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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput XIV: Quo genere locutionis dictum sit de diabolo, quod in ueritate non steterit, quia ueritas non est in eo.

Subiecit autem indicium, quasi quaesissemus, unde ostendatur, quod in ueritate non steterit, atque ait: quia non est ueritas in eo. esset autem in eo, si in illa stetisset. locutione autem dictum est minus usitata. sic enim uidetur sonare: in ueritate non stetit, quia ueritas non est in eo, tamquam ea sit causa, ut in ueritate non steterit, quod in eo ueritas non sit; cum potius ea sit causa, ut in eo ueritas non sit, quod in ueritate non stetit. ista locutio est et in psalmo: ego clamaui, quoniam exaudisti me deus; cum dicendum fuisse uideatur: exaudisti me deus, quoniam clamaui. sed cum dixisset: ego clamaui, tamquam ab eo quaereretur, unde se clamasse monstraret, ab effectu exauditionis dei clamoris sui ostendit affectum; tamquam diceret: hinc ostendo clamasse me, quoniam exaudisti me.

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The City of God

Chapter 14.--An Explanation of What is Said of the Devil, that He Did Not Abide in the Truth, Because the Truth Was Not in Him.

Moreover, as if we had been inquiring why the devil did not abide in the truth, our Lord subjoins the reason, saying, "because the truth is not in him." Now, it would be in him had he abode in it. But the phraseology is unusual. For, as the words stand, "He abode not in the truth, because the truth is not in him," it seems as if the truth's not being in him were the cause of his not abiding in it; whereas his not abiding in the truth is rather the cause of its not being in him. The same form of speech is found in the psalm: "I have called upon Thee, for Thou hast heard me, O God," ¹ where we should expect it to be said, Thou hast heard me, O God, for I have called upon Thee. But when he had said, "I have called," then, as if some one were seeking proof of this, he demonstrates the effectual earnestness of his prayer by the effect of God's hearing it; as if he had said, The proof that I have prayed is that Thou hast heard me.