{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/108/1080169.htm","path":"chr/ecf/108/1080169.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/108/1080169.htm","text":"Psalm CXXXVI. 5670\n1. \u201cGive thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever\u201d (Psa. 136.1). This Psalm contains the praise of God, and all its verses finish in the same way. Wherefore although many things are related here in praise of God, yet His mercy is most commended; 5671 for without this plain commendation, he, whom the Holy Spirit used to utter this Psalm, would have no verse be ended. Although after the judgment, by which at the end of the world the quick and the dead must be judged, the just being sent into life eternal, the unjust into everlasting fire, 5672 there will not afterwards be those, whom God will have mercy on, yet rightly may His future mercy be understood to be for ever, which He bestows on His saints and faithful ones, not because they will be miserable for ever, and therefore will need His mercy for ever, but because that very blessedness, which He mercifully bestows on the miserable, that they cease to be miserable, and begin to be happy, will have no end, and therefore \u201cHis mercy is for ever.\u201d For that we shall be just from being unjust, whole from being unsound, alive from being dead, immortal from being mortal, happy from being wretched, is of His mercy. But this that we p. 628 shall be, will be for ever, and therefore \u201cHis mercy is for ever.\u201d Wherefore, \u201cgive thanks to the Lord;\u201d that is, praise the Lord by giving thanks, \u201cfor He is good:\u201d nor is it any temporal good you will gain from this confession, for, \u201cHis mercy endureth for ever;\u201d that is, the benefit which He bestows mercifully upon you, is for ever. 5673\n2. Then follows, \u201cGive thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy endureth for ever\u201d (Psa. 136.2). \u201cGive thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endureth for ever\u201d (Psa. 136.3). We may well enquire, Who are these gods and lords, of whom He who is the true God is God and Lord? And we find written in another Psalm, that even men are called gods. 5674 The Lord even takes note of this testimony in the Gospel, saying, \u201cIs it not written in your Law, I have said, Ye are gods?\u201d 5675 \u2026It is not therefore because they are all good, but because \u201cthe word of God came to them,\u201d that they were called gods. For were it because they are all good, He would not thus distinguish between them. He saith, \u201cHe judgeth between the gods.\u201d Then follows, \u201cHow long do ye judge iniquity!\u201d 5676 and the rest, which He says certainly not to all, but to some, because He saith it in distinguishing, and yet He distinguisheth between the gods.\n3. But it is asked, If men are called gods to whom the word of the Lord came, are the Angels to be called gods, when the greatest reward which is promised to just and holy men is the being equal to Angels? In the Scriptures I know not whether it can, at least easily, be found, that the Angels are openly called gods; but when it had been said of the Lord God, \u201cHe is terrible, above all gods,\u201d he adds, as by way of exposition why he says this, \u201cfor the gods of the heathen are devils,\u201d 5677 that we might understand what had been expressed in the Hebrew, \u201cthe gods of the Gentiles are idols,\u201d meaning rather the devils which dwell in the idols. 5678 For as regards images, which in Greek are called idols, a name we now use in Latin, they have eyes and see not, and all the other things which are said of them, because they are utterly without sense; wherefore they cannot be frightened, for nothing which has no sense can be frightened. How then can it be said of the Lord, \u201cHe is terrible above all gods, because the gods of the Gentiles are idols,\u201d if the devils which may be terrified are not understood to be in these images. Whence also the Apostle says, \u201cWe know that an idol is nothing.\u201d 5679 This refers to its earthy senseless material. But that no one may think, that there is no living and sentient nature, which delights in the Gentile sacrifices, he adds, \u201cBut what the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: I would not have you partaken with devils.\u201d 5680 If therefore we never find in the divine words that the holy Angels are called gods, I think the best reason is, that men may not be induced by the name to pay that ministry and service of religion (which in Greek is called \u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03b3\u03af\u03b1 or \u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u03af\u03b1) to the holy Angels, which neither would they have paid by man at all, save to that God, who is the God of themselves and men. 5681 Hence they are much more correctly called Angels, which in Latin is Nuntii, that by the name of their function, not their substance, we may plainly understand that they would have us worship the God, whom they announce. The whole then of that question the Apostle has briefly expounded, when he says, \u201cFor though there be who are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there are gods many and lords many; yet we have one God the Father, from whom are all, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.\u201d 5682\n4. Let us therefore \u201cgive thanks to the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, for His mercy,\u201d etc. \u201cWho alone did wonderful things\u201d (Psa. 136.4). As at the last part of every verse, it is written, \u201cFor His mercy endureth for ever,\u201d so we must understand at the beginning of each, though it be not written, \u201cGive thanks.\u201d Which indeed in the Greek is very plain. It would be so in Latin, if our translators had been able to make use of that expression. Which indeed they could have done in this verse, if they had said, \u201cTo Him who doeth 5683 wonderful things.\u201d For where we have, \u201cwho did wonderful things,\u201d the Greek has \u03c4\u1ff7 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03ae\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9, where we must necessarily understand, \u201cgive thanks.\u201d And I would they had added the pronoun, and said to Him, \u201cwho did,\u201d or to Him \u201cwho doeth,\u201d or to Him \u201cwho made sure;\u201d because then one might easily understand, \u201clet us give thanks.\u201d For now it is so obscurely rendered, that he who either knows not or cares not to examine a Greek manuscript may think, \u201cwho made the heavens, who made sure the earth, who made the luminaries, for His mercy endureth for ever,\u201d 5684 has been so said, because He did these things for this reason, \u201cbecause His mercy endureth for ever:\u201d whereas they, whom He has freed from misery, belong to His Mercy: but not that we should believe that p. 629 He makes sky, earth, and luminaries, of His Mercy; since they are marks of His Goodness, who created all things very good. 5685 For He created all things, that they might have their being; 5686 but it is the work of His Mercy, to cleanse us from our sins, and deliver us from everlasting misery. And so the Psalm thus addresses us, \u201cGive thanks unto the God of gods, give thanks unto the Lord of lords.\u201d Give thanks to Him, \u201cwho alone doeth great wonders;\u201d give thanks to Him, \u201cwho by His wisdom made the heavens;\u201d give thanks to Him, \u201cwho stretched out the earth above the waters;\u201d give thanks to Him, \u201cwho alone made great lights.\u201d But why we are to praise, he setteth down at the end of all the verses, \u201cfor His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d\n5. But what meaneth, \u201cwho alone doeth great wonders\u201d? Is it because many wonderful things He hath done by means of angels and men? Some wonderful things there are which God doeth alone, and these he enumerates, saying, \u201cwho by His wisdom made the heavens\u201d (Psa. 136.5), \u201cwho stretched out the earth above the waters\u201d (Psa. 136.6), \u201cwho alone made great lights\u201d (Psa. 136.7). For this reason did he add \u201calone\u201d in this verse also, because the other wonders which he is about to tell of, God did by means of man. For having said, \u201cwho alone made great lights,\u201d he goes on to explain what these are, \u201cthe sun to rule the day\u201d (Psa. 136.8), \u201cthe moon and stars to govern the night\u201d (Psa. 136.9); then he begins to tell the wonders which He did by means of angels and men: \u201cwho smote Egypt with their first-born\u201d (Psa. 136.10), and the rest. The whole creation then God manifestly made, not by means of any creature, but \u201calone;\u201d and of this creation he hath mentioned certain more eminent parts, that they might make us think on the whole; the heavens we can understand, 5687 and the earth we see. And as there are visible heavens too, by mentioning the lights in them, he has bid us look on the whole body of the heavens as made by Him.\n6. However, whether by what he saith, \u201cwho made the heavens in understanding,\u201d or, as others have rendered it, \u201cin intelligence,\u201d he meant to signify, the heavens we can understand, or that He in His understanding or intelligence, that is, in His wisdom made the heavens (as it is elsewhere written, \u201cin wisdom hast Thou made them all\u201d 5688 ), implying thereby the only-begotten Word, may be a question. But if it be so, that we are to understand that \u201cGod by His wisdom made the heavens,\u201d why saith He this only of the heavens, whereas God made all things by the same wisdom? It is that it needed only to be expressed there, so that in the rest it might be understood without being written. How then could it be \u201calone,\u201d if \u201cin understanding\u201d or \u201cin intelligence\u201d means \u201cby His wisdom,\u201d that is, by the only-begotten Word? Is it that, inasmuch as the Trinity is not three Gods, but one God, he states that God made these things alone, because He made not creation by means of any creature?\n7. But what is, \u201cwho laid out the earth above the waters\u201d? For it is a difficult question, because the earth seemeth to be the heavier, so that it should be believed not so much to be borne on the waters, as to bear the waters. And that we may not seem contentiously to maintain our Scriptures against those who think that they have discovered these matters on sure principles, we have a second interpretation to give, that the earth which is inhabited by men, and contains the living creatures of the earth, is \u201claid out above the waters\u201d because it stands out above the waters which surround it. For when we speak of a city on the sea being built \u201cabove the waters,\u201d it is not meant that the sea is under it in the same way as the waters are under the chambers of caverns, or under ships sailing over them; but it is said to be \u201cabove\u201d the sea, because it stands up above the sea below it.\n8. But if these words further signify something else which more closely concerns us, God \u201cby His wisdom made the heavens,\u201d that is, His saints, spiritual men, to whom He has given not only to believe, but also to understand things divine; those who cannot yet attain to this, and only hold their faith firmly, as being beneath the heavens, are figured by the name of earth. And because they abide with unshaken belief upon the baptism they have received, therefore it is said, \u201cHe laid out the earth above the waters.\u201d Further, since it is written of our Lord Jesus Christ, that \u201cin Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,\u201d 5689 and that these two, wisdom and knowledge, differ somewhat from one another is testified by other utterances of Scripture, especially in the words of holy Job, 5690 where both are in a manner defined; not unsuitably then do we understand wisdom to consist in the knowledge and love of That which ever is and abideth unchangeable, which is God. For where he saith, \u201cpiety 5691 is wisdom,\u201d in Greek is \u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u03c3\u2122\u03b2\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1, and to express the whole of this in Latin, we may call it worship of God. 5692 But to depart from evil, which he calls knowledge, what else is it but to walk cautiously and heedfully \u201cin the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,\u201d 5693 in the night, as it were, of this world, that each one by keeping himself from iniquity may avoid being confounded with the darkness, distinguished by the light of his proper gift.\u2026\n9. \u201cWho brought out Israel from the midst p. 630 of them\u201d (Psa. 136.11). He brought out also His saints and faithful ones from the midst of the wicked. \u201cWith a mighty Hand and stretched-out Arm\u201d (Psa. 136.12). What more powerful, what more out-stretched, than that of which is said \u201cTo whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?\u201d 5694 \u201cWho divided the Red Sea in two parts\u201d (Psa. 136.13). He divided also in such wise, that the same baptism should be to some unto life, to others unto death. \u201cAnd brought out Israel through the midst of it\u201d (Psa. 136.14). So too He brings out His renewed people through the laver of regeneration. \u201cAnd overthrew Pharaoh and his power in the Red Sea\u201d (Psa. 136.15). He quickly destroyeth both the sin of His people and the guilt thereof by baptism. \u201cWho led His people through the wilderness\u201d (Psa. 136.16). Us too He leadeth through the drought and barrenness of this world, that we perish not therein. \u201cWho smote great kings\u201d (Psa. 136.17), \u201cand slew famous kings\u201d (Psa. 136.18). From us too He smites and slays the deadly powers of the devil. \u201cSehon king of the Amorites\u201d (Psa. 136.19), an \u201cuseless shoot,\u201d or \u201cfiery temptation,\u201d for so is Sehon interpreted: the king of \u201cthem who cause bitterness,\u201d for such is the meaning of Amorites. \u201cAnd Og, the king of Basan\u201d (Psa. 136.20). The \u201cheaper-together,\u201d such is the meaning of Og, and, king of \u201cconfusion,\u201d which Basan signifies. For what else doth the devil heap together but confusion? \u201cAnd gave away their land for an heritage\u201d (Psa. 136.21), \u201ceven an heritage unto Israel His servant\u201d (Psa. 136.22). For He giveth them, whom once the devil owned, for an heritage to the seed of Abraham, that is, Christ. \u201cWho remembered us in our low estate\u201d (Psa. 136.23), \u201cand redeemed us from our enemies\u201d (Psa. 136.24) by the Blood of His only-begotten Son. \u201cWho giveth food to all flesh\u201d (Psa. 136.25), that is, to the whole race of mankind, not Israelites only, but Gentiles too; and of this Food is said, \u201cMy Flesh is meat indeed.\u201d \u201cGive thanks unto the God of Heaven\u201d (Psa. 136.26). \u201cGive thanks unto the Lord of lords\u201d (Psa. 136.27). For what he here says, \u201cthe God of Heaven,\u201d I suppose that he meant to express in other words what He had before said, \u201cthe God of gods.\u201d For what there he subjoined, he has here also repeated. \u201cGive thanks unto the Lord of lords.\u201d \u201cBut to us there is but one God,\u201d etc., \u201cand one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him;\u201d 5695 to whom we confess that \u201cHis mercy endureth for ever.\u201d\n[He says: \u201cI remember, in the hundred and sixth Psalm, which begins in the same way, because the manuscript which I read had not \u2018for ever,\u2019 but, \u2018for ages\u2019 (in s\u00e6culum), \u2018His mercy,\u2019 that I enquired what we had better understand. For, in the Greek language, it is written, \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u03b1\u1f30\u1ff6\u03bd\u03b1, which may be interpreted, \u2018for ages\u2019 and (in \u00e6ternum) \u2018for ever.\u2019 But it would be tedious to renew the enquiries I made as best I could in that place. But in this Psalm the same manuscript has not \u2018for ages,\u2019 which most have, but, \u2018for ever His mercy.\u2019\u201d\u2014C.]\n627:5672 628:5673\n[He adds: \u201cThe expression, \u2018for He is good,\u2019 in the Greek is \u2021\u03b3\u03b1\u03b8\u03bf\u03c2; not as in the hundred and sixth Psalm, for there \u201cHe is good,\u2019 in Greek is \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2. And so some have expounded the former, \u2018Since He is sweet.\u2019 For \u2021\u03b3\u03b1\u03b8\u03bf\u03c2 is not good anyhow, but good most excellently.\u201d\u2014C.]\n628:5674 628:5675 628:5676 628:5677\nPs. xcvi. 4 seq.\n628:5678 628:5679 628:5680 628:5681\n[The Roman dogma makes a verbal distinction as to worship of angels and saints, to meet the case as our author puts it here. But the vulgar cannot so distinguish; and everywhere, practically, this latria is offered. See Pius IX., the bull Ineffabilis.\u2014C.]\n628:5682\n1 Cor. 8:5, 6.\n628:5683 628:5684 629:5685 629:5686 629:5687 629:5688 629:5689 629:5690\n[Job xxviii. 28.\u2014C.]\n629:5691 629:5692 629:5693 630:5694 630:5695","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII: Expositions on...","type":"page"}