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Praying the Psalms ... a Personal Account

      For the conclusion of our series on praying the Psalms, a wonderful first-person account may inspire our own prayer of the Psalms.
     In Book IX of St. Augustine’s Confessions (written 397-401 AD), St. Augustine relates how Psalm 4 showed him his life before and after his conversion (August, 386 AD). The Confessions in older translation is in public domain (e.g., at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/110109.htm), so we will quote him but with modifications for clarity and readability.
      “What utterances I sent up to You, my God, when I read the Psalms of David, those faithful songs and sounds of devotion with no swelling of pride ... and how was I inflamed towards You by them, and burned to recite them, if it were possible, throughout the whole world, against the pride of the human race! And yet they are sung throughout the whole world, and 'none can hide himself from Your heat' [Ps 19:6].
      “... When I read the fourth Psalm [Ps 4] ... how that Psalm affected me! ‘When I called upon You, You heard me, O God of my righteousness; You have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer’ [Ps 4:1] ....
      “I alternately quaked with fear, and warmed with hope, and with rejoicing in Your mercy, O Father. And all these passed forth, both by my eyes and voice, when Your good Spirit, turning unto us, said, ‘O you sons of men, how long will you be slow of heart? How long will you love vanity, and seek after lies?’ [Ps 4:2.] For I had loved vanity, and sought after lies. Yet You, Lord, had already glorified your Holy One [Ps 4:2], raising Him from the dead and setting Him at Your right hand whence from on high He should send His promise, the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth.... For till then the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. That is why the prophecy cries out, ‘How long will you be slow of heart? How long will you love vanity, and seek after lies? Know this, that the Lord has glorified His Holy One.’ [Ps 4:2-3.]
      “He cries out, ‘How long?’ He cries out, ‘Know this!’ – and I, so long ignorant, loved vanity, and sought after lies. And therefore I heard and trembled, because these words were spoken unto such as I remembered that I been. For in those fables which I once held for truths were vanity and lies.
      “I read further, ‘Be angry, and sin not’ [Ps 4:4]. And how was I moved, O my God, who had now learned to be angry with myself for the things past, so that in the future I might not sin! Yea, to be justly angry.... But now good things were no longer sought outside, no longer sought after with eyes of flesh and worldliness. Those that would have joy from without easily sink into emptiness.... Oh, if only they would grow weary ... and say, ‘Who will show us any good?’ [Ps 4:6.] And we would answer, ‘O Lord, the light of Your countenance is upon us’ [Ps 4:6]....
      “And there I was angry with myself ‘in my chamber,’ where I was inwardly pricked, where ‘I had offered my sacrifice,’ slaying my old man, and beginning the resolution of a new life, ‘putting my trust in You’ [Ps 4:4-5]. There did you begin to grow sweet to me, and to ‘put gladness in my heart’ [Ps 4:7]. And I cried out as I read this out loud and felt it inside. I would no longer be seeking worldly goods, wasting time and being wasted by time – for now I possessed in Your eternal simplicity a new ‘grain, and wine, and oil’ [Ps 4:7].
      “... In You is the rest which forgets all labor, for there is no other beside You, nor ought we to seek after those many other things which are not what You are. But You, Lord, ‘make me to dwell in hope’ [Ps 4:8].
      “These things I read, and was all inflamed....”
Dibby Green
Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News on October 17, 2019.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.