Sermon 51: 1 Samuel 15:1-7

1. And Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel, now therefore hear the voice of the Lord. 2. Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have reviewed everything that Amalek did to Israel, how he resisted him on the way when he was coming up from Egypt. 3. Now therefore go and strike Amalek and destroy everything of his: do not spare him, but kill from man to woman and child and nursing infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. 4. Saul therefore commanded the people, and mustered them like lambs, two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5. And when Saul had come to the city of Amalek, he set an ambush in the valley. 6. And Saul said to the Kenite: Go, depart, and withdraw from Amalek, lest perhaps I involve you with him, for you showed mercy to all the children of Israel when they were coming up from Egypt. And the Kenite withdrew from the midst of Amalek. 7. And Saul struck Amalek from Havilah until you come to Shur, which is opposite Egypt.

A notable history follows for us to explain, in which we may contemplate how dear the salvation of the church is to God: and in turn, with what great care and zeal we ought to devote ourselves to fulfilling the commands of the Lord without contradiction: so that even if our senses recoil, we may nevertheless satisfy his will. For that arrogance is intolerable when a mortal creature dares to speak against the Creator: and attributes to himself some wisdom above God. Hence therefore let us begin this sermon, namely that the salvation of his church is so commended to God that he never permits the wrongs done to it to remain unavenged. For although it happens that the faithful suffer many things from the wicked, and are as it were oppressed by them, it will nevertheless one day come about that those impious persecutors will render an account to God for all those things. Let that famous history in Exodus 17 be witness, concerning the Amalekites, who wished to prevent the people of Israel from passing through the desert, although they had been provoked by no injury: but on the contrary, not ignorant of the promises which Abraham had received from God, since they too traced their origin from him. Without doubt, when they spontaneously afflict that wretched people, they seem to wish to wage war against God himself and to make his promises of no effect, and to pervert his truth: and accordingly they tried as much as they could to overturn the worship of God and the pure religion which God wished to establish in that land of Canaan. And indeed that was a grave sin, to which another was added: that they had no occasion for attacking the Israelites, by whom they had not been provoked, nor had received any injuries: but only requested free passage through their region. But they, running to arms, hostilely attack the people who were not their enemies. From which it is manifest that they waged war against God, and sinned against men by inhumanity. The Amalekites therefore sinned gravely by their fury against God, and by their savagery against their neighbors, and indeed such neighbors as are called the chosen people of God, and his own peculiar treasure. But finally God is said to have driven them back by his strength. For although the people fought against the Amalekites, nevertheless the victory was obtained through the prayers of Moses, and as appears from that history, while Moses lifted his hands to heaven, the people prevailed in war. Therefore God overturned the plans and efforts of his enemies, and vindicated his people, and protected them against the assaults of their enemies: and made a way for his promises against the will of all enemies. And for this reason God commanded Moses to write these things as a perpetual memorial in the book of the law: and to instruct Joshua that the people of the Amalekites should one day be punished by God, and their memory deleted from the earth, and marked with perpetual infamy and disgrace. Which sentence is made firm by an oath, in that God is said to have his hand upon the throne, and that there is war for the Lord against Amalek from generation to generation. For that phrase, that God's hand is upon the throne, contains in itself a solemn oath. For men, when they swear, are accustomed to lift their hands to heaven, as if calling God as witness. So that it may thus be shown, what the apostle teaches, that God, since he has none higher than himself, swears by himself sitting upon his throne. Since therefore God swears by his majesty, and is omnipotent, it is certain that he will leave no injury unavenged. Moreover we see that Moses also faithfully carried out the command given him by the Lord in Deuteronomy 25:17, where indeed he expressly commands the people to be mindful of that injury received from the Amalekites, in these words: Remember what Amalek did to you in the way when you were going out of Egypt. Who, meeting you on that journey, struck down at the rear of your column all those who, debilitated, were following you, when you were weary and tired, and he did not fear God. Therefore when the Lord your God shall give you rest from all your enemies on every side in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven: do not forget. Yet years pass almost in vain, and that command of the Lord seems to have failed, which had not yet obtained its outcome after so many ages had passed: therefore those threats seem empty: and that decree of God against the Amalekites, so dreadful, seems to have departed into thin air and smoke, and to have become void. For how does God tolerate the Amalekites for so long, not exacting from them the account of that injury, and not inflicting punishments? But here those things must be recalled which the sacred page frequently inculcates, that a thousand years before God are like one day. From which we should also learn that, when the wicked triumph because they have escaped some great danger, with God not hastening to vengeance, and not exerting his judgments against them: and while they live in the greatest joy and pleasure and ease, not only despising other men, but spurning the very judgments of God, nevertheless God's vengeance is impending, by which they will be overwhelmed in a moment unawares.

Now let us apply to our own use what has been recited about Moses thus far, and let us draw a useful doctrine from these things. Indeed at first sight the command may seem strange, about taking such horrendous vengeance on the Amalekites: for it seems to exceed all measure. Furthermore it is well known that sacred scripture everywhere forbids us to avenge our own injuries. Therefore God might perhaps seem contrary to himself: since now he forbids vengeance for injuries, now he even commands vengeance. But there is an easy solution about vengeance and revenge, when we distinguish between our passions and a sincere desire to obey God. Indeed if we are carried to vengeance by our affections and passions, it is certain that this is an unlawful kind of vengeance. Indeed even if we do not lift our hand against our enemies, but cherish wrath in our soul, we are altogether guilty of murder before God. It is therefore not to be wondered at if God so precisely forbade all private vengeance. For God knows well enough that men are too much lovers of themselves, and rise to wrath at the smallest injury: and once carried away by their affections cannot maintain measure, but utterly forget right and equity. And furthermore, God demands this honor for himself from us, that we leave the injuries done to us in his hands. For this reason the apostle warns us not to give place to wrath: teaching that the work of God is hindered as far as it lies in us, when we usurp his office. How so? God himself opens up the cause in another place, namely in the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32), in these words: Vengeance is mine, and recompense: speaking of the defense of his people. Therefore since God promises us his help, and wishes to avenge the injuries done to us, and to cover us as with a shield, why would we anticipate his work? Why, carried away by our wrath, would we be precipitated into our own vengeance? Indeed this is to close the door on God, and to usurp his office: and to repudiate and reject the divine protection which is far to be preferred to all subterfuges and excuses. Just as if someone, having occupied the seat of the judge, should complain of an injury done to him, whom all would deservedly drive out and hiss at. So indeed before God we cannot rightly complain of injuries done to us, unless we bear them patiently, and are restrained by the spirit of meekness, lest we boil over into wrath. Hence therefore it is sufficiently clear why private vengeance is forbidden, namely lest we anticipate God's part, and impede his office by our impatience. For since he himself has taken us into his protection, he wishes to avenge the injuries done to us: but us to abstain from all vengeance, because he knows how violent and immoderate our passions are: of which we ought to be stripped, and patiently await God's vengeance, lest by our impatience we cause prejudice to him. But indeed certain vengeances are not only permitted and lawful, but even commanded. For example: If a magistrate, armed with the sword of justice, drags either a robber, or a thief, or any criminal to the gallows, that is a legitimate and good vengeance, in no way contrary to the will of God. For on the contrary, as Solomon says, if a magistrate were to abstain from that vengeance which God commands, he would gravely sin against God, being guilty of rebellion: but that vengeance, provided it is moderate and rests on equity, is from God, not from men: namely if the magistrate is carried with serious affection toward the worship of God, and strives to do his office, impelled by no private injury to such vengeance, but only by God's command, ordering the guilty thus to be punished. From these things therefore it is sufficiently clear that no further place ought to be given to private vengeances, because they detract from God's majesty, and intrude upon his jurisdiction. But divine vengeance is praiseworthy, when the magistrate, taking no account of private injuries, is borne by zeal for his worship, by God's command alone.

Let us now come to the explanation of the present history. God commands the Amalekites to be utterly destroyed. By this means the people takes vengeance for its injuries. But this is not private vengeance, since the people is borne to this vengeance not by their own motion or by some more vehement passion, but by the command of God: therefore this vengeance was neither human nor private. And God did not loose the reins to the people, that they might rage more cruelly and savagely against the enemies, and recompense evil with evil: but yet he committed this revenge to them, so that it might appear to anyone how dear and precious to him is the salvation of the church. Therefore this judgment of God concerning the destruction and extinction of the Amalekites should not seem strange to us. But here another question arises, how God after so long an interval of time orders the Amalekites to be destroyed by one annihilation, and indeed orders the women themselves with the infants to be destroyed. For first, none of those who were then living were yet born when the Israelite people on the journey suffered their attack: but on the contrary, those who at that time had dared to make an assault against God and his church had partly perished, and partly sought safety in flight. And whatever the case may be, the authors of that conspiracy could no longer be punished: and therefore now those are commanded to be destroyed by annihilation who were not yet alive at that time. But what shall we say about the women, whom in war it is customary to spare, and what about infants still hanging from their mothers' breasts? For we see the Lord here expressly ordering nursing children to be killed. Indeed someone might say that no measure is observed here, and that this is the greatest cruelty and unheard-of savagery. But all the more must we beware in this matter, and place reins on our curiosity, that we may not too curiously inquire into God's judgments. For what madness, I ask, would it be, to subject God's judgments and deeds to our opinion and imagination, and to pass sentence on his judgments according to our perception? Indeed God's wisdom is immutable: just as also his truth, power, and justice are unmoved: all of which are incomprehensible to us; what madness then would it be to wish to demand them according to our perception and measurement? Truly such men do no differently than if they were to boast of seizing the moon with their teeth, which would be testimony of the greatest insanity. For how great a madness would it be to wish to grasp the sun itself with a cloak or sleeve? Yet those who subject God to their senses, and demand his deeds according to the standard of their understanding, do nothing other than if they should try to grasp all the mountains, and heaven and earth themselves, with their hand. And if anyone attempts this, will he not deservedly be considered furious and insane? Therefore so much the greater zeal must we exert that we contain ourselves within the bounds of modesty: that with all sobriety and reverence we may adore and venerate God's judgments, which far surpass our understanding. But because certain importunate men with a kind of diabolical arrogance rise up against God, and lift their horns as it were, come now, that their mouth may be shut and they may be utterly crushed, let us examine these divine judgments by a certain similitude drawn from men. If someone should refuse that a guilty man be killed, nor be dragged to death, even though he has been condemned to capital punishment by the judge, would he not deservedly be considered insane? Will he not deservedly bring the deserved punishments upon himself by his own rashness, in resisting such a judgment? But if, ignorant of the cause why someone has been condemned to capital punishment, or if, ignorant of all laws and justice, he should wish to inquire into the sentences of judges, and to pronounce sentence according to his own perception and judgment, and corrupt all rights, would not such a man deservedly be guilty of the highest folly, or of intolerable arrogance and pride, and condemned by everyone's vote? What then must we think should be said about men who inquire into God's judgments, with whom alone is power over the whole world? Therefore Paul's saying must be meditated upon and more deeply impressed on our minds: Who are you to condemn another's servant? For it is written: As I live, says the Lord; for to me every knee shall bow: and every tongue shall confess to God. Therefore whenever we hear that there is one supreme judge of all, ought we not to be struck with terror, and to put bridles on ourselves, and to depend upon him, and to venerate the sentence pronounced by him, since with him is the power to drive us down to hell whenever he wills? But if on the contrary we should dare to set limits to God, and demand his judgments according to our measurement, or to repudiate them if they do not please us, will not this be diabolical fury and intolerable insanity? Therefore it is necessary that we look upon the slenderness of our understanding, which cannot scrutinize God's mysteries, since they are a most profound abyss, into which once immersed we never emerge. Why then do mortals here bring forward their opinion, and judge rashly, and pass sentence on unknown matters? Indeed God has reasons for his judgments, so that whatever men may speak against, the Lord is always just, and right in his judgments, as the prophet once sang: but to our harm and to the highest disgrace and ignominy. From which it appears that it is the greatest madness when mortals dare to inquire into the deeds of the Lord, and to murmur against the judgments of God. What then is to be done when it seems to us excessive cruelty even to rage against children hanging from their mothers' breasts? Indeed that saying of the Lord must be recalled to mind, that God will reject from himself the children of those who have been rebellious to him, even to the third and fourth generation, and will demand from them the penalties for the sins of their fathers. Indeed the Lord by these words does not profess any extreme wrath or cruelty against the innocent. For visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, he has just enough cause for condemning them, since in those very sons there always clings enough vice worthy of divine punishment. But he embraces them together with the fathers, to show that he is the judge of all ages. Nor indeed is it lawful to prescribe any limits to him or to impose a law upon him as upon a mortal: but he is to be acknowledged as omnipotent, before whom a thousand years are like one day. If we recall this to memory, our boldness will thus be bridled; since we will recognize that God in his admirable secret counsel has hidden causes for punishing the iniquity of the fathers in their sons: even though he proceeds to vengeance by methods unknown and unsearchable to us: and accordingly that curious arrogance of men must be coerced and held back with a bridle, lest we scrupulously inquire into things which the Lord has not permitted. And if perhaps some temptations have stirred us to murmur, let us strive and struggle all the more vehemently against our innate boldness: and let us know that the sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God is to be cast down and humbled before him: not to be high-minded above measure, but according to measure: and not to pass sentence on what he has not revealed: but to bear patiently that things are hidden from us until the day of perfect revelation. For, as Paul says, we know only in part. Therefore we must patiently wait until God gives us perfect knowledge of those things of which we now have only some taste: and we must acknowledge our weakness, lest we voluntarily plunge ourselves headlong into that abyss of divine judgments.

And of these things so much. Moreover, it is certain that the rages of profane men cannot be impeded by us, that they should not rage against God, and vomit forth blasphemous words against him, saying that God cannot be freed from injustice when he exercises vengeance against the innocent and those guiltless of crime. But meanwhile we must groan, and recall to mind that saying of the prophet, that the reproaches which are cast at God fall back on those mortals themselves. We therefore must be greatly grieved as often as we see wretched little men, like worms creeping on the ground, rising up against the majesty of God, and tearing it with their blasphemous voices: and patiently await the divine vengeance against them. Since it is certain that the end of such most shameless dogs will at last be horrible, even though divine vengeance proceeds with slow and gradual step: and although they may hurl their blasphemies into heaven like stones, they will at last be turned back upon their own heads, and they will at last be overwhelmed with the highest shame. For since they rise up against God, and as it were seem to attack his throne with their horns, yet they struggle only against the air, and cannot touch God himself. For in what part would they attack him, who looms over the necks of all mortals, and beholds all the deeds of men? And therefore even though he may spare the wretched for a time, and even invite them to repentance, yet a long abuse of his patience, and the fight against him, will be received by horrendous confusion and calamity poured out on our heads. Therefore even though we cannot grasp by mind why God sent such horrendous vengeance against the Amalekites, let it satisfy us that God is the judge of the whole world: before whom we ought to be cast down and humbled: acknowledging that all his deeds are just and his decrees irrevocable, even though their reason is not at all clear to us. Meanwhile these things must be more particularly applied to us, and from them a useful doctrine must be drawn out, namely that we should not hope for impunity when God defers punishments: nor seize from that delay the license and occasion of dissoluteness. As wicked men are accustomed to be carried more insolently the more God endures them with greater patience, and to cast away all fear and reverence of him, as Paul says, not thinking about the day of wrath. Therefore we must take the greatest care not to provoke God's wrath against us by our petulance and insolent curiosity: but the greater is his kindness and patience in tolerating us, the heavier penalties we should fear, unless we are brought to him by his patience as by a kind of vehicle, and converted to better fruit. For when he exhorts us to repentance, and invites us through patience, he does not wish us to abuse these things to greater license: but to be more moved to a serious sense of sins, and true repentance, and to pour out ardent prayers to God. Therefore we must think diligently about ourselves, whom he has patiently endured for thirty or forty years, lest we imagine our sins to be so hidden that they do not come into his sight and are always present to him. For if he avenges the iniquity of fathers in their sons, what do we think will happen to us, who do not cease to provoke him to wrath by our sins? For even if in this wretched and fleeting life he does not punish us, nor extend his hand against us, our condition is not therefore going to be better: since another life remains far more excellent than this earthly one, in which that supreme judge will inquire into the lives of all, and avenge the contumacious and criminal with eternal punishments. And, as I said before, how would he spare impenitent and wicked men, when he avenges even infants for the sins of their fathers? Therefore this doctrine must be more deeply fixed in our minds, that first we may know that, although God does not immediately stretch out his arm to exact penalties from us, we should not be indulgent to ourselves, nor give ourselves over to delights: and that we sin gravely against his majesty if we hope for impunity for our sins, or imagine God to be deaf or blind. Then also we must learn from this that the delay of divine judgments is to be patiently borne, if he does not immediately vindicate us from our enemies, when we are afflicted with injuries, and as it were overwhelmed with evils: but rather conceals these things, and seems to have cast off care for us. We must take care indeed not to think that we have been delivered to oblivion by him, and that he has cast off all care of us. For indeed the present history testifies to the contrary: since after two or three hundred years, he carried out the judgment decreed against the Amalekites at the appropriate time. Indeed empty and vain that threat of the Lord seemed to have been, which after so many ages had passed had not yet obtained its outcome. But the Lord had not at all delivered it to oblivion: and that he so long delayed did not happen from impotence, as if he could not have done it sooner if he had wished: but he wished to teach us as in a mirror that he is not like us: that we may learn not to be so precipitate in avenging injuries as nearly all of us are. For our affections are too ardent, and at the first injury done to us we would wish God to hurl a thunderbolt from heaven, and immediately drive down to hell those by whom we are hurt: and unless he answers our ardent and importunate prayers, we are vehemently indignant and speak against him. But on the contrary God teaches us to cast all the injuries done to us back upon him, and to depend on him alone, and to wait for vengeance at the appropriate time. For it is not for us to fix a time for God, and as it were to set him limits. But when his face seems to have been hidden, or turned away from us, let us nevertheless put our finger on our mouth, and lay all our groans in his bosom: and though the wicked are raging, and have loose reins for any kind of injuries, let us nevertheless rest, and in silence and patience wait for the hour and opportunity of the divine judgments. Furthermore let us not doubt that God will one day exact the penalties from his enemies, and demand an account of all the injuries done to his church. For what other reason do we see here that the Amalekites were destroyed in one annihilation, except that God had chosen the people of Israel for his own peculiar treasure, of whom he wished to show himself the protector and avenger? Nor indeed was this a privilege peculiar to the carnal seed of Abraham: but common to all who lean by true faith on his promises. Now indeed, after the coming of Christ the Lord into these lands, God propagated his free adoption far and wide into all the ends of the earth: and accordingly we are held and are among his household. Therefore those promises are ours, that we are so dear and accepted to God that we are guarded by him as the dark of the apple of his eye: and accordingly we ought to be persuaded that he will always perform what he has promised: Touch not, he says, my anointed ones, and do not harm my servants. For if he calls the descendants of Abraham his sons, who still lay in the obscurity of the law, how much more are we now sons in our Lord Jesus Christ, who received the fullness of grace for our salvation? Therefore we now have the body and truth of all those former shadows and figures. Therefore we must not at all doubt that God receives us to himself: and that, when invoked, he is in our midst: that he brings help to the afflicted. And if he allows us to be killed and to come into the power of the enemy, we should know that not a single drop of our blood will perish, indeed even our tears will be gathered and preserved in his vessels, like most precious ointments, as the prophet teaches in the Psalm. Therefore if these things are more deeply impressed on our minds, and we have rejoiced with joy in the midst of sadness, knowing that God will avenge the injuries done to us as if done to himself, since he wishes to have nothing separate from us, whom out of mere grace and goodness he has chosen as his people, what doubt could yet press us, since his power is infinite? What then remains, except that as evils grow we bear them patiently, and cast them on God, knowing that he will by no means allow looser reins to the wicked to vex us, than he himself has judged useful and salutary for us? And this is in summary the doctrine to be drawn from those words in which we hear God commanding the Amalekites all to be exterminated by one annihilation, and their memory to be deleted. Indeed the added oath plainly makes it clear that God has the highest concern for our salvation. For it is much, when he says that he will rise up against our enemies: but when he also confirms that promise with an oath, and as it were interposes himself as surety and bond, so much the more does he demonstrate his love toward us: that we ought to be more than satisfied by his word alone. How much more therefore does he declare his benevolence, when he affirms even by oath that he will be our protector and patron, and will defend us against the violence of enemies, and avenge the injuries done? When the Lord descends so far as to accommodate himself to our weakness, what further doubt will agitate our minds? Therefore it ought to have such weight with us, and so to console us, that we patiently bear whatever injuries are done to us, and overcome with a brave spirit whatever the enemies have plotted against us, indeed even not fear death itself; since God has even deigned to affirm by oath that he will be our avenger, and will exact penalties from our enemies, or rather will take vengeance on his own enemies, since this is his work. And so much for these things.

Moreover, when we hear words spoken here about the cruelty of the Amalekites, who had cruelly opposed the Israelites in the desert, deprived of all things, let us observe that God teaches us that we ought to have mercy on the wretched and afflicted. Therefore whatever evils our brothers suffer, let us know that they are so many goads by which we ought to be roused to mercy toward them: and on the contrary, that it is the greatest and most intolerable cruelty to attack the afflicted and needy with new injuries. And this is the sense of those words which God expresses in Moses in Deuteronomy 25: Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you were weary and tired. But God expressly adds: He did not fear God. Indeed if we have the fear of God, we shall never come to such great cruelty. But there is no doubt that God wished to express the iniquity of the Amalekites for our instruction and correction. For neither were the Amalekites ignorant of the divine promises: therefore they seemed to wish to resist God himself by attacking the people of Israel on the way, as if to prevent God from bringing to its outcome what he had promised to the fathers so many ages before. But, I ask, what kind and how great a fury is this? Mortals to wish to impede the will of God, and to pervert and elude his counsels? To trample his goodness and power with their feet? Indeed it is necessary that they come to such madness through diabolical instinct. Therefore God noted not only that cruelty of the Amalekites, that they had attacked the Israelites who were unarmed and exhausted from the journey in the desert, but especially that they had risen up against God himself, and tried to put an obstacle to the divine promises by fighting against the people. From which let us learn so to revere the word of God that we may be certainly persuaded that whatever God has promised must necessarily be fulfilled: and in turn so to embrace the promises made to us, that we may be certain of their effect and fulfillment, and rest peacefully in them. On the contrary let us fear his threats, and beware lest by our arrogance we be lifted up against him. For if we lift our horns against God, even though we are harder than iron and steel, it is certain that we shall be worn down to the smallest things in vain. For who does not know that the highest mountains, if they should conspire against God, would be melted in a moment by his presence, like snow? What then will become of wretched little men, who are nothing else in the sight of the Lord than refuse and corruption? How then would those whose weakness is so great contend with the omnipotent and dare to resist him? Therefore we must take the greatest care not to resist God's word, but rather to be terrified by his threats and to shudder, and to receive his promises with all humility: certainly persuaded that he will accomplish whatever he has decreed, and bring it to its end. Furthermore let us also learn from this so to abstain from all vengeance, and so to moderate our affections and passions, that we always look to God's commandments, and do not foster vices and crimes by our tolerance. Therefore those whom God has armed with the sword of justice must take care to do their duty faithfully, and to know that they have been raised by God to that dignity not to indulge their affections: but to fulfill the parts of the office imposed on them. And all private persons too, even though they have not received authority from God to take notice of men's vices, ought nevertheless to hate them: lest they themselves do wrong to God, and seem to resist his Spirit, by tolerating with favor those by whom he is offended: and not only tolerating crimes, but even providing them an occasion as far as in them lies. Therefore when we read that the Amalekites were so severely coerced by the Israelites, let us remember that it was done by the order and command of God. To us today such special commands are not given: but yet each one is commanded according to his condition and rank to hate evil. He will not forget, but will take up the cause of his church, with the highest disgrace and final destruction of the enemies. Therefore since we know that God has special care for us, let us not weary of suffering injuries inflicted by enemies, until God appears as avenger, and like a deus ex machina brings help to the oppressed, and drives away miseries and afflictions from us.

Now come, etc.

Moreover let those words of Samuel to Saul also be examined next: The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people, therefore now hearken to the voice and words of the Lord. Indeed Samuel addresses Saul as one endowed with some authority, when he says: I have constituted you king: as if he were saying: When it pleased God to choose you as king, and to send you into possession of the kingdom, he used my ministry: therefore see that you carefully fulfill what I command in the name of the Lord, and without contradiction. From which let us learn that God, when he does not call us to take vengeance on our enemies, allows all vengeance: and let us not doubt that as formerly so also today he has special care of his church, and our salvation depends entirely on his glory, which the enemies of truth violate. What else do the papists do, conspiring against the faithful, than what they do who rise up against God, and try to reduce his majesty to nothing? Are they then finally going to bring their plans to fulfillment? Therefore since they are carried up against God himself, let us patiently await the time of divine vengeance: certainly persuaded that God will be the avenger of his glory, and will not leave the contempt of his name unavenged, but will at last gravely avenge it. And since God is truth itself, it is necessary that he defend himself and his word against any of his enemies: and extend his mercy toward us, though unworthy. But since out of his pure mercy and goodness he has adopted us into sons, let us know with certainty that he will lift us up from our afflictions in his ministry of Samuel. Indeed one who speaks in the name of God ought to prove his calling, that credit may be given to a mortal's words, who otherwise must necessarily be suspect and unhonored. For indeed men are bolder in lying in God's name, in order to give authority to their fabrications by his commendations. We see that in the first place pseudo-prophets and impostors have used the name of God to cover their deceptions and impostures, and have hidden their frauds under it as under a great shield, as if they had God as their author. And we see this vice today most reigning. For since pseudo-prophets are not diligently examined according to this norm, it has come about that such great and horrible confusion has pervaded the church, that everything is turned upside down in it, and nothing but the greatest desolation and ruins appear everywhere. For it has been enough that the pope with his whole company has boasted that they are successors of the apostles, and have received from them what they call their hierarchy. Finally seducers and impostors, who have introduced false dogmas into the church and have caused disturbances, have turned the truth of God into a lie, have always preached the name of God, and gloried in it. Therefore it is necessary that diligent caution be applied, that true pastors and those truly approved by God may be discerned from others: and accordingly that their calling may be confirmed by no doubtful signs: that by this means seducers and impostors, although they may put forward the name of God, may yet be far driven away and restrained.

And may God bring help to the oppressed, and drive away miseries and afflictions from us.

Now come, etc.

1. Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people Israel, so now hear the voice of the Lord. 2. This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I have considered everything that Amalek did to Israel — how he opposed them on the way when they came up from Egypt. 3. Now go and strike Amalek and destroy everything that belongs to him. Do not spare him, but kill man and woman, child and nursing infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. 4. Saul commanded the people and mustered them like lambs — two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5. When Saul came to the city of Amalek, he set an ambush in the valley. 6. Saul said to the Kenite: Go, depart, and withdraw from Amalek, or I may sweep you away with him — for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up from Egypt. So the Kenite withdrew from among the Amalekites. 7. Saul struck Amalek from Havilah as far as Shur, which is opposite Egypt.

A remarkable history now unfolds — one that shows us how deeply God cares for the salvation of His church, and in turn, how earnestly we should fulfill His commands without resistance, even when our instincts recoil. It is intolerable arrogance when a mortal creature dares to argue against the Creator and claims some wisdom above God. Let us begin here: God holds the salvation of His church so dear that He never allows wrongs done against it to go unpunished. Even when the faithful suffer greatly under the wicked and seem crushed by them, the day will come when those ungodly persecutors must give God an account for all of it. The history of Exodus 17 makes this clear — the Amalekites tried to block the people of Israel from passing through the desert, even though Israel had given them no cause for offense. In fact, the Amalekites were not ignorant of the promises God had given to Abraham, for they too traced their origin back to him. When they freely chose to attack that suffering people, they were in effect declaring war on God Himself — trying to make His promises void and overturn His truth. They were doing everything in their power to destroy the true worship of God that He intended to establish in the land of Canaan. This was a grave sin — made worse by the fact that they had no reason to attack Israel. The Israelites had not provoked them or done them any injury. They had only asked for safe passage through the region. Yet the Amalekites took up arms and attacked a people who were not their enemies. This makes clear that they were waging war against God and sinning against their neighbors through sheer cruelty — neighbors who, no less, were the chosen people of God and His own special treasure. But in the end, God drove the Amalekites back by His own power. Although the people fought the battle, the victory was won through the prayers of Moses. As the history shows, whenever Moses lifted his hands toward heaven, Israel prevailed in the fight. God overthrew the plans of His enemies, vindicated His people, protected them from attack, and cleared the way for His promises — despite all opposition. For this reason, God commanded Moses to record these events as a permanent memorial in the book of the law, and to instruct Joshua that the Amalekites would one day be punished by God, their memory erased from the earth and marked with permanent disgrace. This sentence was sealed with an oath — God is said to have had His hand upon the throne, declaring that there would be war between the Lord and Amalek from generation to generation. The phrase 'God's hand upon the throne' carries the force of a solemn oath. When men swear, they lift their hands toward heaven, as if calling God as their witness. As the apostle teaches, since God has no one higher than Himself, He swears by Himself — seated on His throne. Because God swears by His own majesty and is all-powerful, it is certain that He will not leave any wrong unpunished. Moses faithfully carried out this command as well, as we see in Deuteronomy 25:17, where he expressly instructed the people to remember what Amalek had done to them: 'Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt — how he met you on the road and attacked those who were straggling at the rear, when you were weary and exhausted, and he did not fear God. Therefore, when the Lord your God gives you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land He is giving you as an inheritance, you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget.' Yet the years seemed to pass without effect. God's command had not yet been carried out after so many generations. The threats seemed empty, and God's dreadful decree against the Amalekites seemed to have dissolved into nothing. How could God tolerate the Amalekites for so long without calling them to account or inflicting punishment? Here we must recall what Scripture frequently teaches — that a thousand years before God are like a single day. This teaches us that when the wicked triumph because they have escaped danger, when God does not rush to judgment against them, when they live in pleasure and ease and even mock God's judgments — God's vengeance is still coming. It will suddenly overwhelm them when they least expect it.

Now let us apply these things about Moses to our own lives and draw some useful teaching from them. At first glance the command to take such severe vengeance on the Amalekites may seem strange — even excessive. After all, Scripture universally forbids us to avenge our own wrongs. So God might seem to contradict Himself — forbidding vengeance in one place and commanding it in another. But this apparent contradiction is easily resolved once we distinguish between acting out of personal passion and acting out of a genuine desire to obey God. When we are driven to vengeance by our own emotions and desires, that vengeance is always unlawful. Even if we never raise our hand against an enemy but nurse wrath in our heart, we are already guilty of murder before God. It is no surprise, then, that God so strictly forbids all private vengeance. God knows us well — He knows that we love ourselves too much, that we flare up in anger over the smallest offense, and that once our emotions take over we lose all sense of proportion and forget what is right. Beyond this, God demands this honor from us: that we leave our wrongs in His hands. For this reason the apostle warns us not to give place to wrath — teaching that when we usurp God's role, we hinder His work as much as we are able. Why? God Himself explains in another place, the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32: 'Vengeance is Mine, and recompense' — speaking of His defense of His people. Since God promises to help us, to avenge the wrongs done to us, and to cover us as with a shield — why would we race ahead of His work? Why would we rush into vengeance on our own, driven by our anger? To do so is to slam the door on God and take over His role — to reject the divine protection that is far superior to anything we could accomplish by our own efforts. Consider someone who, having been injured, pushed the judge out of his seat and took it himself. Everyone would rightly drive him out with contempt. In the same way, we cannot rightly bring our complaints before God unless we bear our injuries patiently and hold our temper in check, restrained by a spirit of gentleness. This is why private vengeance is forbidden: so that we do not get ahead of God and obstruct His work through our impatience. Since He has taken us under His protection, He intends to avenge the wrongs done to us. But He calls us to abstain from all vengeance — because He knows how violent and uncontrolled our passions are. We must be stripped of those passions and wait patiently for God's justice, lest our impatience work against Him. That said, certain forms of vengeance are not only permitted but commanded. For example: when a magistrate, wielding the sword of justice, brings a robber, thief, or criminal to punishment — that is a legitimate and godly act, in no way contrary to God's will. In fact, as Solomon says, a magistrate who refused to carry out the punishment God commands would sin gravely against God through open rebellion. But that vengeance — when it is measured and grounded in justice — comes from God, not from men. It requires that the magistrate act with genuine devotion to God's worship, fulfilling his office not because of any personal offense but solely because God has commanded that the guilty be punished. All of this makes it clear that private vengeance has no place — because it infringes on God's majesty and intrudes upon His jurisdiction. But public justice carried out by a magistrate is praiseworthy when he disregards personal injury and acts out of zeal for God's worship, moved by God's command alone.

Let us now turn to the history itself. God commands the complete destruction of the Amalekites. Through this, the people takes vengeance for the wrongs done to them. But this is not private vengeance. The people are not moved by their own impulses or by intense passion — they act because God commanded it. This vengeance was neither human nor private. God did not simply release the people to rage against their enemies however they liked, repaying evil with evil. Rather, He entrusted this act of judgment to them so that everyone would see how precious the salvation of His church is to Him. We should not find God's judgment of destruction against the Amalekites strange. Yet another question arises: how could God, after such a long span of time, order the Amalekites to be entirely wiped out — including women and nursing infants? After all, none of those alive in Saul's day were born when the Israelites were attacked in the desert. The original perpetrators had long since died — some in battle, others by flight. The guilty parties could no longer be punished. Yet now God commands the destruction of people who were not even alive when the offense was committed. And what about the women, who are typically spared in war, and the infants still at their mothers' breasts? God explicitly commands even nursing children to be killed. One might object that this is completely without measure — sheer cruelty and unheard-of savagery. But precisely here we must be most careful, and put a rein on our curiosity so that we do not dig too deeply into God's judgments. What madness would it be to subject God's deeds and judgments to our own opinion and then pass sentence on them according to our limited perception? God's wisdom is unchangeable. His truth, power, and justice are unshakable — and all of them lie beyond our comprehension. What madness, then, to demand that they conform to our understanding? Such people are no different from someone who brags about catching the moon with his teeth — a clear sign of complete insanity. How absurd it would be to try to catch the sun itself with a coat or a sleeve. Yet those who subject God to their own reasoning and judge His actions by the standard of their own understanding are doing nothing different from trying to hold all the mountains, heaven, and earth in the palm of their hand. Anyone who attempts such a thing deserves to be considered deranged. We must therefore work all the harder to stay within the bounds of proper humility — adoring and revering God's judgments with sobriety and reverence, since they far surpass our understanding. But since some arrogant men rise up against God with a kind of diabolical boldness, let us examine these divine judgments by an illustration drawn from human experience, so that their mouths may be shut and they may be silenced. If someone refused to allow a convicted criminal to be executed — even after the judge had lawfully condemned him to death — would that person not rightly be considered out of his mind? Would he not bring deserved punishment on himself by resisting the sentence? And if someone, knowing nothing of the case or the law, tried to overturn the judge's verdict by pronouncing his own sentence — would he not be guilty of the greatest folly, or of intolerable arrogance? Everyone would rightly condemn him. What then shall we say about those who presume to judge the decisions of God — before whom alone all power in the universe resides? Paul's words must be deeply fixed in our minds: 'Who are you to pass judgment on another's servant?' And it is written: 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.' When we hear that there is one supreme judge over all, should we not be struck with awe, restrain ourselves, depend on Him, and revere the sentence He pronounces — knowing that He has the power to cast us into hell whenever He wills? If instead we dare to set limits on God and demand that His judgments conform to our standards — or reject them when they do not please us — is that not diabolical fury and intolerable madness? We must face the limits of our own understanding, which cannot penetrate God's mysteries. They are a most profound abyss — and once we plunge in, we never surface. Why then do mortals presume to offer their opinions and rush to judgment on matters they cannot understand? God has reasons for all His judgments. Whatever men may say against them, the Lord is always just and right, as the prophet declared — though our pride in challenging Him brings harm and shame upon ourselves. It is therefore the greatest madness when mortals dare to question God's deeds or murmur against His judgments. So what should we do when God's command to kill even nursing infants seems like extreme cruelty to us? We must recall what the Lord said — that He will hold the children of the rebellious accountable, even to the third and fourth generation, and will demand from them payment for their fathers' sins. The Lord is not expressing some irrational cruelty against the innocent. When He visits the iniquity of the fathers on their sons, He has sufficient reason — for in those very sons there is always enough sin to deserve divine judgment. He brings them together with the fathers under judgment to show that He is the judge of every generation. It is not lawful to prescribe limits for Him or to impose a law on Him as though He were a mortal. He must be acknowledged as all-powerful — before whom a thousand years are like a single day. If we keep this in mind, our boldness will be restrained. We will recognize that God, in His wonderful hidden wisdom, has reasons for punishing the fathers' sins in their descendants — even though He moves toward that judgment through ways that are unknown and unsearchable to us. That curious arrogance in us must be curbed, lest we dig into things the Lord has not permitted us to explore. And if temptations do arise that stir us to murmur against God, we must fight all the more vigorously against our innate boldness. We must know that the offering pleasing to God is to humble ourselves before Him — not to think more highly of ourselves than we should, not to pass sentence on what He has not revealed, and to bear patiently that certain things remain hidden until the day of complete revelation. As Paul says, we know only in part. We must therefore wait patiently until God gives us full knowledge of the things we now only glimpse partially. In the meantime, we must acknowledge our weakness — lest we willfully plunge ourselves headlong into the abyss of God's inscrutable judgments.

Enough on those matters. We cannot stop godless men from raging against God and vomiting blasphemous words — claiming that God cannot escape the charge of injustice when He exercises vengeance against those who seem innocent. But we must groan inwardly and recall the prophet's word: that the reproaches men hurl at God fall back on those very men themselves. We should be deeply grieved whenever we see wretched little men — like worms crawling on the ground — rising up against the majesty of God and tearing at it with their blasphemous words. And we must patiently wait for God's judgment against them. It is certain that the end of such shameless people will be terrible — even if God's vengeance moves slowly. Though they hurl their blasphemies toward heaven like stones, those stones will in the end come crashing down on their own heads, burying them in shame. They rise up against God and seem to charge at His throne — but they are only fighting the air. They cannot touch God Himself. How would they strike Him who towers over all mortals and sees every deed of men? And so even if He spares such wretched people for a time and invites them to repentance, their long abuse of His patience and their war against Him will end in horrific confusion and disaster poured out on their own heads. Even though we cannot fully grasp why God sent such severe judgment against the Amalekites, let it be enough for us that God is the judge of the whole world — before whom we must bow in humility, acknowledging that all His deeds are just and all His decrees are final, even when their reasoning is not clear to us. But let us now draw a more personal lesson from all of this: we must not hope to escape punishment simply because God delays it. We must not take His patience as permission for carelessness. Wicked people, as Paul says, grow bolder the longer God endures them. They cast away all fear and reverence, never thinking about the coming day of wrath. We must take the greatest care not to provoke God's wrath through our insolence and presumption. The greater His kindness and patience in bearing with us, the heavier the penalties we should fear — unless we let His patience draw us to Him and lead us to genuine change. When God urges us to repentance and extends His patience toward us, He does not intend for us to use that patience as license for greater sin. He wants us to be moved to a serious sense of our sin, to true repentance, and to pour out earnest prayers to Him. We must think carefully about ourselves — those of us whom He has patiently endured for thirty or forty years — and not imagine that our sins are so hidden that they escape His sight. They are always before Him. If He avenges the sins of fathers in their children, what do we think will happen to us, who do not stop provoking Him to anger by our sins? Even if He does not punish us in this brief and fleeting life, our situation is not therefore better — because another life remains, far more real than this earthly one. In that life, the supreme judge will examine the lives of all and punish the rebellious and the wicked with eternal judgment. And as I said before: if He avenges even infants for the sins of their fathers, how will He spare impenitent and hardened sinners? This teaching must be deeply fixed in our minds. First: even if God does not immediately stretch out His hand to punish us, we must not be lenient with ourselves or give ourselves over to pleasure. We sin gravely against His majesty if we hope for impunity, or if we imagine that God is deaf or blind. Second: we must learn to wait patiently for God's judgments to come. If He does not immediately defend us from our enemies — if He seems to be hiding and has apparently abandoned all concern for us — we must not conclude that He has forgotten us. This history proves the opposite. After two or three hundred years, God carried out at the right time the judgment He had decreed against the Amalekites. That threat from the Lord had seemed empty — nothing had come of it after so many generations. But the Lord had not forgotten it at all. His long delay was not from weakness, as if He could not have acted sooner. He delayed to teach us, as in a mirror, that He is not like us — so that we might learn not to rush into vengeance the way nearly all of us want to. Our passions run too hot. At the first injury done to us, we want God to hurl a thunderbolt from heaven and drive our enemies straight to hell. And if He doesn't answer our impatient, demanding prayers immediately, we grow indignant and speak against Him. But God teaches us instead to cast all our injuries onto Him, to depend on Him alone, and to wait for His vengeance to come at the right time. It is not for us to set God a deadline or put limits on Him. Even when His face seems hidden or turned away, let us put our finger to our lips and lay all our groaning in His hands. Even when the wicked rage and seem to have free rein to do us every kind of harm — let us be still, and in silence and patience wait for the hour and moment of God's judgment. And let us never doubt that God will one day exact penalties from His enemies and call them to account for every wrong done to His church. Why else do we see the Amalekites wiped out completely — if not because God had chosen the people of Israel as His own special treasure, and wished to show Himself their protector and avenger? And this privilege was not confined to the physical descendants of Abraham — it belongs to all who truly rest by faith on His promises. Now, since the Lord Christ has come into these lands, God has extended His free adoption far and wide to the ends of the earth. We are counted among His household. Those promises are therefore ours. We are so dear and precious to God that He guards us like the pupil of His own eye. We can be sure He will do what He has promised: 'Touch not My anointed ones, and do not harm My servants.' If He called the descendants of Abraham His sons while they still lived under the shadow of the law, how much more are we now sons in our Lord Jesus Christ, who received the fullness of grace for our salvation? We now possess the substance and reality of all those former shadows and types. We must not doubt that God receives us to Himself — that when we call on Him, He is present with us and brings help to the afflicted. And if He allows us to be killed and to fall into the power of the enemy, we must know that not one drop of our blood will be lost. Even our tears will be gathered and kept in His vessels like precious ointment, as the psalmist teaches. If these truths are deeply fixed in our minds — if we can rejoice even in the midst of sorrow, knowing that God will avenge wrongs done to us as though done to Himself, since He has chosen us as His own people out of pure grace and goodness — what remaining doubt could oppress us, since His power is infinite? What remains then, except that as troubles multiply we bear them patiently, casting them onto God — knowing that He will never give the wicked more room to torment us than He Himself has judged to be useful and good for us? This is, in summary, the teaching to be drawn from God's command to utterly exterminate the Amalekites and erase their memory. The added oath makes it unmistakably clear that God has the highest concern for our salvation. It would already be much for Him simply to say He will rise against our enemies. But when He also confirms that promise with an oath — as if putting Himself forward as our guarantee and security — He declares His love for us in an even greater way. His word alone should more than satisfy us. How much more, then, does He show His goodness when He affirms by oath that He will be our protector and defender, that He will guard us against the violence of enemies and avenge every wrong? When the Lord stoops so low as to accommodate Himself to our weakness — what room is left for doubt? This ought to carry such weight with us — and so comfort us — that we patiently bear whatever wrongs are done to us, and face with courage whatever enemies have plotted against us. We need not even fear death itself, since God has deigned to swear by oath that He will be our avenger and will call our enemies — or rather His own enemies, for this is His work — to account. So much for these things.

When we hear about the cruelty of the Amalekites — who attacked the Israelites in the desert when they were exhausted and had nothing — let us see in this God's teaching that we ought to have compassion on the wretched and suffering. Whatever hardships our brothers and sisters endure, those hardships are so many spurs driving us toward mercy. And on the other side: to attack the afflicted and needy with fresh injuries is the greatest and most intolerable cruelty. This is what God's words in Deuteronomy 25 mean: 'Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you were weary and exhausted.' God adds this significant detail: 'He did not fear God.' If we have the fear of God, we will never descend into such cruelty. God clearly intended to expose the wickedness of the Amalekites as a lesson and warning for us. The Amalekites knew about God's promises to Israel. By attacking the people on their journey, they were essentially trying to resist God Himself — to prevent Him from fulfilling what He had promised to the fathers so many ages before. What kind of madness is this? That mortals would try to block God's will, twist His purposes, and trample His goodness and power underfoot? Such insanity can only come from a diabolical impulse. So God did not merely note the Amalekites' cruelty in attacking unarmed, weary travelers in the desert — He especially condemned the fact that they had risen up against God Himself and tried to obstruct His promises by making war on His people. From this let us learn to reverence God's Word with such conviction that we are certain whatever He has promised must necessarily be fulfilled. Let us embrace the promises made to us with such confidence that we rest peacefully in them, sure of their fulfillment. At the same time, let us fear His warnings and beware of rising up against Him in arrogance. If we lift ourselves against God — even if we were harder than iron and steel — we would be worn down to nothing. Who does not know that the highest mountains, if they were to conspire against God, would melt in a moment at His presence like snow? What then will become of wretched human beings, who are nothing but dust and decay in the Lord's sight? How could those whose weakness is so great contend with the Almighty and dare to resist Him? We must be most careful not to resist God's Word. Instead, let His warnings fill us with awe and reverence, and let us receive His promises with all humility — certain that He will accomplish everything He has decreed and bring it to its appointed end. Let us also learn from this to abstain from all private vengeance and to govern our passions so that we always look to God's commands and do not excuse or enable sin through false tolerance. Those whom God has entrusted with the sword of justice must faithfully do their duty and understand that they were raised to that position not to indulge their own desires but to carry out the responsibilities God has placed on them. And all private individuals — even though they have not received authority from God to punish the vices of others — ought nonetheless to hate those vices. To look on favorably at what offends God is to wrong God Himself and to resist His Spirit. It is not only to tolerate sin but to give it room to grow. When we read that the Amalekites were so severely judged by the Israelites, let us remember that it was done by God's express command. No such special commands are given to us today. But every person, according to their condition and rank, is called to hate evil. God will not forget. He will take up the cause of His church, and His enemies will face ultimate disgrace and destruction. Since we know that God has special care for us, let us not grow weary of bearing the injuries our enemies inflict — until God appears as our avenger and, at just the right moment, brings help to the oppressed and drives away our miseries and afflictions.

Now come, etc.

Let us also consider Samuel's words to Saul: 'The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, so now hear the voice and words of the Lord.' Samuel addresses Saul with a reminder of his authority: 'When it pleased God to choose you as king and place you in possession of the kingdom, He used my ministry. Therefore make sure you faithfully carry out what I command in the Lord's name — without argument.' From this let us learn that when God does not call us to take vengeance on our enemies, He reserves all vengeance for Himself. And let us not doubt that, just as in former times, He still has special care for His church today. Our salvation is bound up entirely with His glory — and His glory is precisely what the enemies of truth are attacking. What else are the papists doing when they conspire against the faithful, if not rising up against God and trying to strip away His majesty? Will they finally succeed in carrying out their plans? Since they are rising up against God Himself, let us patiently wait for the time of His judgment — certain that God will be the defender of His own glory, and will not leave the contempt of His name unanswered but will avenge it severely in the end. Since God is truth itself, He must defend Himself and His Word against all His enemies — and extend His mercy toward us, unworthy as we are. Since out of pure mercy and goodness He has adopted us as His sons, we can know with certainty that He will lift us out of our afflictions through His ministry. Now, anyone who speaks in the name of God must demonstrate his calling — so that when a mortal's words are given credit, there is good reason for it. Without such proof, a human messenger must be regarded with suspicion. Men are bold enough to lie in God's name, using His authority to give weight to their inventions. We see that false prophets and imposters have always used God's name to cover their deceptions — hiding their fraud behind it like a great shield, as though God Himself were their author. And we see this same vice flourishing today. Because false prophets are not carefully tested against this standard, a great and terrible confusion has spread through the church. Everything is turned upside down, and nothing but desolation and ruin appears on every side. It has been enough for the pope and his whole company to boast that they are the successors of the apostles and have inherited what they call their hierarchy. Deceivers and imposters who have brought false teachings into the church, stirred up disorder, and turned God's truth into a lie have always preached in God's name and gloried in it. Therefore careful discernment is necessary — so that true pastors, genuinely approved by God, can be distinguished from all others. Their calling must be confirmed by clear and unmistakable evidence, so that deceivers and imposters — even when they invoke God's name — may be exposed and driven away.

May God bring help to the oppressed and drive away our miseries and afflictions.

Now come, etc.