Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 73:9

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"They have set against Heaven their mouth, and their tongue hath passed over above the earth" (ver. 9). For this, "hath passed over above the earth" is, they pass over all earthly things? What is it to pass over all earthly things? He doth not think of himself as a man that can die suddenly, when he is speaking; he doth menace as if he were alway to live: his thought doth transcend earthly frailty, he knoweth not with what sort of vessel he is enwrapped; he knoweth not what hath been written in another place concerning such men: "His …

Exposition on Psalm 73 ↗

Ambrose of Milan

"They have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has passed over the earth." We learn the meaning of "to set one's mouth against heaven" from the younger of the two brothers, who returned to his father and said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you." But those who think that freedom to sin is given to them by some inevitability of birth are setting their mouth against heaven. …

The Prayer of Job and David 4.5.12-13 ↗