Sermon 25
SERMO 25
SERMON ON THE VERSE OF PSALM 93:"Blessed is the man whom you instruct, Lord,"
"And from Your law, You will teach him"
The Testament of God promised there, fulfilled here.
When we sang to God, we said to Him: Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and teach him from Your law. Therefore, God's Gospel sounded, Zacchaeus gave alms. Learn. For what law of God is better than the Holy Gospel? For the Law of the New Covenant, which when the Prophet was read, you heard: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will complete a New Covenant upon the house of Jacob, not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers when I took them out of the land of Egypt. The Covenant was promised there, here it was delivered; promised by the Prophet, delivered by the Lord of the Prophets. That Covenant which is called old, read and see. The Law of God was given then also, read, or hear when it is read, and see what was promised there. There, the land of the earth was promised, a land flowing with milk and honey, but still the earth. Nevertheless, if we understand spiritually, when that land did not flow with milk and honey, it is another land that flows with milk and honey, the land of which it is said: You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living. For this indeed is the land of the dying. Are you seeking milk and honey? Taste and see how sweet the Lord is. His grace is signified by the name of milk and honey. It is sweet and nourishing. But this grace, which was figured in the Old Testament, is revealed in the New.If you hope for a new inheritance, cross the land.
Finally, that law, for those who think carnally, and seek such rewards from God, and wish to worship God for the things promised there, deserved to hear from the apostle Paul that it begets into servitude. Why? Because it is understood carnally by the Jews. For spiritually understood, it is the Gospel. Therefore it begets into servitude. Whom? Those who serve God for earthly goods. When they have them, they give thanks; when they lack them, they blaspheme. For those who serve God for these things cannot serve with a true heart. For they observe those who do not serve our God. For they see them having what they serve God for, and say in their heart: "What profit is it to me that I serve God? Do I have as much as he who blasphemes daily? He prays and is hungry; he blasphemes and belches." He who attends to these things is a man, a man of the Old Testament. Therefore, he who worships God in the New Testament should hope for a new inheritance, not the old one. If you hope for a new inheritance, pass over the earth, tread on the heights of the mountains, that is, despise the pride of the arrogant. But when you have despised and trampled them, be humble, lest you fall from your height. Listen: Lift up your heart; but to the Lord, not against the Lord. All the proud lift up their hearts, but against the Lord. But if you wish truly to lift up your heart, lift it to the Lord. For if you lift up your heart to the Lord, He holds your heart, lest it falls to the earth.Cast out of paradise, we lead bad days.
Blessed, therefore, is the man: Blessed is the man whom you instruct, O Lord. Behold, I speak, behold, I cry out, behold, I explain. Who listens to me? I know who listens to me: Blessed is the man whom you instruct, O Lord, to whom God speaks in the heart. And when I am silent, he is blessed whom you instruct, O Lord, and whom you teach from your law. What follows? We have sung thus far: And whom you teach from your law. That you may give him peace in the days of adversity, until a pit is dug for the wicked. He is the man who is instructed by the Lord, he is the man who learns from the law of God, who is given peace in the days of adversity, until a pit is dug for the wicked. Listen to what it means. These are the evil days. Are we not here, from the time we were expelled from Paradise, living in the evil days? And our ancestors mourned their days, and their ancestors mourned their days. No people have ever pleased themselves with the days they lived. Yet the days of the ancestors please the descendants: and again those days pleased the ancients, which they themselves did not experience, and therefore pleased them. For what is present has a sharp sense. I do not say, it is brought closer, but it touches the heart daily. Each year we often say when we feel cold: "It has never been this cold. It has never been this hot." Always "it is" by the one who makes it. But blessed is the man whom you instruct, O Lord, to give him peace from the days of adversity, until a pit is dug for the wicked.A man carries his own war with him wherever he goes.
Evil days. Are these days evil, which the circuit of the sun causes? Evil men make evil days, and so it is almost the entire world. Among the crowds of evil ones, the small number of good ones groan. Let us turn back to the just ones. They are evil, and make evil days. What of the just themselves? Are they not in evil days? And within themselves - besides what they suffer from evil men among whom they groan - even within themselves, when they are, they should observe themselves, descend into themselves, and consider themselves well. They find evil days within themselves. They do not want war, they want peace. And who doesn’t? And although everyone does not want war and everyone wants peace, even the one who lives justly turns his eyes upon himself, and he finds war within himself. Ask me which war. Blessed is the man whom you instruct, Lord, and teach him from your law. Behold, a man asks me which war the just suffer within themselves. Teach him from your law. Let the Apostle speak: The flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And where do I cast away the flesh, if war resounds, if, which God forbid, the enemy rushes in? The man flees and brings his war with him wherever he goes. I do not say, if he is evil. Indeed, if he is good, if he lives justly, he finds in himself what the Apostle says: The flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. In this war, how are there good days?Let us not seek good days on earth.
Therefore the days are evil. But let us be softened. What does it mean: "Let us be softened"? Let us not be angry with divine judgment. Let us say to Him: It is good for me that you have humbled me, so that I may learn your righteousnesses. You cast me out of paradise, you threw me out of blessedness. I am in hardship, I am in groaning. My groaning is not hidden from you. But it is good for me that you have humbled me, so that I may learn your righteousnesses. In evil days, I learn to seek good days. What are good days? Do not seek them now. Believe me, better yet believe with me, you will not find them. Evil days will pass, and good ones will come. But good ones will come to the good, worse ones to the wicked.Indeed, I also ask you: Who is the man who desires life? I know, all your hearts respond to me: "For who is the man who does not desire life?". I add: And loves to see good days? You all respond: "Who is it that does not love to see good days?". You have responded well. You desire life, you desire good days. Surely when I was saying: Who is the man who desires life, every man responds to me: "I do". Who is the man who desires to see good days? Does not each of you silently say: "I do"? Hear what follows: Keep your tongue from evil. Now say: "I do". You seek forgiveness; now I find you. The past has passed. Has your tongue been malicious, have you been a whisperer, have you been an accuser, have you been a slanderer, have you been a reviler: all these things you have been, let these things pass with the evil days; do not pass away with the evil days. There is indeed something to hold onto so that you do not pass away. The affairs of men run like a river; evil days run like a river. Hold onto the wood, lest you be swept away. Behold the river runs: All flesh is grass, and all the glory of the flesh is as the flower of grass. It is cast down, it passes away, the grass withers, the flower falls down. To what do I hold? The word of the Lord remains forever.