Thus forgetfulness may hide all earthly things, and, for those who are blessed with a clean heart and deserve to see God, there may come the God of their heart1 that they may draw near to You and not separate themselves. For God, who is near, does not drive back those who draw near to Him;2 He wishes to be for all men a cause of salvation3 and not of death. Indeed, He rejects no one except one who has decided to remove himself from His sight. Ambrose, “The Prayer of Job and David,” in Seven Exegetical Works, trans. Michael P. McHugh (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1972), 387-388. [Footnote values modified; footnote content original; and underlining mine.] [For more from Ambrose on this, see here.]
________________________
1Cf. Matt. 5.8.
2Cf. John 6.37; James 4.8.
3[Compare Aquinas and Davenant’s use of the same expression: Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, 4.55.29 and 31; Davenant, Dissertation on the Death of Christ, 354 and 375.]