So far, he has described the desolation of the synagogue and the Jewish kingdom. Therefore, the song that follows here cannot be understood from the earthly Jerusalem, but it must be taken from the church.
V. 1. a solid city.
We now have a completely different city, in which is the priesthood and the kingdom of Christ. Its walls have salvation and victory, even against the gates of hell.
V. 2. Open the gates.
3 This is a description of the citizens; the church is open to all who want to enter. But these are "the righteous people" by keeping the faith, or by keeping the faithful promises (quae servat fidelia), that is, the promises and the covenant, and by believing the word.
V. 3. You always receive peace.
(4) He says of the head and king of this city that he will keep peace everywhere; outwardly against the world, the flesh and Satan; inwardly against the conscience, so that we may be at peace in our minds. This is not by our doing, but by the mercy of Him who promised it before. And this peace is not kept in any other way than through hope, which is to be noted.
is to be reckoned with. For he who does not rely on Christ will never be at rest. But to rely on Christ is difficult because the flesh is always looking for something on which it can safely rely; and it cannot rely on such things as are not seen. But the prophet reminds us that it is in vain to try to do so, because this peace lies solely in the fact that we hope in Christ. So it will happen that we will have peace with God and man. For since we are in one and the same body and have the same head, namely Christ, we are equal among ourselves and have no opportunity for disagreement.
(5) This must be often urged in sermons, that men may know how peace is among brethren, not by equality of morals or of dress, as foolish men think at this time, but by the equality of hope and confidence which we have through Christ, and which is common to all alike. But as Christ is One, so also is One hope and One faith.
V. 4. Therefore rely on the Lord forever.
6 Do not fall away in temptations; hope always. God does not get tired or weary.
to help you; only do not grow weary and tired of hoping in him and calling upon him.
This is a very necessary reminder. For Satan has been practiced from the beginning of the world and has become even more cunning through daily practice. If he cannot overcome us by the greatness of the temptations, he seeks to overpower us by stopping us until he tires us. Often, therefore, he does not allow those who would gladly die to be killed, so that he may overcome them by overpowering them, if he cannot overcome them by force and cunning. And this is the supreme wickedness of Satan; to overcome it, we must strengthen our hearts with this and other passages of Scripture, so that just as he does not tire of assailing us, so we may not tire of persevering in prayer and hope until we obtain the victory. "For GOD the LORD (says the prophet here) is a rock forever." "He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world" [1 John 4:4]. As much cunning is there, so much strength is here. Therefore hope, and do not grow weary 2c.
V. 5: And he bowed down them that dwell on high.
(8) This is against presumption, as the foregoing is against despair. For this is the constant contrast until the end of the chapter, that the wicked perish, but the godly are preserved. But this is to increase the fear of God in our hearts, so that we will not be presumptuous about any gift of God. For since the city of Jerusalem, which was very fortified and founded and built on the Word of God, has been so destroyed that there are not even certain traces of where it stood, God shows us how He cannot suffer any presumption. "He calls Jerusalem "the high city.
V. 6. that it will be trampled underfoot.
9 This is the description of a city in ruins, as if to say, Your walls and ramparts will be leveled to the earth, so that a pedestrian can walk over them.
V. 7. But the way of the righteous is evil.
10 These are promises of the preservation of the true doctrine. That is, the godly are well, they have a good conscience; they remain in the simplicity of faith and word, as also Paul says Gal. 6, 16: "As many as walk according to this rule, upon them be peace."
V. 8. in the way of your right.
(11) Because we use the word diligently, we abide in the true doctrine and hope. For here he indicates the way in which they can remain in the true doctrine, namely, if they handle the word diligently. Just as it is said in the Proverbs of Solomon [Cap. 29, 18.], "When the prophecy is out, the people become wild and desolate," that is, when the word ceases, there follow mobs and heretics who make the people wild and desolate. Therefore I exhort you often to pray diligently against this temptation, by which one becomes weary of the word and disgusted with it. In this temptation are those who, puffed up by the conceit of knowledge, think they understand the word sufficiently, and become sure and puffed up, as we see in the Sacramentans and Anabaptists, who have quickly become masters, have fallen asleep to the word as a known thing, and have invented new opinions, by which they have fallen both from faith and from love.
This is how it is with those who quickly become doctors and masters in one year. But it is a terrible case. For as soon as we are sick and tired of the word, either the death of the soul itself is there, or the gates of death and the cause of death. Therefore the prophet saith, "We wait for thee, O Lord, in the way of thy right hand." For righteous shepherds of souls in the church keep their people by the word. Further, it is emphatically spoken, "We wait for thee." As if to say, Though we see thee not, yet have we the word alone on which we rely. We go along in confidence and hope, which we nourish by the way of thy right 2c.
The heart's desire is for your name and your memory. r)
(13) "The desire of the heart" is what he calls the fervent love (disiderium) that comes from the bottom of the heart and from the innermost inclination (affectu) that there is a desire in us, not for our name, but for the benefits that God has done for us, that we remember them and by remembering them awaken us to thanksgiving. The remembrance of the name of the Lord in the Law was that he had brought them out of Egypt. Today, in the New Testament, the memory and name of the Lord is that he did not spare his own Son, but gave him for us all. We praise this memory and this blessing not only in sermons and with our tongues, but out of our hearts, because we believe that Christ is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and resurrection [1 Cor. 1:30], so that we place our trust not in our works, but in Christ's merit. This is the most sweet remembrance of the benefits of Christ, which is not in thought (speculativa), as the monks invent it, but in outward boasting, which is done by the public preaching of the word, which we practice daily, as Paul also exhorts: "Let the word of Christ dwell among you richly" [Col. 3:16].
V. 9. For this with my spirit 2c.
14 He expresses the ardent inclination, in contrast to the morose chatterers, in whom there is not a spark of serious inclination, as we see in Erasmus. When he deals with the Holy Scriptures, he brings forth nothing but a sack full of empty words, teaches and says nothing out of a movement of the heart. There are many such people today, who, since there is not a drop of true heart movement in them, nevertheless want to be judges of our and all theological matters. If they were to fight against Satan, they would only then find out what kind of theologians they are.
r) Instead of ? 13, the following is found in the 1532 edition: "Gedächtniß" means the preaching of the benefits of Christ. And he also says: "to your name", but not: to our name.
(15) Therefore I command you, dear fathers and brethren, this text, that ye beware of the disgust and surfeiting of the word, lest ye be like them which were disgusted with the manna in the wilderness. For the word of God is food; he who eats it hungers for it even more. Therefore the word of God shall be abundant among us, but we shall not be full of it. But we have the most certain promises and comforts that the word will not go without fruit if it is diligently pursued. Therefore, let us be all the more diligent and fervent in our pursuit of it, and let us not give place to the disgust with which Satan accuses us.
For where your justice is done in the land, the inhabitants of the earth learn righteousness.
(16) This is a glorious passage of the outward preaching of the word, that it should not return without fruit. He calls it "rights" because the gospel condemns all men's works and deeds, and offers only Christ's merits, on which we are to rely. If these rights are not there, people are deceived, and they learn ungodliness under the appearance of righteousness. Therefore, where the word is not, there is not righteousness. Consequently, the whole papacy is pure unrighteousness, because it persecutes the Word of God.
V. 10. But even though the wicked are offered grace, 1) they do not learn righteousness.
This is a reply to an objection. Although the wicked is offered grace through the word, he does not learn righteousness. For this is the meaning in Hebrew. But against this vexation the foregoing saying shall comfort us, that though we see no, or very little, progress of the word, yet we may not cease to teach it. Because of this, since the wicked are not converted, one should not refrain from the duty of teaching it. For there are always some who desire to be under-
1> In the complete editions: Missi-sntnr; but in the 1532 edition and in the Vulgate: Llisersumur. - In the Jena: impiorum instead of: iruxio.
to be judged. Yes, even if nothing else is achieved, the place is claimed that Satan cannot teach and spread his poison among the people. Thus, the fault is not in the teaching, but in the people, that not all are converted. This is what the Holy Spirit says beforehand, so that we do not get angry and therefore refrain from teaching. For this challenge is very burdensome to godly teachers, that they see that the word is so despised.
But they only do evil in the right country. s)
18 [Instead of: In terra sanctorum iniqua gessit in the Vulgate] the Hebrew has: The wicked sins in the right country, that is, in the country which sees what is right among those who are right, who deviate neither to the left nor to the right, who walk in the right way, and neither put their trust in their works nor despair because of their sins. For this is rightness. Nevertheless the wicked is not corrected, he does not cease from his unrighteousness, but he makes much trouble for those who walk rightly, and hinders the word. But this passage comforts us against the calumnies of our adversaries. Seeing that many among us live in very great licentiousness, they reproach us: Behold, these are the evangelicals. To these Christ answers here, saying that it is true that the Church has her enemies, both internal and external. The external ones are the tyrants and the whole papacy; the internal ones are the false brethren. These we must suffer, who only do evil in the right country. For this reason, however, the errors of these people are not to be attributed to the church.
(19) The church is well when it has such internal enemies, just as the body is well when it casts out filth, and is no less healthy because it has filth of excrement and sweat in it. So is
s) Instead of §§ 18 and 19, the 1532 edition contains the following: Just as in the human body there is filth, so also in the church there are godless people, who plague the tyrants and false brothers. The eyes have their filth, likewise the ears. So among the teachers and listeners of the church there must be some evil ones.
The church, too, among the ungodly, and this is the glory in the church, that it can cast out this filth, just as the human body could not cast out these superfluous things and filth if it were not healthy. Just as it would be the greatest foolishness to condemn a beautiful virgin because she has excrement and other impurities in her body, so also our adversaries commit the greatest foolishness by reproaching us with the faults of our false brethren. The eyes with which we see have their impurity; the ears also with which we hear have their filth: so also in the church are some wicked, both teachers and disciples; but therefore the whole body is not condemned.
For they do not see the glory of the Lord.
God has given the highest goods to His Church: Christ His Son, the faith that overcomes all danger, true good works, the Holy Spirit, the understanding of the Scriptures, the peace of conscience 2c. But these high goods are hidden, and the glory of the Lord is hidden under poverty, under shame, under weaknesses and other evils, with which the church, oppressed by Satan and the world, lies on the ground. The wicked, then, look only at this outward appearance, and because they have unclean eyes, they see nothing but that which is unclean. But they do not see the goods of which I have spoken. This is just as if one did not want to look at the face of a man, but only at the shameful parts of the body. Because of a small oversight, they immediately cry out: Behold, these are the fruits of the gospel which they teach. But they do not see that through the gospel they are freed from the tyranny of the pope, from purgatory, from auricular confession, and from innumerable other burdens. Much less do they see the forgiveness of sins, the peace of conscience, the certain hope of eternal life, the victory over death and over all adversity 2c.
V. 11: Lord, your hand is lifted up; they do not see it.
In the midst of these weaknesses and tribulations of the church, your hand is lifted up,
because Christians are daily justified in sins, live in death, are praised in shame and are glorious. The wicked do not see this, because they judge only by outward appearances and by filth. But we see the hand of the Lord lifted up, which they consider to be oppressed. Thus, when they burned John Hus, they did not see the exalted hand of the Lord.
But when they see it, they will be put to shame.
(22) When they see the exalted hand, that they cannot suppress the church gathered from the Gentiles, they will be zealous about it until they perish. t) So it was not seen that the hand of Christ was lifted up when he hung on the cross; not even then, when Christians were being killed everywhere. But when, contrary to all the expectations of the wicked, the crucified Christ and the slain martyrs were praised more and more every day, and the church increased by the accession of the Gentiles, they saw the outstretched hand of the Lord. But they saw it not for their edification, but for their consternation, just as today some princes are especially angry and furious because they see that our doctrine cannot be suppressed by all their attacks and forces.
For this you will consume them with fire, that you may consume your enemies.
23 [Instead of: Ignis hostes tuos devoret in the Vulgate] the Hebrew has: You will consume them with the fire of your enemies, that is, with such fire, so that you tend to consume your enemies. He borrowed this figure from Moses, by which the extreme desolation is indicated, since, as in a conflagration, nothing but ashes remain. We still see this punishment in the Jews today, and we will see the same in our princes in the future. The word will remain, and we will also remain at the same time, if they kill us right away. Just as it happened to John Hus, whose name and memory remain in the congregation of the righteous. There-
t) From here to §24 (sxel.) the edition of 1532 has only the words: We see this punishment still on the Jews.
against his adversaries name has perished at the same time with them.
V. 12. But to us, O Lord, you will make peace.
24. because the church has all that it has from Christ, and all that it does is by the effect of Christ, and because the strength, wisdom, righteousness 2c. that it has is Christ's, therefore it will stand securely for eternity. Again, because the adversary's righteousness, power, works 2c. come from their own powers, therefore they will perish.
V. 13. Other lords rule over us than you.
Here he describes the outward appearance and the repugnance (stercus) of the church, namely that it, pressed to the ground by the world, lies down, does not rule, does not judge, but must rule over itself and be judged, according to the saying [Gen. 25:23]: "The greater will serve the lesser"; likewise: "In the world you are afraid" 2c. [John 16:33.]
But we remember you and your name alone.
(26) Though we are so afflicted according to the outward man, yet thou art our Lord, and triumphest in us. Therefore we are not without the Lord, even though it seems from outward appearance that we have been rejected by you. But we rise up against this outward appearance by the remembrance of thy name, praising thee, glorifying thee, and doing thy word. For this means "the remembrance".
V. 14. The dead do not remain alive.
27. instead of the present tense in the Vulgate, vivant, the future tense must be read: non vivent [they will not live]. We, who are oppressed, remember your name, and although it seems that we are given over to death, we take comfort in knowing that the enemies who rule over us will die and not remain alive, that is, they will not have the hope of life in death that we have.
The deceased do not rise (Gigantes non resurgent. 1)
28 The word gigas sometimes means a physician, sometimes one who has departed from this world and died, as here, sometimes also a giant. What the meaning of this is, I do not know, unless the Hebrews, according to the figure of speech of antiphrasis, also call a giant a dead man. Here, however, he calls those dead who are still alive. But it must be understood both from the present death of the wicked and from the future judgment, because the wicked, even though they are still alive, are dead; just as the Christians, though they are already dead, are alive.
V. 15. But you, Lord, continue among the Gentiles.
29. since the Jews would not believe, you turned to the Gentiles, among whom you spread your word and your kingdom. Thus the enemies of the word will perish, but the word of the Lord endures forever [Isa. 40:8]. Further, this verse should be translated thus: Adjecisti genti, Domine, adjecisti genti; glorificatus es, et prolongasti usque ad fines terrae,3 ) means, your name is taught and preached everywhere, even in the uttermost parts of the world.
You always lead on among the Gentiles (In- dulsisti genti, Domine).
30 Translate: "You continue among the Gentiles", that is, you increase your church by the addition of the Gentiles after the unbelieving synagogue has been rejected. So your glory spreads through the gospel to the ends of the earth. The meaning is therefore this: The enemies of the gospel perish, but the word of the Lord remains forever [Is. 40, 8].
V. 16. Lord, when there is tribulation, one seeks you.
1) In the Vulgate: rssurZant; again the present tense instead of the future tense.
2) Cf. Walch, St, Louis edition, vol. XVIII, 1722, note.
3) In the Vulgate: Indrdsisti Zsnti, Oornins, indrdsisti Miiti; num^uid Aloriticutus es? slonMSti OMN68 terminos terras.
He still continues to set the godly and the godless against each other. The gospel is spread to the uttermost parts of the earth, though all princes and kings oppose it, but the spreading is done in weakness. For both the teachers and the disciples of it are pressed with the holy cross, which is thy discipline, by which thou teachest and keepest thy own in their duty. This discipline is as necessary to the spirit as food and drink are to the body. For without affliction the word cannot prove its power. And just as iron becomes bright through use, so also a Christian is instructed and helped through trials, as it is said in Proverbs, "The rod 4) makes pious children."
32. but he adds an excellent doctrine: in chastening, he says (that is, "when you chasten them"), "they cry out fearfully" (in 5) disciplina clamor murmuris est), "there is a fearful crying." They do not cry out, they do not act piteously, as the wicked are wont to do in adversity, but they utter inexpressible sighs, which come forth through the mouth as a murmur, as the summoners are wont to murmur. Paul aims at this passage in the eighth chapter to the Romans [v. 26.]: "The Spirit represents us with inexpressible groaning." For a Christian in his affliction should not weep, nor run to and fro, nor act piteously, nor become fainthearted, nor blaspheme, nor despair, but sigh to the Lord with patience. So today we have no other remedy against the princes and bishops who are our ruthlessness than this anxious sighing.
V. 17. 18. Like a pregnant woman.
33 Christ also uses this simile in John [Cap. 16, 21]. But with it the extreme danger is indicated, since there is no means nor way to escape. For the mother is forced to submit to the danger of death, because the child wants to be born. But this parable contains a great consolation, because a Christian
4) In the original: "rods", for which we have put "the rod".
5) in missing in dev Wittenberger.
is saved by birth, and does not perish in birth. Thus every tribulation is a birth, by which the new man is born, and the old dies. For faith and the reputation of the word increase in such trials, so that whether prison, or sword, or pestilence, or death, be at hand, thou mayest say: Behold, I am now in birth. Here I must stand firm, and wait upon God, and endure the pains of childbirth until I give birth. It is a work of great faith that one endures here; but nevertheless there is no other way to get through. What the Latin translator has given here: Peperimus spiritum salutis, should be translated thus: Et angimur, ut vix spiritum trahere possimus [And we are frightened, so that we can hardly get breath].
We cannot help the country yet.
(34) Though we strive anxiously, we do nothing to the wicked, neither by preaching, nor by threatening, nor by enduring all evil; they remain blinded in their minds and hearts.
V. 19. But your dead will live.
35 As Paul says in 2 Cor. 6:9, "As those who are dying, behold, we live." When Christians are thought to be dying, they are living. Christ says [John 16:33.], "In me ye have peace, but in the world ye fear." For Christians are like sheep for slaughter [Rom. 8:36.), destined to die, let death follow, or let it not follow. But our consolation is that we will live when we have died, so that it is a general saying, which also includes the special saying of the last judgment.
Wake up.
This is a promise for Christians in this life. You, who are exposed to death, do not become dull. "Glory to you who sit in the dust," that is, who are considered dead by the wicked.
For your thane is a thau of the green field.
The giants will perish, but the Christians will live, and they will live without any human work, just as the dew falls from above without any human work. Moreover, the blood of the Christians is, as it were, the dew with which the church is moistened and by which the tyrants are conquered.
V. 20. Go, my people.
38 This is the same as what is written in the 4th Psalm, v. 5: "If you are angry, do not sin"; that is, endure the hand of the Lord and suffer. There is still a moment to be done, and help will come. Do not be miserable, and do not run to and fro; restrain yourself, and keep yourself upright by the word. "Go into your chamber," there pray and contemplate God's word. "Hide thyself a little moment." Anger is not (as it seems to you when you follow your sensation and reason) everlasting, but it lasts only a moment. Do thou but endure, and suffer. Thus Peter says of Christ [1. Ep. 2, 23.) that he did not smell himself, but brought his cause home to him who judges rightly.
39) These are the most emphatic promises and consolations, and truly words of life, by which we are lifted up in tribulation, so that we believe that it is not the wrath of God when we suffer tribulation, and that the tribulation will not last forever, but only for a moment, as Christ also calls the time of tribulation "a little" in the Gospel [John 16:16].
V. 21. For behold, the LORD.
40. Your enemies will suffer punishment, for their blood will not be hidden 2c. He alludes to the story of Abel [Gen. 4, 10]. Thus they dug up the earth on which John Hus was burned a cubit deep; nevertheless, his memory could not be hidden, but it is still famous today in the congregation of the saints.