Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

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Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

Psalm 148 with Augustine – PracticingWhole-Bodied Praise

The subject of our meditation in this present life should be the praise of God; for the everlasting occupation of the life after this one will be the praise of God. No one can become fit for the life after this one who has not practiced for it. So we praise God now, but we pray to him, too. Our praise is marked by joy, our prayer by groans. For the time being all the evil men sing with us, Hallelujah. However, if they persevere in their wickedness, they may sing the song of our life after this one, but they will not be able to enter into it, because they would not practice it before it came, and lay hold of what was to come.

“Hallelujah.” “Praise the Lord,” you say to your neighbor, and they say it to you, when all are urging each other, all are doing what they urge others to do. But praise with your whole selves: that is, do not let your tongue and voice alone praise God, but your conscience also,

Augustine on Psalm 148 “Praise with your whole selves: that is, do not let your tongue and voice alone praise God, but

your conscience also, your life, your deeds.”

your life, your deeds. For now, when we are gathered together in the Church, we praise. When we each go out to our own business, we seem to cease praising God. Let us not cease to live well, and then we continually praise God. Therefore, pay attention not only to the sound. When you praise God, praise with your whole selves. Let your voice, your life, your deeds, all sing.