Moralia in Job 974

51. By the hidden snares of enemies she is scattered in his stead, God for a time usefully forsaking her. — Let blessed Job say these things concerning the malignant spirits, namely the hidden enemies; let the whole Church say them concerning the depraved who persecute, namely the open adversaries. For these scatter her paths, when in the minds of certain weak ones they disturb by crafty persuasion the ways of truth. These, lying in wait, prevail, when those whom they cannot openly draw to evil they pervert by feigning good. But it is very wonderful what he subjoins: There was none to bring help; whereas the Psalmist cries out concerning divine aid: A helper in due seasons, in tribulation (Ps. ix, 10); and:

Let those who know thy name put their trust in thee, for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord. And when again it is written: Who ever hoped in the Lord, and was confounded? or who continued in his commandments, and was forsaken? or who called upon him, and he despised him? (Ecclus. ii, 11, 12). By what reason, then, is it now said: There was none to bring help, save that Almighty God sometimes forsakes for a time those whom he loves unto eternity? Whence it is written: For a moment, in a little wrath, I forsook thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a moment of indignation I hid my face from thee for a little while, but with everlasting kindness have I had mercy on thee (Isa. liv, 7, 8). Hence too the Psalmist besought, saying:

Forsake me not utterly (Ps. cxviii, 8). He knew, then, that he could usefully be forsaken for a little, who prayed that he might not be forsaken utterly. For the Lord aids his saints by coming, and proves them by forsaking; he strengthens them by gifts, and tries them by tribulations. Whence rightly also is it said through a certain wise man: In the first place he chose him, he will bring upon him fear and dread and trial, and will torment him with the tribulation of his discipline, until he try him in his thoughts (Ecclus. iv, 18). For grace calls the soul of the just, temptation questions it. And Almighty God permits the adversaries of his elect to increase for a time, that through the savagery of the wicked the life of the good may be purged. 52.

Even the power of the depraved serves the profit of the just. — For never would the Lord permit the adverse to bear upon the good, unless he also saw how far they might profit. For while the unjust rage, the just are purged, and the life of the depraved serves the profit of the innocent, while by pressing it down it humbles it, and by humbling it ever forms it unto something better. Whence rightly also is it said through Solomon: He that is foolish shall serve the wise (Prov. xi, 29). And yet we often behold the wise in subjection, and the foolish holding the citadel of dominion; the wise obeying servilely, the foolish domineering with tyrannical haughtiness. How then, by the definition of the divine sentence, does the fool serve the wise, when for the most part he oppresses him by the right of temporal dominion?

But it must be known that, against the life of the wise man, while the fool, being pre-eminent, exercises the terror of his power, while he wearies him with labours and mangles him with insults, he assuredly purges him by burning away from all the rust of vices. The fool therefore, even by domineering, serves the wise man, whom by pressing him down he advances to a better state. So sometimes, under boy-masters, servants preside over the training of discipline; they terrify, they press, they strike, and yet they in no way cease to be servants, because they are ordained unto this very end, that by striking they may minister to their advancing masters. Since, therefore, the evils of the reprobate, while they torture the good, purge them, even the power of the wicked serves the profit of the just. But often the just, caught in tribulation, reckon slow the hand

of him who comes to their aid, when the cruelty of their persecutors presses them somewhat too long. And swift indeed are the remedies of the Deliverer, yet what is done all too soon by the Deliverer seems slow to the one in pain. And when help is sought for one's petition, if it does not straightway follow the voice, it is reckoned to be lacking. Whence it is now said: And there was none to bring help. In which very voice the force of the suffering is expressed, because the aid from on high, although it is present as regards the ordered providence of the Protector, is nevertheless believed to be lacking as regards the hurried longings of the sufferer. There follows: