Psalm 41 — As the hart longs for the fountains

^41:1^ Unto the end, understanding for the sons of Korah. ^41:2^ As the hart longs for the fountains of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. ^41:3^ My soul has thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?

^41:4^ My tears have been my bread day and night, while it is said to me daily, “Where is your God?”

^41:5a^ These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me; for I shall go into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God,

^41:5b^ with the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting. ^41:6^ Why are you sad, O my soul? and why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, ^41:7^ and my God. My soul is troubled within me; therefore will I remember you from the land of Jordan and Hermon, from the little hill.

^41:8^ Deep calls on deep, at the noise of your flood-gates. All your heights and your billows have passed over me.

^41:9^ In the daytime the Lord has commanded his mercy, and a canticle to him in the night. With me is prayer to the God of my life. ^41:10^ I will say to God, “You are my support. Why have you forgotten me? And why go I mourning, while my enemy afflicts me? ^41:11^ While my bones are broken, my enemies who trouble me have reproached me; while they say to me day by day, “Where is your God?” ^41:12^ Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why do you disquiet me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

432. This is the fifth group of ten in the first fifty psalms; it is ordered to implore help against present evils.

And this is done by the figure of the temporal evils which befell David, who suffered persecution from Absalom, and the first ten psalms were against this.

He suffered also from Saul, and the second ten were against this.

He also suffered from the whole people, and the third ten were against this.

He also suffered from many rivals, and the fourth ten were against this. Judge O Lord, those who wrong me (Ps 34:1).

The fifth ten remain, in which he speaks particularly about those things which pertain to his reign. And in these ten he asks for divine help against those who fight against his reign.

And when applied to what is mystical, this means that the just man asks for help against those who fight against the reign of the Church.

Therefore, these ten are divided into two parts.

The first forms a prayer for the state of his kingdom.

Second, since the kingdom is seen to be disturbed by sin, he asks forgiveness for sin, at have mercy on me, O God (Ps 50:3).

About the first, he makes two points.

First, he puts forward a petition against the enemies of the kingdom;

second, having been heard, he gives thanks for the glory of the kingdom, at my heart has uttered a good word (Ps 44:2).

And since every petition comes from desire, so he makes two points regarding the first.

First, he puts down his desire;

second, he adds a prayer, at we have heard, O God, with our ears (Ps 43:2).

About the first, he makes two points.

First, he describes the desire that he has for God;

second, he asks for the fulfillment of his desire, at judge me, O God (Ps 42:1).

The title is unto the end, understanding for the sons of Korah. This is explained in the title of the preceding psalm; nevertheless, another text has unto the end by understanding, that is, this psalm is attributed to the sons of Korah by understanding, that is, leading us to the end through the understanding.

Korah is interpreted as Calvary. So those who suffer derision for the sake of the Cross are called the sons of Korah. So the boys mocked Elisha: “Go up, bald head; go up, bald head,” and Elisha cursed them . . . and two bears ate them (2 Kgs 2:23–24). Those “come up from Bethel” who are converted to the faith of Christ from Judah, which was formerly called the house of God. And these converts are mocked by the boys, that is, the Jews who are immature, in the sense that they are still under the pedagogue and ridicule the Cross of Christ. And those two bears devoured them, namely, Titus and Vespasian. (Cf. Josephus, Bellum Judaicum.)

Therefore, the psalm is divided into two parts.

In the first, he describes his desire;

in the second, he describes the sadness which arouses his desire, at my tears have been my bread.

Regarding the first, he makes three points.

First, he puts forward his desire using an image.

Second, he explains the meaning of the image, at my soul has thirsted.

Third, he explains the thing he desires, at when shall I come.

The image is taken from the deer, which has the quality that it crushes the serpent with its hoof, and when it wants to be changed, it eats the serpent, and so it gets very hot because of the poison and then runs to the water and is renewed.

As the deer in general desires water, so the faithful desire God, but it is particularly fitting as applied to catechumens and perfect men. (I.e., holy men) For a catechumen is like a deer who senses in himself the heat of the poison, which was introduced by the suggestion of the serpent (cf. Gen 3). Original sin followed from this poison. By one man sin entered into this world (Rom 5:12). And this poison is the guilt of concupiscence and the guilt of the first sin. And therefore, he should desire the font of Baptism. There shall be a fountain open to the house of Jacob, for the washing of sinners (Zech 13:1). I will pour upon you clean water (Ezek 36:25).

Now the perfect man is like the deer stable on a rock. Who has made my feet like the feet of deer (Ps 17:34).

My soul has thirsted. Here, he has already eaten, that is, destroyed sin. Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent (Sir 21:2). And so he no longer desires anything of this world, and so he desires to come to the font of life.

And so, since this image befits the catechumen and the perfect man, this psalm is sung in the ceremony of Baptism on Holy Saturday and on Pentecost at solemn Baptism, because of the catechumens. It is also sung in the rites for the dead, since it befits perfect men to approach the font of eternal life.

So my soul longs for you, O God. Here, he applies the similitude. My soul desires through interior affection. My soul has desired you in the night (Isa 26:9). “The Lord is my portion,” said my soul (Lam 3:24).

But is there really a font of water in God?

So he says, my soul has thirsted after the God, the living font. A font gushes forth and produces the living waters, and sends forth waters continually and unfailingly.

Every water of grace flows from this font, namely, from God the Father. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water (Jer 2:13).

It also flows from the Son, insofar as he is God. With you is the fountain of life (Ps 35:10). The Word of God is the fountain of wisdom (Sir 1:5).

It is also from the Holy Spirit. It shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting (John 4:14). And, now this he said of the Spirit which those should receive who believed in him (John 7:39).

Therefore, since he is the font, my soul thirsts for him.

Thirst expresses desire with anxiety. This signifies that he suffers anxiety not only from the delay of the desired thing, but because of the evils which afflict him. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill (Matt 5:6).

But about this font he desires this, namely, when shall I come? These words belong to someone desiring and express the desire of the catechumen for baptism, and this is the meaning: “When shall I come to the holy baptism of Christ?” Come to me, all you who labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matt 11:28). Come, children (Ps 33:12). This, as Augustine says, befits catechumens, since from the beginning of the catechumenate until the time that catechumens were not adults, they were not admitted to the sacred mysteries but were able to take part only up until the Gospel.

So he says, when shall I come and appear? In the literal sense, this means, with the others, before the face of God, that is, the sacraments of Christ.

It also befits perfect men, and when shall I come and appear? means, “So that I may see you face to face, since now I am far from you, since I see you through faith.” But when I see your face I will be near. I have the desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ (Phil 1:23).

And he does not say, “The Lord will appear to me,” but I shall appear before the face of the Lord, since from seeing the face of the Lord, I shall become more glorious in the sight of all, more glorious than Moses, who saw him in this life. It has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like to him (1 John 3:2).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). As if to say, “I shall enter into the society of those seeing God, and from this I will be remarkable and glorious.”

But hypocrites are excluded from this vision. For no hypocrite shall come before his presence (Job 13:16).

433. My tears have been my bread day and night. Here he describes whence one might have this desire or anxiety.

And he first puts down the cause;

second, the remedy which he has against it, at these things I remembered.

And he first puts down the greatness of his sorrow;

second, the cause of this sorrow.

Regarding the sorrow, he explains first the greatness of the sorrow;

second, its effect;

third, its continuation.

He demonstrates the first when he says, my tears have been: a man breaks forth in tears from abundant sorrow. And this sorrow is about either the sins that prevent his attaining the thing he desires, or the troubles of others.

He demonstrates the second when he says, bread.

Bread refreshes, and tears likewise refresh, for two reasons.

First, since the action appropriate to a person is delightful to him. The action of sorrow is delightful because it is appropriate to sorrow, and crying is the action of sorrow.

The other reason is that when extra heat evaporates, it is diminished, and so he says that tears are to him like bread, since they refresh him.

Or, they are like bread since, through tears, he is sustained in the good, just as he is sustained by bread.

He demonstrates the third when he says, day and night—namely, in prosperity and in adversity*. I will weep day and night* (Jer 9:1).

And the cause of this is, while it is said to me daily, “Where is your God?” These, if they are the words of the gentiles, refer to the catechumens, as if to say, “We,” the gentiles, “have a God whom we see, namely, the sun. But where is your God, whom you imagine?”

Respond, “God can be seen, but not by you, since you are not clean of heart.”

The same is true if it is said by a faithless Jew to a converted Jew, “Where is your God?”

The Jew converted to the faith should respond, “Where my God is, is evident in your punishment, namely, that of the Jews, since you are dispersed.”

They are also the sinner’s words to the just man in affliction, as if to say, “Where is your God? Why does he not deliver you from the affliction which you suffer?”

The just man should respond that temporal goods are not the reward which God gives to his servants, but rather heavenly ones.

434. These things I remembered. Earlier, the psalmist described his desire and the cause of his desire. Here he gives the remedy against the cause, namely, sorrow.

And he suggests or makes two points about this.

He gives first the remedy which comes from his own meditation;

second, that which comes from the divine help, at my soul is troubled within me.

Regarding the first, he first proposes the remedy;

second, a barrier to sorrow that comes from the remedy, at why are you sad, O my soul?

In the remedy, he first proposes meditation;

second, delight of mind, at and poured out my soul.

And he gives the reason for this when he says, for I shall go into the place of the wonderful tabernacle.

Therefore, he says, these things I remembered, namely, the insults of the unfaithful, saying, “Where is your God?” I will be mindful and remember (Lam 3:20).

And I attained consolation of mind, because I poured out my soul. When a liquid is poured out, it is diffused. So, since expansion of heart belongs to joy, which is a certain delight, so the pouring out of the soul signifies delight. Pour out your hearts before him (Ps 61:9).

Another text has, I poured out my soul above myself. And this text would be read differently, with the sense that they say, “Where is your God?” And I remember that I first searched certain insensible creatures to find my God, but I found in them certain traces of God. The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made (Rom 1:20).

But then I went further, among things with an intellectual nature. And I poured out my soul above myself, that is, inquiring anxiously, I sought whatever was in them, as if putting all things before myself, as he who takes everything out of a vessel to discover whatever is within, and nevertheless my God was not there.

But there remains something beyond this, and I obtained this, for I shall go into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, as if to say, “The whole consolation which I can possess is the hope of one who tends toward God.”

And he says two things,

namely, toward what he tends,

and how, at with the voice of joy and praise.

In regard to the first, a particular imagining is helpful.

In the Old Testament, there were two places designated for the divine worship: first, the tabernacle tent, described in Exodus 36. Afterwards, as the people’s condition and worship progressed, the house of God, that is, the temple, was built, not like the tent, but as something stable.

And David desired to build this but was forbidden by God. Shall you build me a house to dwell in? (2 Sam 7:5). This is also in 1 Chronicles 17. But he was promised that his son would build the house of God, so he prepared the expenses, and so he says that they say to me, “Where is your God?” And therefore, having remembered this, I delight that I will find him, and so I tend toward him with my whole affection.

I shall go into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, as if to say, “I will not rest until I find him.”

And he says, I shall go, since the tabernacle, which was movable, signifies the state of the Church at present, since it is not perpetual, nor finally established, until the end of the world, and then it will be changed: behold the tabernacle of God with men (Rev 21:3), that is, the present state of the Church with men, that is, until men will be in that eternal life.

And from this life I will go into the firmly established home of God*. We shall be filled with the good things of your house* (Ps 64:5). In my Father’s house there are many mansions (John 14:2). And so he looks forward to going into the wonderful tabernacle and into the house of God. And it is called the wonderful tabernacle because of the wonderful things that it effects in the saints.

435. With the voice of joy and praise. Here he describes his way of going to the house of God.

And here likewise another imagining is helpful: there was the custom that when they went in a crowd to the tabernacle, they went with joy. You shall have a song as in the night of the sanctified solemnity, and joy (Isa 30:29). Someone who proceeds with flutes goes joyfully, and so he says, I shall go into the place of the tabernacle. And he goes with joy, with the voice of joy and praise, the noise of one feasting.

Another text has, with the noise of feasting, as if to say, “I will go with the voice of the noise of one feasting, since in feasts is the sound of joy.” And this is an even clearer image of joy because of additional joys that are there.

Therefore, we shall connect this to the joyful entrance, since there are three joys there.

First, there will be the exultation from the possession of good things. They shall obtain joy and gladness (Isa 35:10).

Second, there will be the praise of the favors of grace, since they will know that they obtained them through the grace of God, and so they will praise the wonderful works of God, and so the action of grace and the voice of praise follow.

Third, there will be spiritual refreshment: my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty (Isa 65:13*). Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice* (Matt 5:6). And so there will be the sound of feasting and of festivity, that is, continual exultation. Look about, O Jerusalem, towards the east, and behold the joy that comes to you from God (Bar 4:36).

And since all these things exist imperfectly here in the Church, he adds, why are you sad, O my soul? Here he offers a remedy against the cause of sadness.

And first, he sets aside the emotion.

Second, he sets aside its effect.

Therefore, he says, why are you sad, O my soul, when you should be rejoicing, since you are in the tabernacle, and since I shall go to the house of the Lord. Why, therefore, are you sad? For small evils should not even be noticed when considering eternal goods. Drive away sadness far from you (Sir 30:24). The sorrow of the world works death (2 Cor 7:10). The effect of sorrow is disturbance, since the reason is disturbed by disorder of the emotions.

And who is speaking? The soul, from its sensitive part. The soul has two parts, namely, the sensitive, which here is called the soul because of its animating nature, and the higher reason, which is called itself, because whatever is better in a thing is called the best. And so higher reason speaks to the lower, why do you trouble me? And what is the cause?

Now he shows that he should not be sad, since there is hope of future praise, and so he says, hope in God, for I will still give praise to him, as if to say, “Hope in God himself, since you will still come to what you desire,” because I will still give praise to him, that is, I still trust in seeing his face, either on the way, or in the fatherland, which latter is the principal matter for joy. Is any of you sad? Let him pray. Is he cheerful in mind? Let him sing (Jas 5:13).

The salvation of my countenance. Here, salvation is in the nominative case according to the gloss, and this is the meaning: “I say that I will praise him.” And who is he whom I will praise?

Christ, in whom there are two natures, the human, in which he is like his mother, and so he says, the salvation of my countenance, that is, bearing my countenance. My eyes have seen your salvation (Luke 2:30). I will look for your salvation, O Lord (Gen 49:18). Christ also has the divine nature, and, in this, he is my God, so he says, my God. Of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever (Rom 9:5).

Or, according to Jerome, salvation is in the accusative case, as if to say, “I will confess unto him salvation,” that is, the salvation by which he saved me. (Pseudo-Jerome, Breviarium in Psalmos at Ps 41:7 (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 26:950).)

And what follows, my God, is joined to what comes afterward.

Next, he gives the remedy, divine help.

He first proposes the remedy;

second, he explains it.

Therefore, he says, within me. Another text has, my soul is troubled from me. The first is better: “I ask, what is the reason why, soul, you trouble me?” And this disturbance comes because wherever I turn within myself, I find trouble for myself. Destruction is your own, O Israel; your help is only in me (Hos 13:9).

And so Jerome has, my God, within me. According to this text, the meaning is as if he were to say, “The cause of disturbance comes from myself,” since if we refer to the human race, the corruption of sensuality comes from reason, that is, from the sense of our first parent.

Again, man stains his nature by sinning, and so after sin, sensuality resists reason more. (Cf. ST I, q. 85, a. 3.)

And since there is nothing in me which is not a cause of disturbance, I will remember you, that is, turn to you. His memorial shall be as the wine of Libanus (Hos 14:8).

And whence? From the land of Jordan and Hermon. Jordan is a river in the promised land. Hermon is a certain mountain near the Jordan. And according the history of 2 Samuel 17, when Absalom went to Jerusalem, he also took counsel to persecute David, who was near the Jordan, but Cusi prevented it, and so he says, if I am in any trouble like I was then, as a defense I will remember you.

Now, there are three things signified here which are in Baptism.

The Jordan signifies the descent of grace into Baptism: every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above (Jas 1:17).

And from the land, since through the inpouring of grace the land of the heart is made fruitful.

Hermon means “anathema” and signifies the renunciation of the devil and his pomps which we make in baptism, since at that time one anathematizes such things, that is, one separates oneself from the devil.

From the little hill, since this renunciation and grace come from a humble heart, since God grants grace to the humble (Jas 4:6). And the devil is king over all the children of pride (Job 41:25).

436. Deep calls on deep. He lays out the remedy by saying two things,

namely, in regard to the disturbance which he has in himself,

and in regard to the remembrance of God, at in the daytime the Lord has commanded.

In regard to the first, he proposes an image and explains the cause.

In Scripture, a deep signifies a great amount of water. Darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved over the waters (Gen 1:2). It also follows that when many waters are generated in the air, they can be called a deep. And in these rains there is a certain circulation, since they descend to the earth, and from them rise the vapors which generate other waters, and in their midst there is frequently thunder, which happens from the movement of clouds which are generated from vapors and rain. Again, it happens that lightning follows thunder. (Cf. Aristotle, Meteorica. 2.9, 369a.) He has made lightnings for the rain (Ps 134:7).

Therefore, he says, deep, that is, many waters, calls on deep, that is, it draws many other waters to itself.

And this is at the noise of your flood-gates, that is, there are certain hidden places in which water is generated and from which it descends. So he says flood-gates to describe the clouds, which are in a certain way like flood-gates from which water comes forth.

And in Scripture, these, namely, the deep and the storm, bring about evil. The depths have covered them (Exod 15:5), so deep calls on deep, as if to say, one punishment of God, the deep calls, that is, continues with, another, as if to say, “The judgment by which God imposes present evils calls to the judgment by which he imposes future evils.” Your judgments are a great deep (Ps 35:7).

And so he says, at the noise of your flood-gates, that is, through the voice of your Scriptures, or of your preachers. And this refers to the earlier, my soul is troubled. Why? Because of the deep: a great punishment follows from an evil or from a sin.

Or, understood in another way: therefore will I remember, so that by the deep is understood sacred doctrine. And so this is the sense: deep, that is, the Old Testament, calls to another, that is, the New Testament. And these two together bring me to remember you, since in both he promises God’s help to man. And this happens at the noise of your flood-gates, that is, of the preachers and teachers.

Or, taken in another way, it is man who is the deep: what man knows the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him? (1 Cor 2:11). According to another text, the heart is deep beyond all things, and unsearchable (Jer 17:9). Therefore, the deep, that is, one man, calls another to Christ. And this happens not by his own power, but at the noise of your flood-gates, that is, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, from which the tongue of the preacher has its efficacy.

All your heights and your billows have passed over me. Above, the psalmist laid out an image of his trouble; here he explains that image.

Above, he said, deep calls on deep, and it refers to what was signified—that not only one punishment was suffered, but many.

And to this end he follows up the image: man is afflicted by water, either descending from the air or existing in it, or existing beneath, and he says he is afflicted in both ways.

In the first, when he says, all your heights;

in the second, when he says, and your billows have passed over me.

These heights are future punishments, and they look to the future judgment, because it was in the sea that they sank as lead (Exod 15:10).

The billows are the present punishments that call to the future ones. And so your billows have passed over me. They have made themselves a way by me (Job 19:12).

The gloss says, your billows have passed over me, that is, have receded from me. (Glossa Interlinearis.) And so, according to this explanation, this is a source of consolation, as if to say, “I will remember you, because all your heights and your billows have receded from me,” as if to say, “The great punishments, which are signified by the billows, have passed over me,” that is, they seemed to exceed my abilities.

But the first explanation is better.

437. In the daytime the Lord has commanded his mercy. As has been said, he spoke about two things:

the disturbance in himself,

and faithfulness, at therefore will I remember you.

And he gives the cause of the disturbance,

and then explains why he remembers God.

And first, he describes the experience of divine mercy;

second, he adds a prayer, at with me is prayer.

And he makes two points, according to two states of the divine mercy, since this mercy of God is mild both in prosperity and in adversity.

And so, in regard to prosperity, he says, in the daytime the Lord has commanded his mercy, that is, in the time of prosperity, as if to say, “Whatever prosperity I have, I attribute to the divine mercy.” The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed (Lam 3:22).

In regard to the state of adversity, he says, in the night, that is, the time of adversity, he sang a canticle to him, that is, joy: the greatest consolation in my tribulation is from the divine mercy.

For this reason, another text has, in the day he has declared, that is, the divine mercy has been declared, or manifested, in the time of adversity. (Vetus latina.) The mercy of God is beautiful in the time of affliction (Sir 35:26). According to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my iniquity (Ps 50:3).

Nevertheless, according to Jerome, it should be read, in the day, the Lord has commanded his mercy, and in the night a canticle to him is with me. And this is the prayer of the Lord, as if to say, “I recognize the mercy of God in the natural day, or the day of adversity; in the night I recognize a canticle to God, and I pray again to the God of my life.” And this is clearer.

Nevertheless, let us explain it according to how the gloss explains, and let us say, with me is a prayer, where he describes the prayer.

And he makes three points regarding this.

He first describes his way of praying,

second, the time of prayer,

third, the effect of the prayer.

He says two things about the prayer itself.

First, his disposition toward praying, since sometimes a man prays and his prayer is not before God, when he does not pray for prayer’s own sake, but so that he may be seen in public. When you shall pray enter into your chamber, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret (Matt 6:6).

Second, he describes his disposition toward him to whom he prays, to the God of my life, namely, the author of natural life—the Lord kills and makes alive (1 Sam 2:6)—and also of the life of grace. He is your life, since the soul lives by grace, through that which lives to God. And also, the life of glory, for with you is the fountain of life (Ps 35:10).

Afterwards, he lays out the prayer: and I will say to God, “You are my support.”

In this he makes two points.

First, he gives thanks for favors received;

second, he asks the reason for the evils he suffers.

Man should put forward the first of these first, since if he is not grateful for favors received, he is unworthy of those to come. For the hope of the ungrateful shall melt away as the winter’s ice (Wis 16:29). And so he says, you are my support.

Jerome has, you are my rock, that is, strength.

And he is called a support who defends us. But you, O Lord are my protector (Ps 3:4).

Or, you are my support, that is, of my nature. Behold my servant; I will uphold him (Isa 42:1).

Or, he is my support in Baptism. He received me out of many waters (Ps 17:17).

And if you are my support, I marvel at the evils I suffer.

And first, he asks the reason for the evils;

second, he describes certain things which are signs of one thing and the cause of another, at while my enemy afflicts me.

And he considers two of the evils:

one on God’s part, namely, that he has forgotten him;

another on his own part, since he is overwhelmed with sorrow.

The first is on the part of God, since he allows him to be afflicted, and so he says, why have you forgotten me, since formerly you supported me. The Lord has forgotten me (Isa 49:14). But actually he has not forgotten.

The second is on the part of him who is afflicted, so he says, and why go I mourning, that is, what is the reason for which you give me over to sorrow? I walked sorrowful all the day long (Ps 37:7).

While my enemy afflicts me. Here he describes the sorrow which he suffers from his enemies.

And he proposes the effect of the persecution, as if to say, “This is the reason why I walk sorrowfully, since I am afflicted by enemies, sometimes by temporal and sometimes by spiritual ones.” An enemy has done this (Matt 13:28).

The cause of sorrow, or its effect is, while my bones are broken. The bones of the Church are the strong, the prelates and holy men. And they are afflicted sometimes by temporal adversaries, sometimes by temptations. They have numbered all my bones (Ps 21:18). In any man, virtue is like a bone, and if it happens that the just and pure man should fall, his bone is broken.

My enemies have reproached me. Here he gives the cause of the sorrow which he suffers from injurious words, so he says, they have reproached me, namely, with injurious words*. I am become a laughing-stock all the day, all scoff at me* (Jer 20:7).

And this derision is very serious. The weight of the derision that he bears will be in proportion to his relation to the thing in which, rejoicing, he trusted. Now he rejoiced the most about God, and so this derision is most serious to him. And so my enemies say to me day by day, “Where is your God?” As Psalm 12:5 says, lest at any time my enemy say: “I have prevailed against him.”

Here he gives the effect of his prayer.

And the prayer has a twofold effect.

One is the driving out of sadness.

Another is the increase of hope.

The first effect occurs because, through prayer, the mind of man ascends to God, and, since God is the highest good, when the soul cleaves to him, it experiences the greatest delight, and delight drives out sadness, or lessens it, and so he says, why are you cast down, O my soul, since I prayed. And this is explained above.

The other effect is that he grows in hope, since if a king admits someone to close service and conversation, he presumes the trustworthiness of the one asking and obtaining. Now, in prayer, man particularly speaks with God. In him has my heart confided (Ps 27:7). And so he adds, hope in God, and this was explained above.