Augustine of Hippo — Commentary on Scripture

Psalms 10:11

But how shall he decline, and fall? "For he has said in his heart, God has forgotten; He turns away His face, that He see not unto the end." This is declining, and the most wretched fall, while the mind of a man prospers as it were in its iniquities, and thinks that it is spared; when it is being blinded, and kept for an extreme and timely vengeance.

Exposition on Psalm 10

Psalms 10:12

Of which the Psalmist now speaks: "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted": that is, let Your power be made manifest. Now he had said above, "Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail, let the heathen be judged in Your sight:" that is, in secret, where God alone sees. This comes to pass when the ungodly have arrived at what seems great happiness to men: over whom is placed a lawgiver, such as they had deserved to have, of whom it is said, "Place a lawgiver over them, O Lord, let the heathen know that they are men." But now after that hidden punishment and vengeance it is said, "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted;" not of course in secret, but now in glory most manifest. "That You forget not the poor unto the end;" that is, as the ungodly think, who say, "God has forgotten, He turns away His face, that He should not see unto the end." Now they deny that God sees unto the end, who say that He cares not for things human and earthly, for the earth is as it were the end of things; in that it is the last element, in which men labour in most orderly sort, but they cannot see the orde…

Of which the Psalmist now speaks: "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted": that is, let Your power be made manifest. Now he had said above, "Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail, let the heathen be judged in Your sight:" that is, in secret, where God alone sees. This comes to pass when the ungodly have arrived at what seems great happiness to men: over whom is placed a lawgiver, such as they had deserved to have, of whom it is said, "Place a lawgiver over them, O Lord, let the heathen know that they are men." But now after that hidden punishment and vengeance it is said, "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted;" not of course in secret, but now in glory most manifest. "That You forget not the poor unto the end;" that is, as the ungodly think, who say, "God has forgotten, He turns away His face, that He should not see unto the end." Now they deny that God sees unto the end, who say that He cares not for things human and earthly, for the earth is as it were the end of things; in that it is the last element, in which men labour in most orderly sort, but they cannot see the order of their labours, which specially belongs to the hidden things of the Son. The Church then labouring in such times, like a ship in great waves and tempests, awakes the Lord as if He were sleeping, that He should command the winds, and calm should be restored. He says therefore, "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted, that You forget not the poor unto the end."

Exposition on Psalm 10

Psalms 10:13

Accordingly understanding now the manifest judgment, and in exultation at it, they say, "Wherefore has the ungodly angered God?"; that is, what has it profited him to do so great evil? "For he said in his heart, He will not require it."

Exposition on Psalm 10

Psalms 10:14

Then follows, "For You see toil and considerest anger, to deliver them into Your hands." This sentence looks for distinct explanation, wherein if there shall be error it becomes obscure. For thus has the ungodly said in his heart, God will not require it, as though God regarded toil and anger, to deliver them into His hands; that is, as though He feared toil and anger, and for this reason would spare them, lest their punishment be too burdensome to Him, or lest He should be disturbed by the storm of anger: as men generally act, excusing themselves of vengeance, to avoid toil or anger.

Exposition on Psalm 10

Psalms 10:15

"Break the arm of the sinner and of the malicious"; of him, namely, of whom it was said above, "He shall have dominion over all his enemies." He called his power then, his arm; to which Christ's power is opposed, of which it is said, "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted. His fault shall be required, and he shall not be found because of it;" that is he shall be judged for his sins, and himself shall perish because of his sin.

Exposition on Psalm 10

Psalms 10:16

After this, what wonder if there follow, "The Lord shall reign for ever and world without end; ye heathen shall perish out of His earth"? He uses heathen for sinners and ungodly.

Exposition on Psalm 10

Psalms 10:17

"The Lord has heard the longing of the poor" [Psalm 10:17]: that longing wherewith they were burning, when in the straits and tribulations of this world they desired the day of the Lord. "Your ear has heard the preparation of their heart." This is the preparation of the heart, of which it is sung in another Psalm, "My heart is prepared, O God, my heart is prepared:" of which the Apostle says, "But if we hope for what we see not, we do with patience wait for it." [Romans 8:25] Now, by the ear of God, we ought, according to a general rule of interpretation, to understand not a bodily member, but the power whereby He hears; and so (not to repeat this often) by whatever members of His are mentioned, which in us are visible and bodily, must be understood powers of operation. For we must not suppose it anything bodily, in that the Lord God hears not the sound of the voice, but the preparation of the heart.

Exposition on Psalm 10

Psalms 10:18

"To judge for the orphan and the humble" [Psalm 10:18]: that is, not for him who is conformed to this world, nor for the proud. For it is one thing to judge the orphan, another to judge for the orphan. He judges the orphan even, who condemns him; but he judges for the orphan, who delivers sentence for him. "That man add not further to magnify himself upon earth." For they are men, of whom it was said, "Place a lawgiver over them, O Lord: let the heathen know that they are men." But he too, who in this same passage is understood to be placed over them, will be man, of whom it is now said, "That man add not further to magnify himself upon earth:" namely, when the Son of Man shall come to judge for the orphan, who has put off from himself the old man, and thus, as it were, buried his father.

Exposition on Psalm 10

Psalms 11:1

This title does not require a fresh consideration: for the meaning of, "to the end," has already been sufficiently handled. Let us then look to the text itself of the Psalm, which to me appears to be sung against the heretics, who, by rehearsing and exaggerating the sins of many in the Church, as if either all or the majority among themselves were righteous, strive to turn and snatch us away from the breasts of the one True Mother Church: affirming that Christ is with them, and warning us as if with piety and earnestness, that by passing over to them we may go over to Christ, whom they falsely declare they have. Now it is known that in prophecy Christ, among the many names in which notice of Him is conveyed in allegory, is also called a mountain. We must accordingly answer these people, and say, "I trust in the Lord: how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?" [Psalm 11:1]. I keep to one mountain wherein I trust, how say ye that I should pass over to you, as if there were many Christs? Or if through pride you say that you are mountains, I had indeed need to be…

This title does not require a fresh consideration: for the meaning of, "to the end," has already been sufficiently handled. Let us then look to the text itself of the Psalm, which to me appears to be sung against the heretics, who, by rehearsing and exaggerating the sins of many in the Church, as if either all or the majority among themselves were righteous, strive to turn and snatch us away from the breasts of the one True Mother Church: affirming that Christ is with them, and warning us as if with piety and earnestness, that by passing over to them we may go over to Christ, whom they falsely declare they have. Now it is known that in prophecy Christ, among the many names in which notice of Him is conveyed in allegory, is also called a mountain. We must accordingly answer these people, and say, "I trust in the Lord: how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?" [Psalm 11:1]. I keep to one mountain wherein I trust, how say ye that I should pass over to you, as if there were many Christs? Or if through pride you say that you are mountains, I had indeed need to be a sparrow winged with the powers and commandments of God: but these very things hinder my flying to these mountains, and placing my trust in proud men. I have a house where I may rest, in that I trust in the Lord. For even "the sparrow has found her a house," and, "The Lord has become a refuge to the poor." Let us say then with all confidence, lest while we seek Christ among heretics we lose Him, "In the Lord I trust: how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?"

Exposition on Psalm 11

Psalms 11:2

"For, lo, sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, that they may in the obscure moon shoot at the upright in heart" [Psalm 11:2]. These be the terrors of those who threaten us as touching sinners, that we may pass over to them as the righteous. "Lo," they say, "the sinners have bent the bow:" the Scriptures, I suppose, by carnal interpretation of which they emit envenomed sentences from them. "They have prepared their arrows in the quiver:" the same words, that is, which they will shoot out on the authority of Scripture, they have prepared in the secret place of the heart. "That they may in the obscure moon shoot at the upright in heart:" that when they see, from the Church's light being obscured by the multitude of the unlearned and the carnal, that they cannot be convicted, they may corrupt good manners by evil communications. [1 Corinthians 15:33] But against all these terrors we must say, "In the Lord I trust."

Exposition on Psalm 11

Psalms 11:3

Let the Catholic soul then say, "In the Lord I trust; how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow? For, lo, the sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, that they may in the obscure moon shoot at the upright in heart:" and from them let her turn her speech to the Lord and say, "For they have destroyed what You have perfected" [Psalm 11:3]. And this let her say not against these only, but against all heretics. For they have all, as far as in them lies, destroyed the praise which God has perfected out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, when they disturb the little ones with vain and scrupulous questions, and suffer them not to be nourished with the milk of faith. As if then it were said to this soul, why do they say to you, "Remove into the mountains as a sparrow;" why do they frighten you with sinners, who "have bent the bow, to shoot in the obscure moon at the upright in heart"? She answers, Therefore it is they frighten me, "because they have destroyed what You have perfected." Where but in their conventicles, where they nourish…

Let the Catholic soul then say, "In the Lord I trust; how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow? For, lo, the sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, that they may in the obscure moon shoot at the upright in heart:" and from them let her turn her speech to the Lord and say, "For they have destroyed what You have perfected" [Psalm 11:3]. And this let her say not against these only, but against all heretics. For they have all, as far as in them lies, destroyed the praise which God has perfected out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, when they disturb the little ones with vain and scrupulous questions, and suffer them not to be nourished with the milk of faith. As if then it were said to this soul, why do they say to you, "Remove into the mountains as a sparrow;" why do they frighten you with sinners, who "have bent the bow, to shoot in the obscure moon at the upright in heart"? She answers, Therefore it is they frighten me, "because they have destroyed what You have perfected." Where but in their conventicles, where they nourish not with milk, but kill with poison the babes and ignorant of the interior light. "But what has the Just done?" If Macarius, if Cæcilianus, offend you, what has Christ done to you, who said, "My peace I give unto you, My peace I leave with you;" [John 14:27] which you with your abominable dissensions have violated? What has Christ done to you? Who with such exceeding patience endured His betrayer, as to give to him, as to the other Apostles, the first Eucharist consecrated with His own hands, and blessed with His own mouth. What has Christ done to you? Who sent this same betrayer, whom He called a devil, [John 6:70] who before betraying the Lord could not show good faith even to the Lord's purse, [John 12:6] with the other disciples to preach the kingdom of heaven; [Matthew 10:5-7] that He might show that the gifts of God come to those that with faith receive them, though he, through whom they receive them, be such as Judas was.

Exposition on Psalm 11

Psalms 11:4

"The Lord is in His holy temple" [Psalm 11:4], yea in such wise as the Apostle says, "For the temple of God is holy, which" temple "you are." [1 Corinthians 3:17] "Now if any man shall violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy." He violates the temple of God, who violates unity: for he "holds not the head, from which the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies according to the working after the measure of every part makes increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love." The Lord is in this His holy temple; which consists of His many members, fulfilling each his own separate duties, by love built up into one building. Which temple he violates, who for the sake of his own pre-eminence separates himself from the Catholic society. "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord, His seat is in heaven." If you take heaven to be the just man, as you take the earth to be the sinner, to whom it was said, "Earth you are, and unto earth shall you go;" [Genesis 3:19] the words, "The Lord is in His holy temple" you will understand to be repeat…

"The Lord is in His holy temple" [Psalm 11:4], yea in such wise as the Apostle says, "For the temple of God is holy, which" temple "you are." [1 Corinthians 3:17] "Now if any man shall violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy." He violates the temple of God, who violates unity: for he "holds not the head, from which the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies according to the working after the measure of every part makes increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love." The Lord is in this His holy temple; which consists of His many members, fulfilling each his own separate duties, by love built up into one building. Which temple he violates, who for the sake of his own pre-eminence separates himself from the Catholic society. "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord, His seat is in heaven." If you take heaven to be the just man, as you take the earth to be the sinner, to whom it was said, "Earth you are, and unto earth shall you go;" [Genesis 3:19] the words, "The Lord is in His holy temple" you will understand to be repeated, while it is said, "The Lord, His seat is in heaven."

Exposition on Psalm 11

Psalms 11:5

"The Lord questions the righteous and ungodly" [Psalm 11:5]. Why then do we fear lest the ungodly should be any hurt to us, if so be they do with insincere heart share the sacraments with us, seeing that He "questions the righteous and the ungodly." "But whoso loves iniquity, hates his own soul:" that is, not him who believes God, and puts not his hope in man, but only his own soul does the lover of iniquity hurt.

Exposition on Psalm 11

Psalms 11:6

"He shall rain snares upon the sinners" [Psalm 11:6]. If by clouds are understood prophets generally, whether good or bad, who are also called false prophets: false prophets are so ordered by the Lord God, that by them He may rain snares upon sinners. [Matthew 24:24] For no one, but the sinner, falls into a following of them, whether by way of preparation for the last punishment, if he shall choose to persevere in sin; or to dissuade from pride, if in time he shall come to seek God with a more sincere intent. But if by clouds are understood good and true prophets only; by these too it is clear that God rains snares upon sinners, although by them He waters also the godly unto fruitfulness. "To some," says the Apostle, "we are the savour of life unto life; to some the savour of death unto death." [2 Corinthians 2:16] For not prophets only, but all who with the word of God water souls, may be called clouds. Who when they are understood amiss, God rains snares upon sinners; but when they are understood aright, He makes the hearts of the godly and believing fruitful. As, for instance, the…

"He shall rain snares upon the sinners" [Psalm 11:6]. If by clouds are understood prophets generally, whether good or bad, who are also called false prophets: false prophets are so ordered by the Lord God, that by them He may rain snares upon sinners. [Matthew 24:24] For no one, but the sinner, falls into a following of them, whether by way of preparation for the last punishment, if he shall choose to persevere in sin; or to dissuade from pride, if in time he shall come to seek God with a more sincere intent. But if by clouds are understood good and true prophets only; by these too it is clear that God rains snares upon sinners, although by them He waters also the godly unto fruitfulness. "To some," says the Apostle, "we are the savour of life unto life; to some the savour of death unto death." [2 Corinthians 2:16] For not prophets only, but all who with the word of God water souls, may be called clouds. Who when they are understood amiss, God rains snares upon sinners; but when they are understood aright, He makes the hearts of the godly and believing fruitful. As, for instance, the passage, "and they two shall be in one flesh," [Ephesians 5:31] if one interpret it with an eye to lust, He rains a snare upon the sinner. But if you understand it, as he who says, "But I speak concerning Christ and the Church," [Ephesians 5:32] He rains a shower on the fertile soil. Now both are effected by the same cloud, that is, holy Scripture. Again the Lord says, "Not that which goes into your mouth defiles you, but that which comes out." [Matthew 15:11] The sinner hears this, and makes ready his palate for gluttony: the righteous hears it, and is guarded against the superstitious distinction in meats. Here then also out of the same cloud of Scripture, according to the several desert of each, upon the sinner the rain of snares, upon the righteous the rain of fruitfulness, is poured.

Exposition on Psalm 11

Psalms 11:7

"Fire and brimstone and the blast of the tempest is the portion of their cup." This is their punishment and end, by whom the name of God is blasphemed; that first they should be wasted by the fire of their own lusts, then by the ill savour of their evil deeds cast off from the company of the blessed, at last carried away and overwhelmed suffer penalties unspeakable. For this is the portion of their cup: as of the righteous, "Your cup inebriating how excellent is it! For they shall be inebriated with the richness of Your house." Now I suppose a cup is mentioned for this reason, that we should not suppose that anything is done by God's providence, even in the very punishments of sinners, beyond moderation and measure. And therefore as if he were giving a reason why this should be, he added, "For the Lord is righteous, and has loved righteousnesses" [Psalm 11:7]. The plural not without meaning, but only because he speaks of men, is as that righteousnesses be understood to be used for righteous men. For in many righteous men there seem, so to say, to be righteousnesses, whereas there is…

"Fire and brimstone and the blast of the tempest is the portion of their cup." This is their punishment and end, by whom the name of God is blasphemed; that first they should be wasted by the fire of their own lusts, then by the ill savour of their evil deeds cast off from the company of the blessed, at last carried away and overwhelmed suffer penalties unspeakable. For this is the portion of their cup: as of the righteous, "Your cup inebriating how excellent is it! For they shall be inebriated with the richness of Your house." Now I suppose a cup is mentioned for this reason, that we should not suppose that anything is done by God's providence, even in the very punishments of sinners, beyond moderation and measure. And therefore as if he were giving a reason why this should be, he added, "For the Lord is righteous, and has loved righteousnesses" [Psalm 11:7]. The plural not without meaning, but only because he speaks of men, is as that righteousnesses be understood to be used for righteous men. For in many righteous men there seem, so to say, to be righteousnesses, whereas there is one only righteousness of God whereof they all participate. Like as when one face looks upon many mirrors, what in it is one only, is by those many mirrors reflected manifoldly. Wherefore he recurs to the singular, saying, "His face has seen equity." Perhaps, "His face has seen equity," is as if it were said, Equity has been seen in His face, that is, in knowledge of Him. For God's face is the power by which He is made known to them that are worthy. Or at least, "His face has seen equity," because He does not allow Himself to be known by the evil, but by the good; and this is equity.

Exposition on Psalm 11

Psalms 12:1

"Save me, O Lord, for the holy has failed;" that is, is not found: as we speak when we say, Corn fails, or, Money fails. "For the truths have been minished from among the sons of men" [Psalm 12:1]. The truth is one, whereby holy souls are enlightened: but forasmuch as there are many souls, there may be said in them to be many truths: as in mirrors there are seen many reflections from one face.

Exposition on Psalm 12

Psalms 12:2

"He has talked vanity each man to his neighbour" [Psalm 12:2]. By neighbour we must understand every man: for that there is no one with whom we should work evil; "and the love of our neighbour works no evil." [Romans 13:10] "Deceitful lips, with a heart and a heart they have spoken evil things." The repetition, "with a heart and a heart," signifies a double heart.

Exposition on Psalm 12

Psalms 12:2

There is a double heart there, not a simple one; it is not what it has within itself that it utters outwardly. The double heart, once upon a time, received this damning judgment: “Deceitful lips in heart and heart have spoken evil.” It should have been enough to say, “In the heart they have spoken evil.” How are lips deceitful? What is deceit? When one thing is done openly, another covered up. Deceitful lips mean a not simple heart; and because it is not a simple heart, that is why “in heart and heart”; that is why “in heart” twice over; because it is a double heart.

SERMON 133:4

Psalms 12:3

"May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips" [Psalm 12:3]. He says "all," that no one may suppose himself excepted: as the Apostle says, "Upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and of the Greek." [Romans 2:9] "The tongue speaking great things:" the proud tongue.

Exposition on Psalm 12

Psalms 12:4

"Who have said, We will magnify our tongue, our lips are our own, who is Lord over us?" [Psalm 12:4]. Proud hypocrites are meant, putting confidence in their speech to deceive men, and not submitting themselves to God.

Exposition on Psalm 12