Wisdom before Strength now, Strength before Wisdom at last. 13

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first words wherein he saith, With Him is wisdom and Book strength; he plainly shews, that what He taught in mildness how to believe, in the power of the Judgment He will exhibit in terribleness. But in the subsequent words, wherein He saith, With Him is strength and wisdom; He makes it clearer than the day, that He first destroys reprobate men in the Judgment by dint of power, and afterwards shines into the souls of the Elect with the perfect light of the eternal kingdom. But because before the day of final Judgment, He never ceases daily to judge the deeds of mortal men by His secret awards, He comes back to that which is done in this present time, where it is added;

Ver. 16, 17. He knoweth both the deceiver and deceived, He bringeth counsellors to a foolish end, and the judges to dulness.

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18. Whereas every man that strives to deceive his neigh- xii. bour is wicked, and Truth' saith to the wicked, I never Matt. 7, knew you, depart from Me ye that work iniquity; in what sense is it said here, that the Lord knoweth the deceiver?' But forasmuch as God's 'knowing' sometimes means His taking cognizance, sometimes His approving, He at once knows a wicked man, in that in taking cognizance He judges him, (for He would never judge any wicked man, if He did not take cognizance of him,) and yet He does not know a wicked person, in that He does not approve his doings. And so He both knows him, in that He finds him out, and knows him not, in that He doth not acknowledge him in a likeness to His own Wisdom. As it is said of any truthful man, that he does not know falsehood, not because, when any thing false is said even by others, he is too blind to find fault with it, but this very falsehood he at once knows in the tracing out, and knows not in the affection of the heart, so as not to do that himself, which he condemns the doing of in others. And it may often happen that persons, busy in artful contrivances, spread the nets of their wickedness for another's life, and when he, in ignorance of it, is seen to be taken by the snares, perchance it is questioned whether such things are seen from above, and men wonder, why it is, if God does see them, that He suffers them to be done. But He knoweth the deceiver and the deceived. For

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LIT.

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Open Judgment deferred, Counsellors turned to folly. JOB 12,' He knoweth the deceiver,' in that generally He sees former sins of his, and by a just judgment suffers him to fall into others also. He knoweth the deceiver,' in that, left in the hand of his own doings, He forsaketh him, that he may be Apoc. precipitated into worse ones, as it is written, He that is 22, 11. unjust let him be unjust still, and he that is filthy let him be Lat. filthy' still. Moreover He knoweth the deceived' too, in that men often do evil things that they know, and therefore they are suffered to be deceived,' so as further to fall into evil things which they know not. However, this is used to be done to the deceived sometimes for their purifying, sometimes as the beginning of vengeance.

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19. He bringeth counsellors also to a foolish end, when they do any thing good even, with no good purpose, but are going after the recompensing of a temporal reward. For, if the Only-begotten Son of the Most High Father, because hereby, that He was made Man, He preached eternal truths, is therefore called the Angel of great counsel, we rightly interpret the counsellors,' those preachers, who furnish the 'counsel' of life to their hearers. But when any preacher preaches the truths of eternity for this, that he may acquire temporal gains, assuredly he is brought to a foolish end,' in that he is aiming to reach that point by laborious effort, whence he ought to have fled in uprightness of mind.

20. And it is rightly added, And the judges to dulness. For all that are set over the examination of other men's conduct, are rightly called 'judges;' but when he that has this oversight does not diligently examine the lives of those under his authority, nor acquaint himself whom he should correct, and how,' the judge is brought to dulness,' in that he, who should have judged things that were ill done, never finds out those things which are to be judged. It proceeds;

Ver. 18. He looseth the belt of kings, and girdeth their reins with a cord.

21. They that know how to regulate aright the motions of their members, are not unjustly called 'kings.' But when the mind is touched with pride on the grounds of that very continence, it very often happens that Almighty God, deserting its pride, suffers it to fall into uncleanness of practice. And so He looseth the belt of kings,' when in the case of

Gifts withdrawn to humble men. Glory and disgrace of Priests. 15

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those who seemed to regulate their members aright, on Book account of the sin of pride he undoes the girdle of chastity. Now what is meant by a cord,' but sin? As Solomon says, His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he Prov. 5, shall be holden with the cords of his sins. And because fleshly gratification has its dominion in the reins,' the strict Judge of the conscience, Who 'looseth the belt of kings,' 'girdeth their reins with a cord,' that, when the girdle of chastity is undone, then the gratification of sin should have dominion over their members, so that those whom pride pollutes in secret, He may shew even publicly to be as abominable as they are. It goes on,

Ver. 19. He leadeth the priests inglorious, and overthroweth the mighty.

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22. The great glory of the priest is the righteousness of xiv. those that are subject to him. Whence the excellent preacher saith well to his disciples; For what is our hope, or 1 Thes. joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord? But when the priests neglect the lives of their charge, and bring no fruit from their advancement before the presence of the Lord, what else is this but that they are called inglorious?' Since before the strict Judge they do not then find glory, who do not now seek it out in the lives of those subject to their charge by urgency in preaching. And it is well said, And overthroweth the mighty. In that, when, by a righteous judgment, He forsakes the heart of those that rule, it does not look for the inward recompensing of the reward, and it is overthrown in that whereby it is deceived, so as to rejoice in temporal superiority instead of eternal glory. Therefore the mighty are overthrown,' in that while they lose sight of the real rewards of the heavenly country, they are brought to the ground here in their own pleasures. It goes on,

Ver. 20. Who changeth the lip of the truthful, and taketh away the instruction of the aged.

23. When the priest does not do the good that he tells, xv. even the very word of his lips is withdrawn from him, that he may not dare to speak what he does not practise; as where it is said by the Prophet, But unto the wicked God saith, Ps. 50,

Dicuntur,' some Mss. read' ducuntur,'' are led.'

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19. 20.

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LIT.

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Truth taken away from the unrighteous.

JOB 12, What hast thou to do, to declare My statutes, or that thou takest My covenant in thy mouth? Whence also he beseeches, Ps. 119, saying, And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth. For he reflects that Almighty God gives the word of truth to those that do it, and takes it away from those that do it not. He then that prayed that he might not have it 'taken out of his mouth,' what did he else than pray for the grace of good practice? As if he said in plain words, ' Let me not go astray from good works, lest, while I lose the regularity of good living, I also part with the right rule of speaking.' And for the most part the teacher, who ventures to teach what he neglects to practise, when he ceases to speak the good which he scorned to do, begins to teach his charge the evil things that he does, that, by the righteous judgment of the Almighty, that man may not henceforth have a tongue for a good theme, who will not have a good life; so that whilst his mind is inflamed with the love of earthly things, he should be ever speaking of earthly Mat.12, things. Whence Truth' saith in the Gospel, For out of 34.35. the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth 1John4, forth evil things. Hence also John saith, They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world. Therefore it is well said, Who changeth the lip of the truthful, and taketh away the instruction of the aged. In that while they, who were aforetime' truthful' in preaching heavenly things, setting their affections on those of time, are sunk down to the same, 'the lip of the truthful is changed, and the instruction of the aged taken away;' in that being in love with temporal things, they never follow the precepts of their predecessors, so as to be occupying the place of authority as if but for the fruit of pleasure, and for no good end of labour.

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PROPH.

24. Which nevertheless may be understood more plainly of the Jews, who before the Lord's Incarnation were truthful,' in that they believed that He was to come, and proclaimed the same; but when He appeared in the flesh, they denied that it was He. Therefore the lip of the truthful was changed,' in that Him, of Whom they had told that He was about to come, they denied when present; and the

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Fall of the Jews and calling of Gentiles foreshewn.

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instruction of the aged was taken away,' in that they never Book followed in believing the things, which they remembered their fathers to have foretold. Whence too at the coming of Elijah it is promised, that he shall turn the hearts of the Mal. 4, children to their fathers;' that the instruction of the aged,' which is now taken away' from the heart of the Jews, upon the Lord taking compassion on them, may then be brought back, when the children begin to understand that concerning the Lord, which their fathers foretold. But if by the aged' we understand likewise those same Jews, who, by the persuasions of unbelief, set themselves to oppose the word of 'Truth,' then the instruction of the aged was taken away,' when the Church consisting of the Gentiles, being indeed young, received it, as she saith by the Psalmist, I under- Ps. 119, stand more than the ancients. And because she kept this same in practising it, in what way she came to understand more than the ancients, she makes plain, whereas she adds directly, Because I keep Thy precepts. For whereas she aimed to fulfil in practising that thing which she learnt, it was vouchsafed her to understand what she might teach. Whence it is still further added with propriety,

Ver. 21. He poureth contempt upon princes, and lifteth up those that were oppressed.

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25. For whilst the Jewish people continued in the precept xvi. of the Law, and the whole Gentile world knew nothing of the precepts of God, both the former seemed to be as princes' by faith, and the latter lay borne down in the depth by unbelief. But when Judæa denied the mystery of our Lord's Incarnation, and the Gentile world believed it, both the princes' fell into contempt, and they that had been borne down in the sin of unbelief, were' lifted up' in the liberty of true faith. But Jeremiah seeing this fall of the Israelites long before, says, The Lord is become as it Lam. 2, were an enemy; He hath swallowed up Israel; He hath thrown down all his palaces; He hath destroyed his bulwarks. Now 'palaces' in cities are for ornaments, but the 'bulwarks' are for defence. And the gifts that keep us safe are one thing, those that ornament us are another. For prophetical teaching, different kinds of tongues, the power of working cures, are a kind of palaces' of the mind, which

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