238. And miserable and poor, signifies that they do not know that they have neither knowledges of truth nor knowledges of good. This is evident from the signification of "miserable" or "pitiable," as meaning those who are in no knowledges of truth; and from the signification of "poor" as meaning those who are in no knowledges of good. That this is the meaning of "miserable" and "poor" is evident from many passages in the Word, and also from this, that spiritual misery and poverty are nothing else than a lack of the knowledges of truth and good, for the spirit is then miserable and poor; but when the spirit possesses these it is rich and wealthy; therefore also "riches" and "wealth" in the Word signifies spiritual riches and wealth, which are the knowledges of truth and good (as was shown just above, n. 236).

[2] "Miserable and poor" are terms used in many passages in the Word. He who is ignorant of the spiritual sense of the Word believes that by these no others are meant than the miserable and poor in the world. These, however, are not meant, but those who are not in truths and goods and in the knowledges thereof; and by the "miserable" indeed, those who are not in truths because not in the knowledges of truths, and by the "poor" those who are not in goods because not in the knowledges of goods. As these two, truths and goods, are meant by these two expressions, the two in many places are mentioned together; as in the passages that now follow. In David:

I am miserable and poor, Lord, remember me (Psalms 40:17; 70:5). Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, answer me, for I am miserable and poor (Psalms 86:1).

The "miserable and poor" here mean evidently those who are miserable and poor, not in respect to worldly riches but in respect to spiritual riches, as David says this of himself; therefore he also said, "Jehovah, incline thine ear, and answer me."

[3] In the same:

The wicked draw out the sword and bend their bow, to cast down the miserable and poor (Psalms 37:14).

Here also "the miserable and poor" mean evidently those who are spiritually such and yet long for the knowledges of truth and good, for it is said that "the wicked draw out the sword and bend the bow," "sword" signifying falsity combating against truth and striving to destroy it, and "bow" the doctrine of falsity fighting against the doctrine of truth; therefore it is said that they do this "to cast down the miserable and poor." (That "sword" signifies truth combating against falsity, and in a contrary sense, falsity combating against truth, see above, n. 131; and that "bow" signifies doctrine in both senses, see Arcana Coelestia 2686, 2709)

[4] So in another place in the same:

The wicked man hath persecuted the miserable and poor and the broken in heart, to slay them (Psalms 109:16).

In Isaiah:

The fool speaketh folly, and his heart doeth iniquity to practice hypocrisy and to speak error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul, and to make him who thirsteth for drink to want. He counseleth wicked devices to destroy the miserable by words of a lie, even when the poor speaketh judgment (Isaiah 32:6-7).

Here likewise "the miserable and poor" mean those who are destitute of the knowledges of truth and good; therefore it is said that "the wicked counseleth wicked devices to destroy the miserable by the words of a lie, even when the poor speaketh judgment;" "by the words of a lie" means by falsities, and "to speak judgment" is to speak what is right. Because such are treated of, it is also said that he "practices hypocrisy and speaketh error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul and to make him who thirsteth for drink to want." "To practice hypocrisy and to speak error" is to do evil from falsity, and to speak falsity from evil; "to make empty the hungry soul" is to deprive those of the knowledges of good who long for them, and "to make him who thirsteth for drink to want" is to deprive those of the knowledges of truth who long for them.

In the same:

The miserable shall have joy in Jehovah, and the poor of men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 29:19).

Here also "the miserable and poor" signify those who are in lack of truth and good and yet long for them; of these, and not of those who are miserable and poor in respect to worldly wealth, it is said that they "shall have joy in Jehovah, and shall exult in the Holy One of Israel."

[5] From this it can be seen what is signified by the "miserable and poor" in other passages of the Word, as in the following. In David:

The poor shall not always be forgotten; and the hope of the miserable shall not perish for ever (Psalms 9:18).

In the same:

God shall judge the miserable of the people, He shall save the sons of the poor. He shall deliver the poor when he crieth, and the miserable. He shall spare the weak and the poor, and the souls of the poor He shall save (Psalms 72:4, 12-13).

In the same:

The miserable shall see, they that seek Jehovah ¹ shall be glad. For Jehovah heareth the poor (Psalms 69:32-33).

In the same:

Jehovah deliverest the miserable from him that is too strong for him, the poor from them that despoil him (Psalms 35:10).

In the same:

The miserable and the poor praise Thy name (Psalms 74:21; 109:22).

In the same:

I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the miserable, and the judgment of the poor (Psalms 140:12).

Also elsewhere (as Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 22:16; Ezekiel 16:49; 18:12; 22:29; Amos 8:4; Deuteronomy 15:11; 24:14). "The miserable" and "the poor" are both mentioned in these passages, because it is according to the style of the Word that where truth is spoken of, good is also spoken of; and in a contrary sense, where falsity is spoken of, evil is also spoken of, since they make a one, and as if it were a marriage; this is why "the miserable and the poor" are mentioned together; for, by "the miserable" those deficient in the knowledges of truth are meant, and by "the poor" those deficient in the knowledges of good. (That there is such a marriage almost everywhere in the prophetical parts of the Word, see Arcana Coelestia 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712, 3004, 3005, 3009, 4138, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7022, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314.)

For the same reason it is said in what follows, "and blind and naked;" for by "the blind" one who is in no understanding of truth is meant, and by "the naked" one who is in no understanding and will of good. So in the following verse, "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried by fire, and white garments that thou mayest be clothed;" for by "gold tried by fire" the good of love is meant, and by "white garments" the truths of faith. And further, "That the shame of thy nakedness be not manifest; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see," which means, lest evils and falsities be seen. So also elsewhere. But that there is such a marriage in the particulars of the Word, none but those who know its internal sense can see.

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148. From Secrets of Heaven

ALL freedom is a function of love and affection, because what we love we do with a sense of freedom: 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990, 9585, 9591. Because freedom is a function of what we love, in each of us it constitutes our life: 2873. There is a heavenly kind of freedom and a hellish kind of freedom: 2870, 2873, 9589, 9590. Heavenly freedom comes from a love of what is good and true (1947, 2870, 2872); and since a love of what is good and true comes from the Lord, it is freedom itself to be led by the Lord (892, 905, 2872, 2886, 2890, 2891, 2892, 9096, 9586, 9587-9591). We are led into heavenly freedom by the Lord through regeneration: 2874, 2875, 2882, 2892. We need freedom in order to be regenerated: 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3158, 4031, 8700. Otherwise a love of what is good and true cannot be planted in us and incorporated into us in such a way that it seems to be our own: 2877, 2879, 2880, 8700. Nothing becomes part of us that happens by coercion: 2875, 8700. If we could be reformed by coercion, everyone would be saved: 2881. Coercion in reformation is injurious: 4031.

[2] Worship is real when it comes from freedom, but not when it is done under pressure: 1947, 2880, 7349, 10097. Repentance, too, needs to take place in a free state and is not effective if it is done under pressure: 8392. The kinds of states that exert such pressure: 8392.

[3] So that goodness can be granted to us, we are given the ability to act on the basis of freedom and rationality; therefore we are free to think and intend evil as well and also to do it to the extent that the laws do not forbid it: 10777. We are kept between heaven and hell by the Lord and are therefore kept in an equilibrium so that we can have freedom for the sake of our reformation: 5982, 6477, 8209, 8987. Whatever is planted within us when we are free stays with us, but not what is planted when we are coerced: 9588, 10777. Therefore freedom is never taken away from anyone: 2876, 2881. The Lord never forces anything on anyone: 1937, 1947. How the Lord leads us toward goodness by means of our freedom: he uses our freedom to deflect us from evil and bend us toward goodness, leading us so gently and subtly that we believe the whole process is coming from ourselves: 9587.

[4] Self-compulsion is a type of freedom, but being compelled by someone else is not: 1937, 1947. We need to compel ourselves not to do evil (1937, 1947, 7914) and also compel ourselves to do good, doing so as though we were doing it on our own, but acknowledging that goodness comes from the Lord (2883, 2891, 2892, 7914). Although it does not seem so, our freedom is actually stronger when we are undergoing spiritual crises and winning, for the reason that we are then inwardly compelling ourselves to withstand evils: 1937, 1947, 2881. There is in fact a freedom in every crisis of the spirit, but it is hidden deep within us as a gift from the Lord; because of it we fight and try to conquer and not be conquered-something we could not do without freedom: 1937, 1947, 2881. The Lord grants us this freedom by creating a desire for truth and goodness in our inner self, without our realizing it: 5044.

[5] Hellish freedom consists of being led by our love for ourselves and the world and by our own appetites: 2870, 2873. To the people in hell this is the only freedom: 2871. Heavenly freedom is as remote from hellish freedom as heaven is from hell: 2873, 2874. Seen for what it really is, hellish freedom is slavery (2884, 2890), because it is slavery to be led by hell (9586, 9589, 9590, 9591).

[6] All our freedom is experienced in our sense of self and depends on that sense: 2880. Through being regenerated by the Lord we receive a heavenly selfhood: 1937, 1947, 2882, 2883, 2891. The nature of a heavenly selfhood: 164, 5660, 8480. Although this heavenly selfhood seems to us to belong to ourselves, it is not ours but is something within us that belongs to the Lord: 8497. When we have this kind of selfhood we have true freedom, because freedom is being led by the Lord and by his kind of selfhood: 892, 905, 2872, 2886, 2890, 2891, 2892, 4096, 9586, 9587, 9589, 9590, 9591.