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.
“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].
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
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.
“... 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.