Psalms 149:6

But the saints who "exult in glory," no need is there for us to say how they exult: just hear the verse of the Psalm which follows: "The saints shall exult in glory, they shall rejoice in their beds:" not in theatres, or amphitheatres, or circuses, or follies, or market places, but "in their chambers." What is, "in their chambers"? In their hearts. Hear the Apostle Paul exulting in his closet: "For this is our glory, the testimony of our conscience." [2 Corinthians 1:12] On the other hand, there is reason to fear lest any be pleasing to himself, and so seem to be proud, and boast of his conscience. For every one ought to exult with fear, for that wherein he exults is God's gift, not his own desert. For there be many that please themselves, and think themselves righteous; and there is another passage which goes against them, which says, "Who shall boast that he has a clean heart, and that he is pure from sin?" [Proverbs 20:9] There is then, so to speak, a limit to glorying in our conscience, namely, to know that your faith is sincere, your hope sure, your love without dissimulation. "The exultations of God are in their mouths" [Psalm 149:6]. In such wise shall they "rejoice in their closets," as not to attribute to themselves that they are good, but praise Him from whom they have what they are, by whom they are called to attain to what they are not, and from whom they hope for perfection, to whom they give thanks, because He has begun.

The exaltations of God are in their throat. Surely he who cries out does not cry out in the throat, but on the lips: that is, he does not cry out in the throat, but cries out on the lips. And how does he say here, The exaltations of God are in their throat? "Crying out in our hearts, Abba, Father." The voice that cries out to God is not of the lips, but is of the heart. Finally, the Lord says to Moses: "Why do you cry out to me?" And certainly Moses had said nothing. And two-edged swords are in their hands. These who exult in their beds — it is said of the saints, it is said of perfect men — what else do they have? And two-edged swords are in their hands. Two-edged swords. The swords of the saints are two-edged. We read in the Apocalypse of John, which is read in the churches and is received — for it is not held among the apocryphal scriptures, but among the ecclesiastical — it is said there, then, of the Lord Savior: "And a sword, he says, sharp on both sides went forth from his mouth." You see, therefore, that these saints received those two-edged swords, which they have in their hands, from the mouth of the Lord. The Lord, therefore, gives a sword from his mouth to his disciples: a two-edged sword, that is, the word of his teaching. A two-edged sword: both according to history and according to allegory, both according to the letter and according to the spirit. A two-edged sword: which both kills adversaries and defends its own. A two-edged sword. This two-edged sword has two edges: it speaks both of the present age and of the age to come: and here it kills adversaries, and in heaven it opens the kingdoms of heaven. Why do the saints have these swords?