Sins And Prayers

Dixit ergo David in corde suo, petens ut exaudiretur a Domino, et ut non exsultarent in eum ejus inimici: petens etiam ut in conversionis suae proposito permaneret; ne, dum propositi sui gressus quasi quidam pedes suae animae commoventur, in eum adversarii superba et magniloquentiae plena loquerentur; ut faciunt qui insultare desiderant. Tametsi moveatur ut homo, paratum ad flagella se dicit ut vel supplicio solvat errorem. Etsi cessent flagella Domini, se tamen dolore proprio memorat flagellari; ut non inveniat culpa quod damnet, quam bona confessio praevenerit. Hoc est ergo quod ait: 'Et dum commoventur pedes mei, in me magna locuti sunt'; eo quod tam prompti sunt ad insultationis ludibria, ut in commotione pedum meorum paratam habuerint magniloquentiam; vel certe sic: 'Dum commoventur pedes mei,' putantes quod caderem, superba jam et magniloqua sunt locuti. Sed tamen quia ipse in posterioribus pene motos pedes suos dixit, ne quid oriatur hinc scrupuli, considera hic doceri nos affectum poenitentiae, ibi opinionem ejus erroris excludi, quod divitiae et successus prosperior flagitiosorum nos movere non debeant. Consuetudo autem locutionis in Scripturis divinis hujusmodi reperitur. Sic enim at alibi: Dum converteret Dominus captivitatem Sion, facti sumus sicut consolati.  Quamquam sanctus non in ostensione verborum, sed in virtute spiritus probari se velit. Sensus ergo nobis spectandus est semper. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Enarrationes In Psalmos, Psalmum XXXVII Source: Migne PL 14.1034b-d

Therefore David asked in his heart, seeking that he might be heard by the Lord, that his enemies not exult over him, seeking that he might stand fast in the intention of his own conversion, lest, while he walks in his intention, the feet of his soul are shaken, when the proud speak against him and those full of great speech, and they insult him who wish to do so. 1 And even if he stumbles like a man, he says he is prepared for the whip, 2 that punishment might cleanse from error. And even if the whip of the Lord cease, however, he shall remember his grief at being beaten, that the fault which damns be not found in him, that which good confession forestalls. This, then, is why he says, 'And when my feet stumbled, they spoke great things against me,' that is: they are so quick to mocking insults, that at the mere stumbling of my feet they have boastful speech ready,' or certainly: 'While my feet stumbled, thinking that I might fall, already they had spoken proud and great things.' And yet because later he speaks of his feet being moved greatly, 3 lest there arise here some small confusion, consider that here the idea of penitence is taught, and that there the thought of his error is excluded, that we should not be moved because of the scandals of those more prosperous in wealth and success. It is a custom of Sacred Scripture to work like this. So it says elsewhere, 'When the Lord overturned the captivity of Zion, we were like those comforted.' 4 For there is no holiness in mere ostentation of words, but he wished himself to be proved in the virtue of his soul. This meaning, then, we most always look to. Saint Ambrose, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 37 1.Ps 37.17 2 Ps 37.18 3 Ps 72.2  4 Ps 125.1