Volume II, Treatise III, Chapter XXXVIII

Of the Great Favours God Confers Upon the Humble, and Why He Raises Them So High

“ALL good things came to me with it,” (Wisdom 7:11), says Solomon, speaking of wisdom, which words we may apply to humility, and say also, that all good things come along with it. The same Solomon adds, “that where humility is, there is wisdom;” (Proverbs 11:2) and David tells us, “that God gives wisdom to little ones,” (Psalms 18:8) that is, to those who become little by humility. But this truth is taught us expressly in several places of the Old and New Testament, wherein God promises great favours and benefits to the humble, to little ones, and to the poor in spirit;

calling those who have true humility of heart, indifferently by all these names. ‘On whom shall I look,” says the Lord in Isaias, “but on the man that is poor, and of. @ contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word?”—-(Isaias 66:2) God casts his eyes upon such, to crown them with benefits and favours. And St. Peter and St. James teach us, that “God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) The same thing the holy Virgin assures us of: “The Lord,” says she, “has cast down the mighty from their seat, and has exalted the humble; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.” (Luke 1:52) The royal prophet says likewise, “that the Lord will save the humble, and will humble the haughty looks of the proud.” (Psalms 17:28). And our Saviour in fine assures us, that “whosoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:11) As “God sends rain upon the vallies, whereby they abound in corn;” (Psalms 103:10); (Psalms 64:14);) so the showers of God’s grace fall more plenteously upon the humble, and cause them to bring forth a greater abundance of fruit than others. St. Austin says, that humility draws down God unto it. “God is high,” says he; “if you humble yourself, he comes down to you; if you exalt yourself, he withdraws himself from you.” And why so? Because “God is high, and looks down upon things that are lowly,” (Psalms 137:6) that is, humble persons; and showers down blessings upon them; but “he sees afar off, things that are high,” that is, the proud. And as we know not what is seen a great way off, 80 God knows not the proud, so as to confer any favours upon them, but assures them, “verily, I say unto you, I know you not.” — (Mat. xxv. 12.) St. Bonaventure says, that the humble soul is disposed to receive from God all kind of favours, as soft wax is, to receive all manner of impressions. In the entertainment which Joseph gave his brethren, the least had the best share.

But why is God so pleased to exalt the humble, and to confer upon them so many favours? It is, because all the good he does them, returns to himself. For they who are humble appropriate to themselves nothing of what they receive; they restore it all to. God, and acknowledging, “that there is nothing great but the power of God alone, they ascribe to him the glory and honour of _all.’’ (Ecclesiasticus 3:11) Now God seeing the disposition of their heart, knows very well he may securely trust them with the treasures of his grace without fear of their closing in his debt, or keeping any thing for themselves; and so the good he does unto them, he does unto himself; because the glory thereof remains his own. Moreover, do we not see that even the grandees of the world, often please themselves by signalizing their power upon inconsiderable people, and by raising them out of the dust, to heap their favours upon them, by making them, as we usually say, their creatures. And thus it is, that God deals with us. ‘ For we have,” says the apostle, “the treasure of grace in earthen vessels; that our advancement may be ascribed to the power of God, and not to ourselves.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) This then is the reason why God is pleased to exalt the. humble, and to confer so many favours upon them; and why, on the contrary, he abandons the proud, who attribute all to themselves; who have a vanity in all their good actions and successes; as if they owed all to their own care; and thus rob God of his glory, who is alone the true owner of it. For alas! in every little fervour we feel; for example, on shedding a tear or two at onr prayers, we fail not presently to look upon ourselves as persons of great devotion, far advanced in spirituality. Yea; we stick not even to prefer ourselves to others, and to look upon them, e being a great way behind us. And thence it comes, that God sometimes does not only not confer new favours upon us, but takes from us, part of the former; lest we should turn good into evil, and antidotes into poison; and lest his gifts and benefits, by the bad use of them, should become a greater cause of our condemnation. Thus we do, when a man has a weak stomach—let the meat be ever so good of itself, we give him but very little of it; because he has not strength enough to digest a great quantity; for if more were given him, it would all turn into corruption, phlegm, and choler. The holy scripture tells us that the oil ceased not to run from the widow’s pot, “whilst there were any other vessels to receive it, but as soon as the vessels were full, the oil stopped.”—(4 Kings iv. 6.) So it is with divine mercy. On God’s side, it has no limits; “for the hand of the Lord is not shortened.”—(Isa. lix. 1.) God neither does, nor can change; he remains always in the same state, and desires more to impart his favours to us, than we do to receive them. ‘The fault is in us, who are so full of ourselves, and of the confidence we have in our own strength, that there remain no empty vessels for us to receive the oil of mercies. Nothing but humility and the knowledge of one’s self, can free a man from so unhappy a fulness; can give him a just diffidence of his own strength, and make God shower down his favours more plenteously upon him, according to these words of the wise man— Humble yourself before God, and expect all things from his hands.” (Ecclesiasticus 13:9)

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