Moreover,  to  the  evils  within  us  belong  all  those  tragic
experiences  described  by  the  Preacher,  when  he  refers
again  and  again  to  "vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit."  How  Eccl.  1:2,
many  of  our  plans  come  to  naught !  How  oft  our  hopes  are  ^'^
deceived!  How  many  things  that  are  not  to  our  liking
must  we  see  and  hear!  And  the  very  things  that  fall  out
according  to  our  wish  fall  out  also  against  our  wish!  So
that  there  is  nothing  perfect  and  complete.  Finally,  all
these  things  are  so  much  greater,  the  higher  one  rises  in
rank  and  station  ;^  for  such  a  one  will  of  necessity  be  driven
about  by  far  more  and  greater  billows,  floods,  and  tem-
pests, than  others  who  labor  in  a  like  case.  As  it  is  truly
said  in  Psalm  ciii,^  "In  the  sea  of  this  world  there  are  things  Ps- 104:25
creeping  innumerable,  both  small  and  great  beasts,"  that
is,  an  infinite  number  of  trials.  And  Job,  for  this  reason,
calls  the  hfe  of  man  a  " trial. "^  Job  7:1

These  evils  do  not,  indeed,  cease  to  be  evils  because  they
are  less  sharply  felt  by  us ;  but  we  have  grown  accustomed
to  them  from  having  them  constantly  with  us,  and  through
the  goodness  of  God  our  thoughts  and  feelings  concerning

'  Luther  has  particular  reference  to  the  Elector's  high  rank.
*  Luther  follows  the  Vulgate  numbering  of  the  Psalms,  which  differs  from  the
Hebrew  (and  the  English  and  German).  As  far  as  Ps.  8  both  agree;  but  the  Vulgate
(following  the  Greek  version)  counts  Ps.  9  and  10  as  one,  thus  dropping  behind  one
in  the  numbering.  But  it  divides  Ps.  147  into  two;  vv.  i-ii  being  counted  as  Ps.
