Salmos 39
Bernard of Clairvaux
Salmos 39:3
A soul entangled in many sins can prepare for itself a certain ointment once it begins to reflect on its behavior, and collects its many and manifold sins, hems them together and crushes them in the mortar of its conscience. It cooks them, as it were, within a breast that boils up like a pot over the fire of repentance and sorrow, so that it can exclaim with the Prophet: "My heart became hot within me. As I mused the fire burned." Here then is one ointment which the sinful soul should provide at the beginning of its conversion and apply to its still smarting wounds, for the first sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10
Salmos 39:6
The soul is great in that it is capable of eternal things, and upright in that it desires heavenly things: the soul which does not seek or savor the things that are above, but the things that are upon the earth, is plainly not upright, but crooked, even though on account of this it does not cease to be great, remaining as it does even so capable of eternity. For it will never at any time not be capable of eternity, even if it never shall have been actually possessing it, so that it may be as it is written: "Surely man passes through as an image"; yet only in part, so that the eminence of the Word may be apparent from its very wholeness. For in what respect could the Word fall from being great or upright, since it so possesses these things that it is what it has? Or it is in part for this reason: lest, if the soul were deprived of the whole, no hope of salvation would remain. For if it should cease to be great, it would also cease to be capable. For the greatness of the soul, as I said, is estimated from its capacity. But what could it hope for, of which it were not capable? And so through the greatness which it retains even when uprightness is lost, man passes through as an image, limping as it were on one foot, and become an alien son. For of such I believe it was said: "The alien sons have lied to me, the alien sons have grown old, and they have limped from their paths." Fittingly they are called alien sons: for sons, on account of the greatness they have retained; aliens, on account of the uprightness they have lost. Nor would he have said "they limped," but rather "they fell," or something similar, if men had entirely put off the image. But as things stand, according to greatness indeed man passes through as an image; but as far as uprightness is concerned, as one limping, he is troubled and cast down from the image, Scripture speaking thus: "Surely man passes through as an image; but indeed he is troubled in vain." In vain altogether: for it follows: "He heaps up treasure, and knows not for whom he gathers it." Why does he not know, unless because, bending himself down to these lowest and earthly things, he heaps up earth for himself? Assuredly he does not know, concerning those things which he commits to the earth, for whom he gathers them: whether for the moth that destroys, or for the thief that digs through; for the enemy that plunders, or for the fire that devours. — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80