Page:Withgodbookofpra00las.djvu/61

 the Prayer  of  the  Church. Even, humanly speaking, the  Prayer  of  David  would  be  the prayer of  every  grade  of  life,  of  every  spiritual necessity. The shepherd's  youngest  son, small in  stature,  ruddy  and  beautiful  to  behold,  and  of  a  comely  face,"  he  becomes  the champion,  the  hero,  and  the  sovereign  of  the chosen  people.  The  changing  scenes  of  his life  display  the  beauty  and  constancy  of friendship,  the  pangs  of  ingratitude,  the  grandeur of  piety,  the  simplicity  of  its  manifestation, the  loss  of  virtue,  the  agony  of  remorse, and  the  fervor  of  that  contrition  which,  amidst the  plaintive  melodies  of  the  psaltery,  poured itself  forth  in  those  deep,  thrilling  accents  of sorrow  which,  to  the  end  of  our  wayward  history, must  form  the  sad  language  of  penance. Therefore,  in  the  Prayer  of  David,  every  one who  suffers,  every  one  who  rejoices,  every  one who  is  tempted,  or  falls,  or  repents,  will  be able  to  breathe  forth  his  thoughts,  his  hopes, his  praises,  his  desires,  in  strains  of  inspired poetry. But, as  we  learn  from  the  New , Testament,  David  is  both  a  prophet  and  a type  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  "Prayer  of David  "  is  therefore  also  the  Prayer  of  Jesus Christ." Our  Lord  quoted  the  Psalms  and applied  them  to  Himself,  He  used  them  as His  own  prayers,  He  sung  them  with  His