Verse 11. — 'His fury is kindled against me, and He has held me as His enemy.' 45. Some God strikes as sons, others as enemies. — For, with the eminent Preacher bearing witness, we say that God is faithful, and will not suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear, but will with the temptation make also a way of escape, that we may be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13). Through the Prophet also the Lord says: 'I have smitten thee with the wound of an enemy, with cruel chastisement' (Jer. 30:14). He, therefore, who is so struck that his strength is overcome by the striking — him the Lord smites not now as a son through discipline, but as an enemy through wrath.
When, therefore, the scourges pass beyond our strength of patience, it is greatly to be feared lest, our sins demanding it, we be smitten no longer as sons by a Father, but as enemies by the Lord. And because it often happens that even malignant spirits urge many things upon the hearts of the afflicted, and amid the scourges that strike outwardly pour noxious thoughts into their minds, after the fury of the Lord it is rightly subjoined: