the appearance of the Invisible Creator, apart from every image of a bodily appearing, is found in the chamber of the heart. And hence ' Truth' saith to those same lovers of Him, The kingdom of God is loithin you. And Luke again, If I go not away., the Comforter will not come. As if johnjg it were in plain words; * If I do not withdraw My Body 7. from the eyes of your fixed regard, I lead you not by the Comforter, the Spirit, to the perception of the unseen.' Hence it is said by the Psalmist of the just. The Saints Ps=. 149, shall he joyful in glory., they shall rejoice upon their beds; ' in that when they flee the mischiefs from things without, they exult in safety within the recesses of their hearts. But the joy of the heart will then be complete, when the fight of the flesh shall have ceased without. For so long as the flesh allures, because as it were the wall of our house is shaken, even the very bed is disturbed. And hence it is rightly said by that Psalmist, Thou hast made all his bed in his sickness. P9.4i,3. For when temptation of the flesh moves us, our infirmity being made to tremble disturbs even the bed of the soul. But what do we imderstand in this place by ' dreams* and ' visions' saving the representations of the last searching Judgment? What we already have some slight glimpse of through fear, but do not see it as it really is. Thus holy men, as we have said, ever turn back to the secret recesses of the heart, when from the world without, they either meet with successes beyond their wishes, or with adversities beyond their strength, and, wearied with their toils without, they seek as a bed, or litter, the resting-places of the heart. But whilst by certain pictures of their imagination they see how searching the judgments of God are, they are as it were disturbed in their very repose on their beds by the vision of a dream. For they behold after what sort the strict Judge Cometh, Who while with the power of infinite Majesty He lights up the secret recesses of the heart, will bring back

448 Serious thought brings terror. Various ki?ids of dreams. Job 7, every sin before our eves. They bethink themselves what

-,T-^ — '- the shame of ihat is, to be confounded in the siarht of the whole human race, of all the Angels and the Archangels. They reflect what agony is in store after that confounding, wlien at one and the same time guilt shall prey upon the soul imperishably perishing, and hell fire upon the flesh unfailingly failing. When, then^ the mind is shaken by so terrific a conception, what else is this but that a sad dream is presented upon the bed } Therefore let him say, When I say. My bed shall comfort me, and I shall he eased talking ivith myself on my couch; then Thou scares t me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions. As if he confessed openly, saying, * If fleeing from external things, I turn back into the interior, and am anxious in some sort to rest upon the bed »A.B.D. of mv heart, there, whilst Thou dost set me to ^ the contemmeT plation of Thy severity, Thou makest me to fear horribly by the mere images my foresight raises up.' Now it is well said. And I shall be eased, talking with myself in my bed, in that when we retm*n wearied to the silence of our hearts, as it were holding converse on our beds, we handle the secret words of thought within ourselves. But this very converse of ours is turned into dread, in that thereby there is more forcibly presented to us in imagination the view, which holds out the terrors of the Judge. L^"^' 42. But lest any one should be at pains to make out these words after the literal sense, it is of great importance to find out in how many ways the mind is aff*ected by images from dreams. For sometimes dreams are engendered of fulness or emptiness of the belly, sometimes of illusion, sometimes of illusion and thought combined, sometimes of revelation, while sometimes they are engendered of imagination, thought, and revelation together. Now the two which we have named first, we all know by experience, while the four subjoined we find in the pages of Holy Writ. For except dreams were very frequently caused to come in illusion by our secret enemy, the Ecclus. Wise Man would never have pointed this out by saying, For ^^' dreams and vain illusions " have deceived many, or indeed. Lev. 19, ^or shall ye use enchantments, nor observe dreams. By

Vulg. which words it is shewn us how great an abomination they are in that they are joined with 'auguries.' Again, excepting Book they sometimes came of thought and illusion together, Llof ^""• rfl "^ *'"""'*• ^""^ ""!«- dreams sometimes had^" then ong.n m a mystery of a revelation, Joseph would never have seen h.mself in a dream appointed to be advanced abov his brethren nor would the espoused of Mary have been warned by the Angel in a dream to take the Child and to fly into Egypt Again, unless dreams sometimes proceeded from thought and revelation together, the Prophet Dan'l, „ makmg out the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, would never ha " 2:^: *°"°"'^' - t'^^ -°t; A. for thee, O king, tky^.^, thoughts came mo thy mind upon thy bed, uhat should^^-' com. to pass hereafter, and He That reLleth secrets makfh bejore thee, ^c. Thus while Daniel declares in awful terms the dream about to be fulfilled, and shews in what thouThts it had Its nse, it is made plain and manifest that the thing erv frequently proceeds from thought and revelation combined "^ 43 Now It IS clear, that since dreams shift about in such a vanety of cases, they ought to be the less easily be] eved m proportion as it less easily appears from what influencin; ause they spnng. For it often happens that to those, wh m the Evi Spirit cuts off when awake through the love of th™ presen life, he promises the successes of fortune even wh,sl they sleep, and those, whom he sees to be in dread o misfortunes, he threatens with them the more cruelly by the representations of dreams, that he may work upon the incautious soul by a different kind of influence, and either by elevating It with hope or sinking it with dread, m" disturb Its balance Often too he sets himself to work upoi the souls of the Saints themselves by dreams, that at leas for a passing moment they may be thrown otf the line of steady thought, though by their own act they straightway shake the mind clear of thedelusive phantasy. Andour VZ^ ing foe, in proportion as he is utterly unable to get the belt" of them when awake, makes the deadlier assault upon them asleep. Whom yet the dispensation of the Highest in

Job 7, loving-kindness alone allows to do so in his malevolence, j^j^^^lest in the souls of the Elect their mere sleep, though nothingelse, should go without the meed of suffering. Therefore it is well spoken to Him that ruleth over all. When I say, my bed shall comfort me, I shall be eased talking with myself on my couch; then Thou scarest me with dreams, and terrijiest me through visions. Svn-ely in that God ordcreth all things wonderfully, even He Himself doth that thing, which. the Evil Spirit seeks to do unjustly, whilst He letteth it not be done saving justly. Now forasmuch as the life of the righteous is at once assaulted on watch by temptation, and harassed in dreaming by illusion; undergoes without the mischiefs of its corruption, and within painfully carries in itself unlawful thoughts; what may it do in order to pluck the foot of the heart out of the mazes of such numberless entanglements } Yea, thou blessed man, with what dismay and trouble thou art every way compassed about we have leamt; now let us be informed, what plan thou dost devise to encounter the same. It goes on,

Ver. 15. So that my soul chooseth hanging and my bones death. XXV. 44. What is then represented by the soul but the bent of the soul, and by the bones, the strength of the flesh? Now every thing that is hung is assuredly lifted up from things beneath; therefore ' the soul chooseth hanging that the bones may die,' in that whilst the mind's intent lifts itself on high, it extinguishes all the strength of the exterior life in itself. For the Saints know it for a most certain truth, that they can never enjoy rest in the present life, and so they ' choose hanging,' in that quitting earthly objects of desire, they raise the mind on high. But whilst hung on high they inflict death on their bones, in that for love of the laud above, having their loins girt in ])ress and pursuit after virtuous attainments, all wherein they were aforetime strong in the world, they load with the chain of self-abasement. It is w^ell to mark how Paul had his soul suspended aloft, who Gal. 2, sai(^ Nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,

Phil. 1, And again; Having a desire to depart and to be with ^^' „, Christ. And, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Who recalling to mind the achievements of earthly strength,

CA/^.. ^Ihich same bones he implies were still m'ore mercdesslv dealt with to destruction in himself, when he aTds

Which is through thejaith of Jesus Christ. But whereas bv bnng.ng together his declarations we have avouched Pau' to have been suspended aloft dead to the world, let us now shew whether blessed Job, being filled with the sa"! goes onr "' -^o^^Pi-ence of the exterior life. It

4o. There be some of the righteous, who so entertain the xxvi de.re of heavenly things, that, notwithstanding this, they are not broken off from the hope of things earthlv? The inhed" ance bestowed on them by God they keep for the supplv of hose same th.ngs that they have, in that they are not Lund in affection to those very goods which they keep in thek possession. And there are some of the righteous who bracing thenaselves up to lay hold of the very hei4t of per ecuon, whilst they aim at higher objects withi, abandon all things without, who bare themselves of the g;ods pos" •sessed by them, strip themselves of the pride of honour who by continuance in a giatefid sorrow affect their hearts' ^ith longing for the things of the interior, refuse to recehe

Pa„l n [ "[ '"'P"""""^ enjoyment. For it is said by Paul to such as these. For ye are dead, and your life is,2c„,.3 a

Job 7, with Christ in God. The Psalmist spoke in their voice, -^ — '- — when he said. My soul longeth,yea, even fainteth for the Fs.si, 2. courts of the Lord. For they ' long' but do not ' faint,' who are already imbued indeed with heavenly desires, but notwithstanding are still not tired of the enjoyments of earthly objects. But he ' longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord,' who whilst he desires the eternal world, doth not hold on in the love of the temporal. Hence the Psalmist Ps. 119, saith again. My soul fainteth for Thy salvation. Hence Liike 9, ' Truth' bids us by His own lips, saying, Lf any man will j^' come after Me, let him deny himself. And again; Whoso- 14, 33. ever he he of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple. Thus the holy man, his soul parted from earthly objects of desire, sets himself in the number of such as those, when he saith, / liave given over hope, L will not live any longer. Since for a righteous man ' to give over hope' is to quit the good things of the present life, in making choice of eternity, and to put no trust in temporal possessions. And whilst doing this, he declares that he ' will not live any longer,' in that by a quickening death he is daily killing himself to the life of passion \ For be it far from us to think that the holy man should despair of the bountifulness of God's mercy, that he should withdraw the step of the heart from advancing in the interior way, that forsaking the love of the Creator he should as it were stop on the road lacking a guide, and pierced with the sword of rifling despair, be brought to ruin. But lest we seem violently to wrest his sayings according to the caprice of our own view, we ought to form our estimate of what is promised by that which follows after. For in what sense he said this, he does himself immediately point out, in that he adds. Spare me, O Lor d^, for my days are nothing. xxvii. 46. For neither do the two words agree together, I have given over hope, and, spare me. For he that * gives over hope,' no longer begs to be spared; and he who is still anxious to be spared, is surely far from ' giving over hope.' It is on one sort of grounds then that he ' gives over hope,' and on another that the holy man prays to be spared; in Book that whilst he abandons the good things of this transitory '— life in ' gi^'ing over the hope' thereof, he rises more vigorous in hope for the securing of those that shall endure. So that in * giving over hope,' he is the more effectually brought to the hope of pardon, who seeks the things to come so much the more determinately, in proportion as he more thoroughly forsakes those of the present time in giving up hope. And we are to take notice, that when teaching us the strength of his heart, he delivered indeed but one sentiment about himself, but in teaching it to us he has repeated it a third time. For what he had said above. My soul chooseth hanyiny, it was in repeating this, that he added the words, / have given over hope, and in aiming at the blessings of eternity, and putting behind those of time, he last of all brought in this, Spa?'e me. And what he said above, And my hones deaths this same it was that he added, / will not live longer, and this he delivered to end with, for my days are nothing. But he rightly considers that his ' days are nothing,' because as we have often remarked already a little above, holy men, the more thoroughly they are acquainted with things above, in the same proportion they look down upon the things of earth from a loftier height. And therefore they see that the days of the present life are ^ nothing,' because they have the eyes of their illumined soul fixed in the contemplation of eternity. And when they return thence to themselves, what do they find themselves to be but dust? And being conscious of their frailty, they are in dread of being judged with severity; and when they regard the force of that vast Energy, they tremble to have it put to the test what they are. And hence it is further added with propriety,

Ver. 17. What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify Jiim? and that Tfiou shouldest set Tliine heart upon him?

47. God magnifieth man, in that He enriches him with the xxviii. bountiful gift of reason, visits him with the inspiration of grace, exalts him with the greatness of imparted virtue; and whereas he is nothing in himself, yet through the bounty of His lovingkindness He vouchsafes to him to be a partaker of the knowledge of Himself. And the Lord ' setteth His heart upon man' so magnified, in that after His gifts He

Job 7, brings forth judgment, weighs merits with exactness, rigidly

— — ^ — tries the weights of life, and exacts punishment from him /111 • • afterwards the more strictly, in proportion as He prevents him here more bounteously by the benefit bestowed. So then let the holy man view the immensity of the Supreme

Majesty, and recall the eye of reflection to his own frailty.

Let liim see that flesh cannot comprehend that which Truth through the Spirit teaches concerning Himself. Let him see that man's spirit, even when it is lifted up, is not able to bear the Judgment, which God holds over it, on a trial of strict recompensing, and let him say. What is man, tltat Thou shouldest magnify him? and that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him? As though he cried out in plain words, saying, ' Man is magnified with a spiritual gift, but yet he is flesh, and after Thy gifts, Thou takest strict account of his ways; yet if he be judged with pity set aside, the weight that rests over him fi-om Thine exactness, not even the spirit that is raised to righteousness has strength to sustain, seeing that though Thy gifts draw him out beyond his own compass, yet at the inquest of Thy strict scrutiny his own frailty contracts him.' And hence it is fitly added still further;