Psalm 25:7

That I may hear the voice of thy praise: and tell of all thy wondrous works. (Psalm 25:7 DR)

We have perhaps all experienced the phenomenon of hearing what we expect to hear, when the actual sound or message is altogether different.

On the other hand, we can also train ourselves to hear certain things. A person with extensive musical training can “hear” the different parts of a composition in a way that an untrained person cannot, even though both are “hearing” the same piece of music. Similarly, your doctor can “hear” with his stethoscope things that a medically untrained person would not—the same with your mechanic for your car— even if they both used the same equipment on the same patient or vehicle.

The Psalmist speaks in similar language as he approaches the altar of sacrifice. In the previous verse he spoke of washing his hands among the innocent and compassing the altar of the Lord. This thought is now filled out; he does these things so that he might attune the “ears” of his heart, so to speak, to hear the voice of the Lord’s praise.

This is of course literal in the sense that he is physically hearing the choirs chanting the praises of the Lord. However, it necessarily goes beyond that, for it is not sufficient to “hear” the chants of praise; he has to “hear” them interiorly, to train his heart and mind to think within the framework of praising the Lord. He linked this earlier with the innocent, meaning that purity of heart is essential for this “hearing,” in that without this cleanness of heart the voice of praise might blur into the background.

If you’ve even been to foreign country or somewhere in which your native tongue is not being spoken, you might “hear” what is being said, but you certainly will not understand. The words and phrases and voices tend to dissolve into a cacophony. But as you learn that tongue and become more familiar with it, the din subsides and meaning begins to pervade.

The praise of the Lord is not, as it were, a language that we naturally speak, and thus with the Psalmist we must train the ears of our heart to hear it. The Psalmist understands that purity of heart is essential for this, and thus will wash his hands among the innocent; that is, purify his life so that his ears are not stopped by sin. St. Augustine profoundly discusses how this ability to “hear” is predicated on the interior posture of the soul towards God:

To hear the voice of praise, is to understand, inwardly, that whatever of evil from sin is in thee, is thine own; whatever of good in works of righteousness, is God's. So hear the voice of praise, as not to praise thyself even when thou art good. For in praising thyself as good, thou dost become evil. For humility had made thee good, pride maketh thee evil. Thou wast converted that thou mightest be illuminated, and by Thy conversion thou wert made full of light, having been enlightened by conversion. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 25, Second Exposition, 11.)

The Psalmist has maintained his integrity and innocence within this Psalm, but here we see that it does not arise from an overinflated trust in his own goodness but rather by referring his innocence to God as its source. This is precisely why he had previously asked the Lord to judge him in his innocence, knowing that its source was not from himself. His humility of soul is now evident in that he desires to wash his hands among the innocent so that he may hear the voice of God’s praise; that is, this is the means by which he attains unto that innocence and purity of heart, as St. Augustine further explains:

…[T]his is the bearing of the words, I will wash my hands in innocency, and I will compass Thine altar, O Lord, that I may hear the voice of Thy praise: that is, that I may not for this good thing in me rely on myself, but on Thee Who gavest it me, that I should not wish to be praised for myself in myself, but for Thee in Thee. Therefore there follows, That I may hear the voice of Thy praise, and declare all Thy wondrous works: not mine, but Thine. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 25, Second Exposition, 11.)

The second half of this passage is thus the effect as flowing from a cause of the first, for this attuning of his ears to the Lord’s praise has the result of him being enabled to declare those same praises. That is, the humility of heart that receives grace from the Lord is then enabled to cooperate with that grace to be operative in one’s life and works; the latter cannot occur without the former, as the grace for good works precedes our ability to accomplish them.

St. Augustine will elsewhere describe this phenomenon as God crowning His own gifts:

“Who crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness.” You had perhaps begun to be in a manner proud, when you heard the words, “He crowns you.” I am then great, I have then wrestled. By whose strength? By yours, but supplied by Him... He crowns you, because He is crowning His own gifts, not your deservings…

It is then by His mercy that you are crowned; in nothing be proud; ever praise the Lord; forget not all His rewards. It is a reward when thou, a sinner and an ungodly man, hast been called, that you may be justified. It is a reward, when you are raised up and guided, that you may not fall. It is a reward, when strength is given you, that you may persevere unto the end. It is a reward, that even that flesh of yours by which you were oppressed rises again and that not even a hair of your head perishes. It is a reward, that after your resurrection you are crowned. It is a reward, that you may praise God Himself for evermore without ceasing. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 102, 7.)

In this manner the Psalmist wishes to declare the works of God not because he is himself puffed up in pride because of his innocence, but rather because to speak thus is to show forth what God’s grace has done in his soul, which redounds to the glory of God who supplied it. To have God “crown His own gifts” means that sanctification is something that God expects us to cooperate in, which St. Paul describes as working out one’s salvation with fear and trembling (cf. Philippians 2:12).

As our hearts become more attuned to hear the voice of God’s praise through humility and purity of heart, they will as a natural consequence be moved to speak of it. A trained singer is not content to simply “hear” music; the entire point of his musical training is to sing it. Similarly, God’s grace is not only to deliver us from sin but also to train us in righteousness (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16) so that His gifts may be crowned within us to the praise of His glory.

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I found a nice 3D model of a pair of headphones and used Trapcode Mir to apply that .obj and and then animated the rotation. I precomped this and created a grid of headphones and then time-remapped the precomps, looped the time and offset them.

I then added a bunch of glows. A lot. Probably too much.

But whatever.

Enjoy.

View a higher quality version of this gif here: