Augustine's Take on the Psalms

In the book Saint Augustine on Christian Teaching, it was interesting how he lists the stages that are like the sequential "rules of success in religion". He lists: fear, holiness, knowledge, fortitude, resolve of compassion, purity of the eye, and wisdom.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (p.35, a.k.a Psalm 110:10)"

I would like to focus on the first stage: the fear of God. Recently, in class discussion, I made a point about the fear of God being a necessity in the Psalms. Augustine's book certainly parallels this fear (p.33/line 16). In the Psalms this fear was either inspired by nationism or in hopes of living a peaceful life by living the life God intends. The book relates to the "reflection about morality" part, but continues into what the Psalms may have been implying to say about the after-life, but never actually went into detail about it.

Parallels are also made about through this fear of God, ultimate faith must be achieved because there will be times when we "rather ponder and believe that what is written there, even if obscure, is better and truer than any insights that we can gain by our own efforts (p.34/17)." This idea happens continuously in the Psalms, which brings us back to the "broken vending machine" analogy. It took faith! When people had doubts, they would "politely" address God about them, yet they would always go back to saying, but I know you will take care of me in the end and therefore I am patient. The book also addresses the idea of faith and divine intervention in line 20 (p.34) "by constant prayer the encouragement of divine intervention, so that he is not crushed by despair".

Both books emphasize the importance of faith and closeness in people's relationship with God. The scriptures are a continuous inspiration, but there are weak moments and it always goes back to people's relationship/fear of God.