OT § 92

A man rejoices in his mouth's sentence, etc. It is indeed human for each to rejoice in his sentence as though prudently uttered; but a true wise man carefully investigates not only the matters he speaks, but also the opportunity of place or time or person, to whom he speaks.

The path of life is above the wise, etc. He calls the wise one perfected not only in knowledge, but also in practice. For to him indeed the paths of life from above are rightly opened; to him the gate of heaven is open. But the last hell, from which he is delivered, is the final punishment of damnation. For the first hell is the blindness of the sinning soul, and the lack of knowledge of true light, of which it is said in the Psalms, And they descend into hell alive (Ps. 54), that is, they knowingly fall into sin.

The Lord demolishes the house of the proud, etc. The Lord demolishes the gatherings of heretics and other persecutors of the Church, and establishes the boundaries of the same Church, that is, His bride, firm throughout the whole world, for whose life He deigned to die.

The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, etc. The Lord abhors the thoughts of heretics, indeed all contrary to piety, and the pure word of true faith will be established by Him, when in the judgment, not only for deeds but also for all words, worthy rewards will be given. He abhorred their evil thoughts, who said, Who is this who even forgives sins? (Mark 2). And He affirmed the pure word of him who said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16), to be most beautiful, to whom He replied, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in heaven (Matt. 16:17).

If every evil word is an abomination to the Lord your God, how great an abomination must be supposed the evil word of denial and the evil word of publicly proclaiming another god and the evil oath by the fortune of people, something that has no existence.

The light of the eyes rejoices the soul, etc. It rightly delights the human mind, when it recognizes, by the Lord's revelation, that it has perceived the light of heavenly mysteries. Which another translation more clearly says, The eye seeing good things delights the heart, certainly the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. Whoever contemplates these with the eye of the mind, rightly delights in the heart, though externally he seems to walk sadly, oppressed by an enemy. That most blessed fame, by which we have learned that not only our deeds and words, but also our thoughts are known in heaven by the reporting angels; offers the richness of love and faith to our virtues, lest they wither by failing. For the more surely we hold that the hidden things of our heart, and likewise our works, are open to divine views, the more we ought to inflame with the oil of His charity the strength of our good action, lest it grows weary.

We are not harsh toward the impenitent. They are wicked to themselves, for those that spurn instruction hate themselves. Yet even in such cases we should seek in every way that healing come to those who are so completely perverted as not even to be conscious of their own ills and drunk with a drunkenness more fatal than that from wine, the drunkenness that comes from the darkness of evil.

If the prophet deems those guilty whom discipline has never reached, what should we think of those whom it has abandoned? Discerning between the acts of these two classes of people, the prophet authoritatively regards the fault of never having come to discipline as one less serious than that of having rejected her law. Notice his words: "He that rejects instruction despises his own soul." The case truly is just what he says. For the person who has spurned the warnings of discipline in order to occupy himself with the devil's business is indeed the foe of his own soul.

All the ways of a man are open to His eyes, etc. Thus the ways, that is, the actions of all, both good and evil, the Lord sees, so that He distinguishes with a certain scale even the individual spirits, what they secretly think. Hence it is rightly added:

Besides being bright, certainly light (as it is) is conspicuous. As it does its work everyone observes it. In the same way, the humble person shows us in no small way what is right. For a contrite person will nevertheless excel in great things. But God does not desire to acknowledge the deeds of the proud.

Commit your works to the Lord, etc. Indeed, we reveal our works to the Lord when we remember Him in all we do, knowing that nothing is hidden from Him, and we seek His help in all things. And when we do this devoutly, it happens that not only the same works, but even our inner thoughts proceed under His direction.

We are commanded to show him our ways and make our ways to him, which are made straight, not by our own efforts but by his help and mercy. Whence it is written, "Make straight your way in my sight" (or as other copies have it, "make straight my way in your sight"), so that what is straight to him may also appear straight to me. Solomon also says, "Lay open your works to the Lord, and your thoughts shall be directed." For our thoughts are directed then, and only then, when we lay open to the Lord, as to a firm and very stable rock, everything that we do and impute everything to him.

The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, etc. The Lord had no other cause for creating the invisible or visible creature than His will, that He might show His goodness to the rational creature, whom He would make eternally blessed: and also the one who of his own will abandoned the good of his condition, that is, the devil and his followers, He justly condemned with severity.

Only God does what is good, acting from love of goodness for its own sake and not moved by fear or hope of reward. As Solomon says, "The Lord has done all things for his own sake." For the sake of his own goodness he bestows an abundance of goodness upon the worthy and the unworthy, because he can neither be wearied by wrongdoing nor provoked to painful emotion by human wickedness. He always remains what he is, perfect in goodness and unchanging in nature.

Every arrogant person is an abomination to the Lord, etc. Whoever attributes to himself the good that he does, even if he appears to work nothing evil with his hands, has already lost the innocence of his heart, in which he has preferred himself to the giver of the gifts. Therefore, his Creator abhors such a one, as guilty of being ungrateful for the benefits he contemplates.

Nothing so estranges from the mercy of God and gives over to the fire of hell as the tyranny of pride. If we possess this within us, all our life becomes impure, even if we practice chastity, virginity, fasting, prayer, almsgiving, or any virtue whatsoever. "Every proud man," Scripture says, "is an abomination to the Lord." Therefore, let us check this puffing up of the soul, and let us cut out this tumor, if we wish to be pure and be rid of the punishment prepared for the devil.

When a man's ways please the Lord, etc. Such is the sanctity of divine religion, that often even those who are outside hold it in veneration. And those whom they perceive to serve God perfectly, they begin to have peace with, even though they differ in religion. Hence because the ways of Daniel and the three youths pleased the Lord, He also turned their enemies, who had cast them into the fire or to the beasts, to peace. Because the ways of the holy preachers pleased the Lord, He converted many of their persecutors not only to peace but also to the same unity of faith and religion.

Better is a little with righteousness, etc. And the Lord says, Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God (Matthew V). And again, Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation (Luke VI). It can also be understood thus, that it is better to serve God devoutly in simple conversation, than being abundant in many virtues, for example, alms, prayers, fastings, teaching, chastity, to despise the deeds of others, and to glory as it were in one's unique sublimity.