Fathers

Psalms 16

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Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 16:2

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

God does not derive any benefit from our worship, but we do. When he reveals or teaches how he is to be worshiped, he does so in our own highest interest, with absolutely no need of anything for himself. All such sacrifices are symbolic; they are a representation of certain things by which our attention is aroused to study or understand or reflect on the realities represented by them.

Letter 102:3 ↗

Ambrose of Milan

Who has ever given him anything, since "from him, and through him and in him" are all things? The fount of life is that highest Good that bestows the substance of life on all, because it has life abiding in itself. It receives from no one as though it were needy; it lavishes goods on all and borrows from others nothing for itself, for it has no need of us. It says, too, in the person of humankind: "You do not need my goods." What is more lovely than to approach him and cling to him? What pleasure can be greater? …

Letter 29: To Irenaeus ↗

Jerome

But what follows—"I said to the Lord, You are my God"—he directs his speech to the apostles and to the disciples and to us, if indeed we deserve to be disciples, teaching what he has said to the Lord of the universe. What, then, does he say he has spoken to the Lord? "You are my Lord": that is, you who are the Lord of all have become peculiarly mine, that is, the Lord of my own. …

Homily 61, on Psalm 15 ↗