Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Psalms 4:6
There are 16 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 38, footnote 4 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
The Pastor of Hermas (HTML)
Book Third.—Similitudes (HTML)
Similitude Sixth. Of the Two Classes of Voluptuous Men, and of Their Death, Falling Away, and the Duration of Their Punishment. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 304 (In-Text, Margin)
... luxury; and the adulterer, and the drunkard, and the back-biter, and the liar, and the covetous man, and the thief, and he who does things like these, gratifies his peculiar propensity, and in so doing indulges in luxury. All these acts of luxury are hurtful to the servants of God. On account of these deceits, therefore, do they suffer, who are punished and tortured. And there are also acts of luxury which save men; for many who do good indulge in luxury, being carried away by their own pleasure:[Psalms 4:6-7] this luxury, however, is beneficial to the servants of God, and gains life for such a man; but the injurious acts of luxury before enumerated bring tortures and punishment upon them; and if they continue in them and do not repent, they bring death ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 576, footnote 9 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Chapter V (HTML)
... the glorious Gospel of God in the face of Christ Jesus.” And therefore that very ancient prophet, who prophesied many generations before the reign of Cyrus (for he was older than he by more than fourteen generations), expressed himself in these words: “The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?” and, “Thy law is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path;” and again, “The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, was manifested towards us;”[Psalms 4:6] and, “In Thy light we shall see light.” And the Logos, exhorting us to come to this light, says, in the prophecies of Isaiah: “Enlighten thyself, enlighten thyself, O Jerusalem; for thy light is come, and the glory of the 10. I read further, “Be ye angry, and sin not.” And how was I moved, O my God, who had now learned to “be angry” with myself for the things past, so that in the future I might not sin! Yea, to be justly angry; for that it was not another nature of the race of darkness which sinned for me, as they affirm it to be who are not angry with themselves, and who treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and of the revelation of Thy righteous judgment. Nor were my good things[Psalms 4:6] now without, nor were they sought after with eyes of flesh in that sun; for they that would have joy from without easily sink into oblivion, and are wasted upon those things which are seen and temporal, and in their starving thoughts do lick their very ... ... themselves, and who treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and of the revelation of Thy righteous judgment. Nor were my good things now without, nor were they sought after with eyes of flesh in that sun; for they that would have joy from without easily sink into oblivion, and are wasted upon those things which are seen and temporal, and in their starving thoughts do lick their very shadows. Oh, if only they were wearied out with their fasting, and said, “Who will show us any good?”[Psalms 4:6] And we would answer, and they hear, O Lord. The light of Thy countenance is lifted up upon us. For we are not that Light, which lighteth every man, but we are enlightened by Thee, that we, who were sometimes darkness, may be light in Thee. Oh that ... 29. Paul says, "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us;" and the prophet says, "The Holy Spirit of knowledge will shun guile." For where there is guile there is no love. Paul says that we are "conformed to the image of the Son of God;" and the prophet says, "The light of Thy countenance is stamped upon us."[Psalms 4:6] Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit is God, and therefore is no creature; and the prophet says, "Thou sendest Thy Spirit from the higher." For God alone is the highest, than whom nothing is higher. Paul shows that the Trinity is one God, when he says, "To Him be glory;" and in the Old Testament it is said, "Hear, O ... ... this new inscription, which is justification, but only transgression. For they too were men, and there was inherent in them that power of nature, which enables the rational soul both to perceive and do what is lawful; but the godliness which transfers to another life happy and immortal has “a spotless law, converting souls,” so that by the light thereof they may be renewed, and that be accomplished in them which is written, “There has been manifested over us, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance.”[Psalms 4:6] Turned away from which, they have deserved to grow old, whilst they are incapable of renovation except by the grace of Christ,—in other words, without the intercession of the Mediator; there being “one God and one Mediator between God and men, the ... ... see Him as He is.” A great promise, but the reward of faith. You seek the reward; then let the work precede. If you believe, ask for the reward of faith; but if you believe not, with what face can you seek the reward of faith? “If” then “ye continue in my word, ye shall be my disciples indeed,” that ye may behold the very truth as it is, not through sounding words, but in dazzling light, wherewith He shall satisfy us: as we read in the psalm, “The light of Thy countenance is impressed upon us.”[Psalms 4:6] We are God’s money: we have wandered away as coin from the treasury. The impression that was stamped upon us has been rubbed out by our wandering. He has come to refashion, for He it was that fashioned us at first; and He is Himself asking for His ... ... delights which are not good belong to the reins, for they are more low and earthly; but those that are good not to the reins, but to the heart itself. Wherefore men cannot be so called upright in reins, as they are called upright in heart, since where the thought is, there at once the delight is too; which cannot be, unless when things divine and eternal are thought of. “Thou hast given,” he says, “joy in my heart,” when he had said, “The light of Thy countenance has been stamped on us, O Lord.”[Psalms 4:6] For although the phantoms of things temporal, which the mind falsely pictures to itself, when tossed by vain and mortal hope, to vain imagination oftentimes bring a delirious and maddened joy; yet this delight must be attributed not to the heart, ... ... by a change of an earthy, and worldly life; and therefore the latter is called son of man. “Man” then in this place is earthy, but “son of man” heavenly; and the former is far removed from God, but the latter present with God; and therefore is He mindful of the former, as in far distance from Him; but the latter He visiteth, with whom being present He enlighteneth him with His countenance. For “salvation is far from sinners;” and, “The light of Thy countenance hath been stamped upon us, O Lord.”[Psalms 4:6] So in another Psalm he saith, that men in conjunction with beasts are made whole together with these beasts, not by any present inward illumination, but by the multiplication of the mercy of God, whereby His goodness reacheth even to the lowest ... ... palate and tongue, not in sweetness of perfumes, not in joyousness of passing sounds, not in the variously coloured forms of figure, not in vanities of men’s praise, not in wedlock and perishable offspring, not in superfluity of temporal wealth, not in this world’s getting, whether it extend over place and space, or be prolonged in time’s succession: but, “I will be glad and exult in Thee,” namely, in the hidden things of the Son, where “the light of Thy countenance hath been stamped on us, O Lord:”[Psalms 4:6] for, “Thou wilt hide them,” saith he, “in the hiding place of Thy countenance.” He then will be glad and exult in Thee, who tells all Thy marvels. And He will tell all Thy marvels (since it is now spoken of prophetically), “who came not to do His ... ... this is,” saith the Apostle, “the testimony of our conscience.” In this within, not in the flower of the Ziphites without, doth glory that man that now saith, “For behold God helpeth me.” Surely though afar off are to be those things which He promiseth, this day have I a sweet and present help; to-day in my heart’s joy I find that without cause certain say, “Who doth show to us good things? For there is signed upon us the light of Thy countenance, O Lord, Thou hast put pleasantness into my heart.”[Psalms 4:6-7] Not into my vineyard, not into my flock, not into my cask, not into my table, but “into my heart.” “For behold God helpeth me.” How doth He help thee? “And the Lord is the lifter up of my soul.” 17. “And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us” (ver. 17); whence the words, “O Lord, the light of Thy countenance is marked upon us.”[Psalms 4:6] And, “Make Thou straight the works of our hands upon us:” that we may do them not for hope of earthly reward: for then they are not straight, but crooked. In many copies the Psalm goes thus far, but in some there is found an additional verse at the end, as follows, “And make straight the work of our hands.” To these words the learned have prefixed a star, called an asterisk, to show that they are found in the Hebrew, or in ... ... left hand, “Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” He therefore who seeketh here not his own things, but those of Jesus Christ, most patiently endureth sufferings, waiteth for the promises with faith. Nor is he broken down by any temptations: “His heart is established, and will not shrink, until he see beyond his enemies” (ver. 8). His enemies wished to see good things here, and when invisible blessings were promised them, used to say, “Who will show us any good?”[Psalms 4:6] Let our heart therefore be established, and shrink not, until we see beyond our enemies. For they wish to see good things of men in the land of the dying; we trust to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. ... swine did eat.” Yet, when he comes back to his father, the fatted calf is killed, a robe and a ring are given to him. That is to say, he receives again Christ’s robe which he had before defiled, and hears to his comfort the injunction: “let thy garments be always white.” He receives the signet of God and cries to the Lord: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee;” and receiving the kiss of reconciliation, he says to Him: “Now is the light of thy countenance sealed upon us, O Lord.”[Psalms 4:6] ... the Father and the Son, since through Him we attain to the image and likeness of God, and through Him, as the Apostle Peter says, are partakers of the divine nature? In which there is certainly not the inheritance of carnal succession, but the spiritual connection of the grace of adoption. And in order that we may know that this seal is rather on our hearts than on our bodies, the prophet says: “The light of Thy countenance has been impressed upon us, O Lord, Thou hast put gladness in my heart.”[Psalms 4:6-7] 169. What, then, is that fire? Not certainly one made up of common twigs, or roaring with the burning of the reeds of the woods, but that fire which improves good deeds like gold, and consumes sins like stubble. This is undoubtedly the Holy Spirit, Who is called both the fire and light of the countenance of God; light as we said above: “The light of Thy countenance has been sealed upon us, O Lord.”[Psalms 4:6] What is, then, the light that is sealed, but that of the seal of the Spirit, believing in Whom, “ye were sealed,” he says, “with the Holy Spirit of promise.”Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 132, footnote 15 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He speaks of his design of forsaking the profession of rhetoric; of the death of his friends, Nebridius and Verecundus; of having received baptism in the thirty-third year of his age; and of the virtues and death of his mother, Monica. (HTML)
In the Country He Gives His Attention to Literature, and Explains the Fourth Psalm in Connection with the Happy Conversion of Alypius. He is Troubled with Toothache. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 733 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 132, footnote 17 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He speaks of his design of forsaking the profession of rhetoric; of the death of his friends, Nebridius and Verecundus; of having received baptism in the thirty-third year of his age; and of the virtues and death of his mother, Monica. (HTML)
In the Country He Gives His Attention to Literature, and Explains the Fourth Psalm in Connection with the Happy Conversion of Alypius. He is Troubled with Toothache. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 735 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 50, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
On the Morals of the Catholic Church. (HTML)
Harmony of the Old and New Testaments. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 81 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 103, footnote 13 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter. (HTML)
The Image of God is Not Wholly Blotted Out in These Unbelievers; Venial Sins. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 956 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 228, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)
Chapter VIII. 28–32. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 735 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 25, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm VII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 248 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 30, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm VIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 304 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 33, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm IX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 339 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 208, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1968 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 445, footnote 12 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XC (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4283 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 548, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5024 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 228, footnote 9 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Rusticus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3185 (In-Text, Margin)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 103, footnote 5 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
On the Holy Spirit. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter VI. Although we are baptized with water and the Spirit, the latter is much superior to the former, and is not therefore to be separated from the Father and the Son. (HTML)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 112, footnote 12 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
On the Holy Spirit. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter XIV. Each Person of the Trinity is said in the sacred writings to be Light. The Spirit is designated Fire by Isaiah, a figure of which Fire was seen in the bush by Moses, in the tongues of fire, and in Gideon's pitchers. And the Godhead of the same Spirit cannot be denied, since His operation is the same as that of the Father and of the Son, and He is also called the light and fire of the Lord's countenance. (HTML)