Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

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Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

Psalm 88 with Augustine – Proof of HumanWeakness LORD, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you; . . . I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death (vv. 1–3). These feelings of human weakness our Lord took upon him, as he did the flesh of human weakness, and the death of human flesh, not by necessity, but by the free will of his mercy, that he might transform his own body, which is the Church to be like him. If any of them happened to be in sorrow and pain, they would not think that they were separated from his favor. The point is that the body learns from its Head that these sorrows are not sin, but proof of human weakness. The Church is “poor,” as she hungers and thirsts in her wanderings for that food with which she will be filled. She says, from my youth I have suffered (v. 15). She experiences the wrath of God, but it is not lasting, since it is only the unbelieving about whom it is written that “God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36). The terrors of God disturb the weakness of the faithful, because of the possibility of judgment (even though it actually does not happen). It is wise to fear. Sometimes these terrors frighten the reflective soul with the surrounding evil because they seem to flow around us on every side like water, and to encircle us in our fears. But what is the purpose? That the prayers of this holy body may in the light of faith delay God’s wrath until our salvation comes, which we await with patience and faithfulness. Then the Lord will not repel our prayers, as there will no longer be anything to be requested. Everything that has been rightly asked will be obtained. He will not turn his face away from us, since we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2). We will not be poor, because God will be our abundance, all in all (1 Cor 15:28). We will not suffer,