Exposition of Psalm 22, Sermon 3 – Colophon
❧ Howe wyfe chyldren and other frendes ſhalbe comforted, the huſbonde beynge dead.
SEynge nowe that God hath called your huſbonde, father or other good frende out of thys myſery into euerlastynge ioye, therfore ſhall ye receaue it wyllyngly: for it is hys worke. Repyne not therfore at hys worke, nother wepe agaynſt his wyl, cōmitte ye cauſe vntounto him, take it of his hande as a fatherly prouynge, & ſaye with Iobe God hath geuen vsus hym, & hath taken hym agayn, the name of LORDE be bleſſed: as it was the LORDES wyll, ſo is it happened.
God almyghty wyll proue you as be dyd Iob how ye wyll behaue youre ſelfe as he taketh out of youre ſyght the thynge yt ye louelove. He wyll admytte well ynough yt ye be ſorye. For it is ſeldome ſene but a man (be he neuer ſo vyle,Ther is no membre of the body but it hath hys proper gyfte. or of ſo lytle reputacion) hath euer a ſondery gyfte wherewt he ſerued & profyted other. And ye ſame gyftes were not greatly regarded in a man whyle he lyued: for cōmunely we regarde lytle ſuche thynges as are preſent: but as ſoone as ye man is gone, ſo ſoone as yt veſſel is ſpilte, thā begynne we to want the gyftes yt were cōteyned therin. Therfore is it no maruayle that we be ſory for ſuche a gyfte of God, yf it be takē out of our ſyghte.
God is diſpleaſed wyth myſvſynge of hys gyftesAs longe as we uſe men & the gyftes accordyng as they be ordeyned of God for our neceſſite, than do we well, and that can God ſuffre well ynough: But that we miſvſe thē, and make an ydoſt of them, yt can not God ſuffre. For whan we put oure truſt & cōforte in man, or ony other creature, than do we wrōgge, & miſvſe ye ſame, and the curſe cōmeth vpō vsus wherof it is wryttē Ierem. xvii. Curſed is the mā that putteth hys truſt in man.
For all mans helpe is to be ſuffred only whā they be preſente, and that we hauehave nede of them: but as ſoone as they are gone, than muſt we loke for other helpe, namely: God, lettynge go it that paſſeth awaye, thynkyng it to be tēporal, faydynge at the twynklynge of an eye, and vanyte that is in thys world. We hauehave here no abydynge thyng, but muſt loke aboute for the thynge to come that endureth for euer.
God can not abyde that we make much of creaturesFor thys cauſe doth God draw & pull vsus ſo from the creatures. And ſeynge he is oure true father, bridegrome & huſbōde, he can not (for he is ſtrōge & gelous) abyde yt we ſet oure hope, louelove, or truſt vponupon ony creatur. Thys is the cauſe then that he doth take vsus from thē, and caryeth vsus vponupon hym ſelfe. For loke on what creature we hauehave mooſte hope, louelove, and affection, that wyll he ſooneſt take out of ſyght, yf he doth louelove vsus. And whan he hath ſuche gelouſy vponupon vsus, than doth he mooſte chefely declare hys louelove towarde vsus.
We ought to call noman father vy… earth.By thys alſo it commeth that Chriſte Mathe .xviii. forbyddeth vsus to call ony man father vponupon earth, for we hauehave onelyonly one father in heauen, namely God, which wyl nor can ſuffre vsus to call or to hauehave ony mā vponupon earth father: & that becauſe we ſhulde depend and hange only vpō hym, lokyng for al good of hym. For he wyll be ye ſame that we maye hardely truſte vntounto: ſeynge he can not, nor wyll fayle vsus, & that becauſe he is no earthly but an heauenly father. For thys cauſe than is that man bleſſed and happy, that putteth hys truſt, hope, and confidence in the LORDE, as the prophete ſayeth. Pſal. xxxiii.
Fynally yf whan nature fulfylleth hyr courſe,Iob. xiii man hath but cōtinual trauayl & myſery, & after that thys courſe of nature is ended & at reſt, mā is eaſed of ſo great trauayl: we ſeme to hate rather thā to louelove them that be departed yf we wold wiſh thē to be in this wretched worlde agayne. Moreouer in makyng ſo muche of oure frendes departed, and ſettyng ſo greate affection vponupon them, wyſh ynge Gods worke not to be fulfylled vponupon them, we blame God in hys wyll and workynge: as though he knew not better what were beſt both for them and vsus, than we.
Let vsus therfore ſet oure wyll in Gods wyll, and ſuffer hym to worke at hys pleaſur. For he knoweth beſt what is both oure frendes and oure ſoules health.
FINIS.
¶ Printed in Southwarke by me Iames Nicolſon.
End of the text · Martin Luther, Exposition of Psalm 22 (1538)