That we must not believe everyone, and that we are prone to fall in our
words
Lord, be thou my help in trouble, for vain is the help of man.(1) How
often have I failed to find faithfulness, where I thought I possessed
it. How many times I have found it where I least expected. Vain
therefore is hope in men, but the salvation of the just, O God, is in
Thee. Blessed be thou, O Lord my God, in all things which happen unto
us. We are weak and unstable, we are quickly deceived and quite
changed.
2. Who is the man who is able to keep himself so warily and
circumspectly as not sometimes to come into some snare of perplexity?
But he who trusteth in Thee, O Lord, and seeketh Thee with an unfeigned
heart, doth not so easily slip. And if he fall into any tribulation,
howsoever he may be entangled, yet very quickly he shall be delivered
through Thee, or by Thee shall be comforted, because Thou wilt not
forsake him that trusteth in Thee unto the end. A friend who continueth
faithful in all the distresses of his friend is rare to be found. Thou,
O Lord, Thou alone art most faithful in all things, and there is none
other like unto Thee.
3. Oh, how truly wise was that holy soul which said, “My mind is
steadfastly fixed, and it is grounded in Christ.”(2) If thus it were
with me, the fear of man should not so easily tempt me, nor the arrows
of words move me. Who is sufficient to foresee all things, who to guard
beforehand against future ills? If even things which are foreseen
sometimes hurt us, what can things which are not foreseen do, but
grievously injure? But wherefore have I not better provided for myself,
miserable that I am? Why, too, have I given such heed to others? But we
are men, nor are we other than frail men, even though by many we are
reckoned and called angels. Whom shall I trust, O Lord, whom shall I
trust but Thee? Thou art the Truth, and deceivest not, nor canst be
deceived. And on the other hand, Every man is a liar,(3) weak, unstable
and frail, especially in his words, so that one ought scarcely ever to
believe what seemeth to sound right on the face of it.
4. With what wisdom hast thou warned us beforehand to beware of men,
and that a man’s foes are they of his own household,(4) and that we
must not believe if one say unto us Lo here, or Lo there.(5) I have
been taught by my loss, and O that I may prove more careful and not
foolish hereby. “Be cautious,” saith some one: “be cautious, keep unto
thyself what I tell thee.” And whilst I am silent and believe that it
is hid with me, he himself cannot keep silence concerning it, but
straightway betrayeth me and himself, and goeth his way. Protect me, O
Lord, from such mischief-making and reckless men; let me not fall into
their hands, nor ever do such things myself. Put a true and steadfast
word into my mouth, and remove a deceitful tongue far from me. What I
would not suffer, I ought by all means to beware of doing.
5. Oh, how good and peacemaking a thing it is to be silent concerning
others, and not carelessly to believe all reports, nor to hand them on
further; how good also to lay one’s self open to few, to seek ever to
have Thee as the beholder of the heart; not to be carried about with
every wind of words, but to desire that all things inward and outward
be done according to the good pleasure of Thy will! How safe for the
preserving of heavenly grace to fly from human approval, and not to
long after the things which seem to win admiration abroad, but to
follow with all earnestness those things which bring amendment of life
and heavenly fervour! How many have been injured by their virtue being
made known and too hastily praised. How truly profitable hath been
grace preserved in silence in this frail life, which, as we are told,
is all temptation and warfare.
(1) Psalm lx. 11. (2) St. Agatha. (3) Psalm cxvi. 11; Romans iii. 4.
(4) Matthew x. 17, 36. (5) Matthew xxiv. 23.