Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

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Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

Psalm 116 with Augustine – Correcting Misplaced Love I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live (vv. 1–2). I love because he will hear; he will hear, because he turned his ear to me. But how do you know that God has turned his ear to you when you simply say, “I have believed”? These three things, therefore, “remain: faith, hope, and love” (1 Cor 13:13). Because you have believed, you have hoped; because you have hoped, you have loved. I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD (vv. 3–4). For I did not experience trouble and beneficial sorrow; trouble, where he gives aid, to whom it is said, “Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless” (Ps 60:11). For at first, I thought I might rejoice in the help of humans, but it proved useless. When I had heard from my Lord, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matt 5:4), I did not wait to mourn until I lost those earthly blessings in which I rejoiced. Instead, I paid attention to that very misery of mine which caused me to rejoice in such earthly things, which I both feared to lose and could not retain. I looked at my misplaced love firmly and courageously, and I saw that I was not only agonized by the troubles of this world, but bound by its good fortune. In this way I was overcome by distress and sorrow which had escaped me, I called upon the name of the LORD: “LORD, save me!