CHAPTER 7

From Psalm xc. (433) 

Of the Temptation of Our Lord After His Baptism.

[Passage quoted, Ps. xc. 1-13.]

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus the Christ, so far as He is (d) regarded as Man, is said "to dwell under the succour of the Most High, and to rest under the shelter of his God and Father." We know that, by making His Father His only refuge in the time of His Temptation by the devil, He was saved from the nets of the powers opposed to Him, here called "hunters," when, like an ordinary human being, He was driven into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, and was in the wilderness forty days and forty nights tempted of Satan, and was, as the evangelist tells us, "with the wild beasts." These were the same, as those this Psalm mentions, when it says to Him that dwells under the - 166 - protection of the Most High, "Thou shalt go upon the asp and the basilisk, and shalt trample on the lion and dragon." And it not only says that He shall be saved from them, but (434) from "the troubling word" also. What can this mean, but the words which according to the Holy Gospel were directed against Him by the tempter?

It is worth our consideration why our Saviour, being what He was, should undergo temptation. He came to expel from man every disease and sickness, and the spirits that hampered him, and the unclean daemons which had ruled all men on earth from immemorial time by means of polytheistic superstition. He did not attack them secretly as one who hides himself, but He marched against their leaders who (b) surrounded Him and were before invisible, in the Humanity that He had assumed, He charged into the midst of the devil and his array of daemons, trod upon asp and basilisk, trampled on lion and dragon, and destroyed the thousands and ten thousands of enemies that had ruled so long, some fighting on His right hand, some on His left, rulers and powers, and those too who are called "World-rulers of this darkness," and spiritual powers of (c) evil; He proved thus, that they were quite powerless, and finally frightened away, far from Him, with the word of His mouth the devil himself, their instigator to evil. He went through and trampled on every power opposed to Him, He offered Himself as a target to those who wished to attack and tempt Him, and as none were able to resist Him, He won salvation for mankind. Wherefore, when the (d) daemons saw Him, they recognized Him, because of the aforesaid sojourn in the wilderness, and said to Him, "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Son of God? "Let this suffice on this matter. What follows in the Psalm is an address to the Christ, beginning at—

"With his shoulders he [that is the highest] shall overshadow thee, and under his wings shalt thou hope, and his truth shall surround thee with a shield."

And whereas His Temptation lasted forty days, and as many nights, it is said of those that attacked Him by night, "Thou shalt not fear the terror by night"; and of those - 167 - that warred against Him by day, "From the arrow that flieth by day." And also of the foe of night, "From the thing that vvalketh in darkness," and of those of daytime, "From the attack and the demon of mid-day." Then, as in (435) the Temptation, the evil powers encircled Him, some on His right side, and some on His left; the right being the stronger side, it is naturally said to Him, "A thousand shall fall at Thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but they shall not come near Thee." "At thy side" is used for "on thy left hand," in order, perhaps, not to utter the word "left," because nothing ill omened or left-handed was found in Him. And since a myriad and a thousand are (b) said to fall at His side and on His right hand, the next sentence comes naturally, "Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of sinners." And this shall take place, it says, "About thee, the Christ of God," for, "Thou Thyself O Lord, who art my hope, hast made the Highest thy refuge." Here, too, you will observe how the prophet, in saying to the Lord Himself, "Thou, Lord, art my hope, thou hast made the Highest Thy refuge," discriminates carefully between One who is Lord in a special sense, and His Father, God Most High. And, therefore, as Christ (c) has made His Father, God Most High, His refuge, it is said to Him:

" Evil shall not attack thee, and no scourge shall approach thy dwelling, for he shall charge his angels concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways: They shall bear thee in their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."

And note, carefully, how in, "For thou, Lord, art my hope, Thou hast made the Highest thy refuge," the equivalent for "Lord" in Hebrew is the Tetragram, which the sons of the Hebrews say must not be spoken and reserve for God alone; but I have previously shewn that it is also used for (d) the Godhead of the Word in many places of Scripture, as in this Psalm which says, as speaking to the person of the Lord Himself, "For Thou, Lord, art my hope, thou hast set the Most High for thy refuge "; as much as to say:

"For thou thyself, O Lord, who art the hope of me that utter this prophecy, knowest a greater than thyself, God Most High, and thou hast made Him thy refuge." 

So in the opening of the Psalm it was said of Him: - 168 - 

(436) "He that dwelleth under the protection of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my helper and my refuge, my God, my Succour, and I will trust on him."

"Since then, thou, O Lord, hast made the Most High thy refuge." 

the Psalmist therefore says:

"He shall save thee from the snares of the hunters, and from the troubling word and with his shoulders he shall overshadow thee. Therefore, having such fatherly succour from the Highest, Thou shalt not fear the terror by night, nor any of the evils that are mentioned before, (b) or added after. For thou, O Lord, hast made the highest thy refuge, therefore evil shall not attack thee, and no scourge shall come nigh thy dwelling." 

You will find the activities of the daemons, also called scourges, in the Gospels, which the Psalmist says are incapable of daring to approach Christ's dwelling, that is His Body. How could they, when He could drive them out of men by a mere word? Of this dwelling, David also once sware an oath to the Lord, and prayed to the God of Jacob, saying:

(c) "I will not climb up into my bed, I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep, or my eyelids to slumber, nor the temples of my head to take any rest, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the God of Jacob." 

And it was on account of this tabernacle that it was said:

"Thou shalt not fear any terror by night, and He shall save thee from the snares of the hunters, and from the troubling word, and evils shall not attack thee, and a scourge shall not come nigh thy dwelling." 

And other things that regard Him more from the side of His Humanity, such as:

"He shall charge his angels concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."

For such words would not apply to God, but only to the tabernacle, which He assumed for our sake, when the Word became flesh and tabernacled amongst us. Here I think it will be well to quote the words of the other translators, to put what I have said on an exact foundation. Of whom, Aquila said: - 169 - 

"For thou, Lord, my hope, hast set thy dwelling (437) very high. Evils shall not affect thee, and no touch shall come near to thy shelter: for he gave command to his angels to guard thee in all thy ways.'' 

And Symmachus has:

"Thou, Lord, art my security, thou hast set thy dwelling very high. Evil shall have no power over thee, and no touch shall draw near thy tent. For he gave charge to his angels concerning thee to keep thee in all thy ways."

The Lord, then, is here addressed about some one greater than Himself, Who

"has charged his angels concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee (i.e., The Lord) lest at any time thou, O Lord, dash thy foot against a stone." 

And the devil used these words in his Temptation of our (b) Saviour, when he took Him into the holy city, and set Him upon the wing of the Temple and said to Him:

"If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down hence, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge over thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone," 

To whom the Lord answered and said:

"It is written, Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God."

Then, though the evangelist tells that, during the Temptation, He was with the wild beasts, we are not told what they were, but the prophecy in the Psalm tells us more clearly in a disguised way the kinds of beasts, viz.: "Thou shalt (c) step on the asp and the basilisk, and shalt trample on the lion and dragon." It is thus said that he will trample on the kingliest of the wild beasts of the spirit, the lion and dragon, as well as the asp and the basilisk, that is to say, the devil himself, and the ruling evil powers that follow him.

And He bestows the power on His disciples and apostles who possess goodness like His own of walking upon serpents and scorpions, not allowing them to be tempted above that (d) they are able; for it was for Him alone to destroy the most evil powers, and the chief of them all, the prince of this world, by His Divine Power.