Psalm 41 [MT 42]

We have undertaken the exposition of a Psalm corresponding to your own "longings," on which we propose to speak to you. For the Psalm itself begins with a certain pious "longing;" and he who sings so, says, "Like as the hart desires the water-brooks, so longs my soul after You, O God" [Psalm 42:1]. Who is it then that says this? It is ourselves, if we be but willing! And why ask, who it is other than yourself, when it is in your power to be the thing which you are asking about? It is not however one individual, but it is "One Body;" but "Christ's Body is the Church." [Colossians 1:24] Such "longing" indeed is not found in all who enter the Church: let all however who have "tasted" the sweetness "of the Lord," and who own in Christ that for which they have a relish, think that they are not the only ones; but that there are such seeds scattered throughout "the field" of the Lord, this whole earth: and that there is a certain Christian unity, whose voice thus speaks, "Like as the hart desires the water-brooks, so longs my soul after You, O God." And indeed it is not ill understood as the cry of those, who being as yet Catechumens, are hastening to the grace of the holy Font. On which account too this Psalm is ordinarily chanted on those occasions, that they may long for the Fountain of remission of sins, even "as the hart for the water-brooks." Let this be allowed; and this meaning retain its place in the Church; a place both truthful and sanctioned by usage. Nevertheless, it appears to me, my brethren, that such "a longing" is not fully satisfied even in the faithful in Baptism: but that haply, if they know where they are sojourning, and whither they have to remove from hence, their "longing" is kindled in even greater intensity.

Poemen said, 'It is written, "Like as the hart longs for the waterbrooks, so longs my soul for you, O my God" (Ps. 42:1). Indeed, the harts in the desert eat many snakes and when their venom makes them burn with thirst they come to the waters to assuage their burning thirst. It is the same for monks: in the desert, they are burned by the poison of the demons and they long for Saturday and Sunday to come so that they can go to the springs of water, that is, to the Body and Blood of the Lord, to be purified from the poison of the evil ones.'

I am longing and thirsting for the worship of my living God, he is saying. "To see the face of God" means worshiping him according to the Law, and such worship was confined to Jerusalem.… very appropriately do they name God "strong and living" as they take note of the lifeless and immobile idols of the Babylonians.

This is the fifth decade of the first group of fifty, and thus it is ordered toward imploring help against present evils. And this is a figure of the temporal evils that befell David, who suffered persecution from Absalom—and against this was the first decade. Likewise from Saul—and against this the second decade. Likewise from the whole people—and against this the third decade. Likewise from many rivals—and against this the fourth decade. Ps. 35: "Judge, O Lord, those who wrong me." There remains the fifth decade, in which he speaks specifically about things pertaining to the kingdom. And he asks in this decade for divine help against those who attack the kingdom. And to refer this to the mystery, the just man asks against those who attack the kingdom of the Church. This decade is therefore divided into two parts. First he formulates a petition for the state of the kingdom; second, because the kingdom appears to have been troubled through sin, he therefore asks pardon for sin, at Ps. 51: "Have mercy on me, O God." Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth a petition against the enemies of the kingdom; second, having been heard, he gives thanks for the glory of the kingdom, at Ps. 45: "My heart has uttered." And because every petition proceeds from desire, therefore concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth his desire; second he adds a prayer, at Ps. 44: "O God, with our ears." Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows the desire he has for God; second he asks for the fulfillment of his desire, at Ps. 43: "Judge me." The title: "Unto the end, understanding, for the sons of Korah." This has been explained in the title of the preceding Psalm; yet another reading has: "Unto the end, with understanding," that is, this Psalm is attributed to the sons of Korah, "with understanding," that is, leading us to the end through understanding. Korah is interpreted as Calvary. Hence those are called sons of Korah who suffer mockery on account of the cross. Thus in 2 Kgs. 2, boys mocked Elisha: "Go up, bald head, go up, bald head"; and Elisha cursed them, and bears devoured them. Those ascend from Bethel who are converted to the faith of Christ from Judah, which was formerly called the house of God. And they are mocked by boys, that is, by Jews using childish understanding, because they are still under a tutor, and they cast in their teeth the cross of Christ. And those two bears devoured them, namely Titus and Vespasian. The Psalm is therefore divided into two parts. In the first he sets forth his desire. In the second he sets forth the sadness that incites the desire, at "My tears have been." Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets forth the desire under a likeness. Second he assigns the reason for the likeness, at "My soul has thirsted." Third he explains the thing desired, at "When shall I come?" He takes the likeness from the deer, which especially has this property: that it crushes the serpent with its hoof, and when it wishes to be renewed, it eats the serpent, and thus it burns from the venom, and then it runs to water, and so it is renewed. As a deer in general desires waters, so the faithful person desires God; yet in particular it is adapted to catechumens and to perfect men. For the catechumen is like a deer that feels in itself the burning of venom, which was introduced by the suggestion of the serpent, Gen. 3. From this venom followed original sin. Rom. 5: "Through one man sin entered into this world." And this venom is the guilt of concupiscence and the guilt of the first sin. And therefore he ought to desire the font of Baptism. Zech. 13: "There shall be a fountain open to the house of Jacob for the washing of sins." Ezek. 36: "I will pour out upon you clean water." The perfect man, however, is like a deer established on the rock. Ps. 18: "Who made my feet like the feet of deer." "My soul has thirsted." He has now eaten, that is, destroyed sin. Sir. 21: "Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent." And therefore he has nothing in the world that he desires; and so he desires to come to the fountain of life. And therefore, because this likeness suits both catechumens and perfect men, this Psalm is sung in the office of Baptism on Holy Saturday and Pentecost when the solemn Baptism takes place, with respect to catechumens. Likewise it is sung with funeral rites, because it suits perfect men approaching the fountain of eternal life. "So does my soul long for you, O God." Here he applies the likeness. "My soul desires" with interior affection. Is. 26: "My soul has desired you in the night." Lam. 3: "The Lord is my portion, said my soul."

"My soul is athirst for the living God" (ver. 2). What I am saying, that "as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so longs my soul after Thee, O God," means this, "My soul is athirst for the living God." For what is it athirst? "When shall I come and appear before God?" This it is for which I am athirst, to "come and to appear before Him." I am athirst in my pilgrimage, in my running; I shall be filled on my arrival. But "When shall I come?" And this, which is soon in the sight of God, is late to our "longing." "When shall I come and appear before God?" This too proceeds from that "longing," of which in another place comes that cry, "One thing have I desired of the Lord; that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Wherefore so? "That I may behold" (he saith) "the beauty of the Lord." "When shall I come and appear before the Lord?"...

I do not define the essence of religion as belief in God and immortality. Judaism in its earlier stages had no belief in immortality, and for a long time no belief which was religiously relevant. The shadowy existence of the ghost in Sheol was one of which Jehovah took no account and which took no account of Jehovah. In Sheol all things are forgotten. The religion was centered on the ritual and ethical demands of Jehovah in the present life, and also, of course, on benefits expected from Him. These benefits are often merely worldly benefits (grandchildren and peace upon Israel), but a more specifically religious note is repeatedly struck. The Jew is athirst for the living God, he delights in His laws as in honey or treasure, he is conscious of himself in Jehovah's presence as unclean of lips and heart. The glory or splendor of God is worshiped for its own sake.

From my own point of view, the example of Judaism and Buddhism is of immense importance. The system, which is meaningless without a doctrine of immortality, regards immortality as a nightmare, not as a prize. The religion which, of all ancient religions, is most specifically religious, that is, at once most ethical and most numinous, is hardly interested in the question. Believing, as I do, that Jehovah is a real being, indeed the ens realissimum, I cannot sufficiently admire the divine tact of thus training the chosen race for centuries in religion before even hinting the shining secret of eternal life. He behaves like the rich lover in a romance who woos the maiden on his own merits, disguised as a poor man, and only when he has won her reveals that he has a throne and palace to offer. For I cannot help thinking that any religion which begins with a thirst for immortality is damned, as a religion, from the outset. Until a certain spiritual level has been reached, the promise of immortality will always operate as a bribe which vitiates the whole religion and infinitely inflames those very self-regards which religion must cut down and uproot. For the essence of religion, in my view, is the thirst for an end higher than natural ends; the finite self's desire for, and acquiescence in, and self-rejection in favor of, an object wholly good and wholly good for it.

And to me in particular there came back the memory of a corrugated iron hut used as an R.A.F. chapel — a few kneeling airmen — and a young chaplain uttering the prayer, 'Teach us, O Lord, to love the things Thou standest for.' He was perfectly sincere, and I willingly believe that the things in question included something more and better than 'the Western values', whatever those may be.

And yet... his words seemed to me to imply a point of view incompatible with Christianity or indeed with any serious Theism whatever. God is not, for it, the goal or end. He is (and how fortunate!) enlightened; has, or 'stands for', the right ideals. He is valued for that reason. He ranks, admittedly, as a leader. But of course a leader leads to something beyond himself. That something else is the real goal. This is miles away from 'Thou hast made us for Thyself and our heart has no rest till it comes to Thee.' The Maenads were more religious.

I want to stress what I think that we (or at least I) need more; the joy and delight in God which meet us in the Psalms, however loosely or closely, in this or that instance, they may be connected with the Temple. This is the living centre of Judaism. These poets knew far less reason than we for loving God. They did not know that He offered them eternal joy; still less that He would die to win it for them. Yet they express a longing for Him, for His mere presence, which comes only to the best Christians or to Christians in their best moments. They long to live all their days in the Temple so that they may constantly see 'the fair beauty of the Lord' (27:4). Their longing to go up to Jerusalem and 'appear before the presence of God' is like a physical thirst (Ps. 42). From Jerusalem His presence flashes out 'in perfect beauty' (50:2). Lacking that encounter with Him, their souls are parched like a waterless countryside (63:2). They crave to be 'satisfied with the pleasures' of His house (65:4). Only there can they be at ease, like a bird in the nest (84:3). One day of those 'pleasures' is better than a lifetime spent elsewhere (84:10).

Christ the Lord is the fountain of waters from which flows everything that restores us. Flowing streams can often run dry, but a fountain is always supplied with water. So we are rightly invited to hurry to the liquid of the sacred source; there our desire is never able to experience thirst.

The person, however, who has once tasted virtue and has come to understand its nature by his own experience of the good is no longer the kind of person who must be dragged away from his passionate attachment to evil by necessity and warning and compelled to look to virtue. On the contrary, he has an excessive thirst for what is superior.… [He] "thirsts" for participation in God more than "the hart" longs for "the fountains of water." And it follows that the person who finds the fountain after this excessive thirst draws in as much water as the abundance of his desire draws off. But he who has received what he desired in himself is full of what he desired. For that which has become full is not again emptied on the model of physical satiety, nor does that which was drunk remain inactive in itself. In whomever the divine fountain has come into existence, it transforms the one who has embraced it to itself and imparts to this person a portion of its own power.

First, therefore, he is sought without being found, so that afterward, when found, he may be held more tightly. For holy desires, as we have said, grow by delay. But if they fail by delay, they were not desires. With this love burned whoever was able to reach the truth. Hence David says: "My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?" Hence he admonishes us, saying: "Seek his face always." Hence the prophet says: "My soul has desired you in the night, but also with my spirit in my inmost heart I will watch for you from early morning." Hence again the Church says in the Song of Songs: "I am wounded with love." For it is just that she should reach health from the sight of the physician, who bears the wound of love in her breast through the heat of her desire for him. Hence again she says: "My soul melted when the beloved spoke." For the mind of a person not seeking the form of its Creator is badly hardened, because it remains cold in itself. But if it has now begun to burn with desire to follow him whom it loves, melted by the fire of love it runs. It becomes anxious with desire, all things in the world that pleased grow worthless, there is nothing that delights outside the Creator, and things that formerly delighted the soul afterward become grievously burdensome. Nothing consoles its sadness, as long as he who is desired is not yet seen. The mind grieves, the very light is wearisome; and by such fire the rust of guilt is refined in the mind, and the kindled soul, as if in the manner of gold, because through use it lost its appearance, becomes bright through burning.

But is there a fountain of waters in God? Yes; hence he says, "My soul has thirsted for God, the living fountain." A fountain is called one that springs forth and produces living waters, and that unceasingly and unfailingly sends forth waters. Every water of graces flows from that fountain, namely from God the Father. Jer. 2: "They have forsaken the fountain of living water." Likewise it flows from the Son, also insofar as he is God. Ps. 36: "With you is the fountain of life." "The fountain of wisdom is the word of God," Sir. 1. Likewise from the Holy Spirit. Jn. 4: "It shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life." And Jn. 7: "This he said of the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive." Therefore, because he himself is the fountain, my soul has thirsted for him. Thirst designates desire with anxiety. Thus this man signifies that he suffers anxiety, not only from the delay of the thing desired, but on account of the evils that afflict here. Mt. 5: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied." But from this fountain he desires this, namely, "When shall I come?" These are the words of one who desires, and they express the desire of the catechumen for Baptism; and thus the sense is: when shall I come to the sacred Baptism of Christ? Mt. 11: "Come to me," etc. Ps. 34: "Come, children," etc. This, as Augustine says, is fitting for catechumens, because from the beginning catechumens, until they became adults, were not admitted to the sacred mysteries but could attend only until the Gospel. Hence he says, "When shall I come and appear?" Literally, with others, before the face of the Lord, that is, to the sacraments of Christ. Likewise it is fitting for perfect men, and the sense is: "When shall I come and appear," that is, so that I may see you face to face, because now I am far from you, since I see you through faith? But when I shall see you through direct vision, then I shall be near. Phil. 1: "Having a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ." And he does not say, "The Lord will appear to me," but "I will appear before the face of the Lord"; because from the fact that I shall see the face of the Lord, I shall be made conspicuous to all, far more than Moses who saw him in this life. 1 Jn. 3: "It has not yet appeared what we shall be; we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him." Rom. 8: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared," etc. As if to say: I shall be part of the company of those who see God, and from this I shall be conspicuous and glorious. But the hypocrite is excluded from this vision. Job 13: "No hypocrite shall come into his sight."

"My tears have been my meat day and night, while they daily say unto me, Where is thy God?" (ver. 3). My tears (he saith) have been not bitterness, but "my bread." Those very tears were sweet unto me: being athirst for that fountain, inasmuch as I was not as yet able to drink of it, I have eagerly made my tears my meat. For he said not, "My tears became my drink," lest he should seem to have longed for them, as for "the water-brooks:" but, still retaining that thirst wherewith I burn, and by which I am hurried away towards the water-brooks, "My tears became my meat," whilst I am not yet there. And assuredly he does but the more thirst for the water-brooks from making his tears his meat. ..."And they daily say unto me, Where is thy God?" For if a Pagan should say this to me, I cannot retort it upon him, saying, "Where is thine?" inasmuch as he points with his finger to some stone, and says, "Lo, there is my God!" When I have laughed at the stone, and he who pointed to it has been put to the blush, he raises his eyes from the stone, looks up to heaven, and perhaps says, pointing his finger to the Sun, "Behold there my God! Where, I pray, is your God?" He has found something to point out to the eyes of the flesh; whereas I, on my part, not that I have not a God to show to him, cannot show him what he has no eyes to see. For he indeed could point out to my bodily eyes his God, the Sun; but what eyes hath he to which I might point out the Creator of the Sun?...

Nothing nourishes like that which nourishes the spirit. Blessed are those who weep, for they will laugh.

Seeing that God is Creator, he is in everything made; seeing that he is excellence and wisdom, he is in all holy powers.… God is even in people sometimes in excellence, sometimes in accomplishment: it is of angels to behave always according to God; of demons, never; of people to behave sometimes rightly, sometimes not.

There is a weeping that springs from contemplating eternal good and longing for future light, and tears of joy and desire cannot help but break out as the soul is athirst for the mighty living God.

"My tears have been." Here he describes whence he has this desire or anxiety. And first he sets forth the cause. Second he sets forth the remedy he has against it, at "These things I remembered." And first he sets forth the greatness of his sadness. Second he sets forth the cause of this sadness. Concerning the sadness he proceeds thus: first he expresses the greatness of the sadness; second, the effect; third, the continuity. He shows the first when he says, "My tears have been my bread," into which, namely, a man bursts forth from abundant sadness. And this sadness is either over sins that impede the attainment of the thing desired, or over the troubles caused by others. He shows the second when he says, "bread." Bread refreshes; and thus also tears refresh, for a twofold reason. One is that to everyone the activity suited to his state is delightful. Hence the activity suited to sadness is delightful to the sad person, and weeping is the activity of sadness. The other reason is that when heat evaporates outward, it diminishes. And therefore he says that tears are to him like bread, as refreshing him. Or, like bread, because just as he is sustained by bread, so he is sustained in good by tears. He shows the third when he says, "day and night," namely in prosperity and adversity. Jer. 9: "I will weep day and night." And the cause of this is: "while it is said to me daily: Where is your God?" These, if they are the words of pagans, are referred to catechumens; as if to say: we, say the pagans, have a God whom we see, namely the sun. But where is your God, whom you fabricate? Respond: God can be seen, but not by you, because you are not pure of heart. Likewise, if it is said to a converted Jew by an unbelieving Jew: "Where is your God?" Let the Jew converted to the faith respond: where my God is, appears in your punishment, namely of the Jews, because you are scattered. Likewise these are the words of the sinner to the just man placed in affliction; as if to say: where is your God? Why does he not deliver you from the affliction you suffer? Let the just man respond: because these temporal things are not the reward that God gives to his servants, but heavenly things are.

"I thought on these things, and poured out my soul above myself" [Psalm 42:4]. When would my soul attain to that object of its search, which is "above my soul," if my soul were not to "pour itself out above itself"? For were it to rest in itself, it would not see anything else beyond itself; and in seeing itself, would not, for all that, see God. Let then my insulting enemies now say, "Where is your God?" aye, let them say it! I, so long as I do not "see," so long as my happiness is postponed, make my tears my "bread day and night." Let them still say, "Where is your God?" I seek my God in every corporeal nature, terrestrial or celestial, and find Him not: I seek His Substance in my own soul, and I find it not, yet still I have thought on these things, and wishing to "see the invisible things of my God, being understood by the things made," [Romans 1:20] I have poured forth my soul above myself, and there remains no longer any being for me to attain to, save my God. For it is "there" is the "house of my God." His dwelling-place is above my soul; from thence He beholds me; from thence He created me; from thence He directs me and provides for me; from thence he appeals to me, and calls me, and directs me; leads me in the way, and to the end of my way.. ..

Rejoicing refers to the singing of psalms, while confession must include lamentation over sins. The combination of these two things undoubtedly makes for a complete Christian.… What is sweeter and more salutary than to praise God and to continually accuse oneself.

After the sad events, therefore, he proclaims pleasant ones and ahead of time teaches that they will quickly secure their recall, and with the guidance of God's grace, they will return to the land of their desire and will rebuild God's house, will celebrate the customary festivals and welcome into their ears the festive sound and spiritual melody.

"These things I remembered." Above, the Psalmist set forth his desire, and the cause of the desire; here, however, he sets forth the remedy against the cause, namely sadness. And concerning this he proposes or does two things. First he sets forth a remedy from his own meditation. Second, from divine help, at "Within myself." Concerning the first he does two things. First he proposes the remedy. Second, through this remedy, the impediment of sadness, at "Why are you sad?" In the remedy he proposes first the meditation. Second, the delight of the mind, at "I poured out." And he assigns the reason for this, at "Because I shall pass." He says therefore, "These things I remembered," namely the taunts of the unbelievers saying, "Where is your God?" Lam. 3: "Remembering I shall remember." And I had consolation of mind, because "I poured out my soul within me." When a liquid is poured out, it is expanded. Hence, because the breadth of heart pertains to joy, which is a certain delight, therefore in the pouring out of the soul is designated delight. Ps. 62: "Pour out your hearts before him." Another reading has, "I poured out my soul upon me." And according to this it is read differently, and the sense is: they say, "Where is your God?" And I, remembering these things, first searched insensible creatures to see if I might find my God; but I found in them certain vestiges of God. Rom. 1: "The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." But I proceeded further into the intellectual realities of the soul. "And I poured out my soul upon me," that is, searching carefully I sought whatever is in them, as placing all things before me; like one who extracts everything from a vessel to examine whatever is within. And yet my God is not there. But there is still something above this, and this I did: "Because I shall pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God"; as if to say: all the solace I could have is the hope of tending toward God. And he says two things: namely, where he tends, and how, at "With the voice," etc. Concerning the first, the following imagination is to be taken. In the Old Testament there was a twofold place dedicated to divine worship: namely, the tabernacle, about which we read in Ex. 36. Afterward, as the state and devotion of the people grew, the house of God was built, namely the temple—not like the tabernacle, but as a fixed structure. And David wished to build this, but was forbidden by God. 2 Sam. 7: "Shall you build me a house?" Likewise 1 Chr. 17. But it was promised to him that his son would build the house of God; hence he himself prepared the expenses. And therefore he says: they say to me, "Where is your God?" And so, remembering these things, I delight that I shall find him; and therefore with all my affection I shall tend toward him. "And I shall pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle"; as if to say: I shall not rest until I find him. And he says, "I shall pass over," because by the tabernacle, which was mobile, is signified the state of the present Church, which is not perpetual nor stable except until the consummation of the age, and then it will be transferred. And this is said in Rev. 21: "Behold the tabernacle of God with men," that is, the present Church with men, that is, as long as men shall be in this life. And from this I shall pass over to the stable house of God. Ps. 65: "We shall be filled with the good things of your house." Jn. 14: "In my Father's house," etc. And thus he intimates going into the wonderful tabernacle and into the house of God. And it is called the wonderful tabernacle on account of the wonderful things he does for his saints. "With the voice." Here is described the manner of passing over to the house of God. And here likewise a certain imagination is to be taken. Now it was the custom that when some went in groups to the tabernacle, they went with joy. Is. 30: "You shall have a song as in the night of a holy solemnity, and joy of heart." Thus one who goes with a pipe goes joyfully; and therefore he says, "I shall go into the place of the tabernacle," etc. And with joy, because "With the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one feasting." Another reading has, "The sounds of one feasting"; as if to say: I shall go with the sound of one feasting, because at banquets there is a sound of joy; and this is more evident according to the other joys that are there. Let us therefore refer this to the entrance of joy, because there will be three things there. First, there will be exultation over the goods possessed. Is. 35: "They shall obtain joy and gladness." Second, there will be confession of the benefits of grace, because they will acknowledge that they obtained those things through the grace of God; and therefore thanksgiving will follow there, and the voice of praise. Third, there will be spiritual refreshment. Is. 65: "My servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, and you shall thirst," etc. Mt. 5: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice," etc.; and therefore there will be the sound of one feasting. Likewise of festivity, that is, perpetual exultation. Bar. 5: "Look, O Jerusalem, toward the east, and see the joy that comes to you from God."

Troubled by the hazardous turnings of this world, David says, "Why are you sad, O soul, why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will give praise to him, the salvation of my countenance and my God." Therefore, when we are distressed and apprehensive, let hope strengthen us with the expectation of things that are to come. Look to each phrase individually. "Hope, for I will give praise," he says; not "I give praise," but "I will give praise." This means: I will give praise better at that time when I shall behold the glory of God with face unveiled and be transformed into the same image. As he was consoling himself, suddenly turning to himself, he says, "My soul is troubled within myself"; that is, I, who ought to strengthen others, am myself disturbed, and because I do not have strength of myself, let us receive it from the Creator.

Do not be sad, spirit, but hope in the Lord because I confess to him. He is the Savior of my countenance, that is, my God is the restorer of his own image.

But seeing, brethren, so long as "we are at home in this body, we are absent from the Lord;" [2 Corinthians 5:6] and "the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth on many things;" [Wisdom 9:15] even though we have some way or other dispersed the clouds, by walking as "longing" leads us on, and for a brief while have come within reach of that sound, so that by an effort we may catch something from that "house of God," yet through the burden, so to speak, of our infirmity, we sink back to our usual level, and relapse to our ordinary state. And just as there we found cause for rejoicing, so here there will not be wanting an occasion for sorrow. For that hart that made "tears" its "bread day and night," borne along by "longing to the water-brooks" (that is, to the spiritual delights of God), "pouring forth his soul above himself," that he may attain to what is "above" his own soul, walking towards "the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even unto the house of God," and led on by the sweetness of that inward spiritual sound to feel contempt for all outward things, and be borne on to things spiritual, is but a mortal man still; is still groaning here, still bearing about the frailty of flesh, still in peril in the midst of the "offences" [Matthew 18:7] of this world. He therefore glances back to himself, as if he were coming from that world; and says to himself, now placed in the midst of these sorrows, comparing these with the things, to see which he had entered in there, and after seeing which he had come forth from thence;

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me?" Lo, we have just now been gladdened by certain inward delights: with the mind's eye we have been able to behold, though but with a momentary glance, something not susceptible of change: why dost thou still "disquiet me, why art thou" still "cast down"? For thou dost not doubt of thy God. For now thou art not without somewhat to say to thyself, in answer to those who say, "Where is thy God?" I have now had the perception of something that is unchangeable; why dost thou disquiet me still?

"Hope in God." Just as if his soul was silently replying to him, "Why do I disquiet thee, but because I am not yet there, where that delight is, to which I was, as it were, rapt for a moment? Am I already 'drinking' from this 'fountain' with nothing to fear?" ...Still "Hope in God," is his answer to the soul that disquiets him, and would fain account for her disquiet from the evils with which this world abounds. In the mean while dwell in hope: for "hope that is seen is not hope; but if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." [Romans 8:24-25]

And because all these things exist imperfectly in the Church, he adds, "Why are you sad, O my soul?" Here he applies the remedy against the cause of sadness. And first he removes the feeling. Second he removes its effect. He says therefore, "Why are you sad, O my soul?" When you ought to rejoice, because you are in the tabernacle, and because I shall go to the house of the Lord. Why then are you sad? For small evils are not to be regarded in consideration of eternal goods. Sir. 30: "Drive sadness," namely of the world, "far from you." 2 Cor. 7: "The sadness of the world works death." The effect of sadness is disturbance, because from the disorder of the affections, reason itself is disturbed. And who is speaking? The soul, according to this sense. The soul has two parts: namely, the sensitive part, which he here calls the soul on account of its animality; and the higher reason, which names itself, because each person is most of all that which is best in him. And therefore the higher reason says to the lower: "Why do you disturb me?" And what is the cause? He shows, moreover, that it should not be sad, because there is hope of future confession; and therefore he says, "Hope in the Lord, for I shall yet praise him"; as if to say: hope in God himself, because you will yet come to that which you desire, because, namely, "I shall yet praise him," that is, I still hope for his countenance, either on the way or in the homeland, which is especially the matter of joy. Jas. 5: "Is anyone among you sad? Let him pray. Is anyone in good spirits? Let him sing psalms," etc. "The salvation of my countenance." Here the word "salvation," according to the Gloss, is in the nominative case, and the sense is: I say that I shall praise him. And whom? Namely Christ, in whom there are two natures: the human, namely, by which he is like his mother; and therefore he says, "The salvation of my countenance," that is, bearing my countenance. Lk. 2: "My eyes have seen your salvation," etc. Gen. 49: "I will wait for your salvation, O Lord." Likewise the divine nature; and with respect to this he is my God; therefore he says, "My God." Rom. 9: "From whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed forever." Or, according to Jerome, "salvation" is in the accusative case; as if to say: I shall confess to him salvation, that is, the salvation by which he saved me. And what follows, "my God," is joined with what follows.

"My soul is disquieted on account of myself." Is it disquieted on account of God? It is on my own account it is disquieted. By the Unchangeable it was revived; it is by the changeable it is disquieted. I know that the righteousness of God remaineth; whether my own will remain stedfast, I know not. For I am alarmed by the Apostle's saying, "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." [1 Corinthians 10:12] Therefore since "there is no soundness in me for myself," there is no hope either for me of myself. "My soul is disquieted on account of myself." ..."Therefore I remember Thee, O Lord, from the land of Jordan, and from the little hill of Hermon." From whence did I remember thee? From the "little hill," and from the "land of Jordan." Perhaps from Baptism, where the remission of sins is given. For no one runs to the remission of sins, except he who is dissatisfied with himself; no one runs to the remission of sins, but he who confesses himself a sinner; no one confesses himself a sinner, except by humbling himself before God. Therefore it is from "the land of Jordan I have remembered thee, and from the hill;" observe, not "of the great hill," that thou mayest make of the "little hill" a great one: for "whoso exalteth himself shall be abased, and whoso humbleth himself shall be exalted." If you would also ask the meanings of the names, Jordan means "their descent." Descend then, that thou mayest be "lifted up:" be not lifted up, lest thou be cast down. "And the little hill of Hermon." Hermon means "anathematizing." Anathematize thyself, by being displeased with thyself; for if thou art pleased with thyself, God will be displeased with thee. Because then God gives us all good things, because He Himself is good, not because we are worthy of it; because He is merciful, not because we have in anything deserved it; it is from "the land of Jordan, and from Hermon," that I remember thee. And because he so remembers with humility, he shall earn his exaltation to fruition, for he is not "exalted" in himself, who "glories in the Lord."

God is not to be sought from the height of arrogance, but the remembrance of him is found in situations of lowly humility.

When we come up against the demon of acedia, then with tears let us divide the soul and have one part offer consolation and the other receive consolation. And sowing within ourselves goodly hopes, let us chant with holy David this [verse].

Next he applies the remedy, namely of divine help. Where first he proposes the remedy. Second he explains it. He says therefore, "Within myself." Another reading has, "From myself my soul was disturbed." The first is better; as if to say: what is the reason, I ask, why, O soul, you disturb me? And this disturbance comes because however I turn to myself, I find tribulation within me. Hos. 13: "Your destruction, O Israel, is from yourself; only from me is your help." And therefore Jerome has, "My God, within myself." According to that reading, the sense is: as if to say, the cause of the disturbance is from myself; because, if we refer this to the human race, the corruption of sensuality comes from reason, namely from the sense of the first parent. Likewise every man, by sinning, corrupts his own nature; and therefore after sin, sensuality resists reason all the more. And because there is nothing in me except the cause of disturbance, "therefore I will be mindful of you," that is, I will have recourse to you. Hos. 14: "His memorial is like the wine of Lebanon." And from where? "From the land of the Jordan and of the Hermonites." The Jordan is a river in the Promised Land. Hermon is a certain mountain near the Jordan. And according to the history of 2 Sam. 17, when Absalom went to Jerusalem and took counsel to pursue David, who was beyond the Jordan, then Hushai impeded this; and therefore he says: if I were in as great a tribulation as then, nevertheless "I will be mindful of you." Three things, however, are designated here that are in Baptism. By the Jordan is designated the descent of grace into Baptism. Jas. 1: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." "And from the land," because through the influx of grace the earth of the heart is thereby made fruitful. Hermon is interpreted as "anathema," and designates the renunciation we make of the Devil and his pomps in Baptism, because then everyone anathematizes, that is, separates himself from the Devil. "From the little mountain," because this renunciation and grace comes from a humble heart, because God gives grace to the humble, Jas. 4. And the Devil is king over all the children of pride, Job 41.

Listen to this: "Deep calls on deep at the voice of your floodgates." Scripture of the Old Testament calls on Scripture of the New Testament for the consummation of holiness and the fullness of grace; it calls with the voice of grace and the outflowing of spiritual abundance.

When deep calls deep, the Son calls the Father from the depth of land and river, and you have opened the cataracts of heaven. As the Holy Spirit descends, the Father addresses the Son from the height of the heavens. When he calls from the deep to deep, the glory of the Lord comes to me.

"Deep calleth unto deep with the voice of thy water-spouts." I may perhaps finish the Psalm, aided as I am by your attention, whose fervour I perceive. As for your fatigue in hearing, I am not greatly solicitous, since you see me also, who speak, toiling in the heat of these exertions. Assuredly it is from your seeing me labouring, that you labour with me: for I am labouring not for myself, but for you. "Deep calleth unto deep with the voice of thy water-spouts." It was God whom he addressed, who "remembered him from the land of Jordan and Hermon." It was in wonder and admiration he spake this: "Abyss calleth unto abyss with the voice of Thy water-spouts." What abyss is this that calls, and to what other abyss? Justly, because the "understanding" spoken of is an "abyss." For an "abyss" is a depth that cannot be reached or comprehended; and it is principally applied to a great body of water. For there is a "depth," a "profound," the bottom of which cannot be reached by sounding. Furthermore, it is said in a certain passage, "Thy judgments are a mighty abyss," Scripture meaning to suggest that the judgments of God are incomprehensible. What then is the "abyss" that calls, and to what other "abyss" does it call? If by "abyss" we understand a great depth, is not man's heart, do you not suppose, "an abyss"? For what is there more profound than that "abyss"? Men may speak, may be seen by the operations of their members, may be heard speaking in conversation: but whose thought is penetrated, whose heart seen into? What he is inwardly engaged on, what he is inwardly capable of, what he is inwardly doing or what purposing, what he is inwardly wishing to happen, or not to happen, who shall comprehend? I think an "abyss" may not unreasonably be understood of man, of whom it is said elsewhere, "Man shall come to a deep heart, and God shall be exalted." If man then is an "abyss," in what way doth "abyss" call on "abyss"? Does man "call on" man as God is called upon? No, but "calls on" is equivalent to "calls to him." For it was said of a certain person, he calls on death; that is, lives in such a way as to be inviting death; for there is no man at all who puts up a prayer, and calls expressly on death: but men by evil-living invite death. "Deep calls on deep," then, is, "man calls to man." Thus is it wisdom is learnt, and thus faith, when "man calls to man." The holy preachers of God's word call on the "deep:" are they not themselves "a deep" also?...

"Deep calls to deep." He explains the remedy with respect to two things said: namely, with respect to the disturbance he has in himself, and with respect to the remembrance of God, at "In the day he commanded." As to the first he proposes a likeness and explains its cause. "Deep" in Scripture signifies a multitude of waters. Gen. 1: "Darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Lord," etc. It also happens that when waters are generated in great quantity in the air, they can be called a deep. And in these rains there is a certain circulation: because they descend to the earth, and from them vapors are raised that generate other waters; and in between there are frequently thunders, which are produced from the commotion of clouds generated by vapors and rains. Likewise it happens that after thunder, lightning follows. Ps. 135: "He made lightning for the rain." He says therefore, "The deep," that is, a multitude of waters, "calls to the deep," that is, draws to itself another multitude of waters; and this "at the voice of your cataracts," that is, there are certain hidden places in which waters are generated and from which they descend. Hence cataracts, that is, clouds, which are, as it were, certain cataracts from which they are generated. And in Scripture, the deep and the tempest signify evil. Ex. 15: "The deeps covered them." Hence "deep calls to deep"; as if to say: one punishment of God calls to another, that is, is followed by another; as if to say: the judgment of God by which he inflicts present evils calls to the judgment by which he inflicts future evils. Ps. 36: "Your judgments are a great deep." And this thus, "at the voice of your cataracts," that is, through the voice of your Scriptures, or of preachers. And this is referred to what he says, "My soul was disturbed." Why? Because "deep calls to deep": that is, from one evil or from one sin a great punishment follows. Or otherwise, "therefore I will be mindful," etc., so that by "deeps" is understood sacred doctrine; and thus the sense is: "the deep," that is, the Old Testament, calls to another, that is, the New Testament. And these two he brings together in harmony so that I may be mindful of you, because in both the help of God is promised to man; and this "at the voice of your cataracts," that is, of preachers and teachers. Or otherwise, "therefore I will be mindful," etc., because "deep calls to deep": that is, man, who is called a deep. "Who knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him?" 1 Cor. 2. Jer. 17: according to another reading, "The heart of man is deep and unsearchable." Therefore, "deep," that is, one man, calls another to Christ. And this happens not by one's own power, but "at the voice of your cataracts," that is, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, from which the tongue of the preacher has its efficacy. "All your heights." Above, the Psalmist set forth a likeness of his tribulation; here, however, he explains the likeness itself. Above he said, "Deep calls to deep"; and this refers to signifying that he suffered not only one punishment, but many. And to this he follows his likeness: a man is afflicted by water, either descending from the air, or being in the air, or being below; and he says he is afflicted by both. By the first, when he says, "All your heights"; by the second, when he says, "And your waves have passed over me." These heights are future punishments, and they look toward the future judgment, which was in the sea, when they were submerged like lead, Ex. 15. The waves are the present punishments that call to that. And therefore, "I was troubled." Job 19: "They have made their way over me." The Gloss says, "They have passed over," that is, they have departed from me, "your waves." And thus according to this explanation, this is the reason for consolation; as if to say: I will be mindful of you, because all your heights and your waves have departed from me; as if to say: the greater punishments, which are designated by the waves, have passed over me, that is, they seemed to exceed my capacity. But the first explanation is better.

Therefore follows: "The Lord will commend His loving-kindness in the day-time; and in the night-time will He declare it" [Psalm 42:8]. In tribulation no man has leisure to hear: attend, when it is well with you; hear, when it is well with you; learn, when you are in tranquillity, the discipline of wisdom, and store up the word of God as you do food. For in tribulation every one must be profited by what he heard in the time of security. For in prosperity God "commends to you His mercy," in case thou serve Him faithfully, for He frees you from tribulation; but it is "in the night" only that He "declares" His mercy to you, which He "commended" to you by day. When tribulation shall actually come, He will not leave you destitute of His help; He will show you that which He commended to you in the daytime is true. For it is written in a certain passage, "The mercy of the Lord is seasonable in the time of affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of drought." "The Lord has commended His loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night will He declare it." He does not show that He is your Helper, unless tribulation come, from whence you must be rescued by Him who promised it to you "in the day-time." Therefore we are warned to be like "the ant." For just as worldly prosperity is signified by "the day," adversity by the night, so again in another way worldly prosperity is expressed by "the summer," adversity by the winter. And what is it that the ant does? She lays up in summer what will be useful to her in winter. Whilst therefore it is summer, while it is well with you, while you are in tranquillity, hear the word of the Lord. For how can it be that in the midst of these tempests of the world, you should pass through the whole of that sea, without suffering? How could it happen? To what mortal's lot has it fallen? If even it has been the lot of any, that very calm is more to be dreaded. "The Lord has commended His loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night-time will He declare it."..."There is with me prayer unto the God of my life." This I make my business here; I who am the "hart thirsting and longing for the water-brooks," calling to mind the sweetness of that strain, by which I was led on through the tabernacle even to the house of God; while this "corruptible body presses down the soul," [Wisdom 9:15] there is yet with me "prayer unto the God of my life." For in order to making supplication unto God, I have not to buy anything from places beyond the sea; or in order that He may hear me, have I to sail to bring from a distance frankincense and perfumes, or have I to bring "calf or ram from the flock." There is "with me prayer to the God of my life." I have within a victim to sacrifice; I have within an incense to place on the altar; I have within a sacrifice wherewith to propitiate my God. "The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit." What sacrifice of a "troubled spirit" I have within, hear.

It is precisely what is learned in quietness that is later manifested in distress. The words of the Law are learned in restful times, but their fruit is later displayed in affliction.

I considered further that though the impending troubles are so numerous, it is very easy for you to provide a solution; if by day you bid lovingkindness to be shown us—in other words, relief from the troubles to occur—it happens so quickly that immediately those in receipt of good things set about singing through the night and offering hymns of praise to you for what has happened. When God enjoins mercy by day, then, immediately by night "his song is with me," as if to say, So prompt will be the discharge of his command that, with his command given by day, it is possible for me to sing by night of the good things done to me.

"In the day." As has been said, he stated two things: the disturbance in himself, etc., and confidence, at "Therefore I will be mindful of you." And he set forth the cause of the disturbance; now he explains the cause why he is mindful of God. And first he sets forth the experience of divine mercy; second he adds a prayer, at "With me is prayer." And he does two things, according to the twofold state of divine mercy, because the mercy of God is gentle in prosperity and in adversity. And therefore, as to prosperity, he says, "In the day the Lord commanded his mercy," that is, in the time of prosperity; as if to say: whatever prosperity I have, I attribute to divine mercy. Lam. 3: "The mercies of the Lord, that we are not consumed." As to the state of adversity he says, "And in the night he gave his song," that is, joy; that is, in tribulation there is the greatest consolation from divine mercy. Hence another reading has, "In the day he declared," that is, divine mercy is declared, that is, manifested in the time of adversity. Sir. 35: "The mercy of God is beautiful in the time of tribulation." Ps. 51: "According to the multitude of your mercies," etc. According to Jerome, however, it is read thus: "In the day the Lord commanded his mercy, and in the night his song is with me." "And this prayer to the Lord," etc.; as if to say: I perceive the mercy of God, etc., in the natural day, or of adversity; in the night the song of God; and I pray again to the God of my life. And this is the plainer reading. Yet according to how the Gloss explains it, let us explain and say, "With me is prayer," where he proposes the prayer. And concerning this he does three things. First he describes the manner of praying; second, the time of prayer; third, the effect of prayer. Concerning prayer he says two things: how he disposes himself for prayer, because sometimes a man prays and his prayer is not before God, when he does not pray by himself but so as to be seen in public. Mt. 6: "But you, when you pray," etc. Second, how he relates to the one to whom he prays, because "to the God of my life," namely the author of natural life. 1 Sam. 2: "The Lord kills and gives life." Likewise the life of grace. He is your life, because the soul lives by grace through this, that it lives for God. Likewise the life of glory. Ps. 36: "With you is the fountain of life."

"I will say unto God, Thou art my lifter up. Why hast Thou forgotten me?" For I am suffering here, even as if Thou hadst forgotten me. But Thou art trying me, and I know that Thou dost but put off, not take utterly from me, what Thou hast promised me. But yet, "Why hast Thou forgotten me?" So cried our Head also, as if speaking in our name. "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" I will say unto God, "Thou art my lifter up; why hast Thou forgotten me?"

"Why hast Thou rejected me?" "Rejected" me, that is to say, from that height of the apprehension of the unchangeable Truth. "Why hast Thou rejected me?" Why, when already longing for those things, have I been cast down to these, by the weight and burden of my iniquity? This same voice in another passage said, "I said in my trance" (i.e., in my rapture, when he had seen some great thing or other), "I said in my trance, I am cast out of the sight of Thine eyes." For he compared these things in which he found himself, to those toward which he had been raised; and saw himself cast out far "from the sight of God's eyes," as he speaks even here, "Why hast Thou rejected me? Why go I mourning, while mine enemy troubleth me, while he breaketh my bones?" Even he, my tempter, the devil; while offences are everywhere on the increase, because of the abundance of which "the love of many is waxing cold." When we see the strong members of the Church generally giving way to the causes of offence, does not Christ's body say, "The enemy breaketh my bones"? For it is the strong members that are "the bones;" and sometimes even those that are strong sink under their temptations. For whosoever of the body of Christ considers this, does he not exclaim, with the voice of Christ's Body, "Why hast Thou rejected me? Why go I mourning, while mine enemy troubleth me, while he breaketh my bones?"

Next the prayer is set forth: "And I will say to God: You are my protector," etc. In which he does two things. First he gives thanks for benefits received; second he inquires about the reason for the evils he suffers. First a man ought to acknowledge, because one who is not grateful for benefits received is unworthy of those yet to be received. Wis. 16: "The hope of the ungrateful," etc. And therefore he says, "You are my protector." Jerome has, "You are my rock," that is, my strength. And therefore he is called protector, for defending. Ps. 3: "But you, O Lord, are my protector," etc. Or, "You are my protector," that is, of my nature. Is. 42: "Behold my servant, I will uphold him." Or, "my protector in Baptism." Ps. 18: "He took me from many waters." And if you are my protector, I wonder at the evils I suffer. And first he inquires about the reason for the evils; second he sets forth certain things that are signs of the one and the cause of the other, at "While the enemy afflicts." From the evils he considers two things. One on the part of God: namely, that he seems to have forgotten him. Another on his own part, because he is oppressed by sadness. On the part of God, because he permits him to be afflicted; and therefore he says, "Why have you forgotten me?" because formerly you upheld me thus. Is. 49: "The Lord has forgotten me." But in truth he has not forgotten; on the part of him who was being afflicted, he says, "And why do I go about in sadness," that is, what is the reason that you give me over to sadness? Ps. 38: "All the day I went about in sadness, while the enemy afflicts me." Here he shows the pain he suffers from adversaries, and he assigns the effect of the persecution; as if to say: this is the cause why I go about in sadness, because I am afflicted by enemies—sometimes by temporal ones, sometimes by spiritual ones. Mt. 13: "An enemy has done this."

"They who trouble me cast me in the teeth." Again that voice! "While they say daily unto me, Where is your God?" [Psalm 42:10]. And it is principally in the temptations of the Church they say this, "Where is your God?" How much was this cast in the teeth of the Martyrs! Those men so patient and courageous for the name of Christ, how often was it said to them, "Where is your God?" "Let Him deliver you, if He can." For men saw their torments outwardly; they did not inwardly behold their crowns! "They who trouble me cast me in the teeth, while they say daily unto me, Where is your God?" And on this account, seeing "my soul is disquieted on account of myself," what else should I say unto it than those words:

It is of the greatest ignorance to think that God is in a place. God does not stand in a place. He is free.

The cause of the sorrow or its effect is "while my bones are broken." The bones of the Church are the strong ones, such as prelates and perfect men. And sometimes through temporal adversaries, sometimes through temptations, they are afflicted. Ps. 22: "They have numbered all my bones." In every man, each virtue is like a certain bone; and if it happens that the just chaste man falls, his bone is broken. "They have reproached." Here he treats of the cause of the sadness he suffers from injurious words. Hence he says, "They have reproached me," namely with injurious words. Jer. 20: "I am made a derision all the day long; everyone mocks me." And this reproach is most grievous. A person bears a reproach more grievously when it is directed at him concerning a thing in which he has confidently gloried. Now this man most greatly gloried in God; and therefore this reproach is most grievous to him. And therefore, "My enemies say to me through each day: Where is your God?" Ps. 13: "Lest the enemy should say," etc.

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul; and why dost thou disquiet me?" (ver. 11). And, as it seems to answer, "Wouldest thou not have me disquiet thee, placed as I am here in so great evils? Wouldest thou have me not disquiet thee, panting as I am after what is good, thirsting and labouring as I am for it?" What should I say, but,

"Hope thou in God; for I will yet confess unto Him" (ver. 11). He states the very words of that confession; he repeats the grounds on which he fortifies his hope. "He is the health of my countenance, and my God."

Pondering all this within myself, then, I was again encouraged not to be alarmed but to hope in God, who readily provides me with salvation and again makes me esteemed. Turning their thoughts over and over, sometimes in despair, sometimes in hope, is typical of people suffering.

When the inner person shows signs for a time of wavering between vice and virtue, say, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God." You must never let suggestions of evil grow on you or a babel of disorder win strength in your breast. Kill the enemy while he is small, and, that you may not have a crop of tares, nip the evil in the bud.

I beseech you to remember in all your present contest the great reward laid up in heaven for those who are persecuted and reviled for righteousness' sake, and to be glad and leap for joy on account of the Son of man, just as the apostles once rejoiced when they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for his name. And if you should ever perceive your soul drawing back, let the mind of Christ, which is in us, say to it, when it wishes to trouble that mind as much as it can, "Why are you sorrowful, my soul, and why do you disquiet me? Hope in God, for I shall yet give him thanks." I pray that our souls may never be disquieted, and even more that in the presence of the tribunals and of the naked swords drawn against our necks they may be guarded by the peace of God, which passes all understanding, and may be quieted when they consider that those who are foreigners from the body are at home with the Lord of all. But if we are not so strong as always to preserve calm, at least let not the disquiet of the soul be poured forth or appear to strangers, so that we may have the opportunity of giving an apology to God, when we say to him, "My God, my soul is disquieted within me."

"My personal savior is my God": I trusted that you would doubtless meet my request, since you personally are my salvation and my Lord (the term "personal savior" meaning "my support, my glory"—in other words, It is you yourself who provides me with this).

Do not despair of salvation, O soul, he is saying: you have God as Savior; in him you gain sound hope. Quench your discouragement and receive consolation.

"Why are you sad?" etc. Here he shows the effect of prayer. And prayer has a twofold effect. One is the expulsion of sadness. The other is the increase of hope. The first effect is because through prayer the mind of man ascends to God; and because God is supremely good, when the soul clings to him it feels the greatest delight, and delight drives away or diminishes sadness. And therefore he says, "Why are you sad?" etc., since I have prayed. And this has been explained above. The other effect is that hope grows, because if a king admits someone to familiar service and conversation, he takes on confidence in asking and obtaining. In prayer, moreover, man speaks especially with God. Ps. 28: "In him my heart has hoped," etc. And therefore he adds, "Hope in God"; and this has been explained above.