Divine Grace and the Unity of Soul and Body

For Israel, there is a prayer of thanksgiving, following hymns and foretold worships toward God, because through His mercy and His truth, for the sake of the name of the Word of God, He is being glorified—that is, what is now being fulfilled—to be glorified in the name of the Word as He was never previously glorified, since the worship of God was confined to a portion of the earth before the manifestation of the Word. The Creator is praised by all, and God was announced to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; He possessed this knowledge and honor even unto the nation of the Hebrews. But when His living Word came forth from God and was revealed into the world through a body, then every nation and the whole inhabited world rushes toward the worship of God, serving in the name of the Word and glorifying God in the presence of the Word; now reverence abounds among the nations according to the mercy, while it is also preserved for Israel according to the truth of the promises.

Psalm 137:3 shows great favor, and swift obedience in the name of Christ, and the provision of power being given to souls. For Christ says, 'If you ask anything in my name, I will do it' (John 14:14); and the apostle says that the provision of the Spirit comes to those who believe. Psalm 137:5 Let the providence of God be praised, because He is a great God, and His greatness is revealed through providence, just as through the seraphim His glory in the present providence and economy is praised, crying out, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth' (Isaiah 6:3), ful—

For all the earth is his glory (Ps 137:6).

He says that human creation enjoys the gift of God, even this lesser and formerly more dishonored creature, which is not now itself exalted, because to God all things are lowly and the highest, and these are known from afar because the unapproachable height of God cannot be approached. Since all things are small in relation to God, it is nothing to wonder that even the smallest things are reached by his benefits; that is, those in the world who have no hope and are atheists, whom the apostle has spoken of as not even existing (Ps 137:7-8a).

Second, the part of Israel is brought forward, having been received into afflictions but to be repaired unto salvation; through which your enemies shall be struck by God, but they themselves shall attain the salvation from God. The Lord will repay on my behalf; for he will repay on behalf of the wronged of the nation so that they may come out from the hands of the oppressors (Ps 137:8c).

Even if we do not provide fruits worthy of your love, he says, because we are sinful works, we deserve not to be despised (Ps 137:8c).

Here, both soul and body are shown placed into one thing and molded under one form, each setting the other, for he says that God has the knowledge of the psychic properties from the molding, just as another has said, 'He who formed the spirit of man in him' (Ps 138:5). For the creation is not in a state of separation, but even if the making of the soul is more beautiful than that of the body, it is not such as to be man-made according to the formation of matter, but is inspired according to the subsistence from divine power. Altogether, indeed, into one...