Chapter V.—That Man Knoweth Not
Himself Wholly.
7. For it is Thou, Lord, that judgest me;
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for although
no “man knoweth the things of a
man, save the spirit of man which is in
him,”
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yet is there
something of man which “the spirit of man which is in him”
itself knoweth not. But Thou, Lord, who hast made him, knowest him
wholly. I indeed, though in Thy sight I despise myself, and reckon
“myself but dust and ashes,”
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yet know something concerning Thee,
which I know not concerning myself. And assuredly “now we see
through a glass darkly,” not yet “face to face.”
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So long,
therefore, as I be “absent” from Thee, I am more “present”
with myself than with Thee;
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and yet know I that Thou canst not
suffer violence;
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but for
myself I know not what temptations I am able to resist, and what I
am not able.
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But there is
hope, because Thou art faithful, who wilt not suffer us to be
tempted above that we are able, but wilt with the temptation also
make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it.
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I would
therefore confess what I know concerning myself; I will confess
also what I know not concerning myself. And because what I do know
of myself, I know by Thee enlightening me; and what I know not of
myself, so long I know not until the time when my “darkness be as
the noonday”
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in Thy
sight.
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1 Cor. iv. 4
.
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1 Cor. ii. 11
.
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Gen. xviii. 27
.
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1 Cor. xiii. 12
.
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2 Cor. v. 6
.
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See Nebridius’ argument against the Manichæans,
as to God’s not being violable, in vii. sec. 3, above, and the
note thereon.
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See his
Enarr. in Ps.
lv. 8 and xciii. 19,
where he beautifully describes how the winds and waves of
temptation will be stilled if Christ be present in the ship. See
also
Serm.
lxiii.; and
Eps.
cxxx. 22, and clxxvii.
4.
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1 Cor. x. 13
.
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Isa. lviii. 10
.