Psalm 6:10
hating evil, loving good
The Lord hath heard my supplication: the Lord hath received my prayer. (Psalm 6:10 DR)
Contrition leads to confession, confession leads to penance, penance leads to absolution, and absolution leads to confidence and joy. The Psalmist throughout this penitential Psalm has laid out the great wonder and gift of the sacrament of Penance, and now comes to the resolution.
In the previous passage he rejected his sin and all evil company so as to avoid it in the future; this was evidenced by the Lord hearing the “voice of his weeping” wherein he was truly repentant and found forgiveness. In this passage he seems to repeat himself out of a well-spring of joy and confidence in being forgiven, the fruit of being forgiven:
For they that rejoice are wont so to speak, as that it is not enough for them to declare once for all the object of their joy. This is the fruit of that groaning in which there is labour, and those tears with which the couch is washed, and bed drenched: for, “he that sows in tears, shall reap in joy:” and, “blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 6, 11).
Within this joy there is a also a renewed resolution to resist and reject temptation, for in doubling and tripling down on this sentiment there is latently the cause which led to it; that is, his sorrow over his sins and joy in being absolved. St. Paul exhorts us to always be vigilant lest we stumble and fall:
Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12 DR)
However, the Psalmist is not merely resolving to grit his teeth and avoid temptation; there must be a concomitant embrace of virtue. Thus he expresses this sentiment of joy three times, which is a poetic manner of expressing a superlative. That is, the Lord will always hear his prayer, which implies that he is always praying. This act of seeking the face of God is the beginning and end of virtue, and is necessary to avoid and resist temptation. We must not only despise what is evil but love what is good:
Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good. (Romans 12:9 DR)
And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things. (Philippians 4:7-8 DR)
This peace which the Psalmist has expressed in the superlative is maintained, as St. Paul says, by cleaving to that which is good (which is ultimately in Christ), which is as he explains to the Philippians consists in ordering one’s life to things that are good, just, etc. The things we engage in and fill our minds and hearts with will bring forth a harvest of either sin or righteousness, and thus a penitential spirit such as the Psalmist exhibits in this passage and this Psalm is necessary to abide in Christ. We must hold the things and pleasures of this world in contempt and fix our eyes on
…Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who having joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of God. For think diligently upon him that endured such opposition from sinners against himself; that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds. (Hebrews 12:2-3 DR)
In this animation I wanted to capture the superlative nature of this verse, and so I grabbed this image of praying hands and used Motion Tile to repeat the pattern over and over, while also animating it both vertically and horizontally to capture the nature of praying at all times. I also used loopFlow to animate the clouds in the background. The skyscrapers are there purely because I thought they looked cool.
Enjoy.
The Lord hath heard my supplication: the Lord hath received my prayer.
(Psalm 6:10 DR)
View a higher quality version of this gif here: