Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>But the rest of this psalm runs thus: \"Where are Thine\r\nancient compassions, Lord, which Thou swarest unto David in\r\nThy truth? Remember, Lord, the reproach of Thy servants,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_196\">[Pg 196]</a></span>\r\nwhich I have borne in my bosom of many nations; wherewith\r\nThine enemies have reproached, O Lord, wherewith they\r\nhave reproached the change of Thy Christ.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_430_430\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_430_430\">[430]</a> Now it may\r\nwith very good reason be asked whether this is spoken in the\r\nperson of those Israelites who desired that the promise made\r\nto David might be fulfilled to them; or rather of the Christians,\r\nwho are Israelites not after the flesh but after the\r\nSpirit.<a id=\"FNanchor_431_431\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_431_431\">[431]</a> This certainly was spoken or written in the time of\r\nEthan, from whose name this psalm gets its title, and that\r\nwas the same as the time of David's reign; and therefore it\r\nwould not have been said, \"Where are Thine ancient compassions,\r\nLord, which Thou hast sworn unto David in Thy\r\ntruth?\" unless the prophet had assumed the person of those\r\nwho should come long afterwards, to whom that time when\r\nthese things were promised to David was ancient. But it\r\nmay be understood thus, that many nations, when they persecuted\r\nthe Christians, reproached them with the passion of\r\nChrist, which Scripture calls His change, because by dying\r\nHe is made immortal. The change of Christ, according to\r\nthis passage, may also be understood to be reproached by the\r\nIsraelites, because, when they hoped He would be theirs, He\r\nwas made the Saviour of the nations; and many nations who\r\nhave believed in Him by the New Testament now reproach\r\nthem who remain in the old with this: so that it is said, \"Remember,\r\nLord, the reproach of Thy servants;\" because through\r\nthe Lord's not forgetting, but rather pitying them, even they\r\nafter this reproach are to believe. But what I have put first\r\nseems to me the most suitable meaning. For to the enemies\r\nof Christ who are reproached with this, that Christ hath left\r\nthem, turning to the Gentiles,<a id=\"FNanchor_432_432\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_432_432\">[432]</a> this speech is incongruously\r\nassigned, \"Remember, Lord, the reproach of Thy servants,\"\r\nfor such Jews are not to be styled the servants of God; but\r\nthese words fit those who, if they suffered great humiliations\r\nthrough persecution for the name of Christ, could call to mind\r\nthat an exalted kingdom had been promised to the seed of\r\nDavid, and in desire of it, could say not despairingly, but as\r\nasking, seeking, knocking,<a id=\"FNanchor_433_433\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_433_433\">[433]</a> \"Where are Thine ancient compassions,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_197\">[Pg 197]</a></span>\r\nLord, which Thou swarest unto David in Thy truth? Remember,\r\nLord, the reproach of Thy servants, that I have borne\r\nin my bosom of many nations;\" that is, have patiently endured\r\nin my inward parts. \"That Thine enemies have reproached,\r\nO Lord, wherewith they have reproached the change of Thy\r\nChrist,\" not thinking it a change, but a consumption.<a id=\"FNanchor_434_434\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_434_434\">[434]</a> But what\r\ndoes \"Remember, Lord,\" mean, but that Thou wouldst have\r\ncompassion, and wouldst for my patiently borne humiliation\r\nreward me with the excellency which Thou swarest unto David\r\nin Thy truth? But if we assign these words to the Jews,\r\nthose servants of God who, on the conquest of the earthly\r\nJerusalem, before Jesus Christ was born after the manner of\r\nmen, were led into captivity, could say such things, understanding\r\nthe change of Christ, because indeed through Him\r\nwas to be surely expected, not an earthly and carnal felicity,\r\nsuch as appeared during the few years of king Solomon, but a\r\nheavenly and spiritual felicity; and when the nations, then\r\nignorant of this through unbelief, exulted over and insulted\r\nthe people of God for being captives, what else was this than\r\nignorantly to reproach with the change of Christ those who\r\nunderstand the change of Christ? And therefore what follows\r\nwhen this psalm is concluded, \"Let the blessing of the\r\nLord be for evermore, amen, amen,\" is suitable enough for\r\nthe whole people of God belonging to the heavenly Jerusalem,\r\nwhether for those things that lay hid in the Old Testament\r\nbefore the New was revealed, or for those that, being now\r\nrevealed in the New Testament, are manifestly discerned to\r\nbelong to Christ. For the blessing of the Lord in the seed of\r\nDavid does not belong to any particular time, such as appeared\r\nin the days of Solomon, but is for evermore to be\r\nhoped for, in which most certain hope it is said, \"Amen,\r\namen;\" for this repetition of the word is the confirmation of\r\nthat hope. Therefore David understanding this, says in the\r\nsecond Book of Kings, in the passage from which we digressed\r\nto this psalm,<a id=\"FNanchor_435_435\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_435_435\">[435]</a> \"Thou hast spoken also for Thy servant's house\r\nfor a great while to come.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_436_436\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_436_436\">[436]</a> Therefore also a little after he\r\nsays, \"Now begin, and bless the house of Thy servant for evermore,\"<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_198\">[Pg 198]</a></span>\r\netc., because the son was then about to be born from\r\nwhom his posterity should be continued to Christ, through\r\nwhom his house should be eternal, and should also be the\r\nhouse of God. For it is called the house of David on account\r\nof David's race; but the selfsame is called the house of God\r\non account of the temple of God, made of men, not of stones,\r\nwhere shall dwell for evermore the people with and in their\r\nGod, and God with and in His people, so that God may fill\r\nHis people, and the people be filled with their God, while God\r\nshall be all in all, Himself their reward in peace who is their\r\nstrength in war. Therefore, when it is said in the words of\r\nNathan, \"And the Lord will tell thee what an house thou\r\nshalt build for Him,\"<a id=\"FNanchor_437_437\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_437_437\">[437]</a> it is afterwards said in the words of\r\nDavid, \"For Thou, Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hast opened\r\nthe ear of Thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_438_438\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_438_438\">[438]</a>\r\nFor this house is built both by us through living well, and by\r\nGod through helping us to live well; for \"except the Lord\r\nbuild the house, they labour in vain that build it.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_439_439\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_439_439\">[439]</a> And\r\nwhen the final dedication of this house shall take place, then\r\nwhat God here says by Nathan shall be fulfilled, \"And I\r\nwill appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant him,\r\nand he shall dwell apart, and shall be troubled no more; and\r\nthe son of iniquity shall not humble him any more, as from\r\nthe beginning, from the days when I appointed judges over my\r\npeople Israel.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_440_440\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_440_440\">[440]</a></p>","headings":["THE CITY OF GOD.","BOOK SEVENTEENTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45305-paragraph-323"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"54918b64ac6fe0971e70ccfeb851eb447df1a70056e01bb8035a123ff9556639","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume II","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Books XVII-XVIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45305-Footnote_434_434","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_434_434","source_ebook":45305,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_434_434\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_434_434\"><span class=\"label\">[434]</span></a> Another reading, \"consummation.\"</p></div>","source_sha256":"7e0ced9e70512f3cf050b53c9d548e36b70d468d875153869f95d8aff5bbb530","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45305/pg45305-images.html#Footnote_434_434","text_sha256":"64efb97863728b6bf026397364b45981f1f44bd1d2118a9b94f75ce6129d0ae2","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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