Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Psalms 84
There are 65 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 487, footnote 3 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Chapter III.—Plagiarism by the Greeks of the Miracles Related in the Sacred Books of the Hebrews. (HTML)
And they say that he was followed by some that used divinations, and some that had been long vexed by sore diseases. They plainly, then, believed in the performance of cures, and signs and wonders, from our Scriptures. For if certain powers move the winds and dispense showers, let them hear the psalmist: “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!”[Psalms 84:1] This is the Lord of powers, and principalities, and authorities, of whom Moses speaks; so that we may be with Him. “And ye shall circumcise your hard heart, and shall not harden your neck any more. For He is Lord of lords and God of gods, the great God and strong,” and so forth. And Isaiah says, “Lift your ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 332, footnote 2 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen De Principiis. (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
On the Opposing Powers. (HTML)
... Ecclesiastes in the following manner: “If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for soundness restrains great offences.” The Apostle Paul also will bear testimony to the same point in the words: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowl edge of Christ.” That it is an effect due to God, nevertheless, is declared by David, when he says in the Psalms, “Blessed is the man whose help is in Thee, O Lord, Thy ascents (are) in his heart.”[Psalms 84:5] And the apostle says that “God put it into the heart of Titus.” That certain thoughts are suggested to men’s hearts either by good or evil angels, is shown both by the angel that accompanied Tobias, and by the language of the prophet, where he says, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 475, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
On the Mortality. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3515 (In-Text, Margin)
... free, lest while they are delaying longer in this world they should be polluted with the contagions of the world. “He was taken away,” says he, “lest wickedness should change his understanding. For his soul was pleasing to God; wherefore hasted He to take him away from the midst of wickedness.” So also in the Psalms, the soul that is devoted to its God in spiritual faith hastens to the Lord, saying, “How amiable are thy dwellings, O God of hosts! My soul longeth, and hasteth unto the courts of God.”[Psalms 84:1]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 548, footnote 12 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
... your monuments, and I will bring you into the land of Israel; and I will put my Spirit upon you, and ye shall live; and I will place you into your land: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and will do it, saith the Lord.” Also in the Wisdom of Solomon: “He was taken away, lest wickedness should change his understanding; for his soul was pleasing to God.” Also in the eighty-third Psalm: “How beloved are thy dwellings, Thou Lord of hosts? My soul desires and hastes to the courts of God.”[Psalms 84:1-2] And in the Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians: “But we would not that you should be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who sleep, that ye sorrow not as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also them ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 394, footnote 1 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Methodius. (HTML)
Oration on the Palms. (HTML)
Oration on the Palms. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3110 (In-Text, Margin)
I. Blessed be God; let us proceed, brethren, from wonders to the miracles of the Lord, and as it were, from strength to strength.[Psalms 84:8] For just as in a golden chain the links are so intimately joined and connected together, as that the one holds the other, and is fitted on to it, and so carries on the chain—even so the miracles that have been handed down by the holy Gospels, one after the other, lead on the Church of God, which delights in festivity, and refresh it, not with the meat that perisheth, but with that which endureth unto everlasting life. ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 388, footnote 5 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)
The History of Joseph the Carpenter. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1711 (In-Text, Margin)
... and fill you with the Holy Spirit. And you shall declare to all nations repentance and remission of sins. For a single cup of water, if a man shall find it in the world to come, is greater and better than all the wealth of this whole world. And as much ground as one foot can occupy in the house of my Father, is greater and more excellent than all the riches of the earth. Yea, a single hour in the joyful dwelling of the pious is more blessed and more precious than a thousand years among sinners:[Psalms 84:10] inasmuch as their weeping and lamentation shall not come to an end, and their tears shall not cease, nor shall they find for themselves consolation and repose at any time for ever. And now, O my honoured members, go declare to all nations, tell ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 408, footnote 4 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Book X. (HTML)
How Jesus Knew the Powers, Better or Worse, Which Reside in Man. (HTML)
... to be thus dealt with. The words, “He knew what was in man,” could also be taken as referring to the powers, better or worse, which work in men. For if any one gives place to the devil, Satan enters into him; thus did Judas give place, and thus did the devil put it in his heart to betray Jesus, and “after the sop,” therefore, “the devil entered into him.” But if any one gives place to God, he becomes blessed; for blessed is the man whose help is from God, and the ascent is in his heart from God.[Psalms 84:5] Thou knowest what is in man, Thou who knowest all things, O Son of God. And now that our tenth book has come to be large enough we will here pause in our theme.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 74, footnote 12 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
Then follows a period of nine years from the nineteenth year of his age, during which having lost a friend, he followed the Manichæans—and wrote books on the fair and fit, and published a work on the liberal arts, and the categories of Aristotle. (HTML)
Love is Not Condemned, But Love in God, in Whom There is Rest Through Jesus Christ, is to Be Preferred. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 325 (In-Text, Margin)
... world He was, and into this world He came to save sinners, unto whom my soul doth confess, that He may heal it, for it hath sinned against Him. O ye sons of men, how long so slow of heart? Even now, after the Life is descended to you, will ye not ascend and live? But whither ascend ye, when ye are on high, and set your mouth against the heavens? Descend that ye may ascend, and ascend to God. For ye have fallen by “ascending against Him.” Tell them this, that they may weep in the valley of tears,[Psalms 84:6] and so draw them with thee to God, because it is by His Spirit that thou speakest thus unto them, if thou speakest burning with the fire of love.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 129, footnote 10 (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)
As His Lungs Were Affected, He Meditates Withdrawing Himself from Public Favour. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 697 (In-Text, Margin)
... no longer purchase at my mouth equipments for their vehemence. And opportunely there wanted but a few days unto the Vacation of the Vintage; and I determined to endure them, in order to leave in the usual way, and, being redeemed by Thee, no more to return for sale. Our intention then was known to Thee; but to men—excepting our own friends—was it not known. For we had determined among ourselves not to let it get abroad to any; although Thou hadst given to us, ascending from the valley of tears,[Psalms 84:6] and singing the song of degrees, “sharp arrows,” and destroying coals, against the “deceitful tongue,” which in giving coun sel opposes, and in showing love consumes, as it is wont to do with its food.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 193, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
Of the goodness of God explained in the creation of things, and of the Trinity as found in the first words of Genesis. The story concerning the origin of the world (Gen. I.) is allegorically explained, and he applies it to those things which God works for sanctified and blessed man. Finally, he makes an end of this work, having implored eternal rest from God. (HTML)
Why the Holy Spirit Was Only ‘Borne Over’ The Waters. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1199 (In-Text, Margin)
... They are propelled by their own weights, they seek their own places. Oil poured under the water is raised above the water; water poured upon oil sinks under the oil. They are propelled by their own weights, they seek their own places. Out of order, they are restless; restored to order, they are at rest. My weight is my love; by it am I borne whithersoever I am borne. By Thy Gift we are inflamed, and are borne upwards; we wax hot inwardly, and go forwards. We ascend Thy ways that be in our heart,[Psalms 84:5] and sing a song of degrees; we glow inwardly with Thy fire, with Thy good fire, and we go, because we go upwards to the peace of Jerusalem; for glad was I when they said unto me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” There hath Thy good pleasure ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 313, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
Letters of St. Augustin (HTML)
Letters of St. Augustin (HTML)
To Januarius (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1826 (In-Text, Margin)
... Lord’s resurrection, as representing not toil, but rest and gladness. For this reason we do not fast in them; and in praying we stand upright, which is an emblem of resurrection. Hence, also, every Lord’s day during the fifty days, this usage is observed at the altar, and the Alleluia is sung, which signifies that our future exercise shall consist wholly in praising God, as it is written: “Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, O Lord: they will be still (i.e. eternally) praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 196, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
Porphyry’s doctrine of redemption. (HTML)
That All the Saints, Both Under the Law and Before It, Were Justified by Faith in the Mystery of Christ’s Incarnation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 424 (In-Text, Margin)
... have I desired from Thee upon earth?” He blames himself, and is justly displeased with himself; because, though he had in heaven so vast a possession (as he afterwards understood), he yet sought from his God on earth a transitory and fleeting happiness;—a happiness of mire, we may say. “My heart and my flesh,” he says, “fail, O God of my heart.” Happy failure, from things below to things above! And hence in another psalm He says, “My soul longeth, yea, even faileth, for the courts of the Lord.”[Psalms 84:2] Yet, though he had said of both his heart and his flesh that they were failing, he did not say, O God of my heart and my flesh, but, O God of my heart; for by the heart the flesh is made clean. Therefore, says the Lord, “Cleanse that which is ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 345, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
The history of the city of God from Noah to the time of the kings of Israel. (HTML)
Of Those Things Which a Man of God Spake by the Spirit to Eli the Priest, Signifying that the Priesthood Which Had Been Appointed According to Aaron Was to Be Taken Away. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1020 (In-Text, Margin)
What then does he say who comes to worship the priest of God, even the Priest who is God? “Put me into one part of Thy priesthood, to eat bread.” I do not wish to be set in the honor of my fathers, which is none; put me in a part of Thy priesthood. For “I have chosen to be mean in Thine house;”[Psalms 84:10] I desire to be a member, no matter what, or how small, of Thy priesthood. By the priesthood he here means the people itself, of which He is the Priest who is the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. This people the Apostle Peter calls “a holy people, a royal priesthood.” But some have translated, “Of Thy sacrifice,” not “Of Thy ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 509, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
Of the eternal happiness of the saints, the resurrection of the body, and the miracles of the early Church. (HTML)
Of the Eternal Felicity of the City of God, and of the Perpetual Sabbath. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1690 (In-Text, Margin)
How great shall be that felicity, which shall be tainted with no evil, which shall lack no good, and which shall afford leisure for the praises of God, who shall be all in all! For I know not what other employment there can be where no lassitude shall slacken activity, nor any want stimulate to labor. I am admonished also by the sacred song, in which I read or hear the words, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord; they will be still praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:4] All the members and organs of the incorruptible body, which now we see to be suited to various necessary uses, shall contribute to the praises of God; for in that life necessity shall have no place, but full, certain, secure, everlasting felicity. For all those parts ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 431, footnote 17 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 39 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2151 (In-Text, Margin)
... desire of the reward is one thing, the fear of punishment another. They are different sayings, “Whither shall I go away from Thy Spirit, and from Thy face whither shall I flee?” and, “One thing I have sought of the Lord, this I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord through all the days of my life, that I may consider the delight of the Lord, that I be protected in His temple:” and, “Turn not away Thy face from me:” and, “My soul longeth and fainteth unto the courts of the Lord.”[Psalms 84:2] Those sayings let him have had, who dared not to lift up his eyes to heaven; and she who was watering with tears His feet, in order to obtain pardon for her grievous sins; but these do thou have, who art careful about the things of the Lord, to be ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 496, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Against Lying. (HTML)
Section 33 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2449 (In-Text, Margin)
... and, for her condition of life, laudable work, she was not as yet such that it should be required of her, “In your mouth let Yea be yea, Nay nay.” But as for those midwives, albeit Hebrewesses, if they savored only after the flesh, what or how great is the good they got of their temporal reward in that they made them houses, unless by making proficiency they attained unto that house of which is sung unto God, “Blessed are they that dwell in thine house; for ever and ever they will praise thee?”[Psalms 84:4] It must be confessed, however, that it approacheth much unto righteousness, and though not yet in reality, even now in respect of hopefulness and disposition that mind is to be praised, which never lies except with intention and will to do good to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 219, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)
Faustus rejects the Old Testament because it leaves no room for Christ. Christ the one Bridegroom suffices for His Bride the Church. Augustin answers as well as he can, and reproves the Manichæans with presumption in claiming to be the Bride of Christ. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 566 (In-Text, Margin)
... been fulfilled to her, that she looks confidently for the fulfillment of the rest. Nor can any one say that these prophecies have been forged to suit the present time, for they are found in the books of the Jews. What could be more unlikely than that all nations should be blessed in Abraham’s seed, as it was promised? And yet how plainly is this promise now fulfilled! The last promise is made in the following short prophecy: "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they shall ever praise Thee."[Psalms 84:4] When trial is past, and death, the last enemy, is destroyed, there will be rest in the constant occupation of praising God, where there shall be no arrivals and no departures. So the prophet says elsewhere: "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; celebrate ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 512, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
On Baptism, Against the Donatists. (HTML)
In which the remaining judgments of the Council of Carthage are examined. (HTML)
Chapter 51 (HTML)
... binding and loosing. If any one shall neglect this house when it arrests and corrects him, the Lord says, "Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Of this house it is said, "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth;" and, "He maketh men to be of one mind in an house;" and, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord;" and, "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord; they will be still praising Thee;"[Psalms 84:4] with countless other passages to the same effect. This house is also called wheat, bringing forth fruit with patience, some thirty-fold, some sixtyfold, and some an hundredfold. This house is also in vessels of gold and of silver, and in precious ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 597, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist. (HTML)
In this book Augustin refutes the second letter which Petilianus wrote to him after having seen the first of Augustin’s earlier books. This letter had been full of violent language; and Augustin rather shows that the arguments of Petilianus had been deficient and irrelevant, than brings forward arguments in support of his own statements. (HTML)
Chapter 1 (HTML)
... to light and be well known among men. What therefore was I to do in opposing such a design as this, except to keep strictly to my subject, neglecting rather my own defense, praying withal that no personal calumny may lead me to withdraw from it? I will exalt the house of my God, whose honor I have loved, with the tribute of a faithful servant’s voice, but myself I will humiliate and hold of no account. "I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of heretics."[Psalms 84:10] I will therefore turn my discourse from you, Petilianus, for a time, and direct it rather to those whom you have endeavored to turn away from me by your revilings, as though my endeavor rather were that men should be converted unto me, and not ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 56, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Grace is Given to Some Men in Mercy; Is Withheld from Others in Justice and Truth. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 576 (In-Text, Margin)
... this is evil will; but our turning to God is not possible, except He rouses and helps us, and this is good will,—what have we that we have not received? But if we received, why do we glory as if we had not received? Therefore, as “he that glorieth must glory in the Lord,” it comes from His mercy, not their merit, that God wills to impart this to some, but from His truth that He wills not to impart it to others. For to sinners punishment is justly due, because “the Lord God loveth mercy and truth,”[Psalms 84:11] and “mercy and truth are met together;” and “all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.” And who can tell the numberless instances in which Holy Scripture combines these two attributes? Sometimes, by a change in the terms, grace is put ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 431, footnote 12 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book IV (HTML)
The Testimonies of Ambrose Concerning God’s Grace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2894 (In-Text, Margin)
... things, they obtrude voluptuous thoughts, they inweave seducing thoughts, and, in the very season in which we are proposing to lift up our mind, vain thoughts are intruded upon us, and we are cast down for the most part to things of earth; and who is so happy as always to rise upwards in his heart? And how can this be done without the divine help? Absolutely in no manner. Finally, of old Scripture says the same thing, ‘Blessed is the man whose help is of Thee, O Lord; in his heart is going up.’”[Psalms 84:5] What can be said more openly and more sufficiently? But lest the Pelagians perchance should answer that, in that very point in which divine help is asked for, man’s merit precedes, saying that that very thing is merit, that by his prayer he is ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 459, footnote 16 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
The Love Which Fulfils the Commandments is Not of Ourselves, But of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3167 (In-Text, Margin)
... will, admonishing it to seek the gift of God? Now, this would be indeed a thoroughly fruitless admonition if the will did not previously receive some donation of love, which might seek to be enlarged so as to fulfil whatever command was laid upon it. When it is said, “Let us love one another,” it is law; when it is said, “For love is of God,” it is grace. For God’s “wisdom carries law and mercy upon her tongue.” Accordingly, it is written in the Psalm, “For He who gave the law will give blessings.”[Psalms 84:6]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 530, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints. (HTML)
A Treatise on the Gift of Perseverance. (HTML)
Of His Own Will a Man Forsakes God, So that He is Deservedly Forsaken of Him. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3579 (In-Text, Margin)
... reason we ask not to be led into temptation, so that this may not happen. And if we are heard, certainly it does not happen, because God does not allow it to happen. For nothing comes to pass except what either He Himself does, or Himself allows to be done. Therefore He is powerful both to turn wills from evil to good, and to convert those that are inclined to fall, or to direct them into a way pleasing to Himself. For to Him it is not said in vain, “O God, Thou shalt turn again and quicken us;”[Psalms 84:6] it is not vainly said, “Give not my foot to be moved;” it is not vainly said, “Give me not over, O Lord, from my desire to the sinner;” finally, not to mention many passages, since probably more may occur to you, it is not vainly said, “Lead us not ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 538, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints. (HTML)
A Treatise on the Gift of Perseverance. (HTML)
God Gives Both Initiatory and Persevering Grace According to His Own Will. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3633 (In-Text, Margin)
... respect of what concerns the way of piety and the true worship of God, we are not sufficient to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. For “our heart and our thoughts are not in our own power;” whence the same Ambrose who says this says also: “But who is so blessed as in his heart always to rise upwards? And how can this be done without divine help? Assuredly, by no means. Finally,” he says, “the same Scripture affirms above, ‘Blessed is the man whose help is of Thee; O Lord,[Psalms 84:5] ascent is in his heart.’” Assuredly, Ambrose was not only enabled to say this by reading in the holy writings, but as of such a man is to be without doubt believed, he felt it also in his own heart. Therefore, as is said in the sacraments of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 289, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
Again, on the Lord’s Prayer, Matt. vi. To the Competentes. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2093 (In-Text, Margin)
... which we are now speaking, need to be said to you, nor the sacred volume to be read, when we shall see Him who is Himself the Word of God, by whom all things were made, by whom the Angels are fed, by whom the Angels are enlightened, by whom the Angels become wise; not requiring words of circuitous discourse; but drinking in the Only Word, filled with whom they burst forth and never fail in praise. For, “Blessed,” saith the Psalm, “are they who dwell in Thy house; they will be always praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:4]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 106, footnote 3 (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 IV. 1–42. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 345 (In-Text, Margin)
... “To them who are contrite of heart.” ’Tis a wonderful thing: He dwelleth on high, and yet is near to the lowly; “He hath regard to lowly things, but lofty things He knoweth from afar;” He seeth the proud afar off, and He is the less near to them the higher they appear to themselves to be. Didst thou seek a mountain, then? Come down, that thou mayest come near Him. But wouldest thou ascend? Ascend, but do not seek a mountain. “The ascents,” it saith, “are in his heart, in the valley of weeping.”[Psalms 84:6] The valley is humility. Therefore do all within. Even if perhaps thou seekest some lofty place, some holy place, make thyself a temple for God within time. “For the temple of God is holy, which temple are ye.” Wouldest thou pray in a temple? Pray in ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 110, footnote 3 (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 IV. 43–54. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 354 (In-Text, Margin)
... say.” A certain man, the Mediator man between God and men, says, “My mother Sion.” Why says, “My mother is Sion”? Because from it He took flesh, from it was the Virgin Mary, of whose womb He took upon Him the form of a servant; in which He deigned to appear most humble. “My mother is Sion,” saith a man; and this man, who says, “My mother is Sion,” was made in her, became man in her. For He was God before her, and became man in her. He who was made man in her, “Himself did found her; the Most High[Psalms 84:7] was made man in her most low.” Because “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” “He Himself, the Most High, founded her.” Now, because He founded this country, here let Him have honor. The country in which He was born rejected Him; let that ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 322, footnote 1 (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 XIV. 1–3. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1259 (In-Text, Margin)
... putting a separation between these and the house of God the Father? For the Lord’s words are not, In the whole world, or, In all creation, or, In everlasting life and blessedness, there are many mansions; but He says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” Is not that the house where we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens? Is not that the house whereof we sing to the Lord, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they shall praise Thee for ever and ever”?[Psalms 84:4] Will you then venture to separate from the kingdom of heaven the house, not of every baptized brother, but of God the Father Himself, to whom all we who are brethren say, “Our Father, who art in heaven,” or divide it in such a way as to make some of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 353, footnote 8 (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 XV. 15, 16. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1445 (In-Text, Margin)
2. “Ye have not chosen me,” He says, “but I have chosen you.” Grace such as that is ineffable. For what were we so long as Christ had not yet chosen us, and we were therefore still destitute of love? For he who hath chosen Him, how can he love Him? Were we, think you, in that condition which is sung of in the psalm: “I had rather be an abject in the house of the Lord, than dwell in the tents of wickedness”?[Psalms 84:10] Certainly not. What were we then, but sinful and lost? We had not yet come to believe on Him, in order to lead to His choosing us; for if it were those who already believed that He chose, then was He chosen Himself, prior to His choosing. But how could He say, “Ye have not chosen me,” save ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 396, 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 XVII. 1–5. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1702 (In-Text, Margin)
... Latins have interpreted by “ clarifica ” (make effulgent), and some by “ glorifica ” (glorify). But by the ancients, glory, from which men are styled glorious, is thus defined: Glory is the widely-spread fame of any one accompanied with praise. But if a man is praised when the fame regarding him is believed, how will God be praised when He Himself shall be seen? Hence it is said in Scripture, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be praising Thee for ever and ever.”[Psalms 84:4] There will God’s praise continue without end, where there shall be the full knowledge of God; and because the full knowledge, therefore also the complete effulgence or glorification.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 27, footnote 12 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm VIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 277 (In-Text, Margin)
To the end, for the wine-presses, a psalm of David himself.[Psalms 84]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 41, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 414 (In-Text, Margin)
... Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?” (ver. 1). I keep to one mountain wherein I trust, how say ye that I should pass over to you, as if there were many Christs? Or if through pride you say that you are mountains, I had indeed need to be a sparrow winged with the powers and commandments of God: but these very things hinder my flying to these mountains, and placing my trust in proud men. I have a house where I may rest, in that I trust in the Lord. For even “the sparrow hath found her a house,”[Psalms 84:3] and, “The Lord hath become a refuge to the poor.” Let us say then with all confidence, lest while we seek Christ among heretics we lose Him, “In the Lord I trust: how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 45, footnote 14 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 477 (In-Text, Margin)
... Solomon, “For the wise king is the winnower of the ungodly, and he bringeth on them the wheel of the wicked.—After Thine height Thou hast multiplied the sons of men.” For there is in temporal things too a multiplication, which turns away from the unity of God. Hence “the corruptible body weigheth down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle presseth down the mind that museth upon many things.” But the righteous are multiplied “after the height of God,” when “they shall go from strength to strength.”[Psalms 84:7]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 135, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XLII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1254 (In-Text, Margin)
... behind him again in anxiety, lest the enemy be stealing upon him: he cannot yet say, “I am made whole every whit.” For having but “the first-fruits of the Spirit, we groan within ourselves; waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body.” When that “health” (that salvation) is perfected in us, then shall we be living in the house of God for ever, and praising for ever Him to whom it was said, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, they will be praising Thee world without end.”[Psalms 84:4] This is not so yet, because the salvation which is promised, is not as yet in being; but it is “in hope” that I confess unto God, and say, “My God is the saving health of my countenance.” For it is “in hope” that “we are saved; but hope that is ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 139, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XLIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1294 (In-Text, Margin)
... saith) “are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” We are now on His Hill, that is, in His Church, and in His Tabernacle. The “tabernacle” is for persons sojourning; the house, for those dwelling in one community. The tabernacle is also for those who are both from home, and also in a state of warfare. When thou hearest of a tabernacle, form a notion of a war; guard against an enemy. But what shall the house be? “Blessed are they that dwell in Thine house: they will be alway praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:4]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 142, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XLIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1334 (In-Text, Margin)
... how he intermingles words expressive of a future time, that you may perceive that what was spoken of before as in past time was foretold of future times. “In God will we boast all day long; and in Thy name will we confess for ever.” What is, “We shall boast”? What, “We shall confess”? That Thou hast “saved us from our enemies;” that Thou art to give us an everlasting kingdom: that in us are to be fulfilled the words, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thine house: they will be always praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:4]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 196, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1878 (In-Text, Margin)
23. “Then Thou shalt accept the sacrifice of righteousness” (ver. 19). But now sacrifice for iniquity, to wit, a spirit troubled, and a heart humbled; then the sacrifice of righteousness, praises alone. For, “Blessed they that dwell in Thy house, for ever and ever they shall praise Thee:”[Psalms 84:4] for this is the sacrifice of righteousness. “Oblations and holocausts.” What are “holocausts”? A whole victim by fire consumed. When a whole beast was laid upon the altar with fire to be consumed, it was called a holocaust. May divine fire take us up whole, and that fervour catch us whole. What fervour? “Neither is there that hideth himself from the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 225, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2120 (In-Text, Margin)
... women: my flesh thou seest, the light of my heart thou seest not. For she then might more have loved her husband, if the inte rior beauty she had known, and had beheld the place where he was beautiful before the eyes of God: because in Him were vows which he might render of praise to God. How entirely the enemy had forborne to invade that patrimony! How whole was that which he was possessing, and that because of which yet more to be possessed he hoped for, being to go on “from virtues unto virtue.”[Psalms 84:7] Therefore, brethren, to this end let all these things serve us, that God gratis we love, in Him hope always, neither man nor devil fear. Neither the one nor the other doeth anything, except when it is permitted: permitted for no other reason ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 404, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXXIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3905 (In-Text, Margin)
14. “For one day in Thy courts is better than a thousand” (ver. 10). Those courts they were for which he sighed, for which he fainted. “My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord:”[Psalms 84:2] one day there is better than a thousand days. Men long for thousands of days, and wish to live here long: let them despise these thousands of days, let them long for one day, which has neither rising nor setting: one day, an everlasting day, to which no yesterday yields, which no to-morrow presses. Let this one day be longed for by us. What have we to do with a thousand days? We go from the thousand ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 419, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXXVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4025 (In-Text, Margin)
... health and immortality abide for ever. No one saith unto thee, Bury the dead; all shall be in everlasting life. Works of mercy stop, because misery is found not. And what shall we do there? Shall we perhaps sleep? If now we fight against ourselves, although we carry about a house of sleep, this flesh of ours, and keep watch with these lights, and this solemn feast gives us a mind to watch; what wakefulness shall that day give unto us! Therefore we shall be awake, we shall not sleep. What shall we do?[Psalms 84] There will be no works of mercy, because there will be no misery. Perhaps there will be these necessary works which there are here now, of sowing, ploughing, cooking, grinding, weaving? None of these, for there will be no want. Thus there will be no ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 419, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXXVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4026 (In-Text, Margin)
... our love grow cold, our action will grow cold. How then will that love resting in the face of God, for whom we now long, for whom we sigh, how will it inflame us, when we shall have come to Him? He for whom while as yet we see Him not, we so sigh, how will He enlighten us, when we shall have come to Him? How will He change us? What will He make of us? What then shall we do, brethren? Let the Psalm tell us: “Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house.” Why? “They shall praise Thee for ever and ever.”[Psalms 84:4] This will be our employment, praise of God. Thou lovest and praisest. Thou wilt cease to praise, if thou cease to love. But thou wilt not cease to love, because He whom thou seest is such an One as offends thee not by any weariness: He both ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 423, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXXVII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4062 (In-Text, Margin)
... He is: there it will be our whole task to praise and enjoy the presence of God: and what beyond shall we ask for, when He alone satisfies us, by whom all things were made? We shall dwell and be dwelt in; and shall be subject to Him, that God may be all in all. “Blessed,” then, “are they that dwell in Thy house.” How blessed? Blessed in their gold, and silver, their numerous slaves, and multiplied offspring? “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: for ever and ever they will be praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:4] Blessed in that sole labour which is rest! Let this then be the one and only object of our desire, my brethren, when we shall have reached this pass. Let, us prepare ourselves to rejoice in God: to praise Him. The good works which conduct us ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 423, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXXVII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4068 (In-Text, Margin)
... delight: cleanse your hearts from all earthly and secular affections. We shall see something, the sight of which will make us blessed: and that alone will suffice for us. What then? Shall we not eat? Yes: we shall eat: but that shall be our food, which will ever refresh, and never fail. “In Thee is the dwelling of all who shall be, as it were, made joyful.” He has already told us how we shall be made joyful. “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: for ever and ever they will be praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:4] Let us praise the Lord as far as we are able, but with mingled lamentations: for while we praise we long for Him, and as yet have Him not. When we have, all our sorrows will be taken from us, and nothing will remain but praise, unmixed and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 512, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4716 (In-Text, Margin)
... there it may be held fast: therefore is it now divided by syllables, that there it may be contemplated whole and entire. The Word of God will not be wanting there: but yet not by letters, not by sounds, not by books, not by a reader, not by an expositor. How then? As, “In the beginning was the Word,” etc. For He did not so come to us as to depart from thence; because He was in this world, and the world was made by Him. Such a Word are we to contemplate. For “the God of gods shall appear in Zion.”[Psalms 84:7] But this when? After our pilgrimage, when the journey is done: if however after our journey is done we be not delivered to the Judge, that the Judge may send us to prison. But if when our journey is ended, as we hope, and wish, and endeavour, we ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 532, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4864 (In-Text, Margin)
... and gather us from among the nations (other copies read, “from the heathen”); that we may give thanks unto Thy holy Name, and make our boast of Thy praise” (ver. 47). Then he hath briefly added this very praise, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and world without end” (ver. 48): by which we understand from everlasting to everlasting; because He shall be praised without end by those of whom it is said, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they will be alway praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:4] This is the perfection of the Body of Christ on the third day, when the devils had been cast out, and cures perfected, even unto the immortality of the body itself, the everlasting reign of those who perfectly praise Him, because they perfectly love ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 546, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5005 (In-Text, Margin)
... the beginning of wisdom, “endureth for ever:” and this will be the reward, this the end, this the everlasting station and abode. There are found the true commandments, made fast for ever and ever; here is the very heritage of the New Covenant commanded for ever. “One thing,” he saith, “I have desired of the Lord, which I will require: even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” For, “blessed are they that dwell in the house” of the Lord: “they will be alway praising”[Psalms 84:4] Him; for “His praise endureth for ever.”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 559, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5116 (In-Text, Margin)
13. “Open me,” he saith, “the gates of righteousness” (ver 19). Behold, we have heard of the gates. What is within? “That I may,” he saith, “go into them, and give thanks unto the Lord.” This is the confession of praise full of wonder, “even unto the house of God, in the voice of joy and confession of praise, among such as keep holiday:” this is the everlasting bliss of the righteous, whereby they are blessed who dwell in the Lord’s house, praising Him for evermore.[Psalms 84:4]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 562, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXIX (HTML)
Beth. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5141 (In-Text, Margin)
... works of righteousness followed. For after saying this, he added, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy righteousnesses” (ver. 12). “Teach me,” he saith, as they learn who do them; not as they who merely remember them, that they may have somewhat to speak of. Why then doth he say, “Teach me Thy righteousnesses,” save because he wisheth to learn them by deeds, not by speaking or retaining them in his memory? Since then, as it is read in another Psalm, “He shall give blessing, who gave the law;”[Psalms 84:6] therefore, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord,” he saith, “O teach me Thy righteousness.” For because I have hidden Thy words in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee, Thou hast given a law; give also the blessing of Thy grace, that by doing right I may ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 573, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXIX (HTML)
Caph. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5245 (In-Text, Margin)
81. “My soul hath failed for Thy salvation: and I have hoped because of Thy word” (ver. 81). It is not every failing that should be supposed to be blameable or deserving punishment: there is also a failing that is laudable or desirable.…For it is said of a good failing: “My soul hath a desire and failing to enter into the courts of the Lord.”[Psalms 84:2] So also here he saith not, faileth away from Thy salvation, but “faileth for Thy salvation,” that is, towards Thy salvation. This losing ground is therefore good: for it doth indicate a longing after good, not as yet indeed gained, but most eagerly and earnestly desired. But who saith this, save the chosen generation, the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 590, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5403 (In-Text, Margin)
... love of God, and of our neighbour, that we may return unto charity. If we fall towards the earth, we wither and decay. But one descended unto this one who had fallen, in order that he might arise. Speaking of the time of his wandering, he said that he wandered in the tents of Kedar. Wherefore? Because “my soul hath wandered much.” He wandereth there where he ascendeth. He wandereth not in the body, he riseth not in the body. But wherein doth he ascend? “The ascent,” he saith, “is in the heart.”[Psalms 84:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 593, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXXII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5426 (In-Text, Margin)
3. “Our feet were standing in the courts of Jerusalem” (ver. 2)…Consider what thou wilt be there; and although thou art as yet on the road, place this before thine eyes, as if thou wert already standing, as if thou wert already rejoicing without ceasing among the Angels; as if that which is written were realized in thee: “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be alway praising Thee.”[Psalms 84:4] “Our feet stood in the courts of Jerusalem.” What Jerusalem? This earthly Jerusalem also is wont to be called by the name: though this Jerusalem is but the shadow of that. And what great thing is it to stand in this Jerusalem, since this Jerusalem hath not been able to stand, but hath been turned ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 657, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXLV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5862 (In-Text, Margin)
... ever. He who will not praise in this transitory “age,” will be silent when “age upon age” has come. But lest any one should in any otherwise also understand what he saith, “I will praise Thy Name for the age,” and should seek another age, wherein to praise, he saith, “Every day will I bless Thee” (ver. 2). Praise then and bless the Lord thy God every day, that when single days have passed, and there has come one day without end, thou mayest go from praise to praise, as “from strength to strength.”[Psalms 84:7] No day shall pass by, wherein I bless Thee not. And it is no wonder, if in thy day of joy thou bless the Lord. What if perchance some day of sorrow hath dawned on thee, as is natural in the circumstances of our mortal nature, as there is abundance ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 658, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXLV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5866 (In-Text, Margin)
... shouldest seek, and what thou shouldest shun; what thou shouldest choose, and what thou shouldest avoid. The time of choice is now, the time of receiving will be hereafter. Let then the excellence of Thy terrible things be told. Unlimited as it is, though “of Thy greatness there is no end,” they shall not be silent about it. How shall they recount it, if there is no end of it? They shall recount it when they praise it; and because there is no end of it, so of His praise also there shall be no end.[Psalms 84:4]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 669, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXLVII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5926 (In-Text, Margin)
... separating themselves from the Church’s tabernacles, have set up tabernacles for themselves. For if perchance it be the lot of any, who is good and pious, who confesseth his own weakness, who is “the young of a raven that calleth on God,” not to enjoy worldly distinction, he goeth not out of the Church, he setteth not up for himself a tent outside the Church, wherein God will not delight. But what saith he? “I have chosen to be cast away in the house of God, rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners.”[Psalms 84:10]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 12, page 313, footnote 4 (Image)
Chrysostom: Homilies on First and Second Corinthians
Homilies on Second Corinthians. (HTML)
Homily VII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 589 (In-Text, Margin)
... difference and showing the superiority, not the enmity or contradiction, of the New Covenant in respect to the old. That, saith he, is letter, and stone, and a ministration of death, and is done away: and yet the Jews were not even vouchsafed this glory. (Or, the glory of this.) This table is of the flesh, and spirit, and righteousness, and remaineth; and unto all of us is it vouchsafed, not to one only, as to Moses of the lesser then. (ver. 18.) “For,” saith he, “we all with unveiled face reflecting[Psalms 84:7] as a mirror the glory of the Lord,” not that of Moses. But since some maintain that the expression, “when one shall turn to the Lord,” is spoken of the Son, in contradiction to what is quite acknowledged; let us examine the point more accurately, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 338, footnote 12 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Discourse I (HTML)
Texts Explained; Thirdly, Hebrews i. 4. Additional texts brought as objections; e.g. Heb. i. 4; vii. 22. Whether the word 'better' implies likeness to the Angels; and 'made' or 'become' implies creation. Necessary to consider the circumstances under which Scripture speaks. Difference between 'better' and 'greater;' texts in proof. 'Made' or 'become' a general word. Contrast in Heb. i. 4, between the Son and the Works in point of nature. The difference of the punishments under the two Covenants shews the difference of the natures of the Son and the Angels. 'Become' relates not to the nature of the Word, but to His manhood and office and relation towards us. Parallel passages in which the term is applied to the Eternal Father. (HTML)
... the new, the Apostle deals freely with the Jews, writing and saying, ‘Become so much better than the Angels.’ This is why throughout he uses no comparison, such as ‘become greater,’ or ‘more honourable,’ lest we should think of Him and them as one in kind, but ‘better’ is his word, by way of marking the difference of the Son’s nature from things originated. And of this we have proof from divine Scripture; David, for instance, saying in the Psalm, ‘One day in Thy courts is better than a thousand[Psalms 84:10]:’ and Solomon crying out, ‘Receive my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.’ Are not wisdom and stones of the earth ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 26, footnote 8 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 408 (In-Text, Margin)
10. There are, in the Scriptures, countless divine answers condemning gluttony and approving simple food. But as fasting is not my present theme and an adequate discussion of it would require a treatise to itself, these few observations must suffice of the many which the subject suggests. By them you will understand why the first man, obeying his belly and not God, was cast down from paradise into this vale of tears;[Psalms 84:6] and why Satan used hunger to tempt the Lord Himself in the wilderness; and why the apostle cries: “Meats for the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them;” and why he speaks of the self-indulgent as men “whose God is their belly.” For men invariably worship ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 152, footnote 29 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Lucinius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2230 (In-Text, Margin)
... possible to keep both his country and his Lord; even at that early day he is already fulfilling the prophet David’s words: “I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” He is called “a Hebrew,” in Greek περάτής, a passer-over, for not content with present excellence but forgetting those things which are behind he reaches forth to that which is before. He makes his own the words of the psalmist: “they shall go from strength to strength.”[Psalms 84:7] Thus his name has a mystic meaning and he has opened for you a way to seek not your own things but those of another. You too must leave your home as he did, and must take for your parents, brothers, and relations only those who are linked to you in ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 210, footnote 6 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3002 (In-Text, Margin)
... postponing it? Paula’s intelligence shewed her that her death was near. Her body and limbs grew cold and only in her holy breast did the warm beat of the living soul continue. Yet, as though she were leaving strangers to go home to her own people, she whispered the verses of the psalmist: “Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth,” and “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord,”[Psalms 84:1-2] and “I had rather be an outcast in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” When I asked her why she remained silent refusing to answer my call, and whether she was in pain, she replied in Greek that she had no suffering and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 210, footnote 7 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3003 (In-Text, Margin)
... cold and only in her holy breast did the warm beat of the living soul continue. Yet, as though she were leaving strangers to go home to her own people, she whispered the verses of the psalmist: “Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth,” and “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord,” and “I had rather be an outcast in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”[Psalms 84:10] When I asked her why she remained silent refusing to answer my call, and whether she was in pain, she replied in Greek that she had no suffering and that all things were to her eyes calm and tranquil. After this she said no more but closed her eyes ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 269, footnote 10 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Demetrius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3752 (In-Text, Margin)
... evil, is seized by a devil or overwhelmed with jaundice or doomed to bear afflictions which godless men escape, while God’s servants have to bear them?” Now if God’s judgments, they say, are “true and righteous altogether,” and if “there is no unrighteousness in Him,” we are compelled by reason to believe that our souls have pre-existed in heaven, that they are condemned to and, if I may so say, buried in human bodies because of some ancient sins, and that we are punished in this valley of weeping[Psalms 84:6] for old misdeeds. This according to them is the prophet’s reason for saying: “Before I was afflicted I went astray,” and again, “Bring my soul out of prison.” They explain in the same way the question of the disciples in the gospel: “Who did sin, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 326, footnote 5 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Fifth Theological Oration. On the Holy Spirit. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3734 (In-Text, Margin)
... was not yet acknowledged, plainly to proclaim the Son; nor when that of the Son was not yet received to burden us further (if I may use so bold an expression) with the Holy Ghost; lest perhaps people might, like men loaded with food beyond their strength, and presenting eyes as yet too weak to bear it to the sun’s light, risk the loss even of that which was within the reach of their powers; but that by gradual additions, and, as David says, Goings up, and advances and progress from glory to glory,[Psalms 84:7] the Light of the Trinity might shine upon the more illuminated. For this reason it was, I think, that He gradually came to dwell in the Disciples, measuring Himself out to them according to their capacity to receive Him, at the beginning of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 355, footnote 4 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
Oration on the Holy Lights. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3948 (In-Text, Margin)
... sternest efforts)…but besides fleeing from evil, practise virtue, making Christ entirely, or at any rate to the greatest extent possible, to dwell within them, so that the power of evil cannot meet with any empty place to fill it again with himself, and make the last state of that man worse than the first, by the greater energy of his assault, and the greater strength and impregnability of the fortress. But when, having guarded our soul with every care, and having appointed goings up in our heart,[Psalms 84:5] and broken up our fallow ground, and sown unto righteousness, as David and Solomon and Jeremiah bid us, let us enlighten ourselves with the light of knowledge, and then let us speak of the Wisdom of God that hath been hid in a mystery, and enlighten ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 373, footnote 1 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Oration on Holy Baptism. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4128 (In-Text, Margin)
... with which separately these individuals were healed. Only be not ignorant of the measure of grace; only let not the enemy, while you sleep, maliciously sow tares. Only take care that as by your cleansing you have become an object of enmity to the Evil One, you do not again make yourself an object of pity by sin. Only be careful lest, while rejoicing and lifted up above measure by the blessing, you fall again through pride. Only be diligent as to your cleansing, “setting ascensions in your heart,”[Psalms 84:6] and keep with all diligence the remission which you have received as a gift, in order that, while the remission comes from God, the preservation of it may come from yourself also.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 135, footnote 4 (Image)
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)
Sermons. (HTML)
On the Feast of the Nativity, IV. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 773 (In-Text, Margin)
... not differ from ours, because His nativity is wonderful. For He Who is true God, is also true man: and there is no lie in either nature. “The Word became flesh” by exaltation of the flesh, not by failure of the Godhead: which so tempered its power and goodness as to exalt our nature by taking it, and not to lose His own by imparting it. In this nativity of Christ, according to the prophecy of David, “truth sprang out of the earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven[Psalms 84:12].” In this nativity also, Isaiah’s saying is fulfilled, “let the earth produce and bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.” For the earth of human flesh, which in the first transgressor, was cursed, in this Offspring of the ...