Ambrose of Milan

(Verse 11, 12, 13, 14.) My friends and neighbors have approached me and stood against me. And my neighbors stood from afar. And those who sought my soul were causing violence. And those who intended harm to me spoke emptiness and deceit all day long. But I, like a deaf man, did not hear, and like a mute man who does not open his mouth. And I became like a man who does not hear and who does not have reproaches in his mouth. I see those who cleverly argue these things. To me, especially in this verse of the Lord, the following opinion seems to be held: because in the temptations of the enemy, even his own household becomes an enemy to man. Therefore, holy David confesses this purely, sincerely, and sorrowfully. For true pain is the confession of the inner heart; when all things are enumerated by which the secret depths of the mind are stung with the most bitter affection, and are exacerbated by domestic bitterness. Therefore, the Prophet laments that he is attacked by friends and neighbors, who certainly should not attack him, but rather help him. This certainly aligns with the complaint of the holy Job (Job. XVI, 2 et seq.); because he himself argued with those three consoling kings of evil, who brought him greater struggles, when they had come to console him out of friendship: which we certainly must be cautious about. For consolation should be gentle, not harsh, which would alleviate pain, temper fervor, rather than stir up agitation. Certainly let medicine itself teach us the remedies which it is accustomed to apply to severe wounds, in order to alleviate the pain. And therefore, wounds are first warmed, then they are incised, so that the hardness itself does not cause offense, and the incision does not aggravate the wound. Therefore, it is fitting for us to take great care, so that when we come to console, we do not speak easily or cursorily. Job was silent for seven days, his friends were silent, and they would not have spoken if Job had not burst out in pain. For it must be considered where to begin, so that your consolation does not offend in the very speech. Even silence itself is medicine, and being quick in speech wounds more. Why are you surprised if he wounds another, when he often wounds himself; because from excessive talking sin cannot escape? For if a doctor waits for the time of healing, so that the aids of medicine may be deferred until the diseases have settled; lest the illness, still bitter and immature, as they say, may resist the remedies of treatment, and may not be able to feel the benefit; how much more, then, it is fitting for us to inquire that medical speech may proceed from us in a timely manner, which seems not to ignite grief, but to soothe? The force of sorrow presses upon the heart of a distraught woman who has lost her husband or children through premature death. Why are you hurrying when she cannot hear you unless her grief subsides? We have often seen arguments arise from attempts at consolation. You came to grieve, not to argue. The order of conversation itself must be sought; so that you do not commit a sin before God while longing to console a person; so that when someone says to you, 'Listen to this, and to many other things that are of no benefit,' you may answer, 'Listen to those who console the afflicted'; so that you do not turn the sorrow of another into a contest of empty disputation; so that you do not approach when you ought to stay away; so that you do approach and your words are not harsher. Finally, let the holy Job teach you what is said about such things: 'Sudden and severe afflictions came upon me; robbers came at me from all sides. My brothers have left me, and they know me less than strangers do. My friends have become heartless.' (Job 19:12 et seq.) Here, therefore, is the natural sense of even the holy prophet David; to lament being attacked by friends and abandoned by those close to him.

But even the mystical does not reject the emotions of devotion, as he said for the angels, who pretend to fear the Lord; that they may deliver them from the temptations which they could not bear. So how far are they who are attributed to assistance? But they do not separate themselves, but he who is pressed by temptations thinks that they are far away, whom he desires to be closer to himself; and he thinks that they are pretending when they await the time of their emperor's command, who instructed his athlete to compete longer in order to conquer more gloriously. And it seems that this is more fitting for those who follow; because when the angels of protection relax their vigilance, the enemies lie in wait, seeking to find something harmful in his soul. Therefore, greater power is granted to them to tempt him with more severe temptation, when the guilt of the soul is found to be more serious. Hence, you have that which is said in the book of the Kings of King Ahab to Elijah: 'You have found me,' he said, when the Prophet strongly reproved him and declared death upon him. And Elijah responded: I have found; because you have done evil in the sight of the Lord (3 Kings 21:20). Therefore, you see that it is not to be taken lightly or without harm for kings or priests to commit injustice against the prophets of God; if there are no more serious sins in which they should be accused: but where there are more serious sins, there it does not seem that priests should be spared; so that they may be corrected with just rebukes.

Nevertheless, David says in this place that they seem to have found nothing; and therefore his enemies have spoken vanity, because they have not found anything to speak the truth about. Or certainly, even though I have sinned, I was purging my sins with the pain of repentance. In this matter, they spoke deceitfully with me: to confuse me with reproach and to turn me away from conversion. And see that he may have felt this more, they sought his evils: but when they wanted to accuse, they were prevented; because he had already revealed his own wounds, being his own accuser; and therefore the force of their accusation was nullified: but their words were in vain, which could no longer harm the one who had already confessed his guilt.


Therefore, excluded from the envy of accusation, they employed deceit; so that they would rise up, he says, and insult me, in order to provoke me to some disturbance: but seeing their deceit, I feigned not to hear, like a deaf person. Consider the power of speech. He did not say that I pretended not to hear what they were saying: but he said I did not hear; and he excluded the voice of the speaker from the intention of his mind: nor did he open his mouth, like a mute. Blessed is he who can have such virtue, that when provoked, he does not become angry, and when disturbed, he does not seek revenge. The enemies do this in order to provoke anger: they curse so that we may curse; they accuse so that we may accuse in return; they insult so that they may incite us to reciprocal abuse. Hence Peter, in his letter, put it beautifully concerning the Lord Jesus: 'When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten' (1 Peter 2:23). Therefore, desiring to shape the principles of his own life in the likeness and image of the Lord, the righteous man, accused, remains silent; he forgives when he is harmed; he conceals when provoked; and he does not open his mouth. He imitates Him who, like a lamb led to the slaughter, does not open his mouth; and even though he could have something to say in response, he chooses to remain silent rather than speak. For when the Lord Jesus was truly accused, he remained silent; and when he was struck, he did not strike back. Finally, when he was struck, he replied: If I have spoken evil, testify of the evil; but if I have spoken well, why do you strike me? See how, as if truly weak and as if unable to defend himself, he spoke with a kind of childish affection: so, therefore, if you have something with which to refute the accuser, it would be better for you to remain silent; lest you reveal your agitation through the cycle of refutation. For it is better to conceal an injury than, when you expose it, seek revenge. Blessed is the dumb man, who does not know how to speak ill, from whose mouth a crime does not come out. This is truly a blessed dumb man, who, when silent, speaks within himself. The Lord gives me the tongue of instruction, so that I may know when it is necessary for me to speak. These are the things that Zacharias spoke within himself, when he had become mute: and truly because speaking had not benefited him, in order not to speak, he became mute; and in order to speak, he was heard by Christ. Finally, he wrote that Christ heard her; and she received a voice, which Christ granted; and she received grace, which she did not have before; so that she could prophesy about him, in whose commands she did not believe before. Why am I talking about the Lord of all powers, when the woman Susanna, not troubled by the weakness of her gender, when she realized that she had been subjected to the danger of death, let out a cry? She was accused, and she remained silent: she was led to death, and she covered herself in silence, so as not to expose her modesty. However, she spoke within herself to God, who heard her more when she was silent: if she had wanted to speak, perhaps she would not have been heard.

And therefore you who intended to make satisfaction for your sins to the Lord your God, purify yourself inwardly with a sincere heart and behold Him who can wash away sins. He assists you who thinks you should be accused. Finally, when David was cursed and his commander Abishai wanted to avenge the king's injury, David said to him: Let him curse, for the Lord has told him to see my humility and repay me with good for this curse (2 Samuel 16:12). Do you see, therefore, that by assisting those who revile you, you may obtain that the Lord hear you, and forgive your sin? For since you should be your own accuser, and heap up offenses, and offer yourself to punishment, how can you deny what is objected against you? Repentance seeks patience, and patience mitigates great offenses. How can you be angry with others, when you yourself are guilty in your conscience? How can you be disturbed, when you should be pitiable? He who is accused, and (what is more) by himself, ought to heal his wounds, not wound another. No one heals themselves by injuring another. Doctor, heal yourself. If a doctor, how much more should they first heal themselves! You confess your sin and declare yourself a doctor for others: although what you twist is true, it is not the right time; for to the sinner God said: Why do you recount my injustices (Ps. XLIX, 16)? You usurp for yourself to argue about the Law, when you yourself have acted against the Law (Exod. XXIII, 1). Why do you waste time with tears? Why do you listen to or speak empty words when it is written: Do not receive empty hearing; when you read in the Gospel (Matthew 12:36) that judgment must be undergone for every idle word? Even if someone else speaks, be silent; even if someone else is insulted, close your ear.

(Verse 6.) I am afflicted and bowed down by miseries until the end; I go about in sorrow all day long. Until what end does he say he is bowed down? Is it the legitimate end of repentance? Or moreover, so that we may understand it mystically, until Christ, who is the end of the Law; who allowed himself to be scourged, allowed his body to be stoned to death? But those wounds emitted no smell of repentance, but rather the fragrance of all grace. Finally, death did not consume Him, as it does with other men; rather, the fountain of eternal life gushed forth, as Scripture teaches us, saying: 'With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation' (Isaiah 12:3). Therefore, water sprang forth from His wound, so that we might drink salvation. All sinners of the earth will drink, so that they may cast off their sins. Consider each detail. Christ was afflicted with miseries in order to make blessed those who were in misery. Let no one call him who is just miserable, for he himself said: You will make no one miserable (Isaiah 33:1). He was bent down so that we could be raised up; he was sad so that we could be made joyful; as it is written: For if I cause you sorrow, who then will make me glad, unless the one who is made sad by me (2 Corinthians 2:2). Therefore, whoever is made sad by the Lord Jesus Christ, he himself makes Christ glad; and he himself is made joyful by Christ. Therefore, we also recognize that we must not be satisfied with superficiality. Let us bend until the end, that is, not only having faith in Christ, but also enduring our sufferings, and let us rejoice in our sufferings, just as Christ rejoiced in his sufferings. He took them upon himself for his servants, so let us undergo them for the Lord. This, therefore, is the end. 'I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the Church, of which I have become a minister' (Colossians 1:24). We see what we must undertake, who have taken up the priestly ministry; that we ought to endure courageously not only the afflictions of the body for ourselves, but also for the Church of the Lord. But David added the afflictions of the soul.

(Verse 6.) I am afflicted and bowed down by miseries until the end; I go about in sorrow all day long. Until what end does he say he is bowed down? Is it the legitimate end of repentance? Or moreover, so that we may understand it mystically, until Christ, who is the end of the Law; who allowed himself to be scourged, allowed his body to be stoned to death? But those wounds emitted no smell of repentance, but rather the fragrance of all grace. Finally, death did not consume Him, as it does with other men; rather, the fountain of eternal life gushed forth, as Scripture teaches us, saying: 'With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation' (Isaiah 12:3). Therefore, water sprang forth from His wound, so that we might drink salvation. All sinners of the earth will drink, so that they may cast off their sins. Consider each detail. Christ was afflicted with miseries in order to make blessed those who were in misery. Let no one call him who is just miserable, for he himself said: You will make no one miserable (Isaiah 33:1). He was bent down so that we could be raised up; he was sad so that we could be made joyful; as it is written: For if I cause you sorrow, who then will make me glad, unless the one who is made sad by me (2 Corinthians 2:2). Therefore, whoever is made sad by the Lord Jesus Christ, he himself makes Christ glad; and he himself is made joyful by Christ. Therefore, we also recognize that we must not be satisfied with superficiality. Let us bend until the end, that is, not only having faith in Christ, but also enduring our sufferings, and let us rejoice in our sufferings, just as Christ rejoiced in his sufferings. He took them upon himself for his servants, so let us undergo them for the Lord. This, therefore, is the end. 'I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the Church, of which I have become a minister' (Colossians 1:24). We see what we must undertake, who have taken up the priestly ministry; that we ought to endure courageously not only the afflictions of the body for ourselves, but also for the Church of the Lord. But David added the afflictions of the soul.

(Verse 15, 16.) David overcame his adversaries by remaining silent: and because he became like a mute, he received his voice; for when he turned to the Lord, he spoke, saying: Because I have hoped in you, Lord: you will hear me, Lord, my God. Because I have said, lest my enemies rejoice over me. Consider each detail: David was silent, the enemies spoke, they provoked him to speak. They said: Let us hear your voice. Within himself, he spoke silently: What need is there for them to hear these things, which cannot benefit them? In you, O Lord, I have hoped; to you alone I speak: you listen, who can hear. I have always asked of you, lest at any time my enemies might rejoice over me; for though I have sinned, you forgive the sin: though I have fallen, you raise me up, so that those who delight in the sins of others may not have a reason to rejoice. For we have gained more by our transgressions, since your grace makes us happier than our own innocence. We have this sentiment also in the book of the prophet Micah: Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; for though I have fallen, I will rise again (Micah 7:8). The ruin of weakness is not severe, if there is also not a desire to not rise from it. Have the will to rise, there is someone present who will make you rise.

So David said in his heart, seeking to be heard by the Lord, and that his enemies would not exult over him: also asking that he would remain steadfast in his purpose of conversion, so that his adversaries, full of pride and boasting, would not speak against him; as those who desire to insult do. Although he may be moved like a man, he declares himself prepared for punishment, so that he may even atone for his error. Even though the lashes of the Lord cease, he still remembers being afflicted by his own pain; so that he may not find fault that he condemns, which a good confession has already anticipated. This is therefore what he says: And while my feet are being shaken, they have spoken greatly of me; because they are so ready for insults and ridicule, that in the shaking of my feet they had already prepared grandiloquence; or certainly like this: While my feet are being shaken, thinking that I would fall, they have already spoken proudly and grandiloquently.

But nevertheless, because he himself in the later psalms said about his own feet being almost moved (Psalm 72:2), lest any doubt arise from this, consider that here we are taught the emotion of repentance, and there the notion of his error is excluded, that riches and greater success should not move us to wickedness. However, this kind of expression is found in the divine scriptures. For example, elsewhere it says: When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream (Psalm 126:1). Although a saint wants to prove himself not in the display of words, but in the power of the spirit. The meaning should always be considered, which even frequent translation from Hebrew to Greek, from Greek to Latin, tends to weaken.

(Verse 18.) If you see your servant confessing his own sins and offering himself voluntarily to punishment, will you be moved, forgive him, and doubt the mercy of the Lord? The judge himself, who is not allowed to temper the sword in many cases because he serves the laws, can still grant a profit from punishments. And yet you hesitate about what you should ask from the Lord of the laws and the Author of mercy, to whom the law is a desire and the right to give. If, however, you ask for your sins to be forgiven, do not consider your honors or be ashamed of your friends, so that you do not seem to have deviated from your dignity. Friend of God, prophet of God, king chosen by God himself, and anointed to the kingdom, he willingly offered himself to the whips and was not ashamed: and are you ashamed? This modesty will not help you much when you come to the judgment of God; but you will repent of this shame when you find yourself not only in the presence of men, but also of Angels and all celestial Powers, and you begin to not deny your own sins. How will you excuse yourself when you have committed such great offenses? Do you pretend the weakness of your condition because no one is without sin? It will be answered to you: Therefore you should have repented, I had given a remedy, why did you reject it? Do you cover your shame because you are ashamed of your honors? He will say: If you are ashamed of me before your friends, then I will be ashamed of you before my Father, who is in heaven. Learn that it is true what is written, that shame leads to sin (Sirach 4:25). David placed his sorrow before him, so that he would never forget; David declared his own wickedness; David thought about his sin, not his riches; David did not hesitate to confess his sins, lest he be ashamed in my judgment: and you were ashamed? My servant Job is not at rest today, if he has blushed for his three friends the kings; and David himself, if he were ashamed to confess his own sins. Therefore, because he did not blush to reveal his sins to me, neither will I be ashamed to reveal my secrets to him. And because neither of them was ashamed to lay the price of their actions in my power, to commit themselves to my judgment and will; I will not be ashamed to call such servants friends, who have striven to do my will. Therefore, since they were previously in mourning, now in consolation; you, however, were previously in delights, now in sufferings. There is great chaos between you, so that neither their favor can reach you, nor your punishment can reach them. Therefore, do you hear what David says? Listen, while it is allowed for you to correct and improve: if you correct here, you will find rest here. Do not let the sweet things of the world and the pleasant delights of this age please you; for they are accustomed to move the unhappy heart. He did not seek the pleasures of being in power, but rather chose the death of the righteous over the life of the wicked.

(Verses 19, 20.) My enemies, he says, are alive and they have become strong against me; and they have multiplied, those who hate me unjustly. They repay evil for good, they spoke ill of me; because I pursued justice. But how much more illustrious was he, who died daily, so that he might give life to his people: and he offered his body to the wounds of death; as he himself says: In deaths often (2 Corinthians 11:23)! For indeed death is a noble redemption of life, even of a life without color or innocence: but the outcome of death is in the hand of life. And for this reason, the Apostle preferred to die daily, in order to demonstrate the merit of his life. For it is written: Do not praise a man during his lifetime. For those who live, will die; and those who die, will rise again. Therefore, it is closer to salvation for one to die in order to rise again, than for one to live in order to die. But who is it that dies daily (Eccl. XI, 30), if not the one who carries the death of the Lord Jesus in his flesh, so that all his sins may die to Him? But the enemies of David were confirmed and multiplied in this age; but they are not a strong foundation, except for the one who is confirmed in Christ. Finally, those who hate the just one unjustly are confirmed in this age; therefore, it is not a just hatred, but an unjust one; since they unjustly hated.

But see the distinction. In the latter passage it says: Those who hate me for no reason (Psalm 68:5); here it says: Those who hate me unjustly. But there, it is spoken from the person of Christ, here from his own person; where he speaks from the person of Christ, he is hated without cause: where he speaks from his own, it is unjustly. For a man may not suffer one particular wound, such as injustice, intemperance, or immodesty, but may be vulnerable to other wounds. But in Christ there could be no cause by which he could receive the wound of any sin, being free from fault, untouched by wrongdoing, and unsullied by vice. However, there are those who believe that both psalms were spoken from the perspective of Christ, who was satisfying the Father for our sins. Here, He was expressing His desire against justice, there against grace.

And he adds well, to prove that he pursued unjustly: Since I have pursued justice. How great is the power of a word in the addition of one syllable, that it would deceive by saying pursued justice, not followed. For he who follows is nearer than he who follows, and closer than farther, and the succession of an heir is more than called accession.

(Verse 21.) And yet, although he follows righteousness, he does not consider it to be of his own virtue, but of heavenly grace, if he is not forsaken by Christ; and for this reason he prays more earnestly, saying: Do not forsake me, O Lord my God; do not depart from me; that is, men have forsaken me, my friends have attacked the one who is dear to them: they have not drawn near. They fled from me as though I were dead, and they abhorred me; because I desired to confess my sins to you, and to confess; because I offered myself to be wounded by your scourges; because I chose the scars of wounds over the feasts of kings, and the boasting of rulers: you alone do not forsake me, you cleave to your servant, who raises up the needy from the earth, and lifts up the poor from the dunghill. Relying on your company, I will esteem myself more highly among the surrounding peoples. Indeed, my scars have healed, but I still long for the scars of your wounds, which are covered by healed injuries, so that no wound may appear later. Good are the scars of triumphant wounds, with which the victors of this earthly combat boast. How much more glorious are the wounds which, for the sake of faith and the glory of your name, appear to be exempt! This is the scar that opens heaven, acquires a kingdom, and finds immortality. Therefore, brothers, this is the blessed wound, because blessed are those who have washed their robes in their own blood. Thus the robe began to be of glory, the flesh of death (Romans 7:24): in which even Paul himself, chosen by God, was in danger unless he had asked to be delivered from this mortal body, as we read.

And therefore, as we are in this body of death, let us pray that the good and beloved physician of God does not leave us, whom even the patriarch David prayed not to be separated from. Let us entrust ourselves to Him, prepared to be treated with whatever remedy He sees fit. No one tells their own body's physician how they should be treated. The physician knows what medicine is appropriate for each wound, by which festering sores should be amputated with a knife, lest the ruin spread to the entire body. If a doctor were to say to the sick person the type of medicine by which he ought to be cured, and if the sick person despise it, the doctor leaves and abandons the sick person. See him who desires to be cured, by acquiescing to every type of doctor; pay attention to the order. He first reveals his wounds to the doctor, and says: Treat me, but I beg you not in your anger, because my weaknesses cannot endure harsh medicine. The medicine of Christ is correction; for the Lord corrects whom He wishes to convert. Therefore Paul also says to the physician: Rebuke, exhort, rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2). So, one who asks to be rebuked does not refuse to be healed; rather, he wants to be relieved of the punishment so that he may not be rebuked in anger and be taken by the force of anger.

And watch the process. First, seek to be accused; afterwards, to be corrected, which is greater. Then not only confess your sins, but also list them and accuse yourself; for you do not want your faults to be hidden. For just as fevers, when they are deep-rooted, cannot be alleviated; when they break out, they bring the hope of ending: so the disease of sins, while it is concealed, grows more intense; if it is revealed through confession, it evaporates. Therefore, a righteous accuser is at the beginning of discourse, before the contagion of the ulcer spreads internally; for the memory of sins burdens the conscience unless a remedy is sought. And if the doctor delays, the sick person should offer themselves so that they may be cut as quickly as possible; just as David offered himself in the lashes of the Lord saying: Render to me double the sins, as long as these are avenged; do not abandon me, do not turn your face away from me; do not disdain and recoil from the stench of my wounds. And Job, your servant, was struck with ulcers from his feet to his head, and he found a remedy for his health; although that wound was of virtue, this one of error. They celebrated wounds that doctors could not heal. You spoke, Lord, the mysteries of your sacraments, you revealed the venom of the serpent; and the wounds of your servant were healed by the medicine of your word alone, because you did not abandon him; and do not forsake me, Lord, do not depart from me. People have forsaken me; because my wounds disgust them, which I thought should be revealed to your mercy. They say: Leave us, for you are a sinner; depart, so that you do not defile us. But you, Lord, care and do not defile; you help and do not contaminate; for you are the God of my salvation, Lord, and your hand does not destroy, but is accustomed to heal.

We have completed the psalm, along with its interpretation, a verse which some Greek manuscripts have, but not all the Latin ones. For before the next response, the verse is, 'And they cast me forth as a dead thing abhorred'; that is, those who repaid me evil for good. But you, O Lord, do not forsake me, nor depart from me; for this follows; that is: You do not forsake the one accustomed to caring for the dead and decaying. Finally, we have this in the Gospel. For when he had come to the tomb of Lazarus, and said, 'Take away the stone,' Martha said, 'Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days.' Jesus saith to her, 'Said I not to thee, that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God?' Then He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.' And he that had been dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes. Let us therefore also believe, that our wounds may obtain the healing medicine of salvation, and future glory.

Therefore, in prayers and supplications, when repentance is to be sought with sorrow and tears, so that we may deserve to see the glory of God. Let it not move you that grief, pain, and physical affliction are very severe passions; although they seem very severe, nevertheless such passions are unworthy of the coming glory, as the apostle Paul testifies to you (Rom. VIII, 18). Therefore, let us not be reluctant to bear lighter burdens here, so that there we may be able to obtain full praise and glory, bringing eternal rewards for temporal things through the Lord Jesus: to whom be praise, honor, glory, perpetuity from age to age, now and forever, and for all ages, Amen.

Christ has heard the prayer of his own servants and has brought us out from the pit of misery and from the mire of dregs. We were drowning there; our whole flesh was clinging to the mire, trapped in the whirlpool of our sins. Our soul was powerless to save itself; fallen and ruined as it was by the multiplicity and dreadfulness of our offenses. Thanks be to the Lord Jesus, God’s only Son, who came down from heaven to forgive us our sins. He came to save us from the pit and slime of this world, from the mud and mire of this earth, from this body doomed to death. In his own flesh he has restored our soul and steadied our tottering footsteps. Strengthened by God’s Word and absolved through the cross of our Lord’s body, we walk no longer in the shame and disfigurement of vice but in the forgiveness of sin. Rooted and built in Christ, David declares that the Lord has set his feet on a rock. As the apostle says, “They drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.” May that rock, which follows those who thirst, confirm the weak and unsteady; may that water never be lacking to those who long for it; and may that firm foundation never be wanting to those in danger of falling.