Same verse.—They heard not the voice of the exactor. 69. The devil is the exactor. He is not obeyed when the tempter is resisted.—Who else ought to be understood by the name of exactor, but that importunate persuader, who once lent to the human race the coin of deception, and daily ceases not to demand from it the debt of death? Who in paradise lent to man the money of sin; but, iniquity increasing, daily exacts it with interest. Concerning this exactor, Truth says in the Gospel: And the judge shall deliver thee to the exactor (Luke 12:58). The voice of this exactor, therefore, is the temptation of wretched suggestion. But we hear the voice of the exactor when we are struck by his temptation; yet we do not obey, if we resist him who strikes.
For he hears who feels the temptation; but he obeys who consents to the temptation. Let it therefore be said of the righteous: They heard not the voice of the exactor, since, though they hear his suggestion when they are tempted, they do not obey, because they disdain to consent. [Old Version, chapter 42.] But because the mind repeats more often even in speech that which it greatly loves, blessed Job, because he beholds with delight the frequency of inward peace, serves its description again, saying: