Psalm 37 — Rebuke me not, O Lord

^37:1^ A psalm for David, for a remembrance. ^37:2^ Rebuke me not, O Lord, in your indignation nor chastise me in your wrath.

^37:3^ For your arrows are fastened in me and your hand has been strong upon me. ^37:4^ There is no health in my flesh, because of your wrath. There is no peace for my bones, because of my sins. ^37:5^ For my iniquities are gone over my head and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me. ^37:6^ My sores are putrefied and corrupted because of my foolishness.

^37:7^ I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end. I walked sorrowful all the day long. ^37:8^ For my loins are filled with illusions and there is no health in my flesh.

^37:9^ I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly; I roared with the groaning of my heart.

^37:10^ Lord, all my desire is before you, and my groaning is not hidden from you.

^37:11^ My heart is troubled, my strength has left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.

^37:12^ My friends and my neighbors have drawn near, and stood against me. And those who were near me stood far off. ^37:13^ And those who sought my soul used violence. And those who sought evils to me spoke vain things, and studied deceits all the day long.

^37:14^ But I, as a deaf man, heard not and as a dumb man not opening his mouth. ^37:15^ And I became as a man who hears not, and that has no reproofs in his mouth.

^37:16^ For in you, O Lord, have I hoped: you will hear me, O Lord my God.

^37:17^ For I said, “Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me, and while my feet are moved, they speak great things against me.” ^37:18^ For I am ready for scourges and my sorrow is continually before me.

^37:19^ For I will declare my iniquity and I will think for my sin. ^37:20^ But my enemies live, and are stronger than I, and those who hate me wrongfully are multiplied. ^37:21^ Those who render evil for good have detracted me, because I followed goodness.

^37:22^ Forsake me not, O Lord my God; do not depart from me. ^37:23^ Attend unto my help, O Lord God of my salvation.

395. Above, the psalmist implored the divine help: judge, O Lord, those who wrong me (Ps 34:1); he showed their wickedness: the unjust has said (Ps 35:2); he taught them to spurn the prosperity of the wicked in the previous psalm: be not quick to imitate evildoers (Ps 36:1). Now in this psalm, he confesses that he is afflicted for his sins.

He considers two things regarding this.

First, he describes his affliction;

second, his carefulness in the future, at I said, “I will take heed” (Ps 38:2).

The title is a psalm for David, for a remembrance. Augustine added, for a remembrance of the Sabbath, but this is neither in the Hebrew nor in Jerome. (Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms 37.1 (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, 38:383).)

And it should be known that this is the third penitential psalm. The differences among these psalms are connected to the different acts of penance and the remembrance of sins. And so he says it is for remembrance, namely of sins. I will recount to you all my years in the bitterness of my soul (Isa 38:15).

But if Sabbath is added, it pertains to the purpose of this remembrance, why we should be afflicted and remember—that is, for the sake of the Sabbath, the promised rest. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your own will . . . and call the Sabbath delightful (Isa 58:13), that is, a delightful rest.

Therefore, this psalm is divided into two parts.

In the first, he asks for mercy.

Second, he expounds his misery, at for your arrows are fastened in me.

Mercy is begged for from the judge, whose punishment is feared.

First, a judge reproves with words: I will reprove you (Ps 49:8).

Second, he corrects with deeds.

The psalmist does not ask that he not be reproved, but that it not be done in indignation, so he says, rebuke me not, O Lord, in your indignation. Indignation and wrath in God do not indicate disturbance, since he judges with tranquility (Wis 12:18). But they are said of God in regard to the effect, since the indignant does not spare.

So he asks to be corrected, but not in wrath, so he says, nor chastise me in your wrath. Since, as is said, the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge (Prov 6:34). So he reproves in wrath when he does not spare. I was hungry and you did not give me to eat. . . . Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire (Matt 25:42, 41). Therefore, he asks to be chastised but not in indignation.

Second, he treats the punishment of the judge.

There are two types of punishment.

One type is to destruction, and this is infernal, and he asks that this not be inflicted on him when he says, O Lord, not in your indignation.

Another is for correction, and he asks that this be inflicted on him. But he asks that he be not corrected in wrath: nor chastise me in your wrath, that is, with a grave punishment. Correct me, O Lord, but with judgment and not in fury (Jer 10:24).

396. For your arrows are fastened in me. Mercy has no place except where there is misery.

He considers two aspects of this.

First, he recalls his many miseries.

Second, he asks for divine help, at forsake me not.

He first shows the misery which he suffers from above, inflicted by God.

Second, he shows the misery which he suffers from below, from the remorse of his own conscience, at there is no peace.

Third, he shows that which comes from without, from the men showing him contempt, at my friends.

He makes two points about the first.

First, he describes the divine blow.

Second, the blow’s effect, at there is no health in my flesh.

This is said to refer to one way in which God sends the blow of tribulation.

Another way to take it is in regard to the disturbance of sorrow.

The first way is appropriate for three reasons.

A beating is serious because of two things:

because it penetrates the intimate parts,

and because a man is converted by it.

And he first speaks about how it reaches to the innermost parts, so he says, your arrows, that is, your blows, are fastened in me, in my interior. The arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage of which drinks up my spirit (Job 6:4).

Second is that these blows do not pass away quickly, but remain, so he says, your hand has been strong upon me. The passage of the rod shall be strongly grounded which the Lord shall make to rest upon him (Isa 30:32). It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31).

Third is that they are serious, and this is the reason why he says, not in indignation, since I am already full of arrows.

There is no health in my flesh, because of your wrath. Here he describes the effects of the arrows.

My flesh is disturbed, subject to corruption and infection. I know that there dwells not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good (Rom 7:18).

It can also be understood in another way as about the remembrance of sorrow, and so he gives the reason why he does not want to be punished by God. For your arrows are fastened in me. The arrows of God are the words of God. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword (Isa 49:2).

Now, when a sinner hears the words of God, and they are fixed in his heart, then they remain in his heart, and if, nevertheless, he is not moved to compunction, he deserves indignation, since he is not made contrite by the words of God.

But Gregory says, he labors in vain over the words spoken outwardly if the power of the redeemer does not work inwardly. (Gregory the Great, XL homilarium in Evangelia libri duo 30.3 (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 76:1222).) And so it is necessary that the hand of God fix these arrows even in the innermost parts, and so he says, your hand has been strong upon me. The flesh lusts against the spirit (Gal 5:17).

When the flesh has health, the spirit is weak, and conversely, when the spirit is healthy and strong, the flesh is weak, since whatever belongs to the flesh is enervated. My flesh is changed for oil (Ps 108:24). Therefore, the effect of the word of God is that I have been pierced, or transfixed, so that it makes my carnal concupiscence wither away. Mortify your members (Col 3:5).

Origen speaks according to the first exposition: because of, that is, from the consideration of your wrath, since through your words should be understood the wrath to come in the judgment. (Origen, Homiliae de Psalmos 1.2 (Ps 37:4).) And the flesh withers on account of this.

There is no peace for my bones because of my sins. Here he shows his interior misery, that is, the sin on account of which he suffers tribulation; as if to say, “Health has left my flesh through my consideration of your wrath, but my spirit is shaken by recognizing my sins.”

So he says, there is no peace for my bones, that is, my spirit. “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord (Isa 57:22). And this is because of my sins, that is, because of the multiplicity and seriousness of my sins, I do not have peace of mind.

But surely you are not suffering tribulation? And he says that, yes, he is. So he explains how he is.

And first, he puts forward his sins;

second, his lack of peace;

and third, those things which increase the sins—namely, the multitude of sins, their seriousness, and their repetition, since if one sins often, it is serious.

Therefore, he says in regard to the first, for my iniquities are gone over my head. This is a way of speaking.

By iniquities, the multitude of sins is signified, since just as water rushes over a man, so sins submerge him. And water does not do this unless it pours out in such abundance that it comes up over the head, as if to say, “They are so many that they have come up over my head.” I stick fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing (Ps 68:3). For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sands of the sea; my transgressions are multiplied (Prayer of Manasseh 1:9). And he says, over my head, that is, concerning my head, drawn to consent to sin.

A man finds himself in relation to sin in three ways.

One is when a man experiences concupiscence, but resists it with his mind, and then it does not reach his head.

Next is when he consents, but out of passion, and then, although it reaches the head, it does not flow over it.

But when they are glad when they have done evil and rejoice in most wicked things (Prov 2:14), then sins have flowed over the head.

In regard to the second, he says, and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me. Now, sins are said to be heavy because they press him down under the habit of doing a serious thing. To the extent that a man is pressed down, so far he is alienated from God. Iniquity sat upon a talent (cf. Zech 5:7). A people laden with iniquity (Isa 1:4).

Another text has, it has reached a height, since sometimes sins lead one to contempt, and the wicked will be proud when he has come into the depth of sin (Prov 18:3).

In regard to the third, he says in regard to falling back, my sores are purified and corrupted because of my foolishness. As a scar is left from a wound, when someone sins, even after the sin has been forgiven there still remains a proclivity to sin, and this is like a scar left by a wound.

Now, sometimes God heals it through satisfaction and the exercise of good works. I will close up your scar and will heal you of your wounds (Jer 30:17).

But sometimes we do not take good care of ourselves, and so it is as when by an inexperienced doctor, sometimes weakness causes an interior rottenness, and the member corrupts. For when sin is not healed through correction or penance, it causes interior corruption, that is, delight in the sin committed, and one consents to a similar sin. The beasts have rotted in their dung (Joel 1:17). And corruption follows from this when the sin is carried out in action.

Or corruption takes place when not one only putrefies inside himself, but breathes it out to others through dishonor because of my foolishness. As sometimes when a doctor treats someone, a wound corrupts because of his foolishness, so there can be relapse because of the foolishness of a man who does know how to take care of himself. They err who work evil (Prov 14:22).

397. I am become miserable. Above the psalmist said, there is no peace for my bones, and he showed what his sins were like, that they were many and grave and repeated. Here, he treats the peace lost.

He makes two points about this.

First, he puts forward his disquiet, which is contrary to peace;

second, he puts forward the remedy of consolation and hope, at Lord, before you.

He shows his disquiet of soul in two ways.

The first is partially in dejection and partially in irritability;

the second is the dejection of heart which comes from the movement of carnal concupiscence, at all the day long.

He considers two aspects of the first.

First, he mentions the cause of his dejection;

second, the dejection itself.

The cause of his dejection is, I am become miserable, that is, I recognize my misery. Misery is opposed to happiness, and so they consist in contraries.

Human happiness consists in the things of the world. They have called the people happy that has these things (Ps 143:15). True happiness consists in clinging to God, and so it follows, blessed is the people whose God is the Lord (Ps 143:15). (Cf. ST I-II, q. 3, a. 8.) Therefore, the one who is turned away from God through sin is miserable. Sin makes nations miserable (Prov 14:34).

Therefore, knowing himself to be separated from God through sin, he considers himself miserable, and for this reason he says that his soul is cast down, so he says, I am bowed down. The bowing down can be understood as a depression of soul from the weight of sin, since sins are like a heavy burden which bows a man down and makes him gaze at the earth; thus do sins make him look at inferior things and do not allow his desires to rise to higher things. I am weighed down with many an iron fetter (Prayer of Manasseh 1:10).

Or it can be referred to humility, as if to say, “I am bowed down because of my humiliation, since when I recognize that I am a sinful man I do not raise my mind higher.” And this is said by Luke about the publican: he would not so much as lift his eyes up to heaven (Luke 18:13).

And this bowing down is not for a moment only, but lasts throughout a whole life, so he says, even to the end, namely of life, so long as the corrupt body endures. Unhappy man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom 7:24).

Afterwards, he treats his sadness of heart, and he makes three points.

First, he mentions sorrow,

second, the cause of sorrow,

and third, the greatness of sorrow.

Therefore he says, I am not only humiliated against pride, but I am also sorrowful, against delight in sin, and this is a good sorrow. For the sorrow that is according to God is good (2 Cor 7:10).

And he touches on two things concerning this sorrow.

First, that it should be continual, so he says, all the day long. Continuous sorrow in my heart (Rom 9:2). Every night I will wash my bed (Ps 6:7). And will weep day and night for the slain of my people (Jer 9:1). Augustine says, always sorrow and be glad about the sorrow.

Second is that there can be an all-absorbing sorrow which leads to desperation. Lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow (2 Cor 2:7). A certain sorrow is oppressive, and this is acedia, which casts down so that it does not allow someone to do good. (Cf. ST II-II, q. 35, a. 1.) But the sorrow of penance is not such, but it is with hope, and it incites one to good works, so he says, I walked, that is, I went forward in life and good works.

Progress in the good is walking, since the spiritual goods to which a good man tends are interior. Forgetting the things that are behind, that is, the temporal goods to which sinners tend which are exterior, stretching forth myself to those which are before (Phil 3:13). I will lead you by the paths of equity, which, when you shall have entered, your steps shall not be straitened (Prov 4:11–12).

For my loins are filled with illusions. Here he gives the cause of his sorrow.

According to the explanation of the gloss, by loins, the soul should be understood. (Peter Lombard, Magna glossatura (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 191:383).) And he says, loins, since delight is there. And there is no health in my flesh, to show that he is infirm both interiorly and exteriorly.

But it is better explained otherwise, that he is so afflicted by sin that he recognizes his misery.

Now misery is most clearly recognized in the corruption of the sensuality. I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind; and he adds below, unhappy man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom 7:23–24). As if to say, “Therefore I recognize that I am miserable, and I am sorrowful, for my loins are filled with illusions.”

According to the literal sense, carnal delight fills me with illusions, since the devil uses my sensuality as an instrument and he attacks me where he sees me to be weak. A fool laughs at sin (Prov 14:6).

Now, these illusions of various kinds come from a twofold cause.

Sometimes they are from corruption, since the flesh always seeks what pertains to it to the extent that it is allowed to act, and unless the spirit holds it back it will delight in it, and it is impossible that the spirit always be vigilant and so it comes about that he is fooled.

Sometimes such illusions come from the spirit itself, when someone frequently plants such carnal thoughts in his mind and this is first a venial sin, but if he afterwards consents it becomes mortal; and he recognizes that it is not from the flesh but from his self, so he says, there is no health in my flesh. I know that there dwells not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good (Rom 7:18).

398. I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly. Here he describes the greatness of his sorrow.

First, he describes its greatness;

second, he gives a sign, at I roared.

He describes two aspects of his sorrow:

first, that he is sorrowful;

second, that he is bowed down.

Through the first he points out his sorrow,

through the second, his dejection.

And he returns to these two here.

In regard to the first, that he is bowed down, he says, I am humbled.

In regard to being sorrowful, he says, I am afflicted.

About both he says, exceedingly, and he says this because of the greatness of the evil which has befallen him, since sin is the greatest evil. And so he is afflicted with many sorrows.

Likewise, it is because of his loss of a great good. See and know that it is an evil thing to have left the Lord (Jer 2:19).

Likewise, according to Origen, this is because of the change of state from the state of grace and virtue to the state of sin. (Origen, Homiliae de Psalmos 1.6 (Ps 37; Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 12:1380).)

Boethius says, the origin of the greatest unhappiness is that one had happiness. (Boethius, On the Consolation of Philosophy 2 (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 63:677).) Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months past, according to the days in which God kept me? (Job 29:2).

The sign of his great sorrow is his roaring, so he says, I roared with the groaning of my heart. Usually roaring is said about the voice of beasts, namely, of the lion and bear, because of the force of sorrow or hunger. So to roar is to cry forcefully. As overflowing waters so is my roaring (Job 3:24). So, I roared, that is, I cried most bitterly.

But it sometimes happens that someone cries outwardly but not from a disturbance of soul. But I do not cry in this way; this roaring proceeds from the groaning of my heart. My sighs are many and my heart is sorrowful (Lam 1:22). We shall roar all of us like bears (Isa 59:11).

399. Lord, all my desire is before you. Here the remedy of consolation is put forward.

First, he shows that the consolation for his remedy is in God alone.

Second, he shows that this is necessary to him, since he has nothing in himself by which he may be consoled: my heart is troubled. Destruction is your own, O Israel; your help is only in me (Hos 13:9).

Now, there is a twofold sorrow.

There is a certain sorrow which leads to desperation, and this takes away desire and groaning, since both of these are hidden. (Cf. ST II-II, q. 20, a. 4, ad 2 and ad 3.) Now, his interior desire and groans are noticed by God, so he says, Lord, all my desire is before you. What I desire is approved before you and so I hope to have my desire fulfilled by you. To the just their desire shall be given (Prov 10:24). The Lord has heard the desire of the poor (Ps 9:38).

It can be taken in another way so it is before you, that is, known to you, since you scrutinize hearts. The Lord beholds the heart (1 Sam 16:7). Destruction and hell are before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of men? (Prov 15:11).

It can be taken in another way so it is before you, that is, my desire is to be before you. My soul has thirsted after the strong living God (Ps 41:3).

And my groaning is not hidden from you, that is, you approve it or you know it. I have seen the affliction of my people (Exod 3:7).

400. My heart is troubled. Here he shows the necessity of being consoled by God, since there is nothing in himself by which he could be consoled.

There are three things in man, namely the intellect, the will, and the executive power; the intellect directs, the will commands, and the power executes it. And these three are failing in me, since my heart, that is my affection, is troubled, that is, moved by sorrow and disturbance. You have moved the earth and have troubled it (Ps 59:4).

Or it is troubled by care for the world.

Likewise, the executive strength has left me, which I had before sin.

Or it is spoken in the person of the human race. The strength that I received in the first parent, that I would suffer no corruption, interior or exterior has left me, because of sin. There is no strength in me (Isa 50:2).

And the light of my eyes itself, that is, my reason and mind, is not with me, that is, they are deprived of the light of reason through which they avoid the evil and seek the good.

Or the light of my eyes, that is God, is not with me because of sin, since your sins have hid his face from you (Isa 59:2).

401. My friends and my neighbors have drawn near. Above, the psalmist carefully explained the misery which he suffers from those above and below.

Now here he explains the misery which he suffers from those equal to himself.

He makes two main points about this.

First, he shows what he suffers from men;

second, its cause, at but my enemies.

He makes three points regarding this.

First, he discusses the evils which he suffers from men.

Second, he shows his patience in the midst of them, at but I, as a deaf man.

Third, he shows the cause of his patience, at for in you, O Lord, have I hoped.

Therefore, he shows himself afflicted by the whole race of men, and beautifully,

since he first shows that he suffers affliction from his friends;

second, from his enemies, at and they used violence. (Cf. ST III, q. 46, a. 5, resp.)

Friends afflict in two ways, by persecution and by desertion, since those who do not help, afflict. And those who were near me stood far off.

Likewise, there are two types of friends.

There are some who are friends alone and not members of one’s household.

There are some friends who are also relatives.

And he says he is afflicted by both of these.

In regard to the first he says, my friends.

And this can be understood either in the person of Christ, who in these psalms often speaks on his own behalf and sometimes on behalf of his members, or in the person of a penitent.

If it is read in the person of Christ it is clear that the Jews who are his neighbors became his enemies, so he says, they have drawn near and stood against me.

Or it is said in the person of a penitent, and then Origen says, someone who is in the world is among sinners, and as long as he is in sin they look on him with friendship, but when he leaves the world and sin, then sinners oppose him. (Origen, Homiliae de Psalmos 2.1 (Ps 37; Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 12:1382).)

So he says, my friends, that is, those who were friends before. There is a friend who turns to enmity (Sir 6:9).

And neighbors, that is, those joined by the flesh. A man’s enemies are those of his own household (Mic 7:6). I heard the reproaches of many and terror on every side (Jer 20:10).

They have drawn near and stood against me. It happens that sometimes a friend opposes someone in word or deed, but he nevertheless has enough respect for the friendship that he does not oppose him to his face.

And so he says that they do not only stand far off, but have drawn near, that is, as enemies, they have contradicted him to his face. For even when a friend is moved against one, he nevertheless does not persecute him. But of these it is said that they stood, that is, they became adversaries to me. The kings of the earth stood up . . . against the Lord and against his Christ (Ps 2:2).

And those who were near me stood afar off. Here he shows how he was abandoned.

If it is explained as about Christ, he truly was abandoned. Leaving him, they all fled (Matt 26:56).

Likewise, the penitent is abandoned after he has been converted to God, so those who were near me, that is, my close friends or relatives, stood afar off. Behold, there is no help for me in myself, and my familiar friends are also departed from me (Job 6:13). Friend and neighbor you have put far from me (Ps 87:19).

And those who sought my soul used violence. He was not only afflicted by his friends, but also by enemies.

Now there are two types of enemies.

Some are deadly enemies and they kill.

Others are those who are not deadly, since they do not seek to kill, and he speaks here about both kinds.

About the first, he says, those who sought my soul used violence, that is, they sought to kill me. According to the literal sense, this is said about Christ, whom the Jews sought to kill, so they used force, that is, they acted with violence. Bring no violence against the poor because he is poor (Prov 22:2).

Jerome has, so they might act with violence.

Or, they sought, namely, the demons, or friends who wanted to lead me into evil after I was converted to God, and they acted with violence to me.

About the second, he says, and those who sought me spoke vain things, that is, they spoke lies against me. And so it was with the Jews against Christ, who spoke, saying lies, we have found this man perverting our nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar (Luke 23:2). Likewise, they studied deceits all day long, to catch him in his words (cf. Matt 22:13).

Likewise, this happens to anyone who is penitent, since someone who repents, as Origen says, (Origen, Homiliae de Psalmos 2.1 (Ps 37; Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 12:1382).) confesses his sin, and if it is necessary he does public penance, and he is mocked by those who persevere in sin. The simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn (Job 12:4).

They have spoken vain things, everyone (Ps 11:3). And so they lie in ambush to see if they can find anything with which to confound him. Lie not in wait, nor seek after wickedness in the house of the just (Prov 24:15).

402. But I, as a deaf man, heard not. Here he shows the patience he exhibits.

First, he shows his patience;

second, its effect, at and I became as a man who hears not.

When men are afflicted, unless they bear it with patience, they are first disturbed in soul, and afterwards express disturbance in words. But the remedy, so as not to be disturbed in soul, is to be like a deaf man who does not hear the evil words. And so he says, but I, as a deaf man heard not, that is, I only pretended to hear. A patient man shall bear for a time (Sir 1:29).

Likewise: hedge in your ears with thorns, hear not a wicked tongue (Sir 28:28). And the remedy, so that one not utter disturbed words, is to be like one mute. I was dumb and was humbled (Ps 38:3). So he says, and as a dumb man, not opening his mouth.

And Christ particularly did this, as is said, and he answered to him not a word, so that the governor wondered exceedingly (Matt 27:14). He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter (Isa 53:7). So the just man should do. I have set guard to my mouth when the sinner stood against me (Ps 38:2).

And I became as a man who hears not. Here he describes the effect of patience, but this is contrary to the opinion of the wicked, since they impute faintheartedness, not virtue, to this. And he says, I was made, namely, in their opinion, as a man who hears not, and not one who is virtuous. So it is said about Christ: do you not speak to me? (John 19:10).

And who has no reproofs in his mouth, that is, as if he were not wise enough to respond. So it is said about Christ, that Herod mocked him and looked down on him (cf. Luke 23:11).

403. For in you, O Lord, have I hoped. Here he gives the cause of his patience, which is threefold:

God,

his enemies,

and himself.

On the part of God, the cause of patience is that the whole issue is left to God. Vengeance belongs to me and I will repay (Heb 10:30). And so he says, but I have hoped in you, O Lord, as if to say, “My cause is left to you.” You are my hope (Jer 17:17). And what do you hope from God? I said, “You will hear me, O Lord my God.”

Origen says, when a man prays to God and is not heard, it is because he does not hear his precepts. (Origen, Homiliae de Psalmos 2.3 (Ps 37; Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 12:1381–82).) He who turns his ears away from hearing the law, his prayer shall be as an abomination (Prov 28:9). But when he obeys God and his law, then he will be heard. The prayer of a just man avails much (Jas 5:16).

Now God has especially commanded patience. If one strike you on your right cheek, turn to him also the left (Matt 5:39). And so those are heard by God who have been known to pray for their enemies, as the Church does.

So Jeremiah says, if Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, since in the Old Testament they prayed for their enemies, my soul is not towards this people (Jer 15:1), that is, I shall not hear them praying for this people, as if to say, “Since I endure patiently you will hear me.”

404. For I said, “Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me.” Above, the psalmist listed the evils which he suffered from men, and he showed his patience and gave one reason on the part of God for his patience; now here he gives a reason on the part of his enemies for his patience.

It happens sometimes from the mercy of God that he who suffers some trial endures evils from those below him, in order to have peace with his enemies. When the ways of man shall please the Lord, he will convert even his enemies to peace (Prov 16:7). The beasts of the earth shall be at peace with you (Job 5:23). For this is natural, since no one is so savage or cruel that when he sees another humiliated he afflicts him exteriorly. For a dog does not kill a man who has fallen. Therefore, when someone resists his enemy, he incites that enemy to harm him and God does not help him: if I have rendered to those who repaid me evils (Ps 7:5).

And so he gives a reason for his patience, which is to avoid coming into their grasp, and he makes two points about this.

First, he remembers the bodily joy of his enemies;

second, their insults.

Therefore, he says, I said, “Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me.” If you, God, do not defend me or do not help me, so my enemies would overcome me and rejoice.

In regard to the second, he says, and while my feet are moved. Jerome has, I slip; our text has, they speak great things against me.

And when my feet slip, they speak. If this is understood as connected to what came before, the sense is I spoke so they would not speak against me. This can also be connected to his experience, as if to say, “I have experienced that they would rejoice if my feet slip.” Sometimes they fall; sometimes they slip but do not fall; sometimes they are weak.

When the wicked mock any religious man they speak much against him. Do not multiply to speak lofty things (1 Sam 2:3).

May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips (Ps 11:4). Third is the reason on his own part, namely, from his patience.

First, he describes the readiness of his soul;

second, its cause.

Therefore, he says, for I am ready for scourges and my sorrow is continually before me. No one is impatient except out of an unwillingness to endure. Therefore, when someone is prepared to endure, he is not impatient.

Two types of men should be considered.

Some are not scourged here but are reserved for eternal fire. They are not in the labor of men (Ps 72:5), that is, they are not corrected.

Others are scourged in this world, since God corrects them as sons. He scourges every son whom he receives (Heb 12:6).

Gregory says, it is a sign of eternal reprobation when God does not scourge a man in this world. So also Ambrose would not stay in the house of one who was always prosperous. (Cf. Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda sanctorum 57.) And so he says, for I am ready for scourges.

First, he describes his pain;

second, the cause of his pain.

Now it is customary that when someone suffers a grave pain, he endures that pain so he may be freed from another which is graver, as when a man endures the extraction of his tooth so as to be freed from pain in the tooth. And so he says, I am ready for scourges, since I have a pain which I want to cure.

And so he says, my sorrow, namely, for sin, is continually before me. Continual sorrow in my heart (Rom 9:2). O all you who pass by this way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow (Lam 1:12). And this sorrow is greater than any sorrow, not indeed in sense, but according to the truth of the matter.

Augustine says that all afflictions of soul are caused by love. (Augustine, City of God 14.7.9.) A man delights in what he loves and fears the contrary of what he loves and suffers in the same way. Therefore, the greater love is, so much greater is the pain at the contrary. But the least charity is the greatest sort of love. Therefore, sorrow on account of sin is the greatest, but it is not sensed as great, since the sensitive appetite is moved only by the apprehension of sensible things, unless by an overflow from the reason. And so it comes about that a man experiences more pain from things other than sin. Nevertheless, according to reason he should desire to suffer that pain rather than sorrow from sin.

405. The cause of this great sorrow is sin, and therefore he says, for I will declare my iniquity. As if to say, “Therefore I sorrow, because I consider my sin so much so that I manifest it to others.”

So I will announce, that is, I will manifest it to others so that I may experience the remedy most fully, which is found especially in confession, which gladdens the one who confesses. He who hides his sins shall not prosper (Prov 28:13). Confess to one another (Jas 5:16).

Second, satisfaction for sin against others is described, since those who have confessed in this way have not yet satisfied. I will recount to you all my years in the bitterness of my soul (Isa 38:15). When I consider him, I am made pensive with fear (Job 23:15).

And he proposes here the three parts of penitence.

Sorrow refers to contrition.

My iniquity refers to confession.

I will think, that is, I will satisfy, for my sin, in order to make satisfaction.

But my enemies live, and are stronger than I. Here a reason for mercy is set down: the prosperity of his enemies.

He describes this cause in regard to three things.

First is in regard to stability of heart, at they live.

Second is in regard to the greatness of their power, at and they are stronger than I.

Third is in regard to their great number, at they are multiplied.

And he continues: but my enemies live. So Origen says, when someone repents, if he were dismissed in peace, then he would consider sinning even during his penance, but so great tribulations rise up against him that it seems to him that he should defend himself. (Origen, Homiliae de Psalmos 2.7 (Ps 37; Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 12:1387).)

Nevertheless, he says that although my enemies live and prosper, I nevertheless do not set aside sorrow for sin, for no man should shrink back from penance.

Christ had many enemies and still has: they hated me without cause (Ps 119:7; cf. John 15:25). And God has enemies: they hated me and my Father (John 15:24). And all just men have enemies who do not live without the scourge.

And they are stronger, that is, they have great power, that is, they are too powerful; and those who hate me wrongfully, that is, unjustly, since they persecute me because of the justice which I pursue, are multiplied.

Those who render evil for good have detracted me. There are four types of rendering.

One is that someone render good for good;

another that he render evil for evil;

and these are common to the good and the wicked, since the good render to the evil a punishment for the evil of which they are guilty.

Another is that someone renders good for evil, and this properly belongs to the good.

The fourth is that someone renders evil for good, and this belongs to enemies. Shall evil be rendered for good? (Jer 18:20).

They have detracted me because I followed goodness. Detractors, hateful to God (Rom 1:30). Detraction is threefold.

One sort of it is wicked, when a man detracts from the reputation of a man on account of sin, for if sins are hidden they should not be made public by detraction.

Another is worse: when he detracts about something false.

But the worst is when he detracts not from the man but from a virtue: for example, if he would speak so as to make chastity seem to be evil. And this is in the statement: they have detracted me because I follow goodness. Woe to you who call evil good and good evil (Isa 5:20). They have not found any occasion against Daniel, unless perhaps concerning his law (Dan 6:5).

The gloss has, he is happy whose conscience can bring nothing against him except that he guards the law of his God.

406. Forsake me not, O Lord. Here he adds a prayer, and he asks that what he fears be removed, and he asks to be made firm in what he loves: attend unto my help.

Here he asks that he be not moved, that is, from the presence of God, so he says, do not depart from me, O Lord my God, namely, in tribulation. I am with him in tribulation (Ps 90:15). The Lord God is yours; . . . he will not leave you (Deut 31:6).

And if you sometimes seem to leave me a little, nevertheless, do not depart from me entirely, since I fear that I will not be able to endure. My mercy shall not depart from you (Isa 54:10).

Attend unto my help, O Lord, God of my salvation, that is, help me so I may prosper. And notice that the Church prays this versicle at the beginning of every liturgical hour, since this verse is strong against all temptations. So when we begin to pray, the devil tempts us, so he asks for help. Therefore, he says, attend, since you are God, the giver and preserver of my salvation. Who gives salvation to kings (Ps 143:10).