Fathers

Psalms 38

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O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 38:9

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

And who observed and noticed the cause of his groaning? "All my desire is before You" [Psalm 38:9]. For it is not before men who cannot see the heart, but it is before You that all my desire is open! Let your desire be before Him; and "the Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you." [Matthew 6:6] For it is your heart's desire that is your prayer; and if your desire continues uninterrupted, your prayer continues also. …

Exposition on Psalm 38 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

"O Lord, before you is all my desire." Here is set forth the remedy of consolation. And first he shows that in God alone is the remedy of his consolation. Second, he shows that this is necessary for him, because he has nothing in himself from which to take comfort, at "My heart." Hos. 13: "Your destruction is from you, O Israel; only from me is your help." Now there is a twofold sorrow. …

Exposition on the Psalms of David ↗

Bonaventure

When the soul does what it can, grace lifts it up easily and God works in it, so that there be a worthy admission of divine matters, corresponding to the Thrones. "O Lord, all my desire is before You; from You my groaning is not hid." Later, when the soul is lifted up, it must not be idle, but should look around. Then, indeed, the soul must be fixed, and standing, and expecting.

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22 ↗