[Solomon] calls Christ wisdom, intelligence and reason. The house is [Christ’s] church which he built and whose storerooms he filled with every kind of precious and splendid riches. The storerooms are the hearts of those who believe in Christ and live in imitation of him—those hearts, I mean, which abound in goodness in thoughts, words and deeds. For this reason, they are made worthy of eternal blessedness.

It must be said that not every strong person is also wise, but every wise person is strong, because although one may be physically weak, he will still be able to overcome every strength of the enemy, that is, the devil, if he has wisdom.

[Solomon] calls war a matter full of disorder, a matter in need of many hands. Or, he may be warning us not to rush to war inconsiderately. Behold, he says, When a decision must be taken, is it not always beneficial to have wisdom in the middle of things?

Redeem those who are ready to be slain; spare no effort. [Solomon] did not say, Enquire curiously, and learn who they are, and yet for the most part they who are led away to execution are wicked. This especially is charity. For he that does good to a friend does it not altogether for God’s sake; but he that does good to one unknown acts purely for God’s sake. Do not spare your money; even if it is necessary to spend all, yet give.

But we, when we see persons in extreme distress, bewailing themselves, suffering things more grievous than ten thousand deaths, and oftentimes unjustly, we [I say] are sparing of our money and unsparing of our brothers. We are careful of lifeless things but neglect the living soul!

Learn from your own experience to sympathize with those in trouble and never terrify with destructive despair those who are in danger, nor harden them with severe speeches, but rather restore them with gentle and kindly consolations. As the wise Solomon says, Spare not to deliver those who are led forth to death, and to redeem those who are to be slain.

The text, For a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again, means that he will not perish, however often he falls. There is here no question of falling into sins but of afflictions leading to a lower life.

The words falls seven times are employed to express every kind of tribulation, whereby one is cast down in the sight of people; and the words rises up again signify that one profits from all these tribulations.

The just falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked shall be weakened in evils. When evils befall the wicked, they are weakened by them. When evils befall the righteous, the Lord strengthens all that are falling. . . and lifts up all those that have been cast down^[1]: all, that is, who belong to him, for God resists the proud.^[2]

For those small offences by which the righteous falls seven times and will rise again penitence will never cease, as it is written. For either through ignorance, or forgetfulness, or thought, or word, or surprise, or necessity, or weakness of the flesh, or defilement in a dream, we often fall every day either against our will or voluntarily. On account of these offences—for which he also prays to the Lord and asks for purification and pardon—David says: Who can understand sins? Cleanse me from my secret sins; and spare your servant from those of others.^[1] And the apostle says: For I do not do the good that I desire, but the evil that I do not desire, that I do.^[2]

With God’s help we both can and should be without serious offenses, but no just person ever was or ever will be able to live without small sins. We are continuously troubled and tormented by these as by flies buzzing around. . . . Very often sins creep up on us through thoughts or desires or speech or action, as the result of necessity, through weakness or out of forgetfulness. If a person thinks only of serious sins and strives to resist only these but has little or no care about small sins, he incurs no less danger than if he committed more serious offenses. Therefore let us not think little of our sins because they are slight, but let us fear them because they are many. Drops of rain are small, but because they are very many, they fill rivers and submerge houses, and sometimes by their force they even carry off mountains.

A Christian is said to rise again in two different senses: when he perseveres in God’s gifts of justification after he has been set free by grace from the death of the vices in this world, as the most wise Solomon says: A just man falls seven times and he rises again. There is also said to be that general resurrection at which the just will obtain their eternal rewards.

Let no one, therefore, believe, as Pelagius teaches, that he can live without sins and debts, when he sees the apostles praying earnestly for their own transgressions, as the Lord teaches. And there is also written elsewhere, The righteous falls seven times and rises again. For it is impossible even for the saints to live without occasionally incurring guilt in very small sins which are committed through talk, thought, ignorance, forgetfulness, necessity, will, surprise. But still they do not cease being right-eous, because with the Lord’s assistance they rise again more quickly from their guilty act.

Although the righteous may offend perhaps through the frailty of the flesh or through ignorance, nevertheless he does not cease to be righteous, because just as there is daily and unavoidable offense of this kind, so also there is the daily remedy of prayers and good works that quickly raises up the righteous offender, so that he may not tumble to the ground and befoul with the dust of vices the marriage dress of charity and faith.

Fear God, my son, and the king, that is, fear Christ, the true God and king. Or by king [Solomon] means the one who, before ruling over others, rules himself. Do not be disobedient to any of them. Indeed, the one who denies respect to the king elected by God dishonors God. The impious will be immediately punished: certainly nobody knows that hour or day. Often for those still living an unexpected punishment is taken. Therefore only the judge knows the opportunity and reason of the punishment to be inflicted, or somebody who is a very close friend. So never have a friend except for the Lord and the king: certainly if they are not friends of the Lord and the king, they are their enemies. In truth, do not consider as friends those who are not the friends of the king and the Lord.

The sacred Scripture has somewhere said, Prepare your works for your departure, and make yourself ready for the field. Now by our departure I imagine is meant our going from this world and removal from it. And this time must of course overtake every one; for, as the psalmist says, What man is there that shall live and not see death, and that can save his soul from the hand of hell?^[1] For the nature of man was condemned in Adam and fell away unto corruption, because he foolishly transgressed the commandment given him.

Therefore he who values the security of his soul will take care to be out of danger, by keeping free from sin, that so he may preserve the advantage of his former good works to himself.

It is a day of shouting and the trumpet.^[1] It is a day of grief and sighing for those who have not prepared their works well for the way, which means for their departure out of the body, so that they might meet God profitably.