1. YE will remember, that this next Psalm for us to treat in order is the hundred and twenty-fifth, which is among those Psalms the title of which is A Song of Degrees. Now this is, as ye know, the voice of them that ascend;-whither, save to that Jerusalem above, the mother of us all, which is in Gal. 4, Heaven? The same that is above, is also everlasting. But 2 this which was here on earth shewed a shadow of that other. So then this fell, the other abideth: this fulfilled the period of instruction, to the other belongeth the eternity of our restoration. From her we are on pilgrimage in this life, for return to her we sigh, wretched and toiling along, till we come home to her. Nor have our fellow citizens the Angels forsaken us in our pilgrimage; they have told us of our King Who is to come to us. And He came to us, and was despised among us, first by ourselves, afterwards with ourselves; and taught us to be despised, because He was despised; taught us to endure, because He endured; taught us to suffer, because He suffered; and promised that we should rise again, because He rose again; shewing in Himself what we ought to hope for. If therefore, brethren, the ancient Prophets, our fathers, before the Lord Jesus. Christ came in the flesh, before He rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, yet sighed after that city: how much We wait here as Captives for return to our Jerusalem. PSALM ought we to long for the place whither Himself is gone CXXVI. before us, and which He never left. For the Lord did not 22. so come to us as to leave the Angels. He both abode for them, and came to us: for them He abode in majesty, to us He came in the flesh. But we were, where? If He is called our Redeemer, we were held captives. But where were we held, that He should come to redeem us as captives? Perchance among barbarians? worse than any barbarians are the devil and his angels. They were before in possession of the human race: from them He redeemed us, Who gave not gold nor silver for us, but His own Blood. 2. But how man had come into captivity, let us ask the Apostle Paul. For he especially groans in that captivity, sighing for the everlasting Jerusalem, and has taught us to groan from that very Spirit with which he too was filled Rom. 8, when he groaned. For this he said: The whole creation groaneth together, and is in pain until now. And again, ib. 20. For the creature was made subject to vanity, he says, not of itself, but because of him who subjected the same in hope. By all creation, he meant that even in those who do not believe, but are yet to believe, the creature groaneth in labours. Is it then only in those who have not yet believed? Yea, does not the creature groan nor travail in those who have believed? But not only so, he saith, but even we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, that is, who already serve God in the Spirit, who now with the mind. have believed in God, and in the very act of believing have given some sort of firstfruits, that we may follow our Firstib. 23. fruits. Therefore, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, What re waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. So 3 24. 25. 20. Our Lord has gone before, but not forsaken us. hath Christ profited thee, if thou still groanest; and how TITLE. hath the Saviour saved thee? He who groaneth, is still sick. Therefore he subjoined and said, For we are saved in Rom. 8, hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, by patience we wait for it. Behold wherefore it is we groan, and how it is we groan, because what we hope for we are already indeed waiting for, but have it not yet in possession, and until we have it in possession we sigh, during time, because we long for what we have not yet. Wherefore? Because we have been saved in hope. Already the flesh taken of us in the Lord is saved not in hope but in fact. For our flesh hath risen again, and ascended, in our Head, whole, though in the members it hath yet to be made whole. The members rejoice fearlessly, because they have not been deserted by their Head. For He said to His members in trouble, Behold, I am with Mat. 28, you, even unto the consummation of the world. Thus it was done that we might be converted unto God. For we had no hope save toward the world; and thence were wretched slaves, and twice wretched, because we had placed our hope in this life, and had our face toward the = world, and our back toward God. But when the Lord hath turned us, so that we begin now to have our face toward God, and our back toward the world, though still in the way, we mind our own home, and when perchance we suffer any tribulation, but yet keep on our voyage, and are borne on the Wood; the wind indeed is rough, but it is a favourable wind; with toil indeed, but quickly it beareth us, quickly it beareth us home. Since then we were groaning for our captivity; and even they groan who have already believed; but had forgotten how we became captives, and are reminded of it by the Scripture; let us ask the Apostle Paul himself. For he saith; For we know that the Law Rom. 7, is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Behold whence we became captives; because we were sold under sin. Who sold us? We ourselves, who consented to the seducer. We could sell ourselves; we could not redeem ourselves. We sold ourselves by consent of sin, we are redeemed in the faith of righteousness. For innocent blood 14. 4 Manner of our Redemption. This World, Babylon. PSALM was given for us, that we might be redeemed. Whatsoever CXXVI. blood he shed in persecuting the righteous, what kind of blood did he shed? Righteous men's blood, indeed, he shed; they were Prophets, righteous men, our fathers, and Martyrs. Whose blood he shed, yet all coming of the offspring of sin. One blood he shed of Him Who was not justified', but born righteous: by shedding that blood, he lost those whom he held. For they for whom innocent blood was given were redeemed, and, turned back from their captivity, they sing this Psalm. 1 or, • made righteous.' 3. Ver. 1. When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion, we became as those that are comforted. He meant by this to say, we became joyful. When? When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion. What is Sion? Jerusalem, the same is also the eternal Sion. How is Sion eternal, how is Sion captive? In angels eternal, in men captive. For not all the citizens of that city are captives, but those who are away from thence, they are captives. Man was a citizen of Jerusalem, but sold under sin he became a pilgrim. Of his progeny was born the human race, and the captivity of Sion filled all lands. And how is this captivity of Sion a shadow of that Jerusalem? The shadow of that Sion, which Jer. 25, was granted to the Jews, in an image, in a figure, was in 29, 10. captivity in Babylonia, and after seventy years that people 11. and turned back to its own city. Seventy years signify all that time which revolves in seven days. But when all time is past, then we return to our country, as after seventy years that people returned from the Babylonish captivity, for Babylon is this world; since Babylon is interpreted confusion. See if the whole of man's life is not confusion. Whatsoever men do in vain hope, when they have found out what they are doing they blush. Wherefore do they labour? For whom do they labour? For my children, he saith. And they for whom? For their children. And they for whom? For their children. No one, therefore, for himself. From this confusion, then, they were already Rom. 6, turned back to whom the Apostle saith, For what glory had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? So then this whole life of human affairs is confusion, which belongeth not unto God. In this confusion, in this Baby 21. The mourners comforted, through our Lord's Resurrection. 5 lonish land, Sion is held captive. turned back the captivity of Sion. But the Lord hath VER. 4. And we became, he saith, as those that are comforted. That is, we rejoiced as receiving consolation. Consolation is not save for the unhappy, consolation is not save for them that groan, that mourn. Wherefore, as those that are comforted, except because we are still mourning? We mourn for our present lot, we are comforted in hope: when the present is passed by, of our mourning will come everlasting joy, when there will be no need of consolation, because we shall be wounded with no distress. But wherefore saith he as those that are comforted, and saith not comforted? This word as, is not always put for likeness: when we say As, it sometimes refers to the actual case, sometimes to likeness: here it is with reference to the actual case. But we must give examples also from the common speech of men, that we may be easily understood. When we say, As the father lived so did also the son, we say it of likeness: and, As a beast dieth, so man dieth; this too is said of likeness. But when we say, He acted as a good man; is he not a good man, but something like a good man? He acted like a just man. This 'like' does not deny that he is just, but denotes his actual character. Thou didst it as a senator: if he should say, Am I not then a senator? Yea, because thou art, thou didst it as a senator; and because thou art just, thou didst like a just man; and because thou art good, thou didst it like a good man. Therefore because these also were truly comforted, they rejoiced as those that were comforted. That is, great was their joy, as of those who are comforted, when He Who had died comforted those who had yet to die. For we all groan in that we die: He Who died hath comforted us, that we should not fear to die. He rose again first, that we might have what to hope for. Since then He first rose again, He gave us hope. Because when in distress, we were comforted by hope; hence our joy is great. And the Lord hath turned back our captivity, so that now from our captivity we are on our way, and are going toward our home. Now then, being redeemed, on our way let us not fear our enemies that lay wait for us. For He therefore redeemed us, that the enemy might not dare to lay wait for 1. |