Verse 16. God has softened my heart, and the Almighty has troubled me. 51. This fear is a gift of God. — From the divine gift the heart of the righteous is said to be softened, because it is penetrated by fear of the supernal judgment. For that is soft which can be penetrated, that hard which cannot be penetrated. Whence through Solomon it is said: Blessed is the man who is always fearful, but he who is of a hard mind shall fall into evil (Prov. 28:14). The virtue of his own dread, therefore, he attributes not to himself but to its Author, who says: God has softened my heart, and the Almighty has troubled me.
The hearts of the good, however, are not free from care but troubled; for while they weigh the burden of the judgment to come, they do not seek to enjoy rest here, but disturb their own security by pondering that inward strictness. Yet amid these very torments of fear they often recall their minds to God's gifts, and, that they may revive themselves with consolation, in the midst of what they dread they turn their eye back to the gifts they have received, so that hope may lift up the one whom fear presses down. Whence it also follows: