[Scriptum compendiosum Psalterii intentionem declarans]

besides the constituted hours in which he was continuously before, he was always praying. And the place of his prayer was not only the common oratory but also at a certain altar, where he now lies buried, but in the cell where he had established two stones, to one of which he would bend his knees, and to the other, indeed, he would support his arms when he was excessively tired from the labor of prayer, so that if his arms were not afflicted by weariness, they would be punished by the cold and hardness of the stone. But it must be known that although the insistence of prayer may avail much for its being heard according to the aforementioned, yet holy men are not always heard in what they ask; nay, rather, often the wicked are heard in their prayer, though not to that end, as Augustine shows in the examples above on the Canonical Epistle of John, Homily 6. For it is certain that the Apostle Paul prayed insistently that the thorn might be taken away from him, and he was not heard. The devil, however, was heard in his request when he asked that power be given to him over Job. Also, when they asked to be sent into the swine. Behold, the demons were heard, and the Apostle was not heard. But as Augustine adds, the Apostle was heard more than the devil. For the Apostle was heard for salvation, even if not according to his will, but the devil for damnation.

Therefore, a good man should not be disturbed if he is not heard in what he asks according to his will, because often it would be harmful to him. And Augustine puts an example of a physician, whom if a sick person asks for cold water, if he knows it is harmful, he does not give it; if it is beneficial, he gives it immediately. "Learn, therefore," says Augustine, "to ask God, and leave to the physician what he himself knows. You confess the disease, let him exhibit the medicine; you only hold fast to charity. For he wants to cut, he wants to burn; if you cry out and are not heard in the burning and tribulation, he knows how far the rot goes. You now want him to recall his hands, and he attends to the hollow of the wound; he knows how far he should reach. He does not hear according to your will, but he hears according to your salvation." This is Augustine. These things having been premised, therefore, as if exhortations to sing and play the divine office, especially the psalms, more insistently, more willingly, more simply, and more sluggishly in praying, more attentively, more fervently, more purely, more clearly, and more devoutly, let us proceed to some very brief exposition of the psalms, promising commonly regarding each psalm: who is the author of this psalm, what is the matter, what is the intention, what is the sentence in general, adding at the end of the exposition a collection summarizing the whole matter pertaining to the psalms.