The suffering of the prophet David is . . . a type of the passion of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. This is why David’s prayer also corresponds in sense with the prayer of Christ, who being the Word, was made flesh. As man, Christ suffered all things in a human fashion and spoke in a human fashion in everything he said. He, who bore human infirmities and took on himself the sins of people, approached God in prayer with the humility proper to human beings. This interpretation, even though we are unwilling and slow to receive it, is required by the meaning and force of the words, so that there can be no doubt that everything in the psalm is uttered by David as Christ’s mouthpiece. For he says, Save me, O God, by your name. Thus he prays in bodily humiliation, using the words of his own prophet, the only-begotten Son of God, who at the same time was claiming again the glory that he had possessed from eternity. David asks to be saved by the name of God whereby he was called and wherein he was begotten, in order that the name of God, which rightly belonged to his former nature and kind, might be able to save him in that body wherein he had been born.

There are two ways to interpret the affirmation that he shall judge the living and the dead. On the one hand, we may understand by the living those who are not yet dead but who will be found living in the flesh when he comes; and we may understand by the dead those who have left the body or who shall have left it before his coming. Or, on the other hand, the living may signify the righteous, and the dead may signify the unrighteous—since the righteous are to be judged as well as the unrighteous. For sometimes the judgment of God is passed on the evil people, as in the word, But they who have done evil [shall come forth] to the resurrection of judgment.^[1] And sometimes it is passed on the good, as in the word, Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength. Indeed, it is by the judgment of God that the distinction between good and evil is made, to the end that, being freed from evil and not destroyed with the evildoers, the good may be set apart at his right hand.^[2] This is why the psalmist cried, Judge me, O God, and, as if to explain what he had said, and defend my cause against an unholy nation.^[3]

Hear my prayer, O God, give ear to the words of my mouth. The obvious thing for the prophet to say was, O God, hear me. But because he is speaking as the mouthpiece of him who alone knew how to pray, we are constantly and repeatedly assured that God will hear our prayer. The words of Paul teach us that no one knows how he ought to pray: For we know not how to pray as we ought.^[1] A human being in his weakness, therefore, has no right to demand that his prayer should be heard; for even the teacher of the Gentiles does not know the true purpose and intention of prayer, even after the Lord had provided a model. What we are shown here is the perfect confidence of Jesus, who alone sees the Father, who alone knows the Father, who alone can pray all night long—the Gospel tells us that the Lord continued all night in prayer^[2]—who in the mirror of words has shown us the true image of the deepest of all mysteries in the simple words we use in prayer. And so, in demanding that his prayer be heard and in order to teach us that this was the prerogative of his perfect confidence, David added, Give ear to the words of my mouth. Now can any person have such confidence that he can desire that the words of his mouth should be heard? It is with words, for instance, that we express emotions and mental instincts, when inflamed by anger, moved by hatred to slander, by flattery to fawn, motivated by hope of gain or fear of shame to lie or by resentment at injury to insult someone? Was there ever a person who was pure and patient throughout his life who was not subject to these human shortcomings? The only person who could have confidently desired this is one who has not sinned, in whose mouth there has been no deceit, who gave his back to the smiters, who did not turn his cheek away from the blow, who did not avoid scorn and spitting, who never resisted the will of him who ordered it all but was always gladly obedient.

For, among them (the Egyptians) these offices,^[1] which we are taught to render to the Lord at separate hours and at intervals of time with a reminder from the convener, are celebrated freely and continuously throughout the whole day in conjunction with their work. For manual labor is continuously practiced by them in their cells in such a way that meditation on the Psalms and the rest of the Scriptures is always before them. To this at every moment they mingle short petitions and prayers, spending the whole day in those offices which we celebrate at fixed times. Thus, except for vespers and nocturns, there are no public services among them in the day except on Saturday and Sunday, when they meet together at the third hour for the purpose of Holy Communion. For what is continuously offered is greater than what is rendered at intervals of time. And a free gift is more acceptable than the duties which are performed by the compulsion of a rule. For such as this, David rejoices somewhat exultingly when he says, Freely will I sacrifice to you; and, Let the free will offerings of my mouth be pleasing to you, O Lord.^[2]

Listen to the prophet’s voice: I will freely sacrifice to you, O Lord. Learn how different an imposed servitude is from a voluntary one. A person who finds his own negligence accusing himself of suffering self-imposed servitude can never pass a day without regret. A person who obeys his Lord because of some solemn promise and thus reluctantly gains grace has stored up an injury for himself, since the prophet says, Cursed is he who does the works of the Lord negligently.^[1] If each one of you reflects on the wonderful gift of the acquired liberty that our Christ has granted to his faithful people through the regeneration of the life-giving bath [baptism] and through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, he understands that God should not be served halfheartedly. Even though we daily give God whatever honor or gift we can, we never pay him all we owe.