{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/108/1080120.htm","path":"chr/ecf/108/1080120.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/108/1080120.htm","text":"Psalm CIX. 4915\n1. Every one who faithfully readeth the Acts of the Apostles, acknowledgeth that this Psalm containeth a prophecy of Christ; for it evidently appeareth that what is here written, \u201clet his days be few, and let another take his office,\u201d is prophesied of Judas, the betrayer of Christ.\u2026For as some things are said which seem peculiarly to apply to the Apostle Peter, and yet are not clear in their meaning, unless when referred to the Church, whom he is acknowledged to have figuratively represented, on account of the primacy 4916 which he bore among the Disciples; as it is written, \u201cI will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,\u201d 4917 and other passages of the like purport: so Judas doth represent those Jews who were enemies of Christ, who both then hated Christ, and now, in their line of succession, this species of wickedness continuing, hate Him. Of these men, and of this people, not only may what we read more openly discovered in this Psalm be conveniently understood, but also those things which are more expressly stated concerning Judas himself.\n2. The Psalm, then, beginneth thus: \u201cO God, p. 537 be not silent as to my praise; for the mouth of the ungodly, yea, the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me\u201d (Psa. 109.1). Whence it appeareth, both that the blame, which the ungodly and the deceitful is not silent of, is false, and that the praise, which God is not silent of, is true. \u201cFor God is true, but every man a liar;\u201d 4918 for no man is true, except him in whom God speaketh. But the highest praise is that of the only-begotten Son of God, in which He is proclaimed even that which He is, the only-begotten Son of God. But this did not appear, but, when His weakness appeared, lay hid, when the mouth of the ungodly and deceitful was opened upon Him; and for this reason his mouth was opened, because His virtue was concealed: and he saith, \u201cthe mouth of the deceitful was opened,\u201d because the hatred which was covered by deceit burst out into language.\n3. \u201cThey have spoken against me with false tongues\u201d (Psa. 109.2): then chiefly when they praised him as a \u201cgood Master\u201d with insidious adulation. Whence it is elsewhere said: \u201cand they that praised me, are sworn together against me.\u201d 4919 Next, because they burst into cries, \u201cCrucify Him, crucify Him;\u201d 4920 he hath added, \u201cThey compassed me about also with words of hatred.\u201d They who with a treacherous tongue spoke words seemingly of love, and not of hatred, \u201cagainst me,\u201d since they did this insidiously; afterwards \u201ccompassed me about with words\u201d not of false and deceitful love, but of open \u201chatred, and fought against me without a cause.\u201d For as the pious love Christ for nought, so do the wicked hate Him for nought; for as truth is earnestly sought by the best men on its own account, without any advantage, external to itself, in view, so is wickedness sought by the worst men. Whence among secular authors it is said of a very bad man, \u201che was wicked and cruel for no object.\u201d 4921\n4. \u201cIn place,\u201d saith he, \u201cof loving me, they detracted from me\u201d (Psa. 109.3). There are six different acts of this class, which may, when mentioned, very easily be borne in mind; (1) to return good for evil, (2) not to return evil for evil; (3) to return good for good, (4) to return evil for evil; (5) not to return good for good, (6) to return evil for good. The two first of these belong to the good, and the first of these two is the better; the two last belong to the wicked, and the latter of the two is the worse; the two middle to a sort of middle class of persons, but the first of these borders upon the good, the latter on the bad. We should remark these things in the holy Scriptures. Our Lord Himself returneth good for evil, who \u201cjustifieth the ungodly;\u201d 4922 and who, when hanging upon the Cross, said, \u201cFather, forgive them; for they know not what they do.\u201d 4923 \u2026\n5. But after he had said, \u201cin place of loving me, they detracted from me;\u201d what doth he add? \u201cBut I gave myself unto prayer.\u201d He said not indeed what he prayed, but what can we better understand than for them themselves? For they were detracting greatly from Him whom they crucified, when they ridiculed Him as if He were a man, whom in their opinion they had conquered; from which Cross He said, \u201cFather, forgive them, for they know not what they do;\u201d so that while they in the depth of their malignity were rendering evil for good, He in the height of His goodness was rendering good for evil.\u2026The divine words then teach us by our Lord\u2019s example, that when we feel others ungrateful to us, not only in that they do not repay us with good, but even return evil for good, we should pray; He indeed for others who were raging against Him, or in sorrow, or endangered in faith; but we for ourselves in the first place, that we may by the mercy and aid of God conquer our own mind, by which we are borne on to the desire of revenge, when any detraction is made from us, either in our presence or our absence.\u2026\n6. He addeth, \u201cThus have they rewarded me evil for good\u201d (Psa. 109.4). And as if we asked, what evil? for what good? \u201cAnd hatred,\u201d he saith, \u201cfor my good will.\u201d This is the sum total of their great guilt. For how could the persecutors injure Him who died of His own free-will, and not by compulsion? But this very hatred is the greatest crime of the persecutor, although it be the willing atonement of the sufferer. And he hath sufficiently explained the sense of the above words, \u201cIn place of loving me,\u201d since they owed love not as a general duty only, but in return for His love: in that he hath here added, \u201cfor my good will.\u201d This love He mentioneth in the Gospel, when He saith, \u201cHow often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not!\u201d 4924\n7. He then beginneth to prophesy what they should receive for this very impiety; detailing their lot in such a manner, as if he wished its realization from a desire of revenge. Some not understanding this mode of predicting the future, under the appearance of wishing evil, suppose hatred to be returned for hatred, and an evil will for an evil will, since in truth it belongeth to few to distinguish, in what way the punishment of the wicked pleaseth the accuser, who longeth to satiate his enmity; and in how widely different a way it pleaseth the judge, who with a righteous mind punisheth sins. For the former returneth evil for evil: but the judge when he punisheth doth p. 538 not return evil for evil, since he returneth justice to the unjust; and what is just, is surely good. He therefore punisheth not from delight in another\u2019s misery, which is evil for evil: but from love of justice, which is good for evil.\u2026\n8. \u201cSet thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him; and let Satan stand at his right hand\u201d (Psa. 109.5). Though the complaint had been before concerning many, the Psalm is now speaking of one.\u2026Since therefore he is here speaking of the traitor Judas, who, according to the Scripture in the Acts of the Apostles, was to be punished with the penalty due to him, 4925 what meaneth, \u201cset thou an ungodly man over him,\u201d save him whom in the next verse he mentioneth by name, when he saith, \u201cand let Satan stand at his right hand\u201d? He therefore who refused to be subject unto Christ, deserved this, that he should have the devil set over him, that is, that he should be subject unto the devil.\u2026For this reason also it is said of those who, preferring the pleasures of this world to God, styled the people blessed who have such and such things, \u201ctheir right hand is a right hand of iniquity.\u201d 4926 \u2026\n9. \u201cWhen sentence is given upon him, let him be condemned, and let his prayer be turned into sin\u201d (Psa. 109.6). For prayer is not righteous except through Christ, whom he sold in his atrocious sin: but the prayer which is not made through Christ, not only cannot blot out sin, but is itself turned into sin. But it may be inquired on what occasion Judas could have so prayed, that his prayer was turned into sin. I suppose that before he betrayed the Lord, while he was thinking of betraying Him; for he could no longer pray through Christ. For after he betrayed Him, and repented of it, if he prayed through Christ, he would ask for pardon; if he asked for pardon, he would have hope; if he had hope, he would hope for mercy; if he hoped for mercy, he would not have hanged himself in despair.\u2026\n10. \u201cLet his days be few\u201d (Psa. 109.7). By \u201chis days,\u201d he meant the days of his apostleship, which were few; since before the Passion of our Lord, they were ended by his crime and death. And as if it were asked, What then shall become of that most sacred number twelve, within which our Lord willed, not without a meaning, to limit His twelve first Apostles? he at once addeth, \u201cand let another take his office.\u201d As much as to say, let both himself be punished according to his desert, and let his number be filled up.\n11. \u201cLet his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow\u201d (Psa. 109.8). After his death, both his children were fatherless, and his wife a widow. \u201cLet his children be vagabonds, and be carried away, and beg their bread\u201d (Psa. 109.9). By \u201cvagabonds\u201d he meaneth, uncertain whither to go, destitute of all help. \u201cLet them be driven from their habitations.\u201d He here explaineth what he had said above, \u201cLet them be carried away.\u201d How all this happened to his wife and children, the following verses explain.\n12. \u201cLet the extortioner search out all his substance, and let the strangers spoil his labour\u201d (Psa. 109.10). \u201cLet there be no man to help him\u201d (Psa. 109.11): that is, to guard his posterity; wherefore followeth, \u201cnor to have compassion on his fatherless children\u201d\n13. But as even orphans may, without one to help them, and without a guardian, nevertheless increase amid trouble and want, and preserve their race by descent; he next saith, \u201cLet his posterity be destroyed; and in the next generation let his name be clean put out\u201d (Psa. 109.12): that is, let what hath been generated by him generate no more, and quickly pass away.\n14. But what is it that he next addeth? \u201cLet the wickedness of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be done away\u201d (Psa. 109.13). Is it to be understood, that even the sins of his fathers shall be visited upon him? For upon him they are not visited, who hath been changed in Christ, and hath ceased to be the child of the wicked, by not having imitated their conduct. 4927 \u2026And to these words, \u201cI will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children,\u201d 4928 is added, \u201cwho hate Me;\u201d that is, hate Me as their fathers hated Me: so that as the effect of imitating the good is that even their own sins are blotted out, so the imitation of the wicked causeth men to suffer not their own deservings only, but those also of those whom they have imitated.\u2026\n15. \u201cLet them alway be against 4929 the Lord\u201d (Psa. 109.14). \u201cAgainst the Lord,\u201d meaneth in the Lord\u2019s sight: for other translators have rendered this line, \u201clet them be always in the sight of the Lord;\u201d while others have rendered it, \u201clet them be before the Lord alway;\u201d as it is elsewhere said, \u201cThou hast set our misdeeds in Thy sight.\u201d 4930 By \u201calway,\u201d he meaneth that this great crime should be without pardon, both here, and in a future life. \u201cLet the memorial of them perish from off the earth:\u201d that is, of his father and of his mother. By memorial of them, he meaneth, that which is preserved by successive generations: this he prophesied should perish from the earth, because both Judas himself, and his sons, who were the memorial of his father and mother, without any succeeding offspring, as it is said above, were consumed in the short space of one generation. 4931 \u2026\np. 539 16. \u201cAnd that, because he remembered not to act mercifully\u201d (Psa. 109.15); either Judas, or the people itself. But \u201cremembered not\u201d is better understood of the people: for if they slew Christ, they might well remember the deed in penitence, and act mercifully towards His members, whom they most perseveringly persecuted. For this reason he saith, \u201cbut persecuted the poor man and the beggar\u201d (Psa. 109.16). It may indeed be understood of Judas; for the Lord did not disdain to become poor, when He was rich, that we might be enriched by His poverty. 4932 But how shall I understand the word \u201cbeggar,\u201d save perhaps because He said to the Samaritan woman, \u201cGive me to drink,\u201d 4933 and on the Cross He said, \u201cI thirst.\u201d 4934 But as to what followeth, I do not see how it can be understood of our Head Himself, that is, the Saviour of His own body, whom Judas persecuted. For after saying, \u201cHe persecuted the poor man and the beggar:\u201d he addeth, \u201cand to slay,\u201d that is, \u201cthat he might slay Him,\u201d for some have so rendered it, \u201cHim that was pricked at the heart.\u201d This expression is not commonly used except of the stings of past sins in the sorrows of penitence; as it is said of those who, when they had heard the Apostles after our Lord\u2019s ascension, were \u201cpricked in heart,\u201d even they who had slain the Lord.\u2026\n17. The Psalm then continueth: \u201cHis delight was in cursing, and it shall happen to him\u201d (Psa. 109.17). Although Judas loved cursing, both in stealing from the money bag, and selling and betraying the Lord: nevertheless, that people more openly loved cursing, when they said, \u201cHis blood be on us, and on our children.\u201d 4935 \u201cHe loved not blessing, therefore it shall be far from him.\u201d Such was Judas indeed, since he loved not Christ, in whom is everlasting blessing; but the Jewish people still more decidedly refused blessing, unto whom he who had been enlightened by the Lord said, \u201cWill ye also be His disciples?\u201d 4936 \u201cHe clothed himself with cursing, like as with a raiment:\u201d either Judas, or that people. \u201cAnd it came into his bowels like water.\u201d 4937 Both without, then, and within; without, like a garment; within, like water: since he hath come before the judgment-seat of Him \u201cwho hath power to destroy both body and soul in hell;\u201d 4938 the body without, the soul within. \u201cAnd like oil into his bones.\u201d He showeth that he worketh evil with delight, and storeth up cursing for himself, that is, everlasting punishment; for blessing is eternal life. For at present evil deeds are his delight, flowing like water into his bowels, like oil into his bones; but it is styled cursing, because God hath appointed torments for such men.\n18. \u201cLet it be unto him as the cloak which covereth him\u201d (Psa. 109.18). Since he hath before spoken of the cloak, why doth he repeat it? When he said, \u201cHe clothed himself with cursing as with a raiment;\u201d doth the raiment with which he is \u201ccovered\u201d differ from that with which he is \u201cclothed\u201d? For every man is clothed with his tunic, covered with his cloak; and what is this, save boasting in iniquity, even in the sight of men? \u201cand as the girdle,\u201d he saith, \u201cthat he is alway girded withal.\u201d Men are girded chiefly that they may be better fit for toil, that they may not be hindered by the folds of their dress. He therefore girdeth himself with curses, who designeth an evil which he hath carefully contrived, not on a sudden impulse, and who learneth in such a manner to do evil, that he is always ready to commit it.\n19. \u201cThis is the work of them that slander me before the Lord\u201d (Psa. 109.19). He said not, \u201ctheir reward,\u201d but, \u201ctheir work:\u201d for it is clear that by the clothing, covering, water, oil, and girdle, he was describing the very works by which eternal curses are procured. It is not then one Judas, but many, of whom it is said, \u201cThis is the work of them that slander me before the Lord.\u201d Although indeed the plural number might have been put for the singular; even as, when Herod died, it was said by the Angel, \u201cThey are dead which sought the young Child\u2019s life.\u201d 4939 But who slander Christ more before the Lord, than they who slander the very words of the Lord, by declaring that it is not He whom the Law of the Lord and His Prophets announced beforehand? \u201cAnd of those that speak evil against my soul:\u201d by denying that He, when He had willed, could have arisen: though He saith, \u201cI have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again.\u201d 4940\n20. \u201cBut work Thou with me, O Lord God\u201d (Psa. 109.20). Some have thought \u201cmercifully\u201d should be understood, some have actually added it; but the best copies have the words thus: \u201cBut work Thou with me, O Lord God, for Thy Name\u2019s sake.\u201d Whence a higher sense should not be passed over, supposing the Son to have thus addressed the Father, \u201cDeal Thou with Me,\u201d since the works of the Father and of the Son are the same. Where although we understand mercy,\u2014for these words follow, \u201cfor sweet is Thy mercy,\u201d\u2014because he said not, \u201cIn me,\u201d or, \u201cover me;\u201d or anything of this sort: but, \u201cwork Thou with Me;\u201d we rightly understand that the Father and Son together work mercifully towards the vessels of mercy. 4941 \u201cWork with me,\u201d 4942 p. 540 may also be understood to mean, help me. We use this expression in our daily language, when we are speaking of anything which is in our favour; \u201cIt works with us.\u201d For the Father aideth the Son, as far as the Deity aideth Man, on account of His having assumed the \u201cform of a servant,\u201d to which Man, God, and to which \u201cForm of a servant,\u201d the Lord too is Father. For in the \u201cform of God,\u201d the Son needeth not aid, for He is equally all-powerful with the Father, on which account He also is the helper of men.\u2026And because when he had said, \u201cWork Thou with me,\u201d he added, \u201cfor Thy Name\u2019s sake,\u201d he hath commended grace. For without previous deserving works, human nature was raised to such a height, that the whole in one, the Word and Flesh, that is, God and Man, was styled the Only-begotten Son of God. And this was done that that which had been lost might be sought by Him who had created it, through that which had not been lost; whence the following words, \u201cFor Thy mercy is sweet.\u201d\n21. \u201cO deliver me, for I am needy and poor\u201d (Psa. 109.21). Need and poverty is that weakness, through which He was crucified. 4943 \u201cAnd my heart is disturbed within me.\u201d This alludeth to those words which He spoke when His Passion was drawing near, \u201cMy soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.\u201d 4944\n22. \u201cI go hence like a shadow that declineth\u201d (Psa. 109.22). By this he signified death itself. For as night comes of the shadow\u2019s declining, so death comes of mortal flesh. \u201cAnd am driven away as the locusts.\u201d This I think would be more suitably understood of His members, that is, of His faithful disciples. That he might make it much plainer, he preferred writing \u201clocusts\u201d in the plural number: although many may be understood where the singular number is used, as in that passage, \u201cHe spake, and the locust came;\u201d 4945 but it would have been more obscure. His disciples, then, were driven away, that is, were put to flight by persecutors, either the multitude of whom He wished to be signified by the word locusts, or their passing from one place to another.\n23. \u201cMy knees are weak through fasting\u201d (Psa. 109.23). We read, that our Lord Christ underwent a fast of forty days: 4946 but had fasting so great power over Him, that His knees were weakened? Or is this more suitably understood of His members, that is, of His saints? \u201cAnd my flesh is changed because of the oil;\u201d 4947 because of spiritual grace. Whence Christ was so called from the Greek word, chrisma, which signifies unction. But the flesh was changed through the oil, not for the worse, but for the better, that is, rising from the dishonour of death to the glory of immortality.\u2026His flesh was not yet changed. But whether the Holy Spirit be represented by water through the notion of ablution or irrigation, or by oil through that of exultation and the inflaming of charity; It doth not differ from Itself, because Its types are different. For there is a great difference between the lion and the lamb, and yet Christ is represented by both.\u2026\n24. \u201cI became also a reproach unto them\u201d (Psa. 109.24): through the death of the Cross. \u201cFor Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.\u201d 4948 \u201cThey looked upon Me, and shaked their heads.\u201d Because they beheld His crucifixion, without beholding His resurrection: they saw when His knees were weakened, they saw not when His flesh was changed.\n25. \u201cHelp me, O Lord my God: O save me according to Thy mercy\u201d (Psa. 109.25). This may be referred to the whole, both to the Head and to the body: to the Head, owing to His having taken the form of a servant; to the body, on account of the servants themselves. For He might even in them have said unto God, \u201cHelp Me:\u201d and, \u201cO save Me:\u201d as in them He said unto Paul, \u201cWhy persecutest thou Me\u201d? 4949 The following words, \u201caccording to Thy mercy,\u201d describe grace given gratuitously, not according to the merit of works.\n26. \u201cAnd let them know how that this is Thy Hand, and that Thou, Lord, hast made it\u201d (Psa. 109.26). He said, \u201cLet them know,\u201d of those for whom He even prayed while they were raging; for even those who afterwards believed in Him were among the crowd who shook their heads in mockery of Him. But let those who ascribe unto God the shape of the human body, learn in what sense God hath a hand. Let us therefore understand, that the Hand of God meaneth Christ: whence it is elsewhere said, \u201cUnto whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?\u201d 4950 \u2026\n27. \u201cThough they curse, yet bless Thou\u201d (Psa. 109.27). Vain therefore and false is the cursing of the sons of men, that have pleasure in vanity, and seek a lie; 4951 but when God blesseth, He doth what He saith. \u201cLet them be confounded that rise up against me.\u201d For their imagining that they have some power against Me, is the reason that they rise up against Me; but when I shall have been exalted above the heavens, and My glory shall have commenced spreading over the whole earth, they shall be confounded. \u201cBut Thy servant shall rejoice:\u201d either on the right hand of the Father, or in His members when they rejoice, both in hope p. 541 among temptations, and after temptations for evermore.\n28. \u201cLet my slanderers be clothed with shame\u201d (Psa. 109.28): that is, let it shame them to have slandered me. But this may also be understood as a blessing, in that they are amended. \u201cAnd let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a double cloak;\u201d for diplois is a double cloak; that is, let them be confounded both within and without: both before God and before men.\n29. \u201cAs for me, I will confess greatly 4952 unto the Lord with my mouth\u201d (Psa. 109.29).\u2026Is He said to \u201cpraise among the multitude\u201d because He is with His Church here even unto the end of the world; 4953 so that we may understand by \u201camong the multitude,\u201d that He is honoured by this very multitude? For he is said to be in the midst, unto whom the chief honour is paid. But if the heart is, as it were, that which is mid-most of a man, no better construction can be put on this passage than this, I will praise Him in the hearts of many. For Christ dwelleth through faith in our hearts; 4954 and therefore he saith, \u201cwith my mouth,\u201d that is, with the mouth of my body, which is the Church.\n30. \u201cFor He stood at the right hand of the poor\u201d (Psa. 109.30). It was said of Judas, \u201cLet Satan stand at his right hand;\u201d since he chose to increase his riches by selling Christ; but here the Lord stood at the right hand of the poor, that the Lord Himself might be the poor man\u2019s riches. \u201cHe stood at the right hand of the poor,\u201d not to multiply the years of a life that one day must end, nor to increase his stores, nor to render him strong in the strength of the body, or secure for a time; \u201cbut,\u201d he saith, \u201cto save my soul from the persecutors.\u201d Now the soul is rendered safe from the persecutors, if we do not consent to them unto evil; but there is no such consent to them when the Lord standeth at the right hand of the poor, that he may not give way through his very poverty, that is, weakness. This aid was given to the Body of Christ in the case of all the holy Martyrs.\n[That he was facile princeps in the original college, nobody denies; that he had any supremacy over his brethren, all antiquity, as well as Holy Scripture, disproves. The keys were equally given to the others. See A.N.F. vol. viii. p. 601 et seq.\u2014C.]\n536:4917 537:4918 537:4919 537:4920 537:4921 537:4922 537:4923 537:4924 538:4925 538:4926 538:4927\nEzek. 18:4, 20.\n538:4928 538:4929 538:4930 538:4931\n[Here he inquires whether Judas, in Hades, could know the condition of his family; and he replies, \u201cIt is indeed a great question, and not one to be discussed at present, because it belongeth to a labour of greater extent, whether, or to what degree, or in what manner, the spirits of the dead are aware of what is passing around us.\u201d He compares Luke 16:23, 28.\u2014C.]\n539:4932 539:4933 539:4934 539:4935 539:4936 539:4937\n[It seems to me there is here a reference to the water of jealousy, Num. 5:22, 23, Acts 1:18. As to oil, generally a blessing, compare Ps. 55:21, Prov. 5:3, 4. \u201cFor envy they delivered Him.\u201d Prov. xiv. 30.\u2014C.]\n539:4938 539:4939 539:4940 539:4941 539:4942 540:4943 540:4944 540:4945 540:4946 540:4947\n[Strange that our author\u2019s power of association fails to connect this with John xii. 7, and so with another incident in the history of Judas, quite to his purpose. See this series, vol. vi. p. 174.\u2014C.]\n540:4948 540:4949 540:4950 540:4951 541:4952\n[He says: \u201cThe word nimis is used in Latin to express excess, the contrary to parum, which meaneth deficiency. The Greek word for nimis is \u02c6\u03b3\u03b1\u03bd: but this verse hath \u03c3\u03c6\u03cc\u03b4\u03c1\u03b1, not \u02c6\u03b3\u03b1\u03bd; which our translators have sometimes rendered by nimis, sometimes by vald\u00e8 (\u2018very much\u2019). Now if nimis be taken as equivalent to vald\u00e8, it may be understood of praise: for this confession signifieth praise. For the next words are, \u2018and I will praise Him among the multitude.\u2019\u201d\u2014C.]\n541:4953 541:4954","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII: Expositions on...","type":"page"}