Psalms 9:13

But I ask, what is that cry of the poor, which God forgetteth not? Is it that cry, the words whereof are these, "Pity me, O Lord, see my humiliation at the hands of my enemies"? [Psalm 9:13]. Why then did he not say, Pity "us" O Lord, see our humiliation at the hands of "our" enemies, as if many poor were crying; but as if one, Pity "me," O Lord? Is it because One intercedeth for the Saints, "who" first "for our sakes became poor, though He was rich;" and it is He who saith, "Who exaltest me from the gates of death [Psalm 9:14], that I may declare all Thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion"? For man is exalted in Him, not that Man only which He beareth, which is the Head of the Church; but whichsoever one of us also is among the other members, and is exalted from all depraved desires; which are the gates of death, for that through them is the road to death. But the joy in the fruition is at once death itself, when one gains what he hath in abandoned wilfulness coveted: for "coveting is the root of all evil:" and therefore is the gate of death, for "the widow that liveth in pleasures is dead." At which pleasures we arrive through desires as it were through the gates of death. But all highest purposes are the gates of the daughter of Sion, through which we come to the vision of peace in the Holy Church. ...Or haply are the gates of death the bodily senses and eyes, which were opened when the man tasted of the forbidden tree, ... and are the gates of the daughter of Sion the sacraments and beginnings of faith, which are opened to them that knock, that they may arrive at the hidden things of the Son?...

For one who lives in this type of death and in the lusts of the world, with a depressed spirit, if he will perceive a sense of his own wrongdoing and the nature of divine goodness, let him say in the manner of a prayer: …

See him given constantly to prayer: though freed from troubles and made secure, he does not cease from praying again in the words "have pity on me" and implores God for future benefits. You see, we always stand in need of God's providence, but especially at a time of freedom from troubles. I mean, another battle follows that is more difficult than the former, that against indifference and obtuseness; then it is that the devil comes panting more aggressively. And so it is especially after being freed from troubles that we have need of that grace so as to cope with good times more easily.

The Lord does not forget the cry of the poor, and especially of those who in the spirit ask of him vengeance for wrongs brought against them by demons. Those who pray that there may arise a Savior for those on earth in order to …

"Have mercy." Here he sets forth the fruit as regards himself. And first, he commemorates the benefit. Second, he sets forth the fruit, at "that I may announce," etc. The benefit is twofold: one future, the other already received. "Who exalts," etc. First, he does …