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The God Who Answers in Distress (Psalm 4) | Saint Augustine · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the Deep Dive. We've got a a fascinating stack
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of material today, taking us into the mind of one of
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history's most influential thinkers.
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Indeed, we're looking at excerpts from Saint Augustine's
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exposition on Psalm 4. It's really a classic text.
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Right. And it unpacks the spiritual
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meaning of this ancient Psalm. And offers, well, insight that's
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still relevant, you know, for anyone seeking substance in a
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world full of distractions. So our aim for this deep dive,
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then, is to move through Augustine's reading of Psalm 4.
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We want to pull out the key ideas about prayer, our
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Interstate, what he sees as the maybe emptiness of worldly
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pursuits. And we're lasting gladness and
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hope are really found. And just to be clear, everything
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we're discussing, it's drawn straight from the source
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material provided to us. Good.
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So we're sticking to Augustine's take here.
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And we'll be looking closely at how Augustine perceives this
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tension, maybe even a battle between the outer temporal world
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and the inner spiritual reality. And what it means, in his view,
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to seek God with a single heart right in the middle of all that.
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OK, let's get started. Augustine begins right at the
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title of the Psalm. To the end.
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That seems, well, an unusual place to start an exposition,
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doesn't it? It's focusing on the title
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itself. What does he make of that phrase
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to the end? Yeah, it's quite significant for
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him. He jumps right in and clarifies
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that this end isn't about, you know, mere consumption or
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completion, like something's just used up or finished.
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OK, not like the end of a movie or something.
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No. For Augustine, this end
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signifies perfection. Perfection, like the ultimate
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goal, the intended conclusion where something reaches its its
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full purpose. That's the idea, and he makes a
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direct, really crucial link right away.
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Quotes Romans 10.4. Christ is the end of the law
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for. Righteousness to everyone that
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believeth. So this sets the entire stage
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for how he reads Psalm 4. The Psalm starting with this
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opening phrase is framed as pointing toward Christ.
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Toward. Christ is the ultimate
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fulfilment, the destination. The goal of the law and you can
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say the spiritual life for those who believe.
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It's not just David's prayer back then.
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It's prophetic, aimed at Christ. So reading the song through that
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lens, its ultimate end being Christ, that fundamentally
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shapes the whole interpretation, doesn't.
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It it really does. It's not merely about David's
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situation, but something much larger, the completion of
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righteousness found only in him. That's a a powerful theological
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frame right from the start. It reframes the whole thing.
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It moves it from just maybe a historical context to a
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Christological 1 and a Skatalogical 1 even makes sense.
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And Augustine also briefly notes the subtitle A Psalm Song to
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David. He suggests song probably points
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to a joyful theme, which fits if it's aimed at perfection.
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Right. Joyful.
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Song. He also mentions the psaltery,
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you know, the instrument David used.
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He says it has a high mystery. Now, the excerpts don't really
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unpack this mystery, but the idea is there that even the
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physical context might hold a deeper, maybe symbolic meaning,
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hinting that the spiritual truths are, well, profound, not
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immediately obvious. Interesting.
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So the foundation is laid. We're looking at a joyful theme
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connected to David and his worship, but ultimately it's
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true meaning and end. It's perfection.
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It's all found in Christ. That sets the stage for
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everything else, right? The Psalm opens with the
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psalmist declaring when I called the God of my righteousness
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heard me. What does Augustine focus on
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there regarding this hearing? Well, a couple of things really
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stand out to him. First, the psalmist identifies
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God not just as the one who hears, but specifically as the
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God of my righteousness. Emphasizing the source.
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Right. It underlines that any
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righteousness the psalmist has or hopes to have comes only from
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God. The reason, he's heard, is in
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his own merit. But God's nature, his gracious
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work. Precisely.
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And this hearing, Agustin points out, is explicitly linked to
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tribulation. The very next phrase is in
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tribulation. Thou hast enlarged me.
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Enlarged me. That does sound
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counterintuitive. In trouble?
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Tribulation usually feels like being squeezed, confined, put in
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a tight spot, you know? It certainly does from a purely
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physical or emotional view. It's a surprising phrase if you
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just read it literally, but Augustine interprets this
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enlargement spiritually. He sees it as being LED from the
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straits of sadness into the broad ways of joy.
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The Straits are those narrow, constricting, painful places.
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Tribulation brings the sadness, the fear, feeling trapped.
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OK, the tightness. And the enlargement is the
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spiritual opposite, an opening out, an expansion of the soul
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into a state of joy and freedom. From tightness and sadness to
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broadness and joy because of tribulation.
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That seems like a paradox. How does trouble which causes
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straights become the occasion for enlargement?
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Yeah, it is a paradox in worldly terms.
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He actually contrasts this experience with those who do
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with evil. When they face tribulation, they
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just experience tribulation and straightness, no enlargement.
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Their trouble just makes them feel more confined.
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Right. More miserable.
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But for the believer, the one who can rejoice in tribulations.
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And that's a clear nod to the New Testament.
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This spiritual enlargement happens because the love of God
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is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.
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Ah, there it is, the work of the Holy Spirit.
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So the outward pressure is there, but the inward state, the
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heart experiences expansion, not constriction, because the Spirit
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is actively pouring God's love into.
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It exactly tribulation becomes the very setting where the
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Spirit's enlarging work is maybe felt most strongly.
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So the person whose heart is filled and enlarged by the
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Spirit's presence and God's love doesn't suffer inward straights,
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doesn't feel spiritually confined even when facing
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intense outward difficulty. That's the idea.
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The inward reality is one of spiritual freedom, openness, joy
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rooted in God's love, no matter the external pressures.
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Agustin also picks up on a subtle shift in how the psalmist
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speaks. Right, yeah.
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Moving from talking about God he heard to talking directly to
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God. Thou hast enlarged me.
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What does he make of that? Yeah, he notices that.
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He wonders if it's just, you know, stylistic grace of
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variation in the text. Just rhetoric.
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Maybe, but he suggests a deeper spiritual reason.
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He thinks perhaps the psalmist chose to speak with God to
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address him directly, precisely in that moment of spiritual
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enlargement. It sort of reveals what that
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enlargement is. It's having God's love so poured
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into the heart that it enables direct, intimate, inner
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conversation with God right there in the soul.
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So the enlargement is this ability for direct conversation
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with God within the heart. It's not just a feeling, it's
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being able to engage him personally, inwardly.
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Yes, that interior conversation, that walking and talking with
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God in the Chamber of the heart, which we'll get to later.
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Augustine sees this as being spoken in the person of someone
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enlightened, regenerated after believing in Christ.
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The voice of the new man. Right.
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Living in the reality of the Spirit's work, he even kind of
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wonders if the Lord himself might be speaking here for his
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faithful ones, identifying so closely with them that he voices
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their experience as his own. Wow.
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He uses that analogy of Christ saying I was hungry and he gave
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me no food, identifying with his followers in their need.
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That's a striking thought. So the prayer isn't just heard,
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it leads to this inner transformation, enlargement,
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which then enables direct talk with God, a conversation so real
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Christ might even speak it for us.
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It really highlights how personal God's work is.
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Right. It goes beyond just request and
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response. Prayer becomes the outflow of an
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inward state. And even after declaring this
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hearing and enlargement, the psalmist still says, have mercy
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upon me and hear my prayer. Yeah, why add that?
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Augustine suggests it's not a contradiction.
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Maybe it's spoken for our sake, for us still in this life,
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hoping for what we don't see and waiting in.
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Patience, OK? Or maybe it's a prayer for the
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completion, the perfection of the enlargement that's begun,
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acknowledging that while it's real, the growth is ongoing in
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this life. So even the spiritually enlarged
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soul still feels the need for mercy, for continued hearing,
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recognizing the ongoing struggle, or the not yet aspect
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of it all. So what does this mean for you,
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listening? Could your own hard times when
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life feels narrow or sad actually be the very moments God
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uses for this kind of inward spiritual enlargement, opening
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your heart to deeper connection, direct conversation with Him
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through the Spirit? It challenges us to see
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difficulty differently, maybe. Following that opening prayer,
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Augustine moves to the psalmist. Sharp rebuke.
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Oh, you sons of men, how long? Heavy in heart.
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Why do you love vanity and seek a lie?
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Heavy in heart. That phrase really paints a
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picture, doesn't it? What makes a heart heavy
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according to Augustine here. He ties his heaviness directly
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to their misplaced focus. It comes from being fixated on
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temporal, fleeting things, the stuff of this world that
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doesn't. Last.
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Instead of being grounded in truth.
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Right, which alone brings true blessedness and lightness.
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They keep going in crafty Wiles deceptive ways of living and
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seeking satisfaction even when the truth.
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And Augustine sees the coming of the Son of God as the ultimate
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truth is right there showing the emptiness of what they're
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chasing. They love vanity and seek a lie.
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Why such strong words? Vanity and a lie for what they
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pursue. He's quite deliberate there.
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Vanity means emptiness, futility.
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These things have no lasting substance.
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A lie means deception. They promise happiness,
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fulfillment, but they just can't deliver.
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So it's wanting to be blessed by the lowest things.
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Yes, by material stuff, worldly status, passing pleasures,
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things tied to this earth. Their hearts are captive,
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weighed down by the love of things temporal, he says.
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They follow ye after the last things as though the first.
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Treating secondary things is primary.
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Exactly. Treating things that are
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ultimately vanity and a lie as if they were the ultimate goods,
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the things that should come first in their desires.
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So chasing these fleeting things isn't just pointless vanity,
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it's actively deceptive. A lie because they promise what
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they can't deliver, leading to a life built on falsehood.
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That's it. They don't last.
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You might desperately want them to abide with you, give you
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lasting security or happiness, but Augustine says they all pass
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away as death of shadow. Wow.
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Seeking your deepest satisfaction there is, seeking
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what's ultimately empty and deceptive.
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He says. Clearly, that truth alone, God's
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truth, His reality, is what makes someone truly blessed,
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truly free from this deceptive chase.
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It sounds like trying to build your house on quicksand.
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That's a good analogy. The source links this heavy
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heart state to being multiplied by temporal desires.
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We'll come back to that idea. This multiplication leads to
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being distracted with manifold and anxious thought, pulled in
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many directions by worries about getting things, keeping them,
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losing them. This prevents them from seeing
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and holding on to the simple good, the unified, unchanging
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good of God's presence. Their desire for these things
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burns ever with desire and cannot be satisfied.
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Always wanting more. No matter how much they get, the
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creating stays, leaving them restless, feeling like they
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don't have enough. The soul gets filled with
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numberless idle fancies from the constant striving and losing of
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these transient desires. Augustine even connects it to
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the physical body, pressing down the soul, weighing down the
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mind, absorbed in musing on many things.
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That restless striving, that scattering of attention across
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many fleeting desires that never truly satisfy.
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It creates the heavy heart. Precisely looking for good
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things without outside themselves in the external
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world, rather than finding gladness and true good within in
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the souls connection with God. So what's the take away here?
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It sounds like Augustine is saying our focus on temporary
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external things isn't just a mistake.
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It's the very thing that burdens us, weighs us down, keeps our
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hearts from being light. It's a deception for you
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listening does this description of being heavy and heart may be
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burdened by chasing fleeting things resonated all.
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OK, moving on. The next verse in the Psalm
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offers a real pivot point, a contrast to that folly.
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And know ye that the Lord hath magnified his Holy one.
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And know ye that the Lord has magnified his holy One?
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Who is this holy one that the Lord has magnified?
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Augustine interprets this quite clearly as Christ.
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He specifies that the Lord magnified him, whom he raised up
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from below, and placed in heaven at his right hand.
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The exaltation of Christ, yes. And Augustine presents this as
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the reason for the sharp rebuke about vanity.
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Because Christ, the true ultimate good, has been exalted,
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made known, and is now accessible to believers.
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Humanity should turn away from loving the world, from chasing
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vanity, and turn to Him. He is the true object of desire,
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the true source of blessing. He's the positive alternative,
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the reason to turn from the lie. Augustine also notes the
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connecting word and at the start of the verse, which he says is
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common in prophetic language. Suggesting the connection.
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Maybe between the outward declaration of this truth God
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magnified His Holy One and an inward vision receiving that
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truth in the heart. But then He highlights something
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else, a feature in the text right after this declaration,
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the diafsalma. Diafsalma.
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That sounds like a technical term.
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What is that? Yeah, the source talks about it.
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Augustine himself considers different ideas.
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Some ancient views thought it was Hebrew, for so be it, like
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an affirmation. Others, seeing it as Greek,
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thought it marked a pause in the psalmody, maybe an interval of
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silence in the music, or a separation where a certain pause
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of interrupted continuity is marked.
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So a break in the text or the music, A deliberate
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interruption. Yes, Augustine suggests it's
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likely that the meaning cannot rightly be continued and joined
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across where the die EP Psalmist sits in Psalm 4.
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It specifically separates the verse about the Lord magnifying
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His Holy One from the previous talk about loving vanity.
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And from what comes next? Right.
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A deliberate break, A pause, right Between worldly vanity and
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Christ's exaltation, leading into a call for change?
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That seems pretty symbolic. It really does.
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It stops you from just smoothly going from chasing vanity to
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Christ's exaltation without, well, a break.
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And the source draws out a compelling idea from its
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placement, especially here after a call to repentance which is
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coming up, and before the instruction to offer a sacrifice
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of righteousness. It suggests the Daip Sama, not
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unreasonably, perhaps intimates even a transition from the old
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life to the new life. Wow.
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So this pause, this technical marker could actually represent
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the spiritual transition, the break between the old way heavy
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hearted chasing vanity and the new life in Christ.
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That's quite an idea for just a textual note.
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All right, So following that significant break, that
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diabsalma pause, possibly signifying a transition, the
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psalmist says the Lord will hear me when I cry into him.
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Given what just came before the vanity, Christ's exaltation, how
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does Augustine describe this crying out?
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He clarifies. It's not necessarily about
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making a loud noise, you know, shouting outwardly.
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For Augustine, it's an inward and incorporeal cry, meaning not
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a cry of the body or voice, but of the soul done with great
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earnestness of heart. It's an intense, deep asking for
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God's help that happens within in the inner person.
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An interior crying out from the soul's depths.
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Right, it's about the heart's intention.
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And this immediately brings up a question, Who is worthy to be
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heard like this, especially after being described as heavy
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in heart, loving vanity? How do you get from there to
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being heard? Which leads right to the next
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instruction. Be angry and sin not.
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Be angry and sin not. That sounds like a
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contradiction, doesn't it? How does Augustine make sense
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that striking command? He offers 2 interpretations,
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both dealing with anger and sin. First, even if angry feelings
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arise which he sees as part of the fallen state, a consequence
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of sin were commanded not to let our reason or renewed mind
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consent to that anger in a way that leads to sin.
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So the feeling might pop up, but the will shouldn't grab onto it
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or act sinfully on. It exactly Don't let the anger
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itself become sin or lead to sin.
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The second interpretation, maybe more emphasized here, is a call
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to repentance. Be angry, he suggests, can mean
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repent. D Be angry with yourself for
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your past sins. Direct that anger inward at your
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own sinfulness, your own chasing of vanity, and having been angry
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with yourself in this repentant way, henceforth cease to sin.
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So it's anger directed inward at your own sin, fueling a turning
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away from it that links be ye angry and sin, not directly to
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repentance, making it step toward being heard.
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Yes, it's about the necessary internal cleansing.
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And linked to this is the phrase what you say in your hearts.
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Augustine reads that as an instruction.
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What ye say in your hearts that say ye?
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Meaning be sincere. Yes, inward truthfulness.
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Don't be someone who honors God with lips while the heart is far
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off heavy with vanity. Let your outer words match your
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inner state and intention. Be genuine in your inner state,
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especially when turning to God. Precisely.
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And then in your chambers be pricked.
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The source and I guess in are clear chambers here.
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Means the inner person, the in heart.
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The private inner space of the soul.
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Right, like Christ teaching to enter your chamber to pray
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inwardly behind closed doors where God sees in secret.
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So the heart is the chamber for prayer.
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Yes, the essential place for this inner work and be pricked.
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That can mean a few things. It could be the pain of
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repentance, the soul feeling of pricking, or pain as
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self-discipline for past sin, a sorrow needed to avoid
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condemnation. Or it could mean being sharply
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woken up, like being pricked with a spur to pay attention to
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see the light of Christ after being numb.
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Awakening. And the source also mentions
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another possible reading be opened, which connects right
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back to the enlargement of the heart we talked about.
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Opening the inner chamber. Opening the heart to receive the
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Holy Spirit's love, which allows the cry to come out and be
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heard. So whether it's the pain of
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confronting sin, the sharp awakening to truth with a heart
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opening to the Spirit, it's an intense, active, inward
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experience happening right in the core of your being, tied to
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repentance and preparing the heart for God.
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Right, this whole process, the inner cry, the anger itself, sin
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leading to repentance, sincerity being pricked or opened in the
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hearts chamber, it leads straight to the next command,
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offer the sacrifice of righteousness and hope in the
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Lord. Offer the sacrifice of
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righteousness. What does Austin understand that
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sacrifice to be? Is it literal?
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Not usually literal animals, no. He connects it strongly to
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another Psalm base. The sacrifice for God is a
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troubled spirit, so one key way the sacrifice is offered is
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through repentance. The troubled spirit itself is
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the sacrifice. He asks rhetorically, what could
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be more righteous than being angry with your own sins, not
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judging others, and in that self condemnation sacrificing
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yourself to God, maybe through humble discipline flowing from
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that sorrow. So repentance itself, a spirit
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broken over sin, is a sacrifice God accepts.
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That fits with being angry at yourself.
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That's one main interpretation in the source, yes.
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Another way to see it, which isn't necessarily separate, is
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that it means righteous works performed after repentance.
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OK, the. Fruit that comes later.
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Right. Once you've gone through
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repentance, once the old man, weighed down by vanity, is
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weakened, or you might say crucified, through that process,
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then the new man, the regenerated self, is able to
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offer the fruit actual righteous actions, a life lived pleasing
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to God. The righteous life that flows
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from a changed heart and will. Yes, and that Diabsama.
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The pause is seen again here as signaling that very transition
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from the old life to the new, the old self weakened by
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repentance, allowing the new self to offer the sacrifice.
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So the sacrifice of righteousness is something the
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new man offers because they have been changed.
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That's the idea. The soul cleansed and renewed by
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repentance, and the Spirit offers itself its life, its
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actions on the altar of faith. The altar of faith.
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And this offering, the source says, is to be encompassed by
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heavenly fire, interpreted as the Holy Ghost.
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It's dedicating the regenerated self to God, purified and
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empowered by the Spirit's fire. That's really vivid imagery, the
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renewed soul on the altar of faith, surrounded, consecrated
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by the Holy Spirit like fire. It's given yourself, not just
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something. It really captures that living
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sacrifice idea. So the full instruction offer
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the sacrifice of righteousness and hope in the Lord connects
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these things. It could mean live uprightly
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from a renewed heart. And as you do, hope for the
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continued gift of the Holy Spirit.
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Hope that the truth you believe will keep shining on you.
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So living righteously isn't just the end goal, it's tied to an
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ongoing hope for the Spirit and more truth.
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It's dynamic, not static. So after urging the sacrifice
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and hope, the psalmist asks, almost like he's overhearing a
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common complaint. Who showeth us good things?
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Augustine then picks up on the many who are always asking this.
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That question who showeth us good things?
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It sounds very human, doesn't it?
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Everyone wants good things. But you said the many ask it,
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what's characteristic about them asking it according to Augustine
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well. Asking in a certain spirit.
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It is in Augustine's reading, the daily inquiry of all the
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foolish and unrighteous. They're seeking good things,
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sure, but their basic mistake is where they look.
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Where are they looking? Outwardly, in the external
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world, these are the same folks described earlier as heavy and
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heart, who love vanity and seek a lie.
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They're looking for fulfillment, for blessing, for good in the
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wrong place, outside themselves in the temporal, fleeting world.
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Looking for external comfort, success, possessions.
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The corn, wine and oil mentioned later.
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Exactly as the source of their blessedness, they're looking for
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someone or something outside to show them or give them good
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things. And Augustine provides the
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Psalmist answer the counterpoint to that search.
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Yes, right after the question, the light of thy countenance is
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stamped on us. O Lord, this divine light, God's
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presence and truth imprinted on the soul, that is the whole and
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true good of man for Augustine. The light of thy countenance
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stamped on us. That's a striking image.
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What does stamped convey? Not a physical mark, obviously.
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No, it's spiritual, intellectual.
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This light isn't seen with the physical eye, but with the mind,
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the soul's spiritual faculty. It's about being stamped with
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God's image or likeness, like a coin is stamped with the King's
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image. The Imago Dei.
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Right. Augustine refers back to
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creation, man made in God's image, but that image got
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defaced, obscured by sin, restoring man's true good.
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His blessing happens through new birth regeneration which is like
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being re stamped relit with that divine image, that light of
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God's face. Like rendering to Caesar the
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coin with his image, and rendering to God the soul that
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bears his image. That's a very fitting parallel
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he uses. The soul should be illumined and
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stamped with the light of his countenance, and so rendered to
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God-given back to its rightful owner.
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It's true home. That's where true good is found.
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And this true good, this light, where's it located then?
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Is it far off? No, Augustine insists.
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It's found within. It is stamped on us, he says.
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Gladness, then, is not to be sought without, but within,
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where the light of God's countenance is stamped.
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This inner reality, this divine imprint inside the soul is where
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true, lasting gladness is. It doesn't depend on external
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circumstances. Not out there in the changing
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world, not waiting for things outside to get better, but in
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here, in the heart, in the soul, bearing God's light.
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Exactly. And this is possible because, as
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Paul writes, Christ dwelleth in the inner man.
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Christ himself, who is the truth, lives in that spiritual
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chamber where we're supposed to pray inwardly.
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So seeking Him within, where his light is stamped and he dwells,
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is seeking the truth, the only source of real blessing.
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So what's The upshot for you? Augustine draws this sharp line
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between a common but foolish search for good things outside
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in the fleeting world and finding the true lasting good
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and gladness within, within the soul re stamped with God's light
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where Christ dwells. It's a call to shift our deepest
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search from the outward to the inward.
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Augustine circles back to those many who follow temporal things
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and ask who show with us good things.
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The Psalm describes him as being multiplied from the time of his
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corn of wine and oil. Now these are temporal goods,
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things God provides. Right.
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Corn wine, oil. Sounds like prosperity.
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Yes, but Augustine focuses on the state of being multiplied
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that results from how they desire and pursue these things.
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Multiplied, we might think that means having a lot, being
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abundant in these things. Well, Gustin sees it
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differently, right? He does.
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He says this multiplication here doesn't actually mean
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plentifulness or having lots of stuff.
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Instead, it signifies a kind of spiritual scantiness, a feeling
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of lack, even if they have a lot materially.
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How can multiplication mean lack?
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Because the sole focus mainly on chasing temporal pleasures and
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goods, burns ever with desire and cannot be satisfied.
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No matter how much corn, wine and oil or whatever the modern
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versions are they get the desire for more just stays.
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It leaves them always wanting in a state of spiritual poverty,
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even amid wealth. That insatiable desire, it does
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sound like the opposite of real abundance.
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It creates a feeling of never having enough spiritual poverty.
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Precisely. And chasing many fleeting
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temporal things leads to being distracted with manifold and
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anxious thought. Their minds are pulled every
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which way by worries, getting, keeping, losing these things.
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This manifold many cited thoughts stops them from
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focusing on the simple good, the one unified, unchanging reality
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of God's presence and truth within.
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Their attention is fragmented, right?
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The soul gets filled with, instead of being attached to the
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many fleeting things. They are lovers of eternity and
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unity. Their deepest desire is to
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cleave to the one God and our Lord, to be unified in their
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focus and devotion to the one unchanging good.
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It makes me think of the early believers and acts who are
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described as having one soul and one heart.
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That sounds like focus unity, a unified inner life aimed at God.
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That's it. That spiritual unity, that
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singular focus on God is the supreme good is what Augustine
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means by singleness or simplicity of heart.
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It's the state that lets you follow the instruction from
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wisdom. Think I'm the Lord in goodness
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and in simplicity of heart. Seek Him.
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You can't really do that if you're multiplied.
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You can't seek him with an undivided heart when you're
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multiplied, scattered by countless desires and anxieties
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about temporal stuff. So what does this mean?
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Augustine lays out a powerful contrast, a choice between two
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ways of being. A life of fragmented, restless,
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unsatisfied multiplicity driven by chasing many temporal
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desires, versus a life of unified, clear, content
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singleness focused on cleaving to the one God.
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And that inward unity lets you seek and find the true good.
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So, having described the state of those multiplied by temporal
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desires, the Psalm wraps up with the words of the faithful
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person, the one living in the opposite state, and peace
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together. I will sleep and take rest.
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This sounds like a promise of deep peace, doesn't it?
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An end to the struggle in restlessness.
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It definitely is, but Augustine clarifies, it's not a state
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that's fully, perfectly achieved now in this present life.
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This sleep and take rest points to most perfect peace.
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A complete estrangement of mine from things mortal, total
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detachment from the worries and pull of this dying world, and
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perfect forgetfulness of this world's miseries.
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Wow. A state of deep, undisturbed,
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ultimate rest. Forgetfulness of misery.
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Yes, but the use of the future tense in the Psalm I will sleep
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and take rest. That's key for Augustine.
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It shows clearly that this ultimate perfect peace is not
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had now in this life, but is to be hoped for after this life.
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That's a future hope. Something to be patiently waited
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for, like hoping for the resurrection when this
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corruptible put on incorruption and mortal struggle ends in
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eternal life. So it's a hope for ultimate
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final rest beyond the struggles of this earthly life.
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Precisely hope for the fullness of salvation entering God's
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eternal rest. And the psalmist explicitly
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connects this future hope to the present state of singleness.
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Since thou, O Lord, in singleness, has made me dwell in
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hope. He has made him dwell in hope,
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and specifically in singleness. So the present state of being
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unified, focused on God, is where this hope lives.
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Yes, the past tense has made shows God's action brought the
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believer into the state of dwelling in hope, and Agustin
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emphasizes that where this hope exists now, in the present state
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of cultivated singleness, that state directly opposed to
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distracted multiplicity, there will be assuredly that which is
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hoped for. Dwelling now in the spiritual
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unity and focus is the very ground and assurance of getting
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that future perfect rest. The present reality of the
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heart's direction towards God gives certainty for the future
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promise. So dwelling in simplicity,
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focused on God with a single heart is the condition in which
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we hold this certain hope for future perfect peace and rest.
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Our present Interstate is directly linked to the assurance
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of our eternal future. That's Augustine's powerful
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connection here. This inward state of singleness,
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of cleaving to God alone as the one true good, isn't just where
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we find present gladness. It's foundational to being sure
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of the future promise of complete rest and peace with
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Him. So what does this mean for you?
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Listening. Augustine's reading places our
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hope for true, complete peace and rest firmly in the future
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beyond this life, and he links it directly to our present state
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of cultivating singleness of heart, turning from temporal
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distractions to focus on God as our true, sufficient good.
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We certainly covered a lot of ground in this deep dive into
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San Agustin's exposition on Psalm 4.
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We looked at how He sees the end as perfection in Christ.
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How tribulation can actually bring inward spiritual
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enlargement through the Spirit. The problem of heavy hearts,
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chasing fleeting vanity and seeking a lie.
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The significance of Christ's exaltation.
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After that, pause the die of Solomon.
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The nature of inward prayer and repentance as a sacrifice of
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righteousness. Finding the true, lasting good
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within us in God's light, not outside.
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The big contrast between restless multiplicity and
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unifying singleness of heart. And finally, the Christian hope
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for perfect peace and rest after this life which is assured to
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those who dwell in present singleness.
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It's really a powerful argument for turning inward, isn't it?
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Seeking God's presence, cultivating simplicity of heart.
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And placing our ultimate hope not in what this world offers,
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which is transient, but in the future rest God promises
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achieved through faith in Christ.
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Gustin really brings out the wealthy, intensely personal and
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spiritual battle described in the song.
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He certainly does. He grounds the psalmist's
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ancient words right in the spiritual experience of the
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believer trying to cleave to God alone.
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So here's a final thought for you to consider as we wrap up.
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Augustine paints this picture of being multiplied by distractions
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and desires as the source of a. Heavy heart.
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In a world that constantly bombards us with chances for
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that kind of fragmentation, for multiplicity, how can you
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intentionally cultivate singleness of heart, that
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unified focus on God as the one true good?
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What steps, maybe even small ones, might you take today to
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turn from seeking good things without defining the true good
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and gladness within?