Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

Chapter 7: Psalms 119:33–130

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Psalm 130 with Katharina Schütz Zell – An Earnest Prayer for Grace

[130:1] O God, out of the depths of my heart, of all the most inward and spiritually rich power in me, I cry to You now in my great distress. [130:2] Hear my voice, let Your ears be open to me. Take to heart, give heed to, and receive my plea to You, which I make with earnest sighing and weeping. [130:3] If You should regard sins, to reckon and chastise them and therefore not listen to prayers, who could stand before You, or dare to pray for something, much less hope to obtain it? Refusing to forgive would be contrary to Your accustomed way of acting, which has come down to us from of old, contrary to Your faithfulness and goodness, which have been experienced and known. [130:4] For with You there is much forgiveness, and You never weary in doing good, if only a person fears You and does not despise Your faithfulness and goodness, but builds on them. This truth You have granted me to know; this truth I confess with thanks because I know it and have experienced it in my many afflictions. [130:5] So I wish now to keep watch for You; yes, my soul should keep watch for what You will do—with such watching that I may hope in You with my whole heart through the word of Your promise. [130:6a] Yes, indeed, my soul should keep watch in such a way that You will say to her that You are still my God [cf. Ps 42:5–6, 11; 43:5]. [130:6b] This is so, even if indeed the watching goes on from one morning watch to another, from one time to another, from one affliction to another, from one promise to another, from one body to another, yes, from one life to another, and even if we still find the