V. 1. a psalm of David to be sung on eight strings. 1)
The "victory" (victoria) and the "playing of strings" (organiz) have been spoken about in the fourth psalm. The secret interpretation of the "eight" (octavae) has been treated in detail by many, who we want to let rule their sense. We, however, want to follow those who speak simple-mindedly without a secret interpretation, and hold that according to the grammatical or historical understanding, the octava was a stringed instrument or a zither of eight strings, since the 33rd Psalm, v. 2.The meaning is that this Psalm was one of those which were sung "to victory" "on stringed instruments" (of which we have said above in the fourth Psalm from 1 Chron. 16, 19-21.), but in such a way that it was to be sung on the appropriate instrument of eight strings, namely the zither, so that octava was added in the title to designate the type [of instrument]. It is also not known to me whether the instrument of eight strings was the highest, or the middle or the lowest 2) kind of zithers. The psaltery of ten strings seems to have been the highest, since we read that it was often used in sweet and festive psalms. It is certain that the psalms [with the title:] "to the victory" used to be sung on zithers, which often name the titles of the psalms with the general word "Saitenspiele".
It is not to be doubted that these were all models of things to come, and that these eight strings have not been both ordered and praised in vain. In my opinion, I agree with those [commentators] not only about the eighth day of the future resurrection, but also about the situation of the present church and about a more or less complete and more detailed view of the future resurrection.
1) In Latin, probably according to Jerome: ^.ä vietoriam in orMnis super octavarn psnlmus David. In contrast, the Vulgate offers here as at the beginning of the 4th psalm: In ünein in earminidns, psalrnns David, pro oetavs.
2) Erlanger: inürma instead of: inüina.
The prophet's intention (animi causa) is that the zither was the highest of the eight strings and distinguished from the others. Therefore, already according to the prophet's intention (animi causa), we can entertain the godly thought that the zither of eight strings was the highest and noblest and distinguished above the others, just as we think that the psaltery of ten strings was the highest [psaltery]; and therefore it was distinguished by this title, adding the name octava.
But it is said in the beginning that the psaltery and the zither are distinguished in that the psaltery, because it has the hollow part (cavitatem) in the upper wood, lets the reverberation sound from above, whereas the zither, which is hollow in the lower wood, sounds from below. Through this, the two mysteries of the death and resurrection of Christ may be represented, in us the killing of the flesh and the making alive of the spirit, so that the singing of the zither in the revelation of truth is nothing other than the work of the cross, the killing of the members, the destruction of the body of sin, through which man is led upward from his earthly wisdom, so that he seeks that which is above, where Christ is; But the singing of the Psaltery is the work of the Spirit, justification, blessedness, peace, and the like, which come from above through faith and hope. Therefore, the zithers were also used quite appropriately for the psalms "for victory," as it is said, because the work of the Lord, that is, the cross of Christ, needs encouragement 3) so that one carries it to the end and achieves victory through perseverance.
But since in this psalm the highest degree of this cross and of the killing and the outermost border of the death, yes, also of the hell is described, then the highest zither (that is the octava) is added to it even puffing. The number
3) In the Basel: sxüortations instead of:^xüortatorio.
Eight is frequent and holy in the holy scripture (as Jerome says) from the eighth day of the circumcision and the eight souls in the ark of Noah. It is also said of David that he was the eighth and last son of Jesse, and Zacharias, the father of John, received the language again on the eighth day, and the like. But the number eight is a cubic number (numerus solidus), a completely equal square with six equal sides, which contains 24 plane triangles and eight cubes (solidos), like a cube, 1) which is also a square figure, which is common in the holy scriptures, and is assigned by the philosophers to uniformity and constancy. Furthermore, the number six (to which also this psalm belongs) is the first perfect number, so that by the singing of this zither the firm, constant, perfect and completed killing of the old man is indicated, which is indeed described in this psalm. But why the same title is not given to other psalms of the same content, we do not want to know (to use Augustine's words), because God did not want us to know.
Therefore, the words of this psalm will puff on the one who sings on the octava, that is, who is martyred with the extreme chastisement of death and hell, which is also indicated by the words themselves. Therefore, in my judgment, it stands thus: This psalm does what the previous one taught. For we said there that the nature and power of hope is shown in the midst of the misfortunes and sins of a suffering man. What kind of feelings he has, what kind of violent movements, what kind of sighs, what kind of words, what kind of counsels, that is set forth in this psalm.
Therefore, we can assume that the content (sententiam) and the teaching of this psalm is a general one, which does not only apply to Christ, but to any Christian who suffers such. Now if the chastisement of the purgatory (this is my opinion) is the fear of death and the dread of hell, because of the lack of right and perfect
1) Luther has here the shape of the cube continuously in mind. The 24 plane triangles are created by drawing the diagonals on the six faces of the cube; the eight cubes by dividing the cube into eight equal parts.
Love, the Church exceedingly appropriately prays this psalm in the person of the deceased, so that it could not pray anything more appropriate.
(2) But those who are in such distress and are chastened by it have an irreconcilable struggle with the evildoers who rely on works and teach that one should rely on them, and resist this killing [of the old man] in the most pernicious way. For it is not our work, but God's alone, that is done here, which one endures, in that hope alone suffers most valiantly; but it is not taken away by works of men, nor is comfort received; indeed, he who is in such trepidation recognizes that all men are liars [Ps. 116:11]. Therefore, he does not punish the persecutors, but the wrongdoers, the false comforters, most severely, because they do harm to this work of God through sweet appearances, since their delusion does not want to suffer that this is done by God, since they are always teachers and originators of despair and presumption, but never of hope.
(3) Nor should it be thought that all believing Christians are afflicted with the cross of this psalm. For not all are tested with all [temptations], though all are tried with many and various tribulations; as we read in the Gospel that only the One Cananaean woman, the Syro-Phoenician, was afflicted with a suffering of this kind. For Christ would not listen to her cries, nor to the intercession of the disciples, until she suffered it, with the greatest self-denial, being compared to little dogs, not to children, while others were either blind, or lame, or afflicted with similar gross sufferings and ills.
(4) So this is actually the challenge of those who have great faith, and, as is said of David [1 Sam. 13:4, Acts 13:22], of those who are after God's heart, the elect. But the same must be learned, so that we will be ready when God wants to test us with it at some time.
5 And why should we not try (which many have already tried), in order to know the various kinds of sufferings, to find the kind of order in the preceding Psalms? since the various Psal-
The words of the book are only to indicate the attitudes and the advice in the various afflictions.
Now we see that the first Psalm presents us with the perfect image of a godly man or people with short and general words and sayings, but definitely such a man as the various attitudes expressed in the Psalms show him, namely a spiritual man who only allows himself to be determined by the law of God, who also does not allow himself to be made unstable, neither by prosperity nor by adversity. Again, he presents us with the opposite image of the wicked, then the end of both, that God knows those, but does not know these, that therefore these will perish, but those will be preserved. Thus, one can see that this Psalm is quite correctly placed at the beginning as a kind of summary, from which one may see what is dealt with in the entire Psalter.
In the second psalm he teaches us the head and the originator of the godly people, Christ, then his place and his kingdom, where and from where it goes out, and how far it should be spread, namely from Zion to the end of the world, admittedly against the will of all opponents who rebel against it in vain. Finally, he describes the manner and customs of this kingdom, namely, to serve [the Lord] with fear and joy, and to be ready to trust and hope in him in the time of wrath.
In the third Psalm, this king and head of the faithful people is introduced as an example of suffering and glory, that he is not a duke in name only, commanding and demanding much but doing nothing, but one who precedes the people over whom he is placed in the righteous direction of the office of a duke and leader, mighty in deeds and words, and first (incipiens) in doing and teaching.
In the fourth psalm, the people who follow the duke are introduced, first of all, through bodily and lighter sufferings, by which they are trained to despise the many earthly things and goods of this life (which he calls "much wine and grain"), and thus attain to hope, in which they can sleep with peace. And here is the first and lowest
Step of the cross described for the beginners and the weak.
10) In the fifth Psalm man, after being strengthened by temporal sufferings, is subjected to the much more dangerous spiritual challenges and wars of the word, where he has to fight with the thoughts of Satan, namely with heretical and perverse opinions, which fight against pure faith and hope, and even with the most spiritual beast, hope, which came from the [great] goods, through which the angel fell from heaven [2 Petr. 2, 4]. 1) Therefore, here the matter is conducted with much fiercer and stronger movement of the heart. Here the powers of the heart alone suffer, and the spirit is martyred for the sake of the truth and sincerity of faith. We see that Paul had such a violent movement of the heart against the Jews and the false apostles.
In this sixth psalm, the final and perfect battle with death and hell is finally fought. This kind of battle is not waged with men, nor because of temporal or spiritual things, but within the spirit, even apart from and above the spirit in that supreme anguish, where no one hears, sees, feels, but the spirit, which pleads with inexpressible groaning for the saints, and, as it were, fights with God Himself, to whom no name can be given, and who can be known by no one but He who has experienced it, of which we shall now see.
V. 2. O Lord, do not punish me in your anger, and do not chastise me in your wrath.
(12) It has been asked whether anger (furor) is different from wrath (ira), whether punishing (arguere) is different from chastising (corripere). And it is known that "punish" and "chastise" also occur together in other places, as Ostenb. 3, 19.
1) It is possible that Luther had the passage Is. 14, 12 in mind according to the common understanding at that time. However, he later stated that it was a mistake to understand this passage as referring to Lucifer's fall. Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. VI." 391, s 10.
I have punished and chastised (castigo)", so that here the last "corripias" is the same as castiges or disciplines. But those who want it to be a repetition of the same thing, let them have their way. Meanwhile we want to make the distinction that "to be punished" is the same as to be rebuked; "to be chastised," that he who has been rebuked is beaten (percuti). This we learn from the custom of men, where a guilty person (reus) is first accused and rebuked, then, when the sentence has been passed, he is chastised (plectitur). So also the children, if they have done evil, they are first punished (arguuntur), then beaten.
But this reprehension of the heart in the spirit is the fear and trembling of the conscience before the judgment of God, for which Christ suffered for us in the garden, as Isaiah, Cap. 53, 11, foretold of him, "His soul labored." And, beginning to mourn and to tremble, he said [Matt. 26:38.], "My soul is sorrowful unto death." For here the soul finds itself deprived of all confidence, and is placed no other than horribly guilty alone before the eternal, and indeed wrathful, judgment seat of God. Of this Job says, Cap. 9, 1) 12 [Vulg.]: "If he should suddenly ask, who could answer him?" For he falls silent, not unlike that guest [at the wedding] in the Gospel, Matth. 22, 12. who fell silent when asked about the wedding garment. Then what follows there [v. 13] expresses: "Bind his hands and feet, and cast him out into utter darkness," expresses the same thing that is said here, "to be chastened in wrath." For the conscience, when it has been punished and convicted, immediately feels nothing but that eternal damnation is inflicted upon it.
(14) And there is no one who understands this supreme affliction (since he cannot understand the lesser ones either) unless he has tasted it, and therefore we cannot duly speak of it. Job suffered the same before others, and frequently; then David and King Hezekiah, Isa. 38:10 ff, and a few others.
Theologian" 2) Johann Tauler of the same not rarely mentioned in his sermons.
(15) This seems to me to be the temptation that Christ foretold in Luc. 21:25 ff, since he also lists, among other evils of the last days, the terrible signs from heaven, by which [temptation] 3) men pine away for fear and waiting for the things that will come upon the whole world, so that at the most dangerous and evil time there is also the worst and most dangerous tribulation. But even at the present time we have seen many who have suffered such things, and because they knew no counsel, have become senseless, or are constantly hardening themselves, grieving and being consumed. One of the fathers also suffered from this in the desert and said: "The fear of God also consumes the bones.
(16) Here, no one can stand against us, nor can he presume to prove himself a right discriminator between servile fear and love, according to his stupid head. This work of God cannot be comprehended by any knowledge, no matter how great; here it is dark in the depths [Gen. 1:2]. At the same time there is the very servile fear and the fleeing of punishments, and the most fervent love, as Christ says in the 142nd Psalm, v. 5: "I cannot escape, no one takes care of my soul." Love is hidden in unfathomable depths, servile fear comes to light with unbearable power. The spirit floats on the water [Gen. 1, 2.], and an inexpressible groaning is left alone. Finally, what this affliction accomplishes can be deduced from the signs that this psalm lists.
17 First, he pleads against the wrath and anger of God, which he has not done.
2) This is what Luther calls Johann Tauler, because he attributes the book "Eyn deutsch Theologia" (published by him in 1518) to Tauler. In the borrede to the same he says (Walch, old edition, vol. XIV, 207): "To estimate according to possible memory, the matter is almost after the manner of the enlightened Doctor Tauleri, order of preachers." Cf. Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. XVIII, ISO. Walch, old edition, vol. XIV, 206, K3.
3) According to the original edition, the reading in the Erlangen and Weimar editions is: qua, referring to tentatio, which we have chosen because Luther interprets it this way in his interpretation of this Gospel in the Church Postil (Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XI, 57 f., s 28), where he also remembers Tauler. The other editions offer: quikus, referring to terror68, "the frightening signs".
528 L. xiv, MK-31Ü. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 6, 2. W. iv, ssi-ssi. 529
if he had not felt his wrath and anger. For he does not refuse to be punished and chastised, but asks that this may be done in mercy, as is said in the 26th Psalm, v. 2. "Test me, O LORD, and try me; purify my kidneys and my heart," and in the 139th Psalm, v. 23. "Search me, O GOD, and know my heart; try me, and know how I mean it."
Therefore, in this verse, he apparently teaches a twofold rod of God, one of mercy, the other of wrath. Thus Jeremiah, Cap. 10, 24, says: "Chasten me, O Lord, yet with measures, and not in thy wrath, lest thou wear me out"; and Job, Cap. 7, 20, 17: "Wherefore makest thou me to stumble upon thee?" "What is man, that thou esteemest him great, and grievest with him?" This tribulation is also called in Scripture a day of visitation and insight (inspectionis), because God by His sight alone torments the wicked, which they cannot bear, as Habakkuk says, Cap. 4, 6: "He looked and cut in pieces the Gentiles, so that the mountains of the world were shattered." So we read in Exodus 14:24 that the Lord alone looked upon the host of Egypt, and immediately terror came upon the Egyptians, and their flight followed. Yes, this is the Day of Judgment, which will last forever, from which no one can hide, from which no one can escape, unless he takes hold of the mercy of God through hope in Christ Jesus our Lord.
19 Now this psalm teaches us that if anyone is distressed by this evil, he should flee to no one but the angry Lord Himself. But this is very difficult and laborious, and nothing else than hoping, since there is nothing to hope for, and doing completely impossible things, as much as the heart feels, in which this exceedingly lamentable struggle is going on. King Hezekiah tells this struggle about himself, and says Isa. 38, 14: "O Lord, I am in distress; soothe me." Again he immediately adds, as if he felt the rejection [v. 15, Vulg.]: "What shall I say? or what will he answer me, since he himself has done it?" as if he wanted to say with Job, Cap. 9, 16: "Though I call upon him and he hears me, yet I do not believe that he will answer me.
hear my voice. Namely, hope and despair alternate with each other in such a way that people, even if they are heard when they call upon God, do not feel it at all, that they do not even believe that their voice has been heard.
20 Therefore, this Psalm also confesses badly, when it says: "In your anger", that what he suffers is from God, so that he can say: What shall I say? What relief will he give me? Will he then hear me? Will it do me any good if I pray, since I am sure that he himself will do it?
(21) Therefore, those who in the lesser tribulations have not learned to flee to Him who smites them (that is, to God), as it is abundantly written in the prophets that one should do, since He does all things: how should they, in this greatest of fears, take refuge in Him who is most felt that God Himself does it?
Therefore, all other temptations are, as it were, only a children's teaching (rudimenta) and a prelude to this greatest of all temptations (perfectissimae), by which we are to become accustomed to flee to God against God. And from this passage I have taken what I disputated earlier 1) about the torment of the souls in Purgatory, that Purgatory seemed to me to be, as it were, a "near despair" and almost hell, from which souls could be delivered neither by the way of intercession nor even by indulgences, but only by the prayer of the church, may they be purified and perfected in love by them [the punishments in purgatory (poenis)], or may they do enough for sins, which I do not know. For even a living person who endures such things could not be helped by indulgences, but only by hope and 2) the intercession of the faithful. 3)
23. but this must be known, that those who suffer such things must keep the teaching of this psalm very carefully, so that they do not digress, do not complain, do not seek comfort from men, but by this teaching.
1) In the 95 theses against indulgences in 1517. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XVIII, 70 ff, thesis 15 ff.
2) 8P68 6t is missing in the Erlanger.
3) Thus the Basel and the Weimar. Wittenberg and Jena: oratio eeelssiae; Erlanger: intsre^siv eeelesiae.
stand still, suffer the hand of God, and with the prophet turn nowhere but to the Lord, saying, "Oh, Lord, do not punish me in your wrath." If they do not let themselves be found in this prudence (as those who are initiated into this matter advise), they will fall out of the hand of God, who heals and purifies them, to their utmost harm, fleeing to the miserable comfort of an ineffectual creature, not unlike the clay falling out of the potter's hand while being worked, and being broken worse, until it becomes utterly useless, or deserves to be rejected as unfit.
24 Jeremiah teaches this very beautifully and in detail in the Lamentations, where he says, among other things, Cap. 3, 24-29: "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. For the Lord is good to him that waiteth for him, and to the soul that asketh after him. It is a precious thing to be patient and hope in the help of the Lord. It is a precious thing for a man to bear the yoke in his youth, for a forsaken man to be patient when things come upon him, to put his mouth in the dust, and to wait for hope," that is, to hide his face, and withdraw himself from the company of men, as though he were buried with the dead in the dust.
25 From such a sense is also that in the 143rd Psalm, v. 3. f., spoken: "He lays me in darkness like the dead in the world. And my spirit is troubled within me; my heart is consumed in my flesh." In this silence and in this solitude this purification is accomplished, as it is also said in the 55th Psalm, vv. 5-9: "My heart is troubled in my body, and the fear of death is fallen upon me. Fear and trembling have come upon me, and dread has overtaken me. I said, O that I had wings like doves, that I might fly and stay! Behold, I would depart far away, and dwell in the wilderness. I would hasten, that I might escape from the tempest and the weather." This is said in Hebrew of the movement of the wind and the whirlwind [which in Latin is "of the despondency and tempest in the spirit (a pusillanimitate spiritus et tempestate)], but it is the same in sense.
V. 3. Lord, have mercy on me, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are troubled.
Secondly, he confesses that he is weak, forsaken by his strength, since it cannot bear the unbearable punishment and chastisement of God's wrath, as if to say: The terror of your wrath is too fierce for me to bear, and if you do not grant me the grace of your strength, I must despair and perish completely. Thus it is said Job 9:13: "He is GOD, his wrath no man can quench; under him the proud lords must bow." And Moses says, Ps. 90, 11: "But who believes that you are so angry, and fears such your wrath?"
(27) And he shows the greatness of the movement of the heart by repeating the name of the Lord so often: "Lord, have mercy on me," "heal me, Lord," "O Lord, how long". For this is also what those who are afflicted by lighter temptations do, that they so often repeat the prayer for help and the name of the Lord with their heart and mouth.
(28) Those who pray this Psalm do not really want to express the forgiveness of sins by the word: "Be merciful to me" (miserere), which is sometimes indicated by the word "kindness" (clementiae), or that the Lord is "a merciful" (miseratoris), as in the 111th Psalm, v. 4: "The merciful and compassionate Lord" (misericors et miserator). Psalm, v. 4: "The gracious and merciful Lord" (misericors et miserator), but grace or strength, whereby the soul is strengthened, so that it is well with the word: "I am weak" or I am powerless. For powerlessness is helped up by strength. Such is the nature of this challenge, which is described in these words in the most real way, but (as I said) only he understands it who has experienced it. But in this verse the prophet speaks of the weakness of the spirit, not of the flesh, that is, that neither hope, nor love, nor even faith is sufficient to bear it, unless they are strengthened.
Thirdly, he says, "that his bones also are troubled," and therefore desires to be healed. But who wants to understand this?
532 L. xiv, 3i2-3i4. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 6, 3. w. iv, kss-s5s. 533
what it is that the bones are terrified? For he does not speak of a bodily terror in the bones, since they are shattered either by fever or some other disease. And this lack of experience has also been the cause that some famous fathers understood by "bones" the powers of the soul. I do not reject their opinion, but I have said that the powers of the soul (may they be powers such as understanding, will, reason, memory, and the like, or virtues, infused or acquired) are indicated in the first part of the verse by the word: "For I am weak". For grace in the proper sense (which the prophet asks for by the word: "Have mercy on me") strengthens the heart and its powers against that spiritual weakness, because he speaks in the spirit.
30 Therefore, in this passage the bones must be taken according to the grammar in the proper sense for the bodily bones in our flesh, which are frightened by weakness and the terror of the spirit, so that they tremble and have no strength, yes, are also no longer bones, also can no longer carry the body. Thus it is said in Isa. 38:13, "He broke all my bones like a lion." For this is what we sometimes see in the dying, where some tremble and stretch terribly in fear and agony. For that is where God works this tribulation, where man can now no longer run to human consolations, and is forced to suffer the hand of Him who cleanses him. For in this way sin must be killed and separated from us, so that we love God above all else and become inflamed with unspeakable desire for Him, and these earthly attitudes, which sin works, become incomparably less than this desire is now, which seeks God, that is, His grace and mercy.
This is what is meant by saying that we must love God as much and more than we have loved creatures. Those who postpone this until death must suffer this great purification. However, God is not loved nor desired with such fervor if man is not burdened with such great tribulation, which forces him to seek and call upon God with a mighty cry of the heart,
especially when he is deeply immersed in laziness and has been sluggish in the killing of his flesh. For this death will be all the harder, the more lively the multiple practice of sins has made the mind that is to be killed. And it is to be hoped that those who have suffered this death and hell in their lives will have it less in death.
(32) I may be speaking things here that seem inconsistent and outrageous, especially to those who presume to gain easy access to God through indulgences or letters of grace or works. But, as I cannot prove this opinion of mine if someone does not believe these words of the prophet, so for their sake I cannot depart from the words of the prophet. "Let every man be sure of his own opinion" [Rom. 14:5]. I know what I speak; let them also see whether they know what they speak. It is certain that no one will attain to God's mercy unless he has a great hunger and thirst for it, like the one who says [Ps. 42:2, 4]: "As the deer cries for fresh water, so my soul, O God, cries to you. My tears are my food day and night", and another Psalm [Ps. 63, 2. f.]: "My soul thirsts for you in a dry and arid land where there is no water. There I look for thee in thy sanctuary."
(33) No one hopes that a satiated or a weary soul will be filled by God, who only fills the hungry with goods, how much less will he give eternal life to those who disgust it, even despise it against this life, but only to those who seek it most eagerly and with inexpressible sighs, asking and knocking for it.
Because we would not do this in this life, especially when it is quiet, he has presented us with death and many tribulations, through which we are forced to seek mercy and life, as Job says [Cap. 10:12]: "Life and mercy you have done to me, and your care preserves my breath."
35 Therefore it is certain that to those who suffer this affliction the bones of the body are so terrified that they cannot perform the office of the bones, as on the other hand we see that
where the heart is joyful and filled with joy, the bones receive strength, as it were, to leap, and are able to lift with them even the very heavy and stinking flesh, and can carry everything, so that one feels that joy pours out through the bones, as it were like a watering (irrigatio) [refreshes a dry land], as it is said in Proverbs 3:8: "This will refresh your bones" (erit irrigatio). Yes, also the poet 1) says: A cold shudder ran through his bones. The movements of the soul exert such a reaction on the body. Therefore he rightly says: "Heal me, Lord," because he is also so ill in the body that the bones do not carry him. So great is the power of this affliction that it does not leave a corner free in all forces that it does not frighten and break. And this is the highest cleansing of sins, the highest repentance and the fullest satisfaction.
V. 4. And my soul is greatly distressed.
Fourthly, he complains that his soul is frightened, that is, the lower part, namely the life according to the senses (sensitivam). For when the spirit and the bones are terrified, there is no sense that does not also become sad, so that now there is nothing left in the spirit, in the body, in the soul, that would not be taken over by the bitterest sadness and fear. For the soul feels the sting of death, which makes the senses exceedingly sad, just as the spirit feels hell, which is unbearable. But that the feeling of death and hell is in this fright, the following will show. In the meantime, it must be known that for those who are in this fright, there is nothing so sweet in the whole creature that the sight of it could give them even a hair's breadth of pleasure, nothing so sweet that it would delight their ears; there is no desire to taste anything, to eat, to drink, to touch, to smell, yes, everything is exceedingly bitter. But it is death on all sides, on everything they only look at and feel. They are most miserably tortured (distenduntur) between life and death: before death they have a horror, life they do not have.
I believe, however, that it is important for everyone to be aware of this.
1) Virgil, Veners, lid. II, v. 120.
It is known that soul (anima) and spirit (spiritus) are distinguished according to the use of Scripture, although the philosophers follow their own sense (sua). For this is what the apostle 12 ) Thess. 5, 23. teaches us: "But he, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through, and let your whole spirit, together with soul and body, be kept blameless unto the future of our Lord JEsu Christ." Origen and Jerome have written much about this in various places. "Through and through" the apostle said, that is, as he interprets himself, through the spirit, through the soul, through the body. But also from the Gospel we have [Marc. 12, 30.], "With all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." It is not the place to say more about this now.
Oh Lord, how long?
38) Here some add a verb, namely: how long will you not pull me out, will you not make it better with me? For these, the pronoun "you" speaks: "Oh Lord, how long?" In the same way the 13th Psalm, v. 2. f., says: "O Lord, how long wilt thou forget me? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I be anxious in my soul, and fearful in my heart daily?" where he not only asks that the help be hastened, but also, as it were impatiently, complains about the delay, about the harshness of the postponement, since, as in all movements of the heart, in fear, love, hope, hatred 2c., the delay is hard and heavy, as it is said in Proverbs 13:12: "The hope that is consumed anguishes the heart," so it is heaviest of all in this suffering of death and hell. For here it is true what they say, that one hour in purgatory is longer than many years in this life.
In short, human nature cannot endure that this affliction should last even a little while, nor can it contain it entirely, but tastes only a few drops of it. So again it is said of those who, having been raptured, enjoy heavenly joys.
2) In the issues: 2 lUsssa.
The soul is so strong that it can hardly perceive a drop, since this life could not bear the richness of the pleasures of that life. If one of these two movements should become too strong or be prolonged, it is thought that the soul would soon have to depart, if there were not a miracle of divine power. Therefore the prophet, with these words, "Ah, thou Lord, how long?" indicates with extraordinary emphasis the inexpressible groaning of the inmost spirit, in the man who suffers this.
V. 5. Turn, O Lord, and save my soul; help me for your goodness' sake.
Again, in this verse he indicates that his soul is lost and that he is damned (for that is how he feels at the time of this challenge), since he asks to be saved, namely from the death that oppresses him, and to be helped out of hell, which is already devouring him with an open mouth, as we read [in the masses] for the souls: Deliver them from the jaws of the lion, lest hell devour them, lest they fall into darkness, and Ps. 9:14. it is said, "Thou liftest me up out of the gates of death," and Hezekiah says [Isa. 38:10.], "Now must I go to the Hollen Gate."
41 And he beautifully shows the power of hope, since he has nothing but the goodness of God before his eyes, saying: "For the sake of your goodness", as if he wanted to say: Not for the sake of my merits; how nothing these are, is proved enough and more than enough by the terror of your wrath, and the fright of my heart, my bones and my soul. Therefore help me for the sake of your goodness, so that your honor and the praise of your mercy, which you have shown to me by giving me help, may endure forever. For though I am not worthy to be saved and helped, yet you are worthy to be praised, glorified and loved forever. But you cannot be praised and your goodness cannot be praised unless there are people whom you save from death and whom you rescue from hell.
42. thus it is said in the prayer of Manasseh, the
King Judah, v. 15 f.: "But if you will help me unworthy according to your great mercy, I will praise you all my life. For all the host of heaven praiseth thee." Behold, by this art God makes His mercy exceedingly worthy of praise to us, exceedingly sweet, and that we sigh for it with all our heart, as it is then worthy to be praised (since it is eternal, and of so great a majesty), attacking us with the calamity which we have deserved. But those whom he does not attack with such misfortune, but lets them go in their ignorance, it is not to be wondered at if the mercy of God seems small to them, and they have an excess of it, and are disgusted with this heavenly manna.
(43) Through this consideration, all the talk of those who earn grace through the somewhat meritorious actions (actibus congruis) and glory through the fully meritorious actions (condignis) falls away in an instant, since they prepare themselves to bear this unbearable judgment of God through the works of their own righteousness, in unbelievable nonsense. Therefore, at the end (of this psalm, v. 9.) he attacks them with great bitterness, turns to them, and speaks with tremendous vehemence: "Depart from me, all evildoers," as we shall see. There it remains: "Help me for the sake of your goodness." My righteousness has disappeared, my virtue has fallen away, my merit has perished; my iniquity has been found out to death and hell. Blessed and glorious shall I be, when it shall be given me to breathe again in thy goodness.
(44) And so we are taught that, just as we should not be presumptuous on our part, so we must not despair at all, but call upon God's goodness even against the power of death and hell, however unworthy we may be. For what sins, what evils are so great that they should force you to despair? For here you hear that no one, not even death and hell, should be driven to despair, when the greatest sins and the greatest misfortunes must necessarily be present.
V. 6: For in death you are not remembered; who will thank you in hell?
(45) Here he clearly reveals the emotions that run through this entire psalm, confessing that he has felt death and hell. For he does not speak this of a thing unknown to him, after the manner of the sophists, who presume to speak of any thing according to what they suspect of it (divinare), but he relates what he has experienced and describes clearly these sensations. Help me (he says), that I may praise your goodness forever, and do not punish me in this your wrath; for, because in it is death and hell, you are not remembered and praised. For here the word Proverbs 16:14 applies: "The king's wrath is a messenger of death." So Hezekiah says Isa. 38, 19. 18.: "Only they that live praise thee: for hell praiseth not thee, neither doth death praise thee; and they that go down to the pit wait not for thy truth." And Ps. 115:17: "The dead shall not praise thee, O Lord, nor they that go down into silence." But also in many other places in the Psalter we will find this anguish of heart indicated.
(46) What then is in death and in hell? First, that one forgets God, then that one blasphemes Him forever. For here the care for oneself and the love of oneself prevail with the most impetuous and unrestrained vehemence, therefore man cannot have the goodness of God before his eyes. For he seeks an escape, and does not find it; then he immediately falls into the most ardent hatred against God, and wishes first that another God were, then that he himself were not; and thus he blasphemes the highest majesty, and desires out of all his strength (as I have said) that it should not be, and if he were able, he would bring it about that it should not be. And this fleeing and enmity against GOD lasts forever. Then the word of the first Psalm [v. 4] is fulfilled: "The wicked is like chaff that the wind scatters," namely, he flees but cannot escape.
But here someone would like to object: What should be said then with the word, which everyone leads in the mouth: From hell there is no salvation? For it is clear that the punishment of hell does not befall anyone except
the damned. I answer: Although I do not remember to have read this word in the Holy Scriptures, it seems to me to be taken from this verse of this Psalm, then also from many other passages of Scripture. But it is ill understood by these carnal people and by all who do not know our theology, as if for this reason no one should taste hell, because there is no salvation from hell, since on the same ground we would also like to say that Paul did not taste heavenly joy (coelestia), because one cannot lose blessedness; and sin is no longer felt, because it has been forgiven in baptism.
Therefore it is true that when this fight is there, one sees nothing but hell, and that no redemption is before one's eyes, and one thinks that everything one feels is eternal. For it is the wrath, not of a mortal man, which must one day come to an end, but the wrath of the eternal God is felt here, which never comes to an end. He says: "Do not punish me in your wrath"; to be punished in the temporal wrath of a temporal man is low.
Then everything that happens in hell also happens here. There is not much lack of hatred and blasphemy against God, only that love is strong, like death, and zeal is firm, like hell, and here finally keeps the upper hand in praising God. Otherwise, love fights with hate, hope with despair, mercy with anger, praise with blasphemy, perseverance with flight, in short, heaven with hell in the hardest, fiercest and most severe way, with unbelievable agonies of the soul.
But what do we lose words for, since with all words we can obtain nothing but a mere indication (indicium) of this affliction? An understanding and a feeling of it cannot be obtained in any other way than by suffering and experience, although every one of us, if he is not without understanding, is told by his heart and conscience, when he hears this, that this is something that is indicated by these words, which is not yet known, but is terrible when it is known.
V. 7. I am so weary with sighing, I wash my bed all night long, and with my tears I wet my bed.
This verse can be arranged in two ways, either by taking the verb: "I am weary" (laboravi - I have worked myself to death) separately, without reference to another word (absolute), or by combining it with the words: "from my sighing. Although the latter order is the more common, we will leave it in place this time and keep the former. In this order, the repetition (tautologia) also seems to me to fit more appropriately to what has already been said, so that that the bed is washed with sighs or sobs (lavari) is the same as that the bed is wetted with tears; there the sighing corresponds to the tears, the washing to the netting, the bed to the bed.
In Hebrew it says: I will make my bed swim, and I will make my bed melt. One rightly asks from where any man should have so many tears? Augustine, as he is wont to do, follows spiritual interpretations, and many others follow him. But we take bed and bedding according to their grammatical meaning, in which the body rests during the night, as is the custom among men, and we understand the tears and the sighing in such a way that they, according to the exaggerated manner of speaking (per hyperboles), wash and net the bed. For it is never and nowhere heard that any saint has shed so many tears even in one night, let alone every night, that he has wetted his bed, let alone washed it.
But let us take the hyperbole in such a way that it is applied to the work of tears only outwardly. Otherwise, because the words of the spirit must be considered in the spirit, there will be no hyperbole if one considers the heart of the one who suffers this. The latter does not show how much he is able to do, but how much he wants and desires, as the Fathers say of Mary Magdalene, that she did not speak in right consideration (secundum) of her powers, when she said to the gardener [Joh. 20, 15.]: "If you have carried him away, tell me [where did you lay him?] then I will
fetch him." For he who believes, hopes, loves, misses the fact that everything is possible for him. Therefore, because God looks at the spirit of men, but not at the works, and does not examine the outward appearance of the works, but at the kidneys and hearts of men, the prophet speaks here without hyperbole, yes, he says out of a righteous heart that he will wash his bed with sighs and tears. Even though he is not able to do this, it is still counted to him before God as if he had already done it, because he has such a fervent desire that he would like to do it. Therefore, we would do right if we read in the form of desire (optativo): Oh, that I had so many tears, that I could wash my bed with them every night! as Jeremiah, Cap. 9, 1, says: "Oh, that I had water enough in my head, and that my eyes were fountains of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of my people!"
So this verse is also a witness how terrifying this battle of death and hell is, that he wants to do the impossible so that he will be freed from it. And therefore I easily believe the stories of those who write that souls [of people] who were either still alive or had already departed, sometimes confessed that they would rather suffer the greatest chastisement of this life in this life until the day of judgment, than suffer a short time in purgatory. For this agrees very well with the opinion of this verse. But Hezekiah also, Isa. 38:15 [Vulg.], confesses that he would rather spend his whole life in bitterness than suffer these gates of hell. "I will remember thee" (he says), or (as it is better rendered in Hebrew) I will put home to thee (promovebo ad te) "all my years in bitterness of my soul." He wishes his whole life to be exceedingly bitter, if only it would befall him to escape this wrath and fury.
48 And this is also confirmed by the repeated presentation of what has already been said (tautologia), of which we have said above that this is a sign of the determination with which this movement of the heart seals its exceedingly great seriousness. See, then, with how many manifestations he demonstrates the suffering of this exceedingly miserable struggle, how he he-
chooses to endure all the miseries of the world because he chooses to weep so many tears. What is left for such a one in the world to delight in? Is he not most perfectly dead according to the flesh, because he resolves to live unto God in the spirit, and chooses 1) not at table, not at work, not by day, not at a work [to weep] where others might weep; but in bed, and on his couch, and at night, when all others are at rest and refreshed from their weariness, does he take upon himself so great a task, and indeed a quite unheard-of one, that he will shed tears until he swims in them? Perhaps those who have once been in sudden danger of death can feel the meaning of this verse to some extent, but in the real battle of death and hell, this desire and this undertaking can easily be wrung from a man, yes, he himself easily undertakes it and does it if he can, and is ready to promise and do much greater things.
(49) "I am weary" (laboravi-I have labored) (he says); a very appropriate word for the present transaction, by which he indicates that he has been in anguish and in great distress. For so it is taken Isa. 53, 11. "Because his soul labored" (laboravit), that is, has been in great anguish, as it is said [Matt. 26, 38.], "My soul is sorrowful unto death." Here, I say, travail compels him to be willing to do and suffer such heavy and great things. Blessed therefore are they that mourn, because they shall be comforted [Matth. 5, 4.], who afflict themselves, weeping and humbling themselves, lest they should be compelled to suffer this affliction. Other things [to be said here] will be taught by custom and experience.
V. 8. My form is decayed with mourning, and is grown old; for I am troubled in every place.
Reuchlin has it thus: Verminavit ex iracundia species mea, in that he wants verminare [to be plagued by worms] to be the same in a transferred way as to be gnawed,
1) Baseler: eleZit instead of: eÜAit.
as a garment is gnawed, destroyed and ruined by the moth. But it is the same sense as in our [Latin] translation. For the prophet wants to say that this fight has such a power that it changes the whole appearance of man. And this is not to be wondered at, since it also consumes the bones and the blood; therefore he says that through this affliction he becomes pale and shapeless. For even any affliction at last disfigures a man's deportment and reputation. But what other afflictions accomplish gradually, this one accomplishes rapidly in a short time by the exceedingly great violence of the attack of sadness. We read that many have suddenly turned gray through great sadness, how much more will people deteriorate and grow old through this struggle?
51 Similarly, Ps 39:11, 12 says: "Turn away thy plague from me, for I am faint at the strength of thy hand. With thy rebuke thou punishest man for his iniquity, and makest his soul languish like a spider. You make his soul languish like a spider." Hebrew it means: You have made his beauty like a little worm, that is, his face or his form. That's what he calls it here: My form is eaten up by worms (verminavit) or gnawed by moths. For facies is that wherein the beauty of man consists. Yes, the same words are also set Ps. 31, 10. as in this verse: "My form (oculus meus) is decayed with mourning" (ira).
Hence he takes oculum ["the eye" in the Vulgate) for appearance and "form," since it is also the same way of speaking among the Hebrews, and means both the eye and the form, so that the sense is [Vulgate]: "My eye is fainted," that is, in my whole form I am suddenly changed and made shapeless. This is done by wrath, not my wrath, but wrath par excellence (absoluta), that is, the tribulation of death and hell itself. So also the apostle [Paul] often calls wrath par excellence (absoluta) death and hell, as Rom. 5:9: "So shall we ever more be kept from wrath by him, after we are reconciled."
The same is what follows: Inveteravi inter omnes inimicos meos; better in Hebrew: among all that fears me. That is:
Fear is all around me, everything oppresses me, all creatures are against me, I have nowhere to flee to. That is why I grow old before time, because I am so frightened, and my whole reputation is changed.
This verse also indicates another power of this misery, which consists in the fact that he, fearful and frightened by the wrath of God, at the same time has no comfort in any creature, but everything he looks at is against him. For the creature acts with its creator, especially when even its own conscience deviates from him. Therefore, everywhere there is anger, everything is fearful, everywhere there are enemies. He indicates this by not simply saying: Among my enemies, but [Vulg.]: "Among all enemies", that is, among those who are all enemies, I who am in such a situation, since no one keeps it with me. Thus it is said in Job 9:19, [Vulg.] "No one will dare to bear witness for me."
(53) But I believe that David, who was afflicted with these tribulations, became very weak toward the end of his life and was so chilled that he could not get warm when he was covered with many clothes, as it is written in 1 Kings 1:1. For, as I have said, this wrath consumes everything and makes people faint. Thus we have described this terrible affliction according to its signs, according to the hardships [that it brings with it], according to the counsel [that there is for it] 1). Now follows the consolation and the leading out of death and hell.
V. 9 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord hears my crying.
(54) Why then, dear one, does he alone cast away evildoers from him with such great displeasure in the sight of others? For in the 5th Psalm we have
55 ff] He says that those who establish the worship of disobedience, their own righteousness and spiritual idolatry. Furthermore, he calls them to depart from him, although he did not complain about them until then [in this Psalm], but only about the wrath of the Lord. What have the ungodly workmen to do with the wrath of the LORD?
1) People in this high affliction have no other counsel than the mercy of God. Cf. K 59.
Especially since such people, who are both completely sure and assume the opposite of God in everything than he complained about in this psalm, could not bother him in this challenge. And, what seems almost incongruous, he calls them away for this reason, because the Lord hears their weeping. Did those ungodly laborers then go about it, that the Lord should not hear him? To this we say:
(55) He suffers entirely from violent movement, and that very seriously, therefore he does not speak why he does it, but only what he does. For thus we see that those who, carried away by some violent movement, speak to themselves are, as it were, nonsensical, and speak things that do not belong to them, since we do not know from what cause they speak. Let us, therefore, go into the movement which prompted these words.
56] I see that this has been observed in general throughout the Psalter, that the prophet, as often as he has spoken in a particularly great excitement (exstasi), immediately attaches to it a short exclamation against the opponents, which is either full of indignation or of lamentation, as in the passage Ps. 116, 10. f.: "I believe, therefore I speak. But I am greatly afflicted. I said in my trembling, All men are liars." And after he had said in the 39th Psalm, v. 12. [Vulg.], "Thou makest his soul languish like a spider," 2) he immediately adds, "Alas, how nothing are all the children of men." But we see that in human affairs, too, the same thing happens in opposite ways, since when someone has recognized the matter and grasps the truth, he is soon carried away, and either becomes indignant or complains against those who hold or teach the opposite. An excellent example of this is St. Augustine in the 9th book of the Confessions, in the interpretation of the 4th Psalm [where we see] with what impetuosity he is carried away against the Manichaeans, while he is interpreting the Psalm, and what art it takes to teach the subject matter (proposita) in such a way, that one is led to
2) In the original edition and in the Basel: arsnarn instead: LrantzLin. -auirnarn is missing in the Wittenberg.
and at the same time refute the opposite and make an attack against the adversaries. For how can we refrain from this, if we teach the right and true godliness, that we should not at the same time make an attack against the ceremonialists and those who act the word falsely, being full of indignation that they either do not know this or once taught us the opposite?
57. So also here. Since he had been instructed by this exceedingly great tribulation to trust only in the mercy of God, and that no righteousness of his own was sufficient, but he knew how those who had not been instructed by this temptation teach and do foolish and ungodly things under the appearance of godliness, and how inexperienced they are in these things when they occur, he calls them to depart from him. 1) Otherwise they are at hand to teach all men in the world (for this is what this kind of people generally do, who are most unwise wise and most unwise), as blind guides for the blind [Matth. 15, 14], who are always learning and never come to the knowledge of the truth [2 Tim. 3, 7]. Then, what is the greatest evil, they cannot be taught, persuaded or corrected.
(58) Yes, as Jannes and Jambres resisted Mosi [2 Tim. 3:8], so also these resist those who have gained salutary knowledge through the experience of such a great controversy, without ceasing and with insolent outrageousness, whereby a godly man is sorely afflicted beyond measure. Therefore he attacks them quite justly out of a zeal of love, in which he desires that the truth, which is known to him, should become common to all, and that the contrary error should be put to shame, by speaking full of exceedingly righteous indignation: "Depart from me, all workers of iniquity. "2c. Yes, there will hardly be a psalm in which the complaint about this challenge is described, in which the prophet does not at the same time punish and accuse these ungodly plodders, as we will see.
1) Because this postscript follows only towards the end of the following paragraph, we have anticipated it here to facilitate understanding.
(59) So it is only a violent movement of the heart that he tells them to depart from him because the Lord hears him. For what he wants by stating this reason, he gives to understand by what has been said before, namely, that God alone saves those who call upon him because of his goodness, since before him no one is justified by himself, and (as Moses, 2 Mos. 34, 7., says) no one is found innocent. Since this is the case, and he has explained this in the entire psalm, he rightly introduces that he does not want to acknowledge those who hold and teach the opposite. It is enough for him to know that the Lord hears his crying 2) 2c. Here also belongs the word Matth. 7, 23, which the Lord will say to those who prophesied and did deeds in his name: "Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity," because he uses the verse of this Psalm in general against all who trust in themselves and not in his pure mercy.
V. 10: The Lord hears my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer.
In general he had said that his weeping was heard, now he describes in particular what kind of "weeping" it was. And note that he also repeats the name of the Lord three times: "The Lord hears," "the Lord hears," "the Lord accepts," to indicate the fervency of confidence and to fortify hope against the adversaries he defies.
But "supplication" in Hebrew is an expression that actually means asking for mercy and grace, so that it corresponds to the word above [v. 3.], "Lord, have mercy on me," and the following, since we have said
28P that grace and power may be requested. But the "prayer" [serves for this], to ask for averting the evil, so that it corresponds to the word [v. 2]: "Oh, Lord, do not punish me in your anger" 2c., unless someone wanted to say that this ["supplication" and "prayer"] is doubly set, in order to raise up and fortify the heart.
(61) Now these are words of hope, which exercise and admonish the conscience where it already has the upper hand, just as the fore-
2) In the Jena edition: exauälet. In the other editions: exauüit.
were the words of hope, which suffers and struggles and almost succumbs. We see that these words do not teach, but put into practice what was taught in the 5th Psalm in the verse [v. 12]: "Let all who trust in you rejoice" 2c.
(62) For the words themselves sufficiently indicate the manner and disposition of his heart, namely, that with great effort he sets before his eyes the mercy of God, in order to oppose it to the horrific images of sin, death and hell. For since it is certain that he speaks in hope and in the spirit, but does not yet stand before God in the present vision, it is at the same time certain that he is saved in hope, has obtained God's grace in hope, has comforted himself in hope, and speaks all this in order to drive away from himself the exceedingly burdensome multitude of those evils.
And it is this that he inculcates the goodness of God through such frequent repetitions, fighting what opposes it, as it were, with mighty and strong blows, and exhorting his weakness to hope through powerful sermons.
For this is how one must act (as this master teaches us) in sorrow, or when sin torments the conscience; not snoring, not yielding, but also not waiting until the affliction subsides of its own accord, or until the thing that contains the consolation appears present; all this is a behavior that serves to ruin; but one must fight bravely, sigh, and strive with all diligence to make firm the good opinion that God has toward us, as he said in the 3rd Psalm, v. 4. Psalm, v. 4. "But thou, O Lord, art the shield unto me, and dost set me in honor, and upright my head"; and in the 30th Psalm, where he complains of a similar affliction, he makes an exceedingly good firm confidence in GOD, and says [v. 6.], "For his wrath endureth for a moment, and he delighteth unto life," that is, our GOD does not want death and hell, but life and blessedness. So it is also said in the 32nd Psalm, v. 7. [Vulg.], "You are my shield against the tribulation that has surrounded me."
65 Yes, in all the Psalms, where this or a similar suffering is lamented, it is immediately remembered.
how to draw hope and have a good confidence in God according to the words of Wis 1:1: "Think that the Lord is able to help. For if this thought and this confidence of conscience do not arise, the tribulation will triumph, and there will be no one to pull us out. This confidence, however, is brought about with great effort, but not otherwise than through the Word of God and Jesus Christ.
66 So also here. Since he did not know at all that his crying was heard, he nevertheless arouses this confidence in himself by frequent remembrance and strengthens it by first repeating and asserting it, so that he also attacks the adversaries and is certain that one has God as one thinks of him. As hope is, so is the thing [which one attains through hope) (qualis spes, talis res), for in truth man is governed by opinions here also, but by opinions of GOD (that is, about GOD), may they be good or evil.
V.11. All my enemies must become ashamed, and be very afraid, and turn back, and become ashamed suddenly.
This verse could perhaps be understood by persecutors, because it calls them enemies, but in order for this last to be related to the previous, we do not want to understand any other enemies than the very XXX XXXX the evildoers. For we have said [§ 56] that the prophetic spirit in every Psalm is directed at the same time against these people, where this affliction is described, because (as I have said) the war and strife take place without ceasing with these ungodly people, who not only do not hear this humility of the godly and the praise of God's grace, but also persecute it, as the 109th Psalm, v. 16, says: "And he persecuted the wretched and the poor and the afflicted, that he might slay him." And the 69th Psalm, v. 27. says, "They persecute him whom thou hast smitten." With these it is found, as with Job's friends, that they boast that the afflictions of godly men are laid up for them by God deservedly; and they side with God against those, and pronounce it that God has rightly become hostile to them. Meanwhile they are
themselves quite sure about God, as if they could escape the judgment of God.
Since everything that is held against these wicked people has the same effect as if one told a story to a deaf person, and they cannot hear what is of the Spirit of God because of their puffed-up carnal mind, the prophet desires that they be dealt with briefly and that their wickedness suddenly be put to an end, namely in such a way that, even if this kind of challenge should come upon them, they would feel the wrath of God and feel the terror of death and hell. So also Jeremiah prays, Cap. 17, 18.: "Let them be put to shame that persecute me, and me not; let them be terrified, and me not"; and there [v. 17.]: "Be not thou terrible unto me, my confidence in trouble." And Ps. 9:18, 21: "Oh that the wicked should be turned to hell, all the heathen that forget God;" and, "Give them, O Lord, a Master, that the heathen may know that they are men" (that is, that they are vain and liars).
(69) "For the law only causes wrath," Rom. 4:15, because it reveals sin, by which the conscience is put to shame, which, when it is put to shame, is terrified by wrath and death, and by the indication of the law recognizes that it deserves it. For this fear brings about a sudden and violent conversion, disgraces and frightens the hopeful, pushes them back into nothingness, and forces them to lay aside the pride of their own righteousness and to seek the mercy of God. For if they themselves have not been proved by this suffering in their own experience, they read, hear and do all in vain. "For only adversity teaches us to pay attention to the word" (as Isaiah Cap. 28, 19. says), that is, the word of God becomes understandable to the unintelligent when they have been well martyred through suffering. The cross of Christ alone is an instruction in the word of God, the purest theology.
70 But "very" and "suddenly" can be understood in two ways, so that these words refer either to the time or to the nature of the challenge. If it is interpreted to the time, it is this, that not
But if they are interpreted as meaning that they will not be afflicted with some minor affliction, but with the gale-force wind of this highest and greatest affliction, the nature of which is the most severe. But if the nature of the affliction is to be interpreted, it is that they are not afflicted with some minor affliction, but with the gale-force wind of this highest and greatest affliction, the nature and character of which is that it is exceedingly fierce, and therefore most fiercely humbling and instructing to grace, since both their own wisdom and their own righteousness make the wicked so obstinate and obdurate that, when they are sometimes struck with lighter temptations, they boast without fear, even in tribulations, as if they were righteous and sincere martyrs. So stubbornly do these ravening wolves disguise themselves in sheep's clothing that they become even more hardened and strengthened in their ungodliness by what they are beaten with to make them mend their ways.
(71) But they cannot withstand this terrifying visitation (frigoris) if they are disgraced because of their sins and are terrified by the wrath of God. For this is the terror that casts down the secure godless people; in the same no one can stand but the sincere hearts that are rightly instructed by the fear of God and hope. Therefore, as impossible as it is to endure this wrath of God, it is exceedingly necessary for the unbelieving and unintelligent, and alone powerful enough and sufficient to humble them.
With such terror Paul was attacked from heaven, when he was surely striving for God with great impetuosity; suddenly a light shone around him, and he said with trembling and fear: "Lord, what do you want me to do? Apost. 9, 1. ff. Here is put into action what Jeremiah says, Cap. 23, 29: "Is not my word like a fire, and like a hammer that breaks in pieces rocks?" And in the 21st Psalm, v. 10. "Thou shalt make them as a furnace of fire, when thou shalt see three; the LORD shall devour them in his wrath; fire shall devour them." This he would not say if he had not experienced it. For this furnace of fire and the fire
It is precisely the punishing in anger and the chastening in wrath of the Lord that drives guilty consciences into insurmountable and inescapable fear, just by looking at and contemplating the divine judgment.
In this verse he compares the anger and wrath of the Lord, or rather, he interprets it in other words. For "to be punished in wrath" is nothing else than to be put to shame, that the conscience of man must be ashamed and is found guilty before the eternal judgment of God. But before this judgment the conscience of no man is found innocent, as the 143rd Psalm, v. 2, says: "Do not go into judgment with your servant, for before you no living man is righteous." For what does "not being righteous" mean but to be found guilty and to be put to shame? And again, Ps. 116:11, "I said in my trembling, All men are liars."
Therefore he wishes those unwise ones to turn back here and become ashamed, who are still secure in themselves and boast. He says [Ps. 21, 9.], "Thy hand shall find all thine enemies, thy right hand shall find them that hate thee." And again [Ps. 83, 17.], "Make their faces full of shame, that they may have to inquire after thy name."
For in this (as I have often said) the wicked differ from the godly, that both are liars, and not righteous before God, and are altogether vain, but the godly this affliction brings to the knowledge of themselves; when they have attained this, they flee from the wrath of judgment to mercy, and are saved, as it is said in Proverbs 12:7: "Turn the wicked, and they shall be no more." Some understand this to mean, "Turn them," namely, to the knowledge of themselves, and now that they have been humbled, they will cease to be ungodly through the attainment of grace. But where they have not been turned, they have no self-knowledge, therefore they do not seek grace, and remain in their vanity, falsehood, and ungodliness.
75 Furthermore, "to be chastened in wrath" is nothing other than "to be greatly terrified" (as he says), namely, that death and hell will be inflicted, and since this wrath is soon and suddenly
(As it is said in the 2nd Psalm, v. 12), blessed are all those who trust in him. For the wicked do not. For also in the same Psalm he indicates these two evils, as he says [v. 5]: "He will one day speak to them in his wrath (that is, he will punish and rebuke them), and with his fury he will terrify them" (that is, he will chastise them). And 1 Sam. 2:10. it is said, "They that contend with the LORD shall perish; upon them shall he thunder in heaven." And we have many similar sayings in the Scriptures, in which this mighty falling away and terrifying of the heart is described both in the saints and is prophesied against the ungodly, so that those who are humbled may be comforted and exalted, but those who are humbled may be struck down and oppressed, and so He wills that all men be helped and that no one perish.
But there is a beautiful play on words (allusio) in this verse in the Hebrew in the two words: "they must return" and "they must become disgraced", which could not be reproduced in the Latin (non retinuit). Because there it says by a transposition of the letters XXXX and XXXX. But he repeats XXXX, they must be put to shame, out of a fierce zeal, wishing that what he suffers may turn on the adversaries, so that they may also cease to be hopeful and persecute the humble, as it is said in the 54th Psalm, v. 7.Vulg.]: "Turn the adversity to my enemies," and Proverbs 11:8: "The righteous is delivered from adversity, and the wicked is put in his place," and Ps. 32:10: "The wicked has many afflictions, but he who hopes in the Lord will be embraced by goodness." So also in the 79th Psalm he asks that the wrath depart from him and turn to the wicked, saying (v. 5. f.]: "O Lord, how long wilt thou be angry, and let thy zeal burn as fire? Pour out your fury on the Gentiles who do not know you (that they may learn to know you), and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name," so that they too may learn that they need your glory and call on your name. So also in this psalm the prophet prays that he may not be chastened in anger, but those who do not call on the Lord may be chastened.
call, nor be afraid of his wrath.
But it is said 54 ff.] It is said that the enemies of the godly are primarily those who are called evildoers, who are the authors of the heart being secure in an evil way, and faith and trust in God not being recognized. Therefore, they have to deal with them continuously, which would not be the case if they were also sighted at times in a similar tribulation.
(78) Now, if anyone wants to understand by the evil-doers and enemies the devils, who at this time of calamity fiercely persist, and urge despair by putting good works before [the challenged one's] eyes [and pretending] that if anyone had done them, he would have no cause to despair, so that they may quench the despair by presuming to have done them.
and strengthen presumption through despair, and meanwhile capture the soul through this kind of ungodliness, so that he does not serve God in the right godliness of faith and hope, for the sake of His goodness, - if someone, I say, wants to understand it this way, I have nothing against it. For the devils are in truth those who incite the soul to disobedience in the most unholy way under the pretense of obedience, since it is their nature to disguise themselves as angels of light, but then most when it should be least, that is, in the tribulation.
(79) But I believe that the prophet speaks against men (as I have said), against the enemies of true godliness, of whom it grieves him that he has heard and known that they drag very many with them to destruction (foveam) through their foolishness.