July 20

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.—Psalms 27:4.

Dost thou ask, what he desires? Peradventure it is a land flowing with milk and honey, in a carnal sense, although this is to be spiritually sought after and desired; or, peradventure, the subjugation of his enemies, or the death of his personal foes, or the power and wealth of this world. For he is on fire with love, much he sigheth, and gloweth, and panteth. Let us see what he desires; One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. What is it he doth seek after? That I may dwell, saith he, in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. And suppose thou dost dwell in the house of the Lord, what will be the source of thy joy there? That I may behold, saith he, the fair beauty of the Lord.

My brethren, why is it that you cry out, why is it that you exult, why is it that you love, but because the spark of this affection is there? What long you for, I pray you? Can it be seen with the eyes? Can it be touched? Is it some beauty which delights the eyes? Were not the martyrs ardently loved; and when we commemorate them, do not we burn with love? What love we in them, brethren? Their limbs torn by wild beasts? What more loathsome if you ask the eyes of the flesh! What more beautiful, if thou ask the eyes of the heart! What would be thy feelings at the sight of some beautiful youth, who was a thief? How would thine eyes be shocked? Would the eyes of the flesh be shocked? If thou ask them, nothing more exquisitely adjusted, more gracefully proportioned than that person: the symmetry of the limbs, and the comeliness of the complexion, allure the eyes; yet when thou hearest that he is a thief, thy mind revolts from him. On the other hand, thou seest an old man, bent double, staying himself upon a staff, moving himself with extreme difficulty, furrowed all over with wrinkles; what seest thou to delight thine eyes? Thou art told that he is a righteous man: thou lovest him; thou embracest him.

Such are the rewards promised to us, my brethren. Let such be the object of your affections; such the kingdom for which you sigh; such the country for which you long; if you would attain to that with which our Lord did come; that is, to grace and truth. But if they be bodily rewards which thou hast coveted at God's hand, thou art still under the law, and the law, for that very reason, thou wilt not fulfill. For when thou perceivest those temporal things poured forth in abundance upon men who offend God, thy footsteps falter, and thou sayest to thyself, Behold, I worship God, every day I run to church, my knees are worn with prayers, and yet I am always sick. Men commit murders, they are guilty of extortion, they overflow and abound, every thing goes well with them. Were then such as these the things thou didst seek at God's hand? Certain it is thou didst belong to grace. If the grace God gave thee is grace, because gratuitous, because he freely gave, then do thou freely love. Do not love God for a reward; let himself be thy reward. Let thy soul say, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the fair beauty of the Lord. Fear not to be cloyed and surfeited. Such will be that beauty, that it will be always present with thee, and yet thou wilt never be satiated: or rather, thou wilt be always satiated and never satiated. For if I should say thou wilt not be satiated, this would imply hunger: and if thou wilt be satiated, I am afraid lest I convey the idea of surfeit. Where there shall be neither surfeit nor yet hunger, I know not what word to use. But God hath it to make good to those who find no word wherewith to express it, yet believe that they shall receive it.