30. We know these things. We surely do not suppose that we have therefore comprehended them. It is not argument that comprehends them, but holiness, if at least that can any way be comprehended which is incomprehensible. But unless its comprehension were possible, the Apostle would not have said, 'That we may comprehend with all Saints.'1 The Saints, therefore, comprehend. Do you ask how? If you are holy you have comprehended, and know; if you are not, be holy and you shall know by your own experience. Holy affection makes a man holy, and that a twofold affection: the holy fear of the Lord, and holy love. When the soul is perfectly possessed by these, it 'comprehends' as it were with its two arms, embraces, draws close, holds tight, and says, 'I have held Him fast, and will not let Him go;'2 Fear corresponds to 'height' and 'depth', love to 'breadth' and 'length'. What is so much to be feared as irresistible power? as wisdom from which there is no hiding? God might have been feared less had He lacked either. But as things are, you must perfectly fear Him who neither wants an all-seeing eye, nor an all-powerful hand. Again, what is so lovable as love itself, whereby you love and are beloved? Yet eternity conjoined with love makes love more lovable; eternal love never fails, and it banishes the suspicion that it ever will. Love, therefore, with perseverance and long-suffering, and the 'length' is yours; extend your love even to your enemies, the 'breadth' is yours. Fear God with utmost care, and you have laid hold upon the 'height' and 'depth'.
31. If, moreover, you prefer to respond to the four Divine attributes with four affections of your own, you may do so with wonder, fear, zeal, endurance. Most wonderful is the 'height' of His Majesty, most worthy to be feared the abyss3 of His judgements. Divine love4 demands your zeal, the eternity5 of God portrays your constant endurance. Who wonders, but he who contemplates the glory of God? Who fears, but he who searches the depth of His wisdom? Who glows with zeal, but he who meditates on the love of God? Who endures and perseveres in love, but he who aspires to copy eternal love? In truth, perseverance is a sort of likeness here to eternity hereafter. In fact it is perseverance alone on which eternity is bestowed; or rather, it is perseverance which bestows man on eternity; as the Lord says, 'He that shall persevere unto the end, the same shall be saved.'6
32. And now observe how these four represent four kinds of contemplation. The first and highest form of contemplation is the admiration of the Divine Majesty. If the heart be cleansed, free from vice, and relieved of the burden of its sins, it may hereby be easily raised to things above; the admiring soul may sometimes also for brief intervals be even kept entranced with wonder and amazement. The second must attend the first, for it beholds the judgements of God. It may violently shock the beholder with the fearful vision, but it puts vice to flight, firmly bases virtue, initiates in wisdom, preserves humility. For humility is a good sound foundation of the virtues. If humility, forsooth, be insecure, the whole structure of the virtues is nothing but a ruin. The third kind of contemplation is busy with, or rather leisurely surveys, past benefits; it would not send a man away with ingratitude in his heart, and therefore asks for such an one as is mindful of the love of the benefactor. Concerning such the prophet says to the Lord, 'They shall utter the memory of thy great goodness.'7 The fourth kind, forgetting the things that are behind,8 rests in the expectation of the promises alone; inasmuch as it is meditation on eternity, for the things promised are eternal, it fosters a spirit of long-suffering, and gives strength to perseverance. It is now easy, I suppose, to adapt these four to the four in the Apostle's list ; meditation on the promises coincides with the 'length', the remembrance of benefits with the 'breadth', the contemplation of God's Majesty with the 'height', the consideration of His judgements with the 'depth'. He should have been further sought who is not yet found to the satisfying of our souls, nor can be sought enough. But perhaps He is more worthily sought through prayer than through dialectics, and more easily found. With this let us end the book—but not our search for Him.