Chapter 8
Chapter VIII.
Second, he shows in three ways how much he loved wisdom
She reaches therefore etc. Having shown how he acquired wisdom, here it is shown how much he loved it: and this he shows from three things: first, from the desire of having; second, from the purpose of acquiring: I purposed therefore; third, from the zeal of finding: Thinking upon these things etc.
First, concerning the twofold desire of having her.
In the first he shows the desire of having caused in himself, first from her absolute value; second, from her comparative value: And if riches.
He shows her absolute value first from her power; second, from her beauty: Her I loved etc.; third, from her nobility: Her noble birth; fourth, from her usefulness: For she is a teacher.
(Vers. 1.). Therefore, because wisdom is such as has been said, she reaches, by virtual contact, not corporeal, according to that passage of 1 Kings 10: "Whose hearts God had touched": from end to end: The Gloss: "From eternity unto eternity"; or: "from the beginning of the world unto the coming of Christ": Romans 10: "The end of the law is Christ" etc. Mightily: The Gloss: "Because she is the power of God": 1 Corinthians 1: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." And she orders all things, namely the highest, the middle, and the lowest: sweetly: The Gloss: "Because she is the wisdom of God." She orders all things mightily through justice, and sweetly through mercy; the Psalmist: "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth," namely of justice: the same: "The mercy of the Lord is from eternity, and unto eternity upon those who fear him. And his justice unto children's children" etc.
It should be noted that Wisdom, that is the Son of God, reaches mightily those things which are in heaven, by expelling the proud devil with his companions: Job 26: "His prudence struck the proud one": Ezekiel 28: "You have sinned, and I cast you out from the mountain of God and destroyed you, O Cherub"! those things which are in the world, by overcoming and casting out the prince of the world: John 12: "Now shall the prince of this world be cast out": those things which are in hell, by carrying off the spoils of hell, according to the Gloss on Zechariah 9: "You also by the blood of your covenant have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water."
He disposes moreover sweetly those things which are in heaven, by confirming the Angels standing in grace: in the Psalm: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established": those things which are in the world, by redeeming the human race with his own blood: First Peter 1: "You were not redeemed with corruptible gold or silver etc., but with precious blood" etc.: those things which are in hell, by leading the souls of the Saints out of limbo, according to that of Zechariah 9: "You also by the blood of your covenant have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit" etc.: likewise in the Psalm: "You have ascended on high, you have led captivity captive" etc. — Or thus: since uncreated Wisdom is the middle Person in the Trinity, it can be said that she reaches from end to end, that is, from the Father to the Holy Spirit, namely through identity of substance, so that no local distance is understood, but personal distinction; mightily with respect to the Father, to whom power is attributed: and she disposes all things sweetly, with respect to the Holy Spirit, to whom benignity is attributed. — Or: she reaches from end to end, that is, from Divinity to humanity, namely in the Incarnation, in which the lowest things are united to the highest: mightily, that is, through infinite power: in the Psalm: "Stir up your power and come": the Gloss: "You yourself into flesh." And she disposed all things sweetly, in the procurement of human redemption: Matthew 11: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." He was meek in the nature of the humanity assumed: for man is an animal gentle by nature, discerning by reason, upright in stature. In his manner of life: whence John the Baptist, seeing him walking one day, said: "Behold, the Lamb of God" etc., John 1. In his preaching: Matthew 4: "Do penance" etc.: likewise John 6: "You have the words of eternal life"; Matthew 11: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." In the forgiveness of sins: John 8: "Go, and sin no more"; likewise Luke 6: "Forgive, and you shall be forgiven." In his Passion: whence Isaiah 53: "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter" etc.: likewise Jeremiah 11: "I was like a gentle lamb that is carried to the victim."
(Vers. 2.). There follows: Her, namely wisdom, because she is of such great power, I loved, namely with the affection of the heart: whence above in the seventh chapter: "Beyond health and beauty I loved her." And I sought her out, that is, I sought outside myself, by the effect of good work, according to that passage of First John 3: "Let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth." From my youth, as if to say: in the flower of my age: Proverbs 8: "They who in the morning," namely of youth, "watch for me, shall find me": therefore Sirach 6: "Son, from your youth receive instruction." And I sought, namely by the zeal of reading and prayer: Luke 11: "Seek, and you shall find": to take her to myself as a bride. He says bride by reason of love: Proverbs 7: "Say to wisdom: You are my sister, and call prudence your friend." Likewise, by reason of delight: Proverbs 5: "Rejoice with the wife of your youth." By reason of inseparability: Matthew 19: "For it is not lawful to dismiss a bride except for the cause of fornication": but this has no place in wisdom: "for nothing defiled enters into her," above in the seventh chapter. By reason of generation:
Sirach 24: "Come over to me, all you who desire me, and be filled from my generations." And I became a lover of her form, that is, of the beauty of wisdom, and this by perseverance and the love of fervent affection, converting it as it were into a habit: Zechariah 9: "What is his good and what is his beauty but the grain of the elect and the wine that makes virgins to bud forth"? that is, but wisdom, which restores the affection and makes chaste or purifies the intellect from the corruption of error.
(Vers. 3.). Her nobility etc. Thus I loved wisdom etc., and deservedly, because uncreated wisdom, having companionship, that is, partnership and cohabitation, with God: the Gloss: "Of the Father, because she is coeternal with him": John 14: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me": likewise John 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God": glorifies his nobility, "that is, represents the nobility of the Father," according to the Gloss. For the Son of God himself represents in himself the glory of the Father, because he is "the brightness of glory and the figure of his substance," as is found in Hebrews 1: likewise Proverbs 10, according to another reading: "A wise son is the glory of his father." Likewise his glory he manifests to the world: whence John 8: "I do not seek my own glory, but I honor" etc. But also the Lord of all things, namely the Father, of whom it is said in the Psalm: "The Lord said to me: You are my Son" etc.: loved her: "The Father loves the Son," John 5.
(Vers. 4.). And rightly so: for she is the teacher of the discipline of God: Baruch 3: "He found out all the way of discipline," etc. Discipline is twofold, namely of deeds and of words: whence in the Psalm: "Thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end, and thy discipline itself shall teach me." On account of this he says: Teacher, etc., namely in words. And note that the discipline of God is formed faith, which makes disciples of God: Acts 9: "Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," that is, against the faithful. And the chooser of His works, that is, of discipline which is in deeds: the chooser of His works, that is, teaching to choose the works of the discipline of faith, "For faith without works is dead," James 2.
And if riches are desired. Here he shows the desire caused by the comparative value of wisdom, and first in comparison to money, which is the perfection of fortune; second, in comparison to industry, which is the perfection of nature: But if understanding: third, in comparison to virtue, which is the perfection of grace: And if justice: fourth, in comparison to knowledge, which is the perfection of intelligence: And if multitude.
(Vers. 5.). And if riches are desired, although they ought not to be desired — "for they who wish to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil," 1 Timothy 6; likewise in the Psalm: "If riches abound, set not your heart upon them" — in life, namely the present life, for its sustenance and sufficiency. What is richer than wisdom, which works all things ? John 5: "My Father worketh until now, and I work": I, namely uncreated wisdom; nor can he be poor who works all things. For he knows how to make silver and gold and things of this kind; therefore Proverbs 8 says: "With me are riches and glory, stately wealth"; Augustine: "Exceedingly rich is the Christian religion, to which it has been given to possess all things in the possessor of all things."
(Vers. 6.). But if understanding, that is, natural or acquired industry, works, because "art imitates nature" in working, according to the Philosopher: who among all things that exist is a greater artisan than she? As if to say: no one; whence in the Psalm: "Thou hast made all things in wisdom." The Lord filled Bezalel with wisdom, so that he might know how to make the works of the tabernacle, as is found in Exodus 31.
(Vers. 7.). And if one loves justice, namely general justice, that is, the rectitude of human life, concerning which above in chapter one: "Love justice," etc. The labors of this one, namely of wisdom, by which one labors to obtain her: and he says labors in the plural, because to obtain her one must labor greatly. Second Corinthians 11: "In labors most abundant"; have great virtues, that is, they acquire them. The Gloss: "Nothing idle, nothing slothful in her works." Sobriety indeed, etc. The Gloss: "He sets forth four principal virtues": sobriety, "that is, temperance," in avoiding superfluous evil. Below in chapter nine: "She will lead me in my works soberly." And she teaches wisdom, in discerning and loving the good. And justice, in rendering what is due. And virtue, "that is, fortitude," to which the name virtue more properly belongs, as though protecting by force, in enduring what is difficult and undertaking what is arduous. Concerning these three, Proverbs eight: "Mine is equity, mine is prudence, mine is fortitude." The Gloss: "No one has had these virtues except he to whom the origin of all virtues, God, bestowed them, in whatever time, under whatever law, in whatever nation. Yet certain ones, having the appearance of piety, were ignorant of virtue."
But did the philosophers have virtue? And it seems so, because according to the Philosopher, virtue is had through acquisition.
It must be said that they did not have perfect virtues but imperfect ones, because they were without merit and unformed. Or they had them from God through gratuitously given grace, though not through sanctifying grace.
Than which nothing is more useful in the life of men, that is, in the human life of man in relation to man.
But are the theological virtues not more useful and better?
It must be said that, as has been touched upon, he speaks of the human life of man in comparison to man, not to God, for he presupposes this. Now nothing is more useful to men than these, because they benefit man in acting and in suffering: in acting, because through prudence there is right choice of things to be done, and through justice right execution: in suffering, because through temperance we rightly dispose ourselves toward effeminate passions, and through fortitude toward unstable passions. Therefore the Gloss says: "He who is temperate, prudent, brave, and just—what does he lack?"
(Vers. 8.). And if a multitude of knowledge etc. Some have: And a likeness of knowledge, but that reading is false, although the present knowledge of man can more rightly be called a likeness of knowledge than knowledge, because it is mixed with much mutability and much ignorance. If, a multitude, I say, of knowledge, namely speculative knowledge, anyone desires, according to that saying of the Philosopher: "All men by nature desire to know"—it knows things past, namely wisdom itself, and judges of future things, with certainty, although they are hidden by the condition of time, because past things have already passed away and future things have not yet come to pass. It knows, I say, things past etc.: whence Moses, taught by it, prophesied concerning things past —Genesis 1: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth"; likewise concerning things future, Deuteronomy 18: "The Lord shall raise up a Prophet from your nation and from your brethren." It knows the subtleties of speeches, that is, the obscure cunning of simple propositions, such as riddles, and not only the subtleties of simple propositions, but also of composite ones; whence there follows: And the solutions of arguments, that is, of reasonings, which nevertheless lie hidden due to the more perplexing nature of human cunning: Sirach 39: "He shall seek out the hidden meanings of proverbs, namely the wise man, "and shall be conversant in the hidden things of parables." Whence Christ, "in whom were hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," could not be caught in speech, as is evident in Matthew 22; and no word of the Queen of Sheba could be hidden from Solomon, who was taught by wisdom, as is evident in 3 Kings 10. Signs, namely lesser ones, which occur beyond nature, and wonders, which occur against the common course of nature, it knows before they happen, just as well as when they have already occurred. Concerning these two, John 4: "Unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe." These things are likewise hidden by reason of natural difficulty, because "a miracle, according to Augustine, is a work arduous and unusual, surpassing the hope and capacity of the one who marvels." And the events of times, that is, of those things which come to pass in the present time, and of ages, that is, of those that follow, which come to pass in eternity and in the future. To know these things, however, is not given to man: whence Acts 1: "It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father has placed in His own power": these things, however, are hidden by reason of a hidden cause.
Secondly, this is shown from the resolve to acquire it.
I resolved therefore etc. Above he showed how much he loved wisdom, and this from his desire of possessing it: here from his resolve to acquire it, and this on account of the goods which come forth from it, and first on account of goods pertaining commonly to both lives: secondly, on account of those pertaining to the active life: I shall have through her: thirdly, on account of those pertaining especially to the contemplative life: Entering into my house.
First, on account of goods pertaining to both lives.
(Vers. 9.). Therefore, because she is such, I purposed, that is, I firmly resolved in my heart: her, namely divine wisdom, not another adulterous one, such as the poetic disciplines, which Boethius in the Consolation calls "meretricious": to bring to myself, not only to another, against those who only teach others but do not teach themselves, whom the Apostle reproves, saying in Romans 2: "You who teach another, do you not teach yourself?" To feast together, that is, to refresh, namely the affection, not only to illuminate the intellect, as many who are in no way moved by sacred Scripture: Fourth Kings 7: "You shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it": likewise to feast together, he says, that is, to be refreshed in common and together: because in the goods of wisdom we are fed and refreshed: whence Proverbs 9: "Eat my bread, and drink the wine that I have mingled for you": and she in our goods: whence Proverbs 8: "My delights are to be with the children of men." We ought to serve her the first course, as if from herbs prepared, from the lilies of uprightness: Song of Songs 2: "He who feeds among the lilies, until the day breaks," etc. The second, of kid's flesh, that is, the detestation of all sin and iniquity, both carnal and spiritual: on these two kids she willingly feasts, as did Isaac, Genesis 27. The third, of roasted fish of patience and tribulation: "They offered him a piece of roasted fish," Luke 24. The last, of the fruit of the spirit, that is, of the works of devotion: Song of Songs 5: "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees." Knowing that she will share with me of goods, namely her own. This is the symbolic invitation of Revelation 3: "I will sup with him, and he with me": and he says: of goods, in the plural, because both of present and future goods. And there shall be comfort: Gloss: "That is, alleviation": of thought, that is, of affliction in thinking, as regards the intellect, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes, last chapter: "Frequent meditation is an affliction of the flesh." And of my weariness, in working, and this as regards the affection: Second Corinthians 1: "We were pressed out of measure above our strength, so that we were weary even of living."
Second, on account of the goods pertaining to the active life.
I shall have etc. Here he touches upon the goods pertaining to the active life, especially those necessary for prelates, and first, as regards the act of judging: second, as regards the act of teaching: When I am silent etc.: third, as regards the act of associating: Moreover I shall have etc.: fourth, as regards the act of governing: I shall set peoples in order.
As regards the act of judging he touches upon two things: first, authority: second, discernment: Young and keen etc.
(Vers. 10.). Through this I shall have, namely through wisdom, which "is bright," as is stated above in chapter six, renown, namely of fame: Matthew 5: "Let your light shine" etc.; likewise Philippians 2: "Among whom you shine as luminaries in the firmament" etc. Before the multitudes, that is, before those of lower rank: and honor, namely of reverence, before the elders, that is, before those of higher rank: Job 29: "The young men saw me and hid themselves, and the aged rising up stood." From these two things a man becomes of great authority, namely from the esteem of those below and the reverence of those above. Though young, that is, vigorous and diligent in investigating.
(Vers. 11.). And keen, that is, subtle in penetrating and discovering, I shall be found in judgment ,- the Gloss: "Judging all things according to the laws": such was Daniel, as is clear from Daniel 13. And, supply: therefore, and in the sight of the powerful, that is, of lesser prelates, I shall be admirable, and the faces of princes, that is, of greater prelates, shall wonder at me. This was literally true of Solomon, as is clear from 3 Kings 10, where it is said that "the queen of Sheba, having heard the fame of Solomon" etc., said: "The wisdom that I have found is greater than the report that I heard." This was also true of our Savior: whence Matthew 14: "The tetrarch heard the fame of Jesus and said to his servants" etc. This is also true of the perfectly wise man: Sirach 24: "In the midst of his people he shall be exalted, and in the holy fullness he shall be admired."
(Vers. 12.). When I am silent, that is, what I am to teach, they shall premeditate: in the Psalm: "The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom." They shall wait, that is, they shall wait in silence, "not daring to speak," according to the Gloss: Job 29: "They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for the latter rain." And when I speak etc., he rightly placed silence before speech, because, according to Jerome, "the teaching of Pythagoras was to be silent for five years and afterward to speak as learned men." And when I speak they shall look upon me, namely attentively, and this as a sign of attention: Job 29: "Attentive, they were silent at my counsel." And when I discourse at greater length, but not superfluously or excessively, because "in much speaking," or in superfluity of words, "sin shall not be wanting," Proverbs 10. Note that plurality is constituted by two or three, but not multitude. They shall lay their hands upon their mouth: the Gloss: "Not daring to resist me": Job 29: "The princes ceased to speak, and laid their finger upon their mouth."
(Vers. 13.). Moreover through her, namely through wisdom, I shall have immortality, namely of eternal glory in heaven: Proverbs 3: "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her." And a remembrance: Gloss: "Of my works and virtues," eternal, that is, perpetual, as long as the world shall endure: I shall leave to those who shall come after me: Proverbs 10: "The memory of the just is with praises": in the Psalm: "The just shall be in eternal memory."
I shall govern etc. Here are touched upon the goods had through wisdom with respect to the act of governing, and first with respect to subjects: second, with respect to outsiders: They shall fear etc.
(Vers. 14.). He says therefore: I shall govern: Gloss: "I shall instruct," namely by ruling and governing, peoples, having the Law. For a people is a multitude of men living under one law, as the Jews under the law of Moses. And nations, that is, gentiles not having the Law, and they are called nations, because not reborn, but remaining in the uncircumcision and vice of their birth: in the Psalm: "He subjected peoples to us and nations under our feet": Isaiah 55: "Behold, I have given him as a witness to peoples, a leader and commander to nations." Nations, I say, shall be subject to me through obedience.
(Vers. 15.). Hearing me, dreadful kings shall fear me, that is, tyrants and the impious: whence all the kings round about became tributaries of Solomon, 3 Kings 9: likewise Isaiah 60: "The sons of those who humiliated you shall come to you bowed down." And in the multitude, "namely of the faithful," I shall appear good, "that is, benign," and in war, "namely of adversaries," valiant. All these things spiritually, according to the Gloss, were fulfilled in Christ and can be expounded of him, as is clear to one examining the Glosses.
Third, on account of goods pertaining to the contemplative life.
(Vers. 16.). Entering into my house, that is, my conscience, namely by returning from exterior care to interior care, just as the "disciples" after preaching "returned to the Lord with joy," as is found in Luke 10. He placed action before contemplation by reason of time, not by reason of dignity, just as Leah before Rachel, Genesis 29. I shall rest with her, that is, I shall rest together in her, and she with me or in me: Sirach 32: "Run ahead first to your house, and there withdraw and there play," etc. Well did I say: I shall rest with her: for it has no bitterness, of exterior disturbance, her conversation, that is, cohabitation: Sirach 24: "My spirit is sweeter than honey"; nor weariness, namely of interior affliction, her company: ibid.: "Those who eat me shall still hunger," against disgust. These two, namely the bitterness of exterior disturbance and the weariness of interior affliction, are contrary to rest. And therefore she removes them, adding two opposites, when she says: But gladness, namely interiorly, and joy, namely exteriorly: Sirach 1: "She will give delight and joy"; likewise Sirach 15: "The Lord filled her with the spirit of wisdom," etc.; likewise ibid.: "Delight and exultation," etc.
Third, the same is shown from the zeal of seeking wisdom in a threefold manner.
Thinking upon these things, etc. Here third he shows how much he loved wisdom, and this from the zeal of seeking her. And concerning this, first he shows the diligence of seeking: second, the aptitude for receiving: But I was a boy: third, the confidence of obtaining: And as I knew
First, the diligence of seeking wisdom is shown.
In the first part he sets forth three causes moving one to seek knowledge: first, the effect of wisdom in the heart: second, the effect in work: And in works: third, the effect in speech: And in the contest of speech.
(Vers. 17.). These things, namely the foregoing, pondering within myself, frequently meditating on them, and recalling in my heart, namely the following things, bringing them back to memory lest I forget: for the animal that "chews the cud and divides the hoof," namely by remembering and discerning, is clean, Leviticus 11: Luke 2: "Mary kept all these words," etc. That she is immortal , namely by nature, or by the effect of the immortality which she confers: whence above in the same book: "Through her I shall have immortality." In the thought of wisdom, that is, in the understanding: the Gloss: "Whatever is known of her nature, the whole is found to be immortal and ever living": below in chapter 15: "To know your justice and your power is the root of immortality."
(Vers. 18.). And in friendship with her, namely when she is loved, good delight, namely in the affection: good he says as opposed to the delight of sin, which is evil, because it leads to eternal torment, according to that saying of Gregory: "What delights is momentary, what torments is eternal"; likewise the Gloss: "Bodily pleasures weigh down the body, but spiritual pleasures uplift the mind; and the more they are consumed, the more they are hungered for. In the former, the appetite pleases but the experience displeases; but spiritual delights increase desire, and the more they are partaken of, the more eagerly they are loved." And in the works of her hands, that is, in good works, which are done through her hands, that is, by her power and might: John fifteen: "Without me you can do nothing"; honor without failing, that is, perfect honor: for virtue and the work of virtue belong to the genus of the honorable: below in chapter ten: "She honored him in his labors"; likewise above in chapter seven: "Innumerable honor through her hands." And in the contest of her discourse, namely that which takes the form of disputation, in which there is a certain contest between the one objecting and the one responding: wisdom, that is, knowledge; supply: is acquired: Sirach, last chapter: "My soul wrestled with her." And renown, that is, the evidence of illustrious virtue, in the sharing of her words, which namely are shared by way of simple conference: Sirach 24: "Those who elucidate me shall have eternal life"; likewise Daniel 12: "Those who instruct many unto justice shall be as stars for perpetual eternities." I went about: the Gloss: "Diligently and studiously": Song of Songs three: "I will arise and go about the city": seeking, like the woman of whom Luke fifteen says: "Who lights a lamp and sweeps the house, seeking diligently until she finds it." That I might take her to myself, namely as a bride: whence above in the same chapter: "I sought to take her as my bride."
In the aforesaid text, eight things useful to the preacher or teacher concerning the learning of wisdom or concerning the acquisition of wisdom are touched upon: reflection upon her through investigation, recollection through frequent practice, delight through love, action through fulfillment, contention through disputation, communication through conference, going about through questioning, taking up through incorporation.
Second, the aptitude for receiving her.
Now I was a child etc. Here he touches on the aptitude for receiving, first on the part of natural ability, because as a child I was of good natural talent: second on the part of grace, because I obtained a good soul: third on the part of purity, because, since I was more good, I came to an undefiled body.
(Vers. 19. 20.). He says therefore: Now I was an ingenious child: note that he speaks in the person of Solomon. Ingenious by natural industry: Proverbs 20: "A child is known by his pursuits, whether his works be clean and right." And I obtained, that is, attained by the lot of divine election: Acts 1: "The lot fell upon Matthias"; a good soul, namely through grace: 3 Kings 3: "Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David, his father."
And since I was more good, namely from superadded grace, than I was previously from natural industry, I came etc. For according to Augustine, temporal goods are the lowest goods, natural goods the middle, gratuitous goods the highest. I came, I say, by the resolution and zeal of the mind, to an undefiled body, supply: to have and preserve through purity.
But the Gloss objects that this can scarcely be understood literally of Solomon, because "he loved women, even foreign ones," as is evident from 3 Kings 11.
But the solution is clear through a distinction of times: in youth he loved purity, but in old age, lust. Nevertheless, these things can be better understood of Christ.
Third, the confidence of obtaining it.
(Vers. 21.). And as I knew, namely by the most certain cognition of faith and reason, that otherwise I cannot be continent unless God grant it. "For every best gift and every perfect gift is from above" etc., James 1; but continence is a most perfect gift: Sirach 26: "No weight is worthy of a continent soul." And this itself was wisdom, that is, a certain effect of wisdom in me, namely to know whose this gift was; above in the same: "She is the instructress of the discipline of God." As I knew, I say, etc., I went to the Lord, by the intention of the mind, not by the steps of the body. In the Psalm: "Come to him, and be enlightened." And I besought him, namely by the word of vocal prayer: James 1: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God." And I said from all my inmost heart, namely with the fervor of devotion, according to that word of Isaiah 26: "Yea, with my spirit in the morning within my inmost heart I will watch for thee"; in the Psalm: "I cried with my whole heart: hear me, O Lord."