receive such a clear knowledge and, as it were, a foretaste of heavenly goods that he cried out as if he could behold them with his eves: “I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.”[1] This was the time when he was still innocent and had to fly from the fury of Saul, and was even forced to beg his bread; but he consoled himself with the thought that he should see the good things of the Lord. But, holy Prophet, how is it that thou seest those things already? Persecution, misery, hunger, and want surround thee on all sides, and thou pretendest to see the goods and joys of the Lord? Truly, answers St. Chrysostom, it was those very trials that made him certain of possessing the good things of God in the next life. For he knew well that the persecution of his innocence was contrary to justice; and therefore he came to the conclusion, and it was a certain one, that divine Providence had appointed another place in the next life, where his innocence would be brought to light and his patience crowned.
Much more should we Christians be encouraged by this hope in trials. O Christians! if the just in the Old Law found such a sure foundation for their hope in the trials they suffered, how strong should not be the hope of pious Christians, since their trials are stamped and sealed by Jesus Christ Himself, the King of the suffering, who by the testimony of His blood as well as by word of mouth assures us that crosses are title-deeds to the joys of heaven, and a sure pledge of eternal salvation? If our dear Lord had said in His Gospel that all who follow Him and serve Him zealously should escape discomfort and trouble, and be endowed with wealth, honor, and pleasure, while He should reserve His trials for the wicked alone, then if I saw sinners enjoying prosperity and the good groaning under the weight of affliction, I should begin to wonder, to lose courage, and to despair of salvation. Why, I should say, has the Son of God betrayed us? for I see the contrary happening to what He has led us to believe, and therefore I cannot trust in His promises about eternal life.
For Christ has expressly promised that the afflicted shall rejoice. But when I read the Gospel and find that things are stated there quite differently; when I hear my Saviour saying clearly to His disciples: “You shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice;”[2] a when I hear Him enumerating all the persecutions, calumnies, scourgings, crosses, and torments in store for
