On Prepub: A pitch to buy one of the greatest works on the Psalms in history!

Don Awalt

I know it's expensive, but Migne's book on Augustine's "Explanation of the Psalms" is Augustine's great work on the Psalms. It should be in the Logos or Verbum offering already!

Patrologiae Cursus Completus: Series Graeca (167 vols.)

Augustine's Explanations of the Psalms has been called "Augustine's longest and at the same time the least read of Augustine's works." It is a long book—more than twice as long as The City of God. Augustine first worked on it in 392 and he did not finish it until 418. He preached and taught and dictated his way all through the Psalms through those decades. Throughout his interpretations of the Psalms, Augustine's focus is on Christ. In fact, at one point he says, "Christ is the comprehensive mystery underlying all of Scripture."

He started his Psalms in 392. That is an important date. He was born in 354, he was converted in 386, and he was ordained as a priest in 391. In fact, it was right after he was ordained as a priest that he requested a leave of absence so that he could pull away from his work and immerse himself in Scripture. Of course, Augustine was quite the scholar. Before he was a Christian, he was a teacher and an academic. He had read all the works of Plato and the works of Aristotle and the works of the great Greek and Roman thinkers. He had written many of his own books. But it was time for him as a priest to immerse himself in Scripture.

And so, in 392, as a newly ordained priest, preaching what would be his first sermon series, he struck out on a series of the Psalms and wrote what amounted to thirty-two lectures on the Psalms. 

Augustine believed that we should be very active readers of Scripture. At one point, he says this about the Psalms: "If the psalm prays, you pray. If the psalm laments, you lament. If the psalm exalts, you rejoice. If it hopes, you hope. If it fears, you fear. Everything written here is a mirror for us." That's Augustine on the Psalms.

I have several excerpts from the lectures, here is one to pique your interest. Please consider ordering the prepub!!

I shall sing in the spirit, and with understanding

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What is more pleasing than a psalm? David expresses it well: Praise the Lord, for a song of praise is good: let there be praise of our God with gladness and grace. Yes, a psalm is a blessing on the lips of the people, a hymn in praise of God, the assembly’s homage, a general acclamation, a word that speaks for all, the voice of the Church, a confession of faith in song. It is the voice of complete assent, the joy of freedom, a cry of happiness, the echo of gladness. It soothes the temper, distracts from care, lightens the burden of sorrow. It is a source of security at night, a lesson in wisdom by day. It is a shield when we are afraid, a celebration of holiness, a vision of serenity, a promise of peace and harmony. It is like a lyre, evoking harmony from a blend of notes. Day begins to the music of a psalm. Day closes to the echo of a psalm.



In a psalm, instruction vies with beauty. We sing for pleasure. We learn for our profit. What experience is not covered by a reading of the psalms? I come across the words: A song for the beloved, and I am aflame with desire for God’s love. I go through God’s revelation in all its beauty, the intimations of resurrection, the gifts of his promise. I learn to avoid sin. I see my mistake in feeling ashamed of repentance for my sins.



What is a psalm but a musical instrument to give expression to all the virtues? The psalmist of old used it, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to make earth re-echo the music of heaven. He used the dead gut of strings to create harmony from a variety of notes, in order to send up to heaven the song of God’s praise. In doing so he taught us that we must first die to sin, and then create in our lives on earth a harmony through virtuous deeds, if the grace of our devotion is to reach up to the Lord.



David thus taught us that we must sing an interior song of praise, like Saint Paul, who tells us: I shall pray in spirit, and also with understanding; I shall sing in spirit, and also with understanding. We must fashion our lives and shape our actions in the light of the things that are above. We must not allow pleasure to awaken bodily passions, which weigh our soul down instead of freeing it. The holy prophet told us that his songs of praise were to celebrate the freeing of his soul, when he said: I shall sing to you, God, on the lyre, holy one of Israel; my lips will rejoice when I have sung to you, and my soul also, which you have set free.

DMB

Don Awalt said:

I know it's expensive ...

Maybe just me, but the Patrologiae prepubs don't adjust for dynamic price/ownership.  They do recognize ownership in the individual list (hide owned). But logged in or not, the prepub price is the same. Then, the warning, this isn't really the prepub price.

One of the nice (and surprising) features is direct-linking to Schaff, so one can see what greek is being translated. We have apostolic fathers greek elsewhere, but not church fathers. Then, there's greek searches that pick up church-usage. Below is Tatian in an example in a Mult-Book-Display: