5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.



Ver. 5. Not as we hoped] God is usually better to us than our hopes.



First gave their own selves to the Lord] Ay, this is the right way of giving alms; and this is done by faith, the work whereof is to be an empty hand, Mendica manus (as Luther calleth it), a beggar’s hand to receive it; but when it hath received, it gives back again itself and all, and thinks all too little, as Mary Magdalen did her precious ointment.



And unto us by the will] The good soul delivers up itself to Christ’s faithful ministers, and saith in effect to them, as Luther, before he was better informed, wrote to Pope Leo X, A. D. 1518, Prostratum pedibus me tibi offero, cum omnibus quae sum et habeo:-Vocem tuam vocem Christi in te praesidentis et loquentis agnoscam: I humbly prostrate myself with all that I have and am at thy feet. (Scult. Annal.)