Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia)

spirits, who in our thoughts! is, that t! break into the city of our minds, and hold it, taken captive, undec th«' yoke "l theiT dominion? Now by the name of' silver,' the Psalmist testi I, when he

P«- 19, says, The t ords of the Lord art pure words, a* silver tried in u fiirinu. of earth. And often when we apply our to tin sacn i orai are more grievously subject t<> the artifices <>l «-\il spirits, in that tin \ sprinkle upon our mind the dust ol ■ arihU thoughts, that the eyes of our heeding tin y may dark< u to the light of the into riot vision. Which same tin Psalmist had undergone when he said. Depart ■ ni mi, >. an ( I will search into the command

Inward mum of Divine Truth sweet and engaging. -39 menU of mil God: i. e. plainly teaching us thai be could not,:",,k Bearch into the commandments <>i God, when he was Buffering in mind tin- snares of the evil spirits. Which thing in the work of Isaac too we know to he represented under tlie evil doing of the Philistines, who with a heap of earth Gen. 96, filled Uj) the wells which Isaac had dng lor these very same wells we ourselves dig, when in the hidden meanings of Holy Scripture we penetrate d< ep. Which wells however the Philistines secretly fill up, when to us advancing to deep thing8 unclean spirits bring in earthly thoughts, and as it were take away the water of divine knowledge which has been discovered. But because no one can overcome these enemies by his own power, it is said by Kliphaz, Yea the Almighty shall he against thine enemies, and thou shall have heaps of silver. As if it were said in plain words; ' While the Lord drives away from thee the evil spirits by His power, the shining talent of divine revelation within gains growth.1 It proceeds;

Ver. •-?(;'. Then shall thou abound with delicacies over the Almighty.

24. To ' abound with delicacies over the Almighty' is in \i\ the love of Him to he filled to the full with the banquet of Holy Scripture. In Whose words surely wc find as many delic for our profiting we obtain diversities of mean-

-.> that now the hare history should he our food, now, veiled under the text of the letter, the moral allegory refresh us from our imnosl soul, and now to the deeper things contemplation should hold us suspended, already, in the darkness of the present life, shining in upon us from the light And it is i v to he known, that whosoever

- abounds with delicacies,1 is released in a kind of loosening of himself, and slacks from devotion to labour as it were from weariness, the soul when it has begun to abound with thi' interior d. forth consents not ever to give itself to eai thlj employments, but being captivated by the love of the Creal >r, and by its captivity In oceforth free, lor the contemplating of His likeness fainting it draws breath, and as it were whilsl giving over, is invigorated; b< cause whereas sordid burthens n i> now no longer able to hear, unto Him through rest it hastens Whom it loves within. Hence also cometh up from the wilderness abounding urith del&cacietf Cut. 8 in thai trulj except Holy Church 'abounded with the delica-

•'• N ultr-cics' of < tad's words, she could not mount up from the deeerUi of the preeeul life to the regions above. Thus she ' abounds with delicacies ami conies up,1 in that whilst she is fi '1 by mystica] Benses, she is lifted up lor tlie contemplating day bi <lay the things above. Hence likewise the Psalurisl says, P*. 189, Even th'1 night shall be Unlit about me in my delicacy y^, in that while by mystical perception the earnest mind is regaled, henceforth the darkness of the present life is lighted up in her by the radiance of the day to Come. So that l I en in the blindness of this state of corruption the force of the future light should break out into her understanding, and she being fed with delicacies of words, might learn by thus foretasting what to hunger for of the food of truth. It goes on:

And shall lift up thy/ace unto God.

x\. 25. To lift up the face to God, is to raise the heart for the searching into what is loftiest. For as by the bodily lace wc are known and distinguishable to man, BO by the interior figure to God. But when by the guilt of sin we are weighed to the earth, we are afraid to lift the face of our heart to God; for whereas it is not buoyed up by any of the confidence of good works, the mind is full of affright to gaze on the highest tilings, because conscience of itself accuses self.

But when by the tears of penance sin is now washed out, and things committed are so bewailed that nothing to be bewailed is any more committed, a great confidence springs up in the mind, and for the contemplating the joys of the recompensing from above ' the face of our heart is lifted Up.' Now these things I'.liphaz would have spoken aright, if he had been admonishing one that was weak; but when he looks down upon B righteous man on account ui his scourges, what is this, bul that he pours out words of knowledge in not knowing? Which same words if we bring into a type of heretics, they are they that with false promises engage for us to ' lift our face to (iod.' As if they said plainly to the faithful people, ' As long as thou dost not follow our preaching, thine heart thou sinkest down in things below.'' lint whereas Eliphaz charged blessed Job Book x v I to return to God, from Whom observe that same blessed— '■ man had never departed, he yet further subjoins, as promising j

Ver. 27. Thou shaU make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee.

2G. For they make their prayer to God, hut never obtain xxi. to be listened to, who set at nought the precepts of the Lord, when He enjoins them. Whence it is written, IleProv.

that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his ' prayer shall be abomination. 80 long then as Eliphaz believed that blessed Job was not heard, he determined that that person had surely done wrong in his practice. And hence he adds further,

And thou shalt pay thy vows.

He that has vowed vows, but is unable from weakness to pay the same, has it dealt to him in punishment of sin, that whilst willing good, the having the power should be taken away from him. But when in the sight of the interior Judge, the sin which hinders is clone away, it is immediately brought to pass, that the being able attends upon the vow.

Ver. 28. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee.

27. This is used to be the special conclusion of those xxii. going weakly, that in such proportion they esteem a man righteous as they see him obtain all that he desires; whereas in truth we know that earthly goods are sometimes withheld from the righteous, while they are bestowed with liberal bounty upon the unrighteous; seeing that to sick persons also when they are despaired of, physicians order whatever they call for to be supplied, but those whom they foresee may he brought back to health, the things which they long for they refuse to have given them. Now if Eliphaz introduced these declarations with reference to spiritual gifts, be it known that ' a thing is decreed and is established1 to a man, when the virtue which is longed for in the desire, is, by God's granting it, happily forwarded by the carrying of it out as well. And hence it is yet further added;

And tin' light shall shine upon thy ways.

242 l.itjltt ofrighteow works ruin without humility.

28, Since for ' light to shine in the frays' of the righteous,

'is by extraordinary deeds of virtue to scatter the tokens

Moral. of their brightness, th.it wherever they go in the benl NMn- of the mind, from the hearts <»!' those beholding them the) m;i\ dispel the night of sin, and bj the example of their own practice pour into them the light of righteousni bb; but what ever justness of practice there may be, in tlic eye of the interior Judge it is nothing, if pride of heart uplifts it I [ence it is added;

\ i r. 29. For he that has been abated shall be in glory, and he that has bent down his eyes, the same shall be wiv. 29. Which same sentence is not at variance with the

LakeU, mouth of ' Truth,' when It Bays, For whosoever exalteth

*• himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall

Pro* be exalted. And hence it is said by Solomon, Befi

'"• '-■ destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility. But it is properly said. For he that has bent

<lnui) his eyes, the same shall be saved; in that so far as it is to be discovered through the ministering of the membi is. the Inst manifestation of pride is used to be with the eyes. Hence

Ps.i8, it is written. And wilt bringdown high looks. Hence it is said of the very head himself of those that behave proudly,;i. lb beholdeth all high things. Hence it is written concerning her, who by unbelief attached herself to him, There bo, is. is n generation, 0 how lofty are their eyes.1 and their eyelids are lifted up. So to ' bend down the eyes, is no man on looking upon him to look down upon, hut one's self to look upon as inferior and below all one sees. lie then that

1 hends down his e\es shall be saved;' because he who quits the false height of pride, scales the loftiness of truth. It

by the cleanness of his hands, xw 80. Which same sentence now if it be delivered touching the recompense of the kingdom of heaven, is supported by Rom. 3, truth, in that whereas h is written concerning God, Who G- rrrih hi every man according to his deeds, that man in th 1 I [nquesl the justice of the Judge Eternal saveth, whom lure I lis pitifulnesa seta free from impure deeds. But if a man is to this purport supposed to be here sated by the clean- Boos ness ofhisoM d hands, that by his own powers he should be made 2 L iiinm-, nt. assuredly it is an error; for if Grace above do not prevent him when faulty, assuredly it will never find any one faultless to recompense without fault. Whence it is said by the truth-telling voice of.Muses; And »<> man of himself is Exod.

innocent in Jny sight. And so heavenly pity first works something in ourselves without the help of ourselves, that, our own free will following it up as well, the good which we now desire, it may do along with ourselves; yet the good coming by grace bestowed, in the Last Judgment, lie so rewards in ourselves, as if it had proceeded only from ourselves. For whereas the Goodness of God prevents us to make us innocent, Paul says, But by the grace of God I am lC'orwhat I OM. And whereas our free will follows that grace", he adds, And His (/race icliiclt teas bestowed upon me wan not in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all. Who whereas lie saw that he was nothing of himself, says, Yet not I, and yet forasmuch as he saw that he was something in union with grace, he added, but the grace of Cod with me. For he would not have said, with me, if together with preventing grace he had not had free will following it up. Therefore in order to shew that he was nothing without grace, he says, Yet not I, but that he might shew that along with grace he had worked by free will, he added, but the grace of God with me. Thus ' the innocent man shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands/ in that he who is here prevented by the gift, that he may be made innocent, when he is brought to judgment, is rewarded of merit. All which things, as was before said, Eliphaz though he delivered rightly, yet to whom he was delivering them he knew not; because one better than himself it was not his business to teach, but to hear. All which particulars however agree in a figure with the promises of heretics, who when they find any of the faithful afflicted in the present life suppose them stricken for the sin of misbelief, and promise them if they will follow their doctrine the saving health of innocencv by cleanness of good works. But the mind of the faithful looks

,' 1 1 ih< Elect ui /mill /(</c, and more when ill consoled., down upon them bo much the deeper down, in proportion as it dues in>i n e them t" possess the innocency which they '.'promise. Wh< ace it is well said by Solomon, Surely in vain

17. t/t, 1,1 1 is tpread in the right of any winged fowl. For the

'winged fowl' are the Bpiritsol g 1 nun. which whilst in the hope of truth they soar up to the higher regions, shun the nets "i bad men Bel for their deceiving. It goes on;

Chap. win. I, 2. ///(■// Job answered and taid, Wow also is my complaint bitter: and ilw hand of my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

\\w. 31. In his own way blessed Job sets out with the plainer sort of words, but his declaration he closes bj the deep following on of mystery. For the pain of the afflicted man ought t<> have been healed by the consoling of his friends, but because their consoling broke '>ut into the soothings of deceit, the pain of the stricken man was made harsher. For whereas E&liphaz was not afraid to promise him better things on being converted, it was as if by a poisonous remedy the wound were increased. Hence it is rightly said, Even to-day is my complaint bitterf and the han i of my stroke is heavier than my groaning, in this respect, viz. that the straining <>i unregulated consoling increased the stroke manifold, which it ought to have diminished; by which same words taken in a type ol Holy Church, the pain ft the faithful is likewise Bet forth, who groan the more, the more they see the wicked using the act— of flattery, who, according to the declaration of Paul, by good words and fair speeches dea /'•'• //"■ hearts of the sin, pic.

:;-j. Which words maj also he rightly applied to the viewing with great* r exactness the mind of the faithful, who (.in never he without bitterness even if they Beem to prosper in this world. Which persons when adversity loo befalls, it r doubles that pain which it finds. Whence it is rightly said. Now also is mi/ complaint bitU r, that it might be plainly shewn that e\ en in prosperity the mind of the Bled Bhould not lie without bitterness. And it i— well said, And the hand <>t my stroke is heavier than my groaning. For 'the hand of a stroke,' is the force of the striking. For their first Btriking the Elect Bee to he. thai from the vision of their Creator the\ are parted, that the brightness of the

The Elect painfully long to behold God. -2 15 int. rior illumining they never enjoy, bnt groan as being banished in the exile of the present life as in a place of x V|- darkness. Thus they always have their groaning in tins k hand <>! their stroke;" but when over and above adversities also befall them in this life, ' the hand of their stroke is heavier than their groaning.' For there was groaning for the Btroke even when the adversities of the present life were away. But the bitterness of the original stroke is increased over and above by the trial of adversity. Therefore he says, And the hand of my stroke is heavier than my groaning f In that any just man adversity did not smite whilst happy in this life, but came to redouble in him the pain of the wound. Yet it happens by the extraordinary governance of Almighty God, that when in this life the spirit of the righteous man travails most in adversities, he thirsts the more ardently alter the beholding of his Maker's face. Hence it is fitly subjoined here,

\"i r. 3. () that cur would grant me that I might know ami find Hint, that I might come even to His seat!

33. An elect person if he did not know God, assuredly xxvjj would not love Him. But it is one thing to ' know' by faith, and another to know by His own Form, one thing to find by trustfulness, another to find Him by contemplation. In consequence whereof it is brought to pass that Him Whom they know by faith, all of the Elect long to sec by His own Form as well. With the love of Whom they hum and glow, because the honey of His sweetness they already taste of in the mere certainty of their faith. Which that person in the country of the Gerascnes cured of the devils well represents, who wishes to depart with Jesus; but by the Master of health it is told him, Return (<> thine own house, ami shew,. _ what great things (,'od hath done unto tlice. For on him that loves delay is still imposed, that by the longing of love delayed the title to rewarding may be heightened. And so to us Almighty God is made sweet in miracles, and yet in I lis own loftiness remains hidden from our eyes, that both by shewing something of Himself, He may by secret inspiration set us on fire in the love of Him, and yet by hiding the gloriousn. — of His Majesty may increase the force of that love of Him by the heat of longing desire. For except the holy

B man sought t" see Thii Being in Hia Majesty, surely ho — — would no( brins in the words, ilmt I mi<//tf ccsne even to His ■ ii y For what is the * teat1 of God but those angelical spirits who as Bcripture teatifiefl are called ' Thron< »?' Be iIk 11 that desires to * come t«» the Beat of God,' what else doea he long for bnl to be among the Angelic spirits, that no failing momenta of the periods <>f time be henceforth be liable to, but rise up to abiding glory in the contemplation <>f eternity.

3-4. Which words nevertheless arc likewise appropriate to the righteous whilst placed in this life. For when the] see any thing done against their wish and desire, they hare recourse to the hidden judgments of God, that therein they may read that that is not irregularly ordered within, which seems to pass irregularly without For when they behold with the eyes of faith the Creator of all things, ruling over the Angelical Spirits, then they s come to His suit.' Anil whereas the] observe that lie, Who rules the Angels in a wonderful manner, does not dispose ^\ man in any way contrary tojustice, then indeed the principles of cases they tO I'e.is just as they are, whilst the cases themselves external!] seem t*> he unjust. And when as tiny do this with humility, they often lay blame to themselves in their will, and their own wishes they sometimes judge in themselves, whilst they ponder that those things an- better which the Creator appoints. Hence it is well added in mini ill with reproaches.

depth of our mind by the contemplating of faith to open the of our view to the awful inquisition of His Majesty', to mark what man as a sinner deserves, of the now hidden and i Jud ■•• to take thought how terrible lie will hereafter appear, [n consequence of which it happens, that the soul is recalled to the knowledge of itself with greater exactness, and in proportion as it sees us x, del Judge the greater objei l • much the- more horrihh wrung with fears for ictions. It trembles with anxious alarm; ite offences it •.Hi.- \siih lamentation) in repenting it charges houic what it remembers itself to have been; whence now too after Book it had been said, / will order ///>/ cause before Him, it is X - - rightly subjoined, Ami Jill my month with reproaches. For he who ' orders his cause before God,' docs ' till his month with reproaches,1 in that while he beholds the exact scrutiny of the awful Judge directed against himself, he pursues himself with the charges of bitter repentance. Now it often happens that whilst we neglect to take account of our faults, what blaming of them may follow in the Judgment we are hit ignorant of: but whilst we pursue them by exercising repentance, what the Judge in His Inquisition may say to us concerning them, we find out. Whence it is further added with propriety,

Ver. 5. That I may know the words thai he will answer me, and understand what he will say unto me.

86. For we then bewail our sins, when we begin to weigh xxix. them; but we then -weigh them the more exactly, when more anxiously we bewail them, and by our lamentations it rises up1 more perfectly in our hearts, what the severity of God 'one threatens those with that commit sin, what will be those ^"'J,,'" rebukings upon the children of perdition, what the terror, what the abhorrence of the unappeasable Majesty. For so great things shall the Lord then being angry ' say' to the lost, as great as He permits them of justice to undergo. Which same words of His visitation, the righteous, because now they anxiously fear them, escape free from, liut who in that inquisition might be found righteous, if God according to the Majesty of His Might, so sifted the life of man? Therefore it is fitly subjoined,

Ver. 6. / would not that He should contend with me with great power, nor oppress me with the weight of His mightiness.

37. For the soul of one however righteous, if he be judged xxx. with strictness by Almighty God, is borne down by the weight of His mightiness. In which same words this is likewise to be understood, that whereas the holy man shews the might of God, what else of Him does he desire, but His weakness r And it is written, the weakness of God is stronger i Cor. i, than men. Whence too he directly adds. 2o'

248 OooTs Equity to man is the Incarnation, Job 88, \'.r. 7. Lei Him put forth equity against me, and my -judgment s/m/l come unto victory

For who < Ue sai ing the Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus, u denoted bj the title of 'equity?' 1, Concerning Whom it is mitten, JJ h<> of God is made unto „< wisdom and righteousness. knd whereas this lame righteousness came into this irorid against die ways of Burners, ire get the better of our old enemy, by whom ire irere held captive. So let him say, / would not that He should contend with me with great power, nor oppress me with the weight of His mightiness. Let Him put forth • ijnifi/ against me9and my judgment shall come unto victory, i.e.' for the rebuking of my ways, let Him Bend His Incarnate Son, ami then the plotting foe, bj the sentence of mine absob ing, 1 as i ictor will turn out.1 For if the ( hily-b< gotten Sun of God had bo remained invisible in the strength of the Divine Nature, as not to hare admitted aught derived from our weakness, when could weak men ever have found the ^s of grace to Him? For the weight of His greatness, being considered, would rather have oppressed than aided him; but the Strong above all things came weak among all things, that whereas 1 1<- agn ed with us ly assumed weakness, II. might elevate as to His own abiding strength. For in Its Loftiness the Divine Nature could never have been apprehended by us, inasmuch as being too little, bul tie bowed Himself down to man through human nature, and wo as it were mounted up on Him laid low; He rose, and we were lifted up. Whence this too is added directly, whereby the Divine Being ma\ be shewed invisible and incomprehensible. Tims it goes on;

\ er. s.:'• // / go to the East, I h appt areih not; if I go in i In1 West, I shall not understand Him; if I go to the left /nun/, what shall I do? I shall not comprehend Hun; I i a i n myself to the right hand I thall not see Him. XXX1 38. For the Creator of all things is not in a pari, inasmuch as H< is every where. \ml then He is found the less, when lh. Tli.it is whole every where, is Bought in a part. For the Incomprehensible Spirit containeth all things within Itself, Which at the s.mie tun,, both while filling encompasseth, and while encompassing filleth, both in supporting overtops, ami Boos in overtopping rapports; and it is well that after it had been - said, //" I i/o In tin- East, He n/./iniret/i not; if I go to the West, I shall fm/ understand Him; if I go to the left hand, what shall I do? I shall not comprehend Him; if I turn myseff to ^"' fight hand I shall not see Him; he thereupon added, But He knoweth the way that I take. As if he said in plain words, ' I am unable to see Him, Who seeth me, and Him that beholdeth me most minutely, I have no power to behold:' that is to say, that he might shew that He is so much the more needfully to be feared, in proportion as lie is not discernible. For He Who so beholds us that He may not be by us beheld, is so much the more to be dreaded in proportion as in seeing all things He is not seen in the least degree. For when we believe that there is any one hidden in ambush to assault us, we dread him the more that we do not at all see him; and when we do not at all discover his ambush where it is placed, we apprehend it even there where it does not exist. And our Creator, Who is whole every where, and while discerning all things is not discerned, is the more to be dreaded in proportion as continuing invisible, what He may determine concerning our actions and at what time is not known. Which words, too, may be understood in another sense also. For we ' go to the East,' when we lift up our mind in thinking of His Majesty. But ' He appeareth not,1 seeing that such as He is in His own Nature, by mortal thought He cannot be seen to be. I> < I <jo to the West, I shall not understand Him; we ' go to the west,1 when the eye of the heart that is lifted up in God, but made to recoil by the mere immensity of the light, we bring back to our own selves, and being spent with labour, we learn that the thing is very much above us which we were seeking; and viewing our own mortal condition find out that as yet we are creatures unfit to have the power to behold One that is Immortal. If I go to the It ji hand, what shall I do? I shall not comprehend Him* To ' go to the left hand' is to yield one's self to the enjoyments of our sins. And it is surely plain, that he cannot ' apprehend God,' who still in the gratification of sin lies prostrate along the left side. //' / turn myself to the right side I shall not see Him. He truly is ' turned to the right hand,' nil, l, nee "i la ins, u h, low what was true of him.

< -who is lifted up nn the ground of rirttioua attainments,

-— ^ — Hut be cannot see God, who is glad with selfish joy for bis good deeds; because in that man the swelling of pride weighs down the eye of the heart. Whence it is well said the hit. In all which particulars the soul very often searches out itself, nor yet is able perfectly to find out itself. Whence it is fitly added here,

/in/ //< Himself knoweik the way thai I take* w\ii. 89. A- if hesaid in plain terms, *1 for mine own part both search myself strictly, and am not able to know myself thoroughly; yet He, Whom I have not power to see, seetfa most minutely all the thing8 that 1 do.' It goes on;

And lie shall iry nu> like gold which passeth through Hit

Gold in the furnace is advanced to the brightness of its nature, whilst it loses the dross. And so like ' gold that th through the fire' the souls of the righteous are tried, which by the burning of tribulation through and through, both have their defects removed, and their good points increased. Nor was it of pride that the holy man likened himself as set in tribulation to gold, in that he who, by the

\ nice of < rod, was pronounced righteous befi >re the stroke, was n«.i for this reason permitted to be tried that had qualities might be cleared off, but thai excellences might be heightened; but gold is purified by fire; less then than he was did he think of his own self, in that, being delivered over to suffer tribulation, he believed that he was being purified, whereas he had not an) thing in him to be purified.

10. Now it is necessary for us to know, that though the mind of the righteous entertains humble thoughts touching itself, yet the several things that they do, they see to be as right as they are, while the\ oei si presume on the tightness of them. Whence it i.s yet further added; Myfooi hath held

/lis 8tepst his way have I kepi and m>i declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his li/>s, and I have hid the words of his mouth in my bosons, lint in the midst ol all this let US see whether he thinks himself to be any tiling. It follows; But 11 it I li iiisrl/' alone. By the subjoining ol which entence, he shews that amidst all the

Footsteps o/Qod the Saints rule "J life. 251 good things which he had done ho believed himself to be Boo* nothing. Bui taking up these same words from the begin - ning, let us run over them as well as we are able. Ver. 11. My foot hulk held Missteps.

41. For as a kind of footsteps of God are His doings xxxiii. which we Bee, by which doings both the good and bad man is governed, by which the righteous and unrighteous are arranged in their classes, whereto both every one that is subject is led on day by day to better things, and he that is in rebellion against them is borne with going headlong into worse. Concerning which same footsteps the Prophet said, Thy goings hate been seen, O God. And so we, when wep3. 68, behold the efficacy of His long-suffering and pitifulness, and ■ Upon so beholding strive to imitate the same, what else do we but follow the ' footsteps of His goings,' in that we imitato some outskirts of His method of proceeding. Thus these footsteps of His Father ' Truth' gave it in charge to imitate when He said, Pray for them which persecute you and Matt. 5, falsely accuse you; that ye may be the children of your Father Which is in hear en. For He makelh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good. It may be too that blessed Job who had already said with assured faith, J know that my Redeemer livetk, and that J shall a rise Job 19, at the latter day from the earth; so dwelt on the future working of Wisdom Incarnate to be, in like manner as we behold by faith the works of that Wisdom now past, how that the Mediator between God and man should be kind to give, humble to bear, patient to afford an example. Whose life while blessed Job, filled with the Spirit from above, regarded with heedful intentness, foreseeing the future lowliness of His mild character, he refers as it were to a pattern set before him, so that whatever he did in this life he might bind fast to His footsteps in imitating, that so he who was incapable of seeing the high things of His secret ordering, as it were looking on the ground, might keep His footsteps for imitation. Of which same ' footsteps' of Him it is said by Peter, Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving iPet.2, us an example, that ye should follow His footsteps. Con-" ' cerning whom it is vet further added;

I r he ' keeps the waj and does not decline, who axxiv. practises the thing whereon his mind ia bent Since to

• keep1 in the benl is ' doI to decline1 in tin- practice. For this is tin anxiet] of the righteous, thai day by day they should trj tin ii,Kii"iis by the wtsyt "i truth, and proposing these as a rule t" theme Ives, thej Bhould not decline from tin- ti. iik.'i their right course. Thusdaj by daj they strive to above themselves, and in proportion as they are lifted up upon tin- summit <,t" virtues, they judge with heedful in.-, whatever there is "i themselves 1 it remaining h. low themselves. Ami they are in baste t<> dran tin- whole of themselves there, where they find that they have been

\.i 12. Neither have I gone back from the commandmenu of His lips. xxxv. '■'*• ^s servants thai serve well are ever intent upon their masters1 countenances, tint the things thej maj hid they m. iv hear readily, and strive to liiliil; so the minds of tin- righteous in their benl are upon Almightj God, ami in 1 lis Scripture tiny as it *< re ii\ thi ii eyes on 1 1 is fai i. that whereas God delivers therein all that He wills, the) may nut he at variance with I lis will, in proportion as thej learn that will in Mis revelation. Whence it happens, that Mis words iln not pass superfluously through their ears, but that these words tiny ii\ in their hearts. Minn it is here

/ have hid the words '.</' His month in my breast. XXXs i 1 1. For we ' hide the words "i Mis mouth in the bosom of our heart,* when we hear His commandments not in a passing way, hu! to fulfil them in practice. Mrno it i-, that of the i \ irgin Mother herself it is written, But Mary kept "II U things, mill pondered them in her heart. Which same words even when thej come forth to the practising fie hidden in th< n <■, ssea of the heart, if through that which is done Without, tin- mind «it' the doei hi- DOt lifted Dp within.

1 when the word conceived ia carried on to the deed, if human praise is aimed at herein, thi word of God assuredly ia m.t • hidden ia the bosom of the mind.' Inn I would know, 0 blessed man, wherefore thou examines! thysell \\ itli Boos so much earnestness, wherefore thou takest thyself to task x^'- with so much anxiety.' It got - on,

45. Are there not angels ami men, the heavens and theyryni. earth, tin: air and the waters "I the ocean, all the winged creatures, quadrupeds, and creeping thiie_rs.: Lnd surely it is Gen. 2, written, Which God created that they should Or. Whereas tin n there is such a multitude of things in the circle of nature, wherefore is it now said by the voice of the blessed in.ni. /A is Himself alone? Why, it is one thing to be, and another thing to BE primarily, one thing to he subjectly to change, and another thing to BE independently of change, lor these are all of them in being, but they are not maintained in being in themselves, and except they be maintained by the hand of a governing agent, they cannot ever be. For all things subsist in Him by Whom they were created, nor do the things that live owe their life to themselves, nor are those that are moved, but do not live, by their own caprice brought to motion. But He moveth all things, Who quickens some with life, whilst some that are not so quickened He preserves, disposing them in a wonderful way lor last ami lowest being. For all things were made out of nothing, and their being would again go on into nothing, except tli' Author of all things held it by the hand of governance. All the things then that have been created, by th< 111- selves can neither subsist nor be moved, but they only so far subsist, as tiny have obtained that they should be, are only so tar moved, as they are influenced by a secret impulse* For see the sinn.r is ordained to be BCOUrg< d by human accidents; the earth is parched in his toilingS, the sea tOSSt d in the shipwreck of him, the air on lire in his sweating, the heavens are darkened in Hoods upon him, his fellow creatures burn with lire in oppressions of him, and the angelical powers aiv made active in his troubling. Are all tin-. things which we have named b< ing inanimate, or which we have named endued with life, put into activity by their own instincts, or rather by impulses from God \ Wnatei er thenfare it be that is arrayed against us outwardly, in that thing j,i What menu to champ* Oottt Will, comet of It.

That Being is to h« regarded Who ordaina it Inwardly. In every eaee then He is to be regarded aa alone, Who IS

1 '• Tltns thait thou toy unto the children of Israel, He thai 18

Imi/i m nt me unto you. And so, when we are scourged by tin- things thai are see, we ought anxiously to fear Him

Whom ire do nol set-. And so lei the holy man looli down npOTJ all that alarms him without, all that in respect "I its being would go on to nothing except it were ruled, and with tli« • eye <>i the mind, all else being kept hack, let him sec Mini only in comparison with Whose Being tor ourselves to be is not to be, and ht him say, Ih only it Himself alone. 16. Concerning Whose unchangeableness it is directly after added with propriety, No man ran turn away His thought, tor as lie is unchangeable in Nature, so He is unchangeable in Will. Por 'none turneth away His thought,1 in that no man has power to resist His secret judgments. Since though there have been persons who might seem to ' have turned away His thought,1 yet His interior thought was this, that tiny should by praying have power to avert His Sentence, and that they should obtain from Him what to.diet with Him. So let him say. ami no man turneth away His thought, in that His judgments once Ps. 148, fixed can never he altered. Whence it is written. //< Imt/i

18,81. ainl earth sliall pott OWOig, but My WOrdt shall not /'ass neither "re your Ways as My ways. And so whenever outwardly the sentence appears to he altered, inwardly the counsel is not altered, in that in relation to each particular thing that is unalterably established within, whatever is done alterably without. It goes on;

Ami u hat I lis soul desireth, even that He doeth. wwii. 17. Whereas God is exterior to all bodies, interior to all minds, that identical power of His, whereby He penetrates all things, and regulates all things, is called His 'soul.'

Whose will ma even those things oppose, which appear to he don, contrary to His will, seeing that even what lie does not order, to this end He sometimes suffers to be done, that through this thin- th.it which He does order may he tin:

more surely done. For the will of the Apostate Angel is bad, Booi yet by God it is wonderfully ordered, so that even his eery ■ artifices as well should promote the welfare of the good, whom they purirj whilst they try. So then 'whatever His soul desireth, that He doeth,' that from the same source as well He might fulfil His will, whence there seemed to be a resisting of His will. Therefore let the holy man be filled with alarm, and contemplating the weight of that great Majesty, let him find himself out to be weak.

48. But it is well to put the question amidst these words, and to say, ' O blessed Job, wherefore in the midst of such scourges dost thou dread still further afflictions?' Thou art already encompassed with sorrows, by innumerable calamities thou art already straitly beset. Misfortune is to be apprehended, which is not yet entered upon. Thou being in the midst of such great sorrow, what dost thou apprehend? But mark how the holy man satisfying our questioning adds;

Ver. 11. For when He hath accomplished His will in me, there are many other such tilings with Him.

U>. As if he said in plain words, ' Already I weigh wcllxxxixwhat I am Buffering, but I still dread things that I may undergo.' For lie accomplishes His will in me, in that He afflicts one with many strokes, but ' there arc many like things with Him,1 in that if lie is minded to strike, He sees yet further where the stroke may be added to. Hence we may collect how fearful he was before the scourge, who even after being scourged still dreads lest he should be farther stricken. For suing the incomprehensible force both of power and penetration that resides in Him, the righteous man would not even on the ground of the scourge upon him be secure. And hence fearing still more lie adds;