Cum invocarem. The prophet teacheth us to flee to God in tribulation, with confidence in him.
Christ is the way to perfection.
“‘Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.’ For this ‘end’ signifies perfection, not consumption.”(4) -St. Augustine
Rejoice in tribulation which worketh patience; developing love and virtue.
“‘When I called, the God of my righteousness heard me’ (ver. 1). When I called, God heard me, the Psalmist says, of whom is my righteousness. ‘In tribulation Thou hast enlarged me.’ Thou hast led me from the straits of sadness into the broad ways of joy. For, ‘tribulation and straitness is on every soul of man that doeth evil.’ But he who says, ‘We rejoice in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience;’ up to that where he says, ‘Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us;’ he hath no straits of heart, they be heaped on him outwardly by them that persecute him.”(4) -St. Augustine
Vanity is full of lies and deceit.
“‘O ye sons of men, how long heavy in heart’ (ver. 2). Let your error, says he, have lasted at least up to the coming of the Son of God; why then any longer are ye heavy in heart? When will ye make an end of crafty wiles, if now when the truth is present ye make it not? ‘Why do ye love vanity, and seek a lie?’ Why would ye be blessed by the lowest things? Truth alone, from which all things are true, maketh blessed. For, ‘vanity is of deceivers, and all is vanity.’ ‘What profit hath a man of all his labour, wherewith he laboureth under the sun?’ Why then are ye held back by the love of things temporal? Why follow ye after the last things, as though the first, which is vanity and a lie? For you would have them abide with you, which all pass away, as doth a shadow.”(4) -St. Augustine
Jesus Christ sitteth at the right hand of God and will be our judge.
“‘And know ye that the Lord hath magnified his Holy One’ (ver. 3). Whom but Him, whom He raised up from below, and placed in heaven at His right hand? Therefore doth he chide mankind, that they would turn at length from the love of this world to Him.”(4) -St. Augustine
The Lord hears the cries of the broken hearted.
“The Lord will hear me, when I cry unto Him.” I believe that we are here warned, that with great earnestness of heart, that is, with an inward and incorporeal cry, we should implore help of God. For as we must give thanks for enlightenment in this life, so must we pray for rest after this life. Wherefore in the person, either of the faithful preacher of the Gospel, or of our Lord Himself, it may be taken, as if it were written, the Lord will hear you, when you cry unto Him.”(4) -St. Augustine
We should keep the Lord close to our hearts and our hearts as chambers of prayer.
“’What ye say in your hearts, that say ye;’ that is, be ye not the people of whom it is said, ‘with their lips they honour Me, but their heart is far from Me. In your chambers be ye pricked.’ This is what has been expressed already ‘in heart.’ For this is the chamber, of which our Lord warns us, that we should pray within, with closed doors.”(4) -St. Augustine
After you have repented from sins, offer the sacrifice of righteous works.
“‘Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and hope in the Lord’ (ver. 5). He says the same in another Psalm, ‘the sacrifice for God is a troubled spirit.’ Wherefore that this is the sacrifice of righteousness which is offered through repentance it is not unreasonably here understood. For what more righteous, than that each one should be angry with his own sins, rather than those of others, and that in self-punishment he should sacrifice himself unto God? Or are righteous works after repentance the sacrifice of righteousness? For the interposition of Diapsalma not unreasonably perhaps intimates even a transition from the old life to the new life: that on the old man being destroyed or weakened by repentance, the sacrifice of righteousness, according to the regeneration of the new man, may be offered to God; when the soul now cleansed offers and places itself on the altar of faith, to be encompassed by heavenly fire, that is, by the Holy Ghost. So that this may be the meaning, ‘Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and hope in the Lord;’ that is, live uprightly, and hope for the gift of the Holy Ghost, that the truth, in which you have believed, may shine upon you.”(4) -St. Augustine
God’s countenance and light of understanding is stamped upon those who live uprightly and turn away from sin.
“‘The light of Thy countenance,’ saith he, ‘is stamped on us, O Lord.’ This light is the whole and true good of man, which is seen not with the eye, but with the mind. But he says, ‘stamped on us,’ as a penny is stamped with the king’s image. For man was made after the image and likeness of God, which he defaced by sin: therefore it is his true and eternal good, if by a new birth he be stamped. And I believe this to be the bearing of that which some understand skillfully; I mean, what the Lord said on seeing Caesar’s tribute money, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’ As if He had said, In like manner as Caesar exacts from you the impression of his image, so also does God: that as the tribute money is rendered to him, so should the soul to God, illumined and stamped with the light of His countenance. (ver. 7.) ‘Thou hast put gladness into my heart.’ Gladness then is not to be sought without by them, who, being still heavy in heart, ‘love vanity, and seek a lie;’ but within, where the light of God’s countenance is stamped.”(4) -St. Augustine
Women's Prayer Group In Christ 