O God, pay attention to my help!
May those who seek my soul be put to shame,
and may they be turned about.
May those who want evil things for me be turned backwards,
and may they be disgraced.
May those who are dishonoring be turned immediately,
who are saying to me, “Good, good!”
Let all who seek You rejoice exceedingly,
and let them rejoice in You.
And let the ones who love Your salvation say always,
“Let God be magnified!”
But I am needy and poor;
O God, help me!
You are my helper and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay! (Psalm 69 LXX)
This, then, is the devotional formula proposed to you as absolutely necessary for possessing the perpetual awareness of God: O God, incline unto my aid; O Lord, make haste to help me.
Not without reason has this verse been selected from out of the whole body of Scripture. For it takes up all the emotions that can be applied to human nature and with great correctness and accuracy it adjusts itself to every condition and every attack. It contains an invocation of God in the face of any crisis, the humility of a devout confession, the watchfulness of concern and of constant fear, a consciousness of one’s own frailty, the assurance of being heard, and confidence in a protection that is always present and at hand, for whoever calls unceasingly on his protector is sure that He is always present. It contains a burning love and charity, an awareness of traps, and a fear of enemies. Seeing oneself surrounded by these day and night, one confesses that one cannot be set free without the help of one’s defender. This verse is an unassailable wall, an impenetrable breastplate, and a very strong shield for all those who labor under the attack of demons. It does not permit those troubled by acedia and anxiety of mind or those depressed by sadness or different kinds of thoughts to despair of a saving remedy, showing that He whom it invokes is always looking upon our struggles and is not detached from his suppliants. It warns those of us who are enjoying spiritual successes and are glad of heart that we must never be exalted or puffed up because of our good fortune, which it testifies cannot be maintained without the protection of God, for it begs Him to come to our aid not only at all times but also quickly.
John Cassian, Conference 10.10
After this statement about the wickedness and the conversion of persecutors, the second section prays that all who love the Lord Christ should rejoice and be glad. For persecutors, confusion and shame are sought; for the devoted, exultation and abiding joy. As the Lord says in the gospel: And these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just into life everlasting. But the psalmist inserts this mode of rejoicing appropriately, for by saying in thee he confesses that the joy which boasts in human presumption is transitory. Joined to this is: All that seek thee, O Lord. They do not seek You by their own powers, but are sought out by Your fatherly love. You gazed from heaven and sought that the human race might seek You; for the Lord came to us that we might deserve to return to Him. But those who seek the Lord are advised for their welfare on what they ought to say. They must say always: The Lord be magnified. Always indicates continuing time, because we must never cease praising the Lord. So that the meaning may become clearer to us, the order of words should be: “Let them who love your salvation always say: The Lord be magnified.” We should realize that the word magnified has been adopted from human practice, for it is he who is extolled with praises and grows in men’s good opinions who is magnified. But God experiences no increase, for He is known to be Fullness in its unique and inexpressible totality. He cannot grow from any external source, for He continually gives growth to all created things. But we profit from magnifying Him, and our awareness ever increases when with pious hearts we offer praises to God.
Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 69.5
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