Psalm 38 — I will take heed to my ways

^38:1^ Unto the end, for Jeduthun, a song of David. ^38:2^ I said, “I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. I have set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me.” ^38:3^ I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good things and my sorrow was renewed. ^38:4^ My heart grew hot within me and in my meditation a fire shall flame out.

^38:5^ I spoke with my tongue: “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the number of my days, that I may know what I lack.”

^38:6a^ Behold, you have made my days measurable, and my substance is as nothing before you.

^38:6b^ Indeed, all things are vanity, every man living.

^38:7^ Surely man passes as an image: yea, and he is disquieted in vain. He stores up, and he knows not for whom he shall gather these things.

^38:8^ And now what is my hope? Is it not the Lord? And my substance is with you.

^38:9^ Deliver me from all my iniquities; you have made me a reproach to the fool. ^38:10^ I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because you have done it. ^38:11^ Remove your scourges from me. The strength of your hand has made me faint in rebukes. ^38:12^ You have corrected man for iniquity. And you have made his soul to waste away like a spider: surely in vain is any man disquieted.

^38:13^ Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication; give ear to my tears. Be not silent, for I am a stranger with you and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. ^38:14^ O forgive me, that I may be refreshed before I go from here and be no more.

407. The psalmist confessed that he suffered affliction for his sin; now here he promises caution in the future.

The title is unto the end, for Jeduthun, a song of David.

And this is not new, although this is a new title, since this is in the history of 1 Chronicles 15. When David led back the ark of the covenant which had been captured by the Philistines, he appointed four thousand singers who sang the Psalms, among whom were those called Asaph, Ithamar, and Jeduthun, and here he is placed in the title (cf. 1 Chron 15:3–17; 24:4; 25:1).

And as Origen says, it was the custom among the Greeks that when poems were sung to the people, if they were not written by the ones reciting but by others, the glory of the victory was not given to the reciter but to the poet. (Origen, Homiliae de Psalmos 1.2 (Ps 38:1; Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 12:1392).)

Now it was so with the Psalms, for David wrote all the Psalms, and he sang certain of them before the ark, as is found in 2 Samuel 6. He gave some to others to sing, and so these were given to those who were singers, and they are titled from them.

Further, the titles were given because of their dignity, since they were prophets, and because of their mystery. So this fits the mystery of Jeduthun, which is interpreted to mean “a man knowing interiorly” or “leaping across” and it signifies the leap from the vanity of the world which much of this psalm treats.

Therefore, this psalm is divided into two parts.

In the first part, he describes the caution which he has to avoid danger.

In the second, he shows the necessity of this caution, at behold, you have made my days measurable.

He makes two points about the first.

First, he puts forward the caution.

Second, he shows the danger from which it comes, at I was dumb.

He makes two points regarding the first.

First, he mentions his caution.

Second, he adds the reason for caution, at I have set a guard to my mouth.

In caution, three things should be considered:

the proposal to be cautious, so he says, I said, that is, I established and proposed in my heart with deliberation. I said in my heart, “I will go, and abound with delights” (Eccl 2:1).

Second, what is proposed must be considered, that I will take heed to my ways, that is, my progress. And a man should take heed to the ways of God so he may imitate them. My foot has followed his steps. I have kept his way and have not turned away from it (Job 23:11). Further, he should take heed to his ways so he will not err. Guard your ways and your doings (Jer 18:11; Deut 4:15).

Third, the fruit which follows from this should be considered: that I sin not with my tongue. A man should diligently guard himself from all sin, and principally from the sins of the tongue, since one falls into them easily. For the tongue is active and easily breaks forth with evil.

Or another reason is that the tongue is the organ in which the interior thought of the heart is immediately expressed. So whatever is in the heart is quickly expressed by the tongue, and one should diligently guard it.

Afterwards, he gives the reason for this guarding: I have set a guard over my mouth when the sinner stood against me. As if to say, “This is the reason why I so guard my ways, because my adversary is always against me.”

There is another saying that a man should place a guard over his heart: with all watchfulness, keep your heart (Prov 4:23).

He says that he places a guard over his mouth, not that he totally closes it, but that he should guard it, that is, watch for words which are evil either because of their time or because of what he says. There is a time and opportunity for every business (Eccl 8:6).

And in what way have I put a guard over my tongue? When the sinner stood against me.

This can be explained in three ways.

One sense is, against me, to set an ambush, and then caution is especially necessary. If you have understanding, answer your neighbor, but if not let your hand be upon your mouth (Sir 5:14). To ensnare him in speech (Matt 22:15).

A second sense is, against me, to injure or to fight, since when someone is going to fight, you should be careful, since that is virtue. When he was reviled, he did not revile (1 Pet 2:23).

The third reason is, against me, that is, in my sight, so I may instruct him. And then it is necessary to have caution to not say everything to everyone.

For some things should be proposed to the just which are not said to sinners. I could not speak to you as spiritual men, but as unto carnal (1 Cor 3:1). Give not that which is holy to dogs (Matt 7:6). As if to say, “I have taken care so the secret teaching not be thrown to sinners.”

I was dumb, and was humbled. Here he describes the danger about which he is cautious and into which he could fall; so he says, “Seeing sinners fighting against me, I decided to be entirely silent.” So he says, I was dumb, that is, I was completely silent.

But it sometimes happens that because of caution someone is indiscreetly silent, and sometimes someone is silent outwardly but disturbed within. The heart of a fool is as a rolling wheel (Sir 33:5). But this man is not disturbed interiorly. And so he says, I was humbled, interiorly.

But there is danger, since while I want to be silent to the evil, I kept silence from good things, either in regard to good words which I did not speak or from good men, to whom I chose not to speak. Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth, but that which is good to the edification of the faith (Eph 4:29).

So it follows, and my sorrow was renewed, as if to say, “First I sorrowed over indiscreet words; now I sorrow over indiscreet silence.” As if to say, “My sorrow has changed.”

But the remedy of interior charity is offered, and so he says, my heart grew hot within me, that is, the heat of charity grew hot within my heart. Can a man hide fire in his bosom and his garments not be burnt? (Prov 6:27). So it is impossible that a man hide the words of God, which inflame the heart with charity. Your word is very refined (Ps 118:140).

Now the reason for this growing hot is meditation on divine things, so he says, and in my meditation a fire shall flame out. Nothing is loved except the good and beautiful. So in the love of exterior things bodily vision is the cause of love. And so if you desire to reach spiritual things, it is fitting that your heart burn with the love of God.

The effect of growing hot is that he who proposed to remain silent is moved to speak. So he says, I spoke with my tongue. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in tongues (Acts 2:4). Gregory says, the Spirit filled them, making them equally burn and speak. But who can withhold the words he has conceived? (Job 4:2). Jeremiah speaks similarly, the word of the Lord is made a reproach. . . . Then I said, I will not make mention of him . . . and there came into my heart as a burning fire (Jer 20:8, 9).

Or it can be explained according to the gloss: I was deaf, that is, I was struck deaf. (Glossa ordinaria.) God does not give grace to a man except so he will use it, and so when someone, through negligence, does not use the grace given to him, God takes it away, as was shown in the case of the talent. Take the pound away from him and give it to him who has ten pounds (Luke 19:24). And so he says, I was deaf and was humbled, that is, cast down. And then he does not speak about virtue but about a deficiency, and so he says, my heart grew hot within me, out of concern.

Origen explains it in another way: I said, “I will take heed to my ways.” Period. That I sin not with my tongue I have set a guard over my mouth. And afterwards, when he considered the sinner against me: I was dumb.

Now there are three types of men.

In tribulation, some curse those persecuting them;

some bless them;

some are in the middle, who attain silence.

And so he avoids belonging to the first type, since he placed a guard over his mouth and did not curse. But in that he was silent and did not bless, he fell short of the second type, since he was feeling sorrow and he was burning within out of indignation.

408. Here he turns to God and flames out. I spoke with my tongue, “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the number of my days, that I may know what I lack.”

Here he makes a twofold petition.

First: O Lord, make me know my end. End here is understood to mean Christ. The end of the law is Christ (Rom 10:4). And he says, O Lord, make me know Christ.

Another petition is, make me know the number of my days. That is, I want to consider the condition of my present life so I can come to its end, since these days are evil, few, and imperfect, but those are most perfect. And then he thinks that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us (Rom 8:18).

And so, that I may know what I lack, that is, how I am imperfect in this life.

Origen says that end here means perfection. For any art has an end which it intends to reach, which is its perfection. And so he says, make me know my end, that is, what the highest perfection of the way is in which I desire to walk. I have seen an end to all achievement (Ps 118:96).

And what is the number of my days, that is, my works, which are days, as if to say, “Make me judge my works rightly according to their value.” And this is that I may know what I lack, from perfection.

Or it can be explained simply about the end of life, as if to say, in all your works remember your last end and you shall never sin (Sir 7:40). And the number of my days, that is, how I should live to prepare myself with penance.

409. Behold, you have made my days measurable. Above, the psalmist showed his caution through silence, the danger threatening him from silence, and the remedy by which the danger was overcome. Now here, he shows the necessity of the caution mentioned above, which comes from the misery of this present life.

He makes two points regarding this.

First, he describes the misery of this present life.

Second, he asks for a remedy for it: and now what is my hope?

He makes two points about the first.

First, he describes the misery of this life in regard to life itself;

second, in regard to the occupation of life, at surely man passes for an image.

He considers two aspects of the misery of life itself.

First, he describes this misery in regard to life’s qualities.

Second, he gives a reason, at indeed, all things are vanity.

He shows the misery of this life in regard to its brevity and in regard to its weakness.

Speaking about the first he says, “O Lord, I have asked that you announce to me the number of my days.” But can the days of my life be numbered? Yes, since behold, you have made my days measurable.

Man was made so that if he had not sinned, he would not have died, and so his days were not measurable, but by sinning he came to die, and so they can be numbered. The days of man are short and the number of his months is with you (Job 14:5).

But if life is short, it should for this reason be precious, as many consider it to be. Nevertheless, it is not so, since my substance and my nature and my life are as nothing before you, that is, in comparison with you, although it would seem to be precious in comparison with lower creatures. All nations are before him as if they had no being at all (Isa 40:17).

Now, it can be said in this way: my substance, that is, when I consider what is before you—that is, the eternal goods which you give to the saints—I consider my substance as nothing.

Or it can be taken this way: those who consider the things of this earth before you—that is, with a divine eye—consider them to be nothing.

410. And indeed all things are vanity. Here he gives the reason according to the literal sense. All things, according to our text, is either in the nominative case and singular in number or in the nominative case, neuter in gender, and plural in number.

If read in the second way, this is the sense: indeed, all things are vanity, as if to say, “It is not surprising that human life is as nothing before you, since all things, that is, the things below, are vanity.”

And so Jerome has, for all is vanity, as though for the preceding reason. All is vanity (Eccl 1:2).

They are called vanity because vanity is opposed to solidity and stability, for all things which are in the world are subject to change and so they are vain. And among them, every man living is subject to change, and so is vanity. The creature, that is, man, was made subject to vanity, not willingly (Rom 8:20).

Or, according to the literal sense, all, if it is taken as singular in number, means all vanity, that is, entirely vain, is every living man; that is, it is so in regard to every man living in a worldly way. A man is said to be vain because he follows after changeable things. They walked after vanity and became vain (Jer 2:5).

Or it is so, every man living carnally is totally, that is, completely, vanity.

411. Surely man passes as an image. Here he shows the misery of the human condition in regard to its occupation.

He makes three main points about this.

First, he shows that there is something in man which should resist vanity.

Second, he shows in general the vanity of his occupation, at yet in vain.

Third, he shows the same things in particular, at he stores up.

Therefore, he says, every man is vanity; nevertheless, there is something fixed in man which always remains while he changes, and this is the image.

And this can be explained in three ways.

In one way, it is about the image of God, which is in man insofar as he is elevated by reason. Let us make man in our image and likeness (Gen 1:26). And this image—namely, the reason—should resist vanity, and it should exclude it, that is, vanity. And this is what he says. Although man is subject to vanity, nevertheless he is always elevated by reason.

But it is not clarified here whose image he is, since image is understood in two ways.

One is that of the heavenly man,

but the other is of the earthly man.

As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of the heavenly (1 Cor 15:49). I say, therefore, that every man is vanity, nevertheless every man passes into some image, since he either represents the image of the heavenly man in himself through good works, or the image of the earthly through evil.

Or it can be understood otherwise. Image implies similarity. Now, the course of this life is directed through thought, since the affections are moved according to thought.

Now there is a twofold way of thinking.

One is that by which the truth is known, and this is certain.

Another is knowing through a likeness, and this is like the understanding of an image, since it does not attain to the truth itself, but to the likeness of the truth.

If a man reaches to the truth as it is, he shall not be disturbed, since he considers the condition of this life and what we will be after this life, and so he is not preoccupied with this life but with those things through which we tend to the other life.

And so Jerome has, to the extent that a man passes through according to the image, he is disquieted, that is, to the extent that a man fails to attain a true knowledge of the truth, he is disturbed by being occupied in this life, either in good things or evil things. Martha, Martha, you are careful and are troubled about many things (Luke 10:41).

Therefore, when he does good works, then he is not disquieted in vain, but when he does not occupy himself with good works, then he is disquieted in vain. I have spent my strength without cause (Isa 49:4).

And he gives an example of the occupation which disquiets men, which is being occupied with avarice. This most greatly disquiets men.

Now concupiscence does occupy a man for a period, as does anger. But, as is said, a covetous man shall not be satisfied with money (Eccl 5:9), and so he gives an example of this, saying, he stores up and he knows not for whom he shall gather these things, that is, he gathers together treasures in this life vainly. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth (Matt 6:19), vainly and uselessly, for he knows not for whom he shall gather these things.

It is not for yourself, since the rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take nothing with him (Job 27:19). Therefore, it is for others, but he does not know for whom, since they do not remain after him, and if they should remain, he would nevertheless not know what sort they are, since sometimes children act contrary to their parents.

412. And now what is my hope? Here he asks for the help of God against his misery.

First, he mentions the trust from which his prayer proceeds.

Second, he proposes a prayer, at from all my iniquities.

Third, he asks that it be heard, at hear.

Sometimes a man is suffering misery, and then he either trusts that he will be delivered by himself or through another.

If he trusts that he will be delivered by himself, he does not hope in another but has his help in himself.

If it is through another, then he hopes, since he hopes to be helped by another.

So it is in this misery, since the days are short, and he does not trust in himself but says with Job, behold, there is no help for me in myself (Job 6:13). But he hopes for help from God, so he says, what is my hope? Is it not the Lord? As if to say, “He alone can deliver me, since he alone is above all truth, who alone is the truth.” Blessed are all those who wait for him (Isa 30:18).

Now, in hoping there is delay, as if to say, “I stand ready.” If it make any delay, wait for it (Hab 2:3).

And my substance is with you. Here he gives the reason for his trust, and he has it in God. It is natural for a man to trust in God before whom he gathers all he has. Therefore, he who places all that he has in God is able to trust in God. And so he says, my substance is with you, as if to say, “Even if I am nothing in myself, nevertheless whatever I hope to be and whatever I have is in you.” Knowing that you had a better and lasting substance (Heb 10:34). Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven (Matt 6:20). I know whom I have believed and I am certain (2 Tim 1:12).

The gloss explains this as about Christ. (Peter Lombard, Magna glossatura (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 191:393).) My substance is with you, that is, you, Christ, are my flesh, since he was made of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom 1:3).

413. Deliver me from all my iniquities. Above, the psalmist mentioned the trust he has in God, when he said, and now what is my hope? Now here he makes his petition to God.

He makes three points regarding this.

First, he asks God for the removal of guilt.

Second, he asks for the removal of punishment.

Third, he gives a reason for joining these petitions.

The second is here: remove your scourges from me.

The third is here: you have corrected man for iniquity.

He considers two things regarding the removal of guilt.

First, he makes his petition.

Second, he explains why he merits to be heard, at you have made me a reproach to the fool.

Therefore, he says, deliver me from all my iniquities. Here it should be known that this petition is commendable because of the thing requested, which is necessary—namely, to be delivered from sin. If you will put away from you the iniquity that is in your hand, and let not injustice remain in your tabernacle, then you may lift up your face without spot (Job 11:14–15).

Second is because he asks not for the sake of his own merits, but he asks to be granted this from God. I am he who blots your iniquities for my own sake (Isa 43:25).

Third is because he asks to be delivered from all of them, since it is wicked to ask God for forgiveness of some sins when he does not hope to be totally delivered. I have healed the whole man on the Sabbath (John 7:23). So he says, deliver my from all my iniquities, as if to say, “I do not ask to delivered from one sin alone, but from all of them.” You shall be cleansed from all your filthiness (Ezek 36:25). Forgive all my sins (Ps 24:18).

Merit comes from enduring patiently. In tribulation, you forgive the sins of all those who call upon him (Tob 3:13).

And so he first shows what he endures;

second, he shows the patience which he has;

third, he gives its reason.

Therefore, he says, you have made me a reproach to the fool, which can be understood in two ways.

In one way it means that the reproach is a punishment inflicted on him by God, since, just as the proper reward of the virtuous is honor, so the punishment of sin is reproach. You have caused many to stumble at the law (Mal 2:8).

In another way, it can be understood that God has caused this—that is, his patience, not the reproach—but the cause of the reproach comes because he had already begun to despise the earth, which the stupid and foolish consider to be deserving of reproach because of the patience with which I act.

He shows the patience which he has when he says, I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because you have done it. It is a sign of patience that a man does not render evil for evil when words of reproach are brought against him, like Christ. When he was reviled, he did not revile (1 Pet 2:23). And so he says, I was dumb and I opened not my mouth.

Now, this can be taken in two ways.

In one way, when he says, I opened not, he indicates his continuing patience, since although someone may seem patient and remain silent for an hour, afterwards he sometimes becomes impatient and begins to speak a lot. He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter and shall be dumb as a lamb before its shearer and he shall open not his mouth (Isa 53:7). But I, as a deaf man, heard not, and as a dumb man not opening his mouth (Ps 37:14), as if to say, “I had patience.”

Or I was dumb, in respect to reproaches against my neighbor, and I opened not my mouth, against God.

The reason is because you have done it. And this can be connected to what was said above: you have made me a reproach. The reason why he endures injuries patiently is that he thinks that the divine justice brought them about. David did this when he said, let him alone that he may curse (2 Sam 16:11). My son, reject not the correction of the Lord and do not faint when you are chastised by him (Prov 3:11).

Or it can be connected to what was said, I was dumb because you have caused it, namely, my patience.

The second petition regards the removal of punishment.

First, he makes the petition;

second, gives the reason for the petition.

He says, remove your scourges, that is, your whips, from me.

This can be explained in two ways.

It may be about corporeal scourges, and these are external things, such as the scourge of certain adversaries, under which a man is placed by God for his sins. I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy (Jer 30:14). Therefore, remove these scourges from me.

Likewise, there are spiritual scourges, that is, those which are interior, such as remorse of conscience. I will reprove you and set against your face (Ps 49:21). He asks for these to be removed.

Now, according to Origen, the cause of this petition is a lack of fortitude. (Origen, Homiliae de Psalmos 1.7 (Ps 38; Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 12:1406–7).) Exterior scourges are very useful as long as they are endured patiently, but when they are no longer borne patiently, but someone weakens and despairs of himself, they become harmful. You should comfort him, lest such a one be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow (2 Cor 2:7). And so, fearing this, he asks that the scourges be removed, since he is failing in fortitude—that is, because of the violence of the beating. He has taught me with a strong hand (Isa 8:11). The hand of God was exceedingly heavy (1 Sam 5:12).

A man fails under scourges in three ways.

One way is common to both the good and the evil, which is bodily. In your wrath we have fainted away (Ps 89:9).

Another is by impatience, and this happens to the evil. Now the scourge is come upon you and you faint (Job 4:5).

Another way happens to the good, when someone becomes weak himself but reaches out towards God. My soul has fainted after your salvation (Ps 118:81).

And in whatever way what is said here is understood, as if he says, “Therefore, I ask that you remove your scourges from me, since I am corrected because I have reached the third mode of failure, since the strength of your hand has made me faint in rebukes.”

Or, “since I despair,” in the second way.

Or, “since I can no longer endure,” in the first way.

Nor is there any strength if this other line is said: the strength of your hand has made me faint in rebukes.

You have corrected man for iniquity. This is the reason why he makes his twofold petition,

since first, the cause is removed,

and afterwards, the effect is removed.

Guilt is the cause of scourging, and so he says that man is scourged on account of sins. So he says, you have corrected, that is, you scourged man, for iniquity, that is, for his sins.

And so first he asks for the sins to be removed since future punishment is damnation, but the punishments in this life are for purgation, insofar as they concern this and they are for correction. Many are the scourges of the sinner (Ps 31:10).

And you have made his soul to waste away like a spider. Here he describes the mode or the end of correction: to waste away, that is, to dry up.

It can be explained corporeally when it is referred to bodily tribulation, since the moisture and fat of the body are dried up, and so life wastes away. His flesh shall be consumed away (Job 33:21). Likewise: his flesh is consumed with punishment (Job 33:25).

In another way, it can be referred to the soul.

Now, in man there is a twofold spiritual fatness.

One is evil and comes through bodily delights. He grew fat . . . and forsook the God who made him (Deut 32:15). And it is good for this fatness to be dried up, and this is what he says: you have made my soul waste away, that is, dry up, like a spider, from the love of carnal things, since the spider is a hot animal and it is not fat since it makes most subtle filaments; so the soul that is separated from fleshly delights clings in its affection to invisible things and has invisible actions and affections. While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen (2 Cor 4:18).

Or you have made it to waste away, that is, to be dried up in regard to the richness of devotion, as is said: let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness (Ps 62:6), and this is a bad drying up. This comes about because the soul is no longer devout and clings to sins and, like a spider, lacks the fatness of devotion.

Likewise, the web of a spider is fragile, so the thoughts of sinners are vain. They have woven, that is, made, the webs of spiders, that is, useless and vain things (Isa 59:5).

Likewise, a spider sometimes emits its children so that it dies; likewise men are killed spiritually because of the sins which they make. When sin is completed it begets death (Jas 1:15). And so it is written, you have made his soul to waste away like a spider, that is, to dry up with a good aridity.

Surely in vain is any man disquieted. This is a defect in correction, since although he makes him to waste away in this way, nevertheless many remain in their evil or return to evil. And that some are not disquieted in vain does not come from the men, but because they are elevated by God from earthly things to consider heavenly things.

414. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication. Here he asks that his petition be accepted; he asks that it be heard.

He describes three things which make a petition acceptable to God.

First is the elevation of the mind to God, and this is prayer, which is the lifting of the mind to God, so he says, hear my prayer, O Lord. But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord (Ps 68:14).

Second is that he ask continuously, and this is found where he says, and my supplication. The continual prayer of a just man avails much (Jas 5:16).

Third is that there be many tears, and he shows this when he says, give ear to my tears.

Be not silent. Here he describes the sign of being heard, so he asks that God be not silent.

Now God is sometimes said to be silent in regard to the evil, when he does not punish them, as is said, I have always held my peace, I have kept silence, I have been patient (Isa 42:14). Be not silent, that is, do not be silent by not punishing.

Likewise, he is sometimes silent by not consoling the good, and so he says, be not silent to my soul, but say to my soul, “I am your salvation” (Ps 34:3). And God does this in this life when he says to the sinner, your sins are forgiven you (Luke 5:20). And it will occur in the future when he will say, come, you blessed of my father (Matt 25:34).

Jerome has, do not be deaf to my tears, and then continues like what was above.

For I am a stranger with you. Here he gives a reason for his petition, as if to say, “God commands this, namely, that the stranger be heard” (cf. Exod 22:21). And since I am a stranger, it is just that you hear me.

I have left the world behind, and fled to you, and I am with you like a stranger, since in this world I have no lasting home, but I am as a sojourner heading elsewhere, to the fatherland of eternal life, as all my fathers were.

For there are many strangers in this world who do not have affection for worldly things. As all my fathers were, namely, the saints who were sojourners, as the Apostle says (cf. Heb 11:13; 2 Cor 5). Having food and wherewith to be covered, with these we are contented (1 Tim 6:8).

O forgive me, that I may be refreshed before I go from here. Here he asks to be heard quickly, as if to say, “Do what I ask quickly!”

First, he describes the effect of his petition;

second, he determines the time, so he says, O forgive me, my sins, since blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered (Ps 31:1).

And this is so that I may be refreshed, namely, from sin or from the punishment which the wicked intend. The just man, if he be prevented with death, shall be in rest (Wis 4:7).

And do this—namely, forgive me—before I go from here, that is, before I leave this world, since there is no remission there. Before I go and return no more to a land that is dark (Job 10:21).

And I will be no more. This can be understood in two ways.

In one way it reads, forgive me before I go from here because afterwards, when I leave, I will no longer be in the state in which it is possible for sins to be forgiven. My eyes shall not return to see good things (Job 7:7), namely, in the present.

In another way it reads, forgive me, because if I go out of this world, I will not be able to be completely in a good place unless you forgive my sins. Let the companions of him that is not dwell in his tabernacle (Job 18:15).