“God resist the proud, and giveth grace unto the lowly”?3917 Therefore, “with fear and trembling;” that is, with humility. “Be not high-minded, but fear.”3918 Fear that thou mayest be filled; be not high-minded, lest thou be dried up. 4. But you will say, “I am walking in this way already; once there was need for me to learn, there was need for me to know by the teaching of the law what I had to do: now I have the free choice of the will; who shall withdraw me from this way?” If thou read carefully, thou wilt find that a certain man began to uplift himself, on a certain abundance of his, which he had nevertheless received; but that the Lord in mercy, to teach him humility, took away what He had given; and he was on a sudden reduced to poverty, and confessing the mercy of God in his recollection, he said, “In my abundance I said, I shall never be moved.”3919 “In my abundance I said.” But I said it, I who am a man said it; “All men are liars, I said.”3920 Therefore, “in my abundance I said;” so great was the abundance, that I dared to say, “I shall never be moved.” What next? “O Lord, in Thy favour Thou gavest strength to my beauty.” But “Thou turnedst away Thy Face from me, and I was troubled.”3921 “Thou hast shown me,” saith he, “that that wherein I did abound, was of Thee. Thou hast shown me Whence I should seek, to Whom attribute what I had received, to Whom I ought to render thanks, to Whom I should run in my thirst, Whereby be filled, and with Whom keep that whereby I should be filled. ‘For my strength will I keep to Thee;’3922 whereby I am by Thy bounty filled, through Thy safe keeping I will not lose. ‘My strength will I keep to Thee.’ That Thou mightest show me this, ‘Thou turnedst away Thy Face from me, and I was troubled.’ ‘Troubled,’ because dried up; dried up, because exalted. Say then thou dry and parched one, that thou mayest be filled again; ‘My soul is as earth without water unto Thee.’3923 Say, ‘My soul is as earth without water unto Thee.’ For Thou hast said, not the Lord, ‘I shall never be moved.’ Thou hast said it, presuming on thine own strength; but it was not of thyself, and thou didst think as if it were.” 5. What then doth the Lord say? “Serve ye the Lord in fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling.”3924 So the Apostle too, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who worketh in you.” Therefore rejoice with trembling: “Lest at any time the Lord be angry.” I see that you anticipate me by your crying out. For you know what I am 3917 Jas. iv. 6. 3918 Rom. xi. 20. 3919 Ps. xxix. 6, Sept. (xxx. English version). 3920 Ps. cxvi. 11. 3921 Ps. xxix. 8, Sept. (xxx. 7, English version). 3922 Ps. lviii. 10, Sept. (lix. 9, English version). 3923 Ps. cxlii. 6, Sept. (cxliii. English version). 3924 Ps. ii. 11, Sept. 1040 On the words of the Gospel, John vi. 53, ‘Except ye eat the flesh,’ etc.,…