Showing posts with label Ps 69. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ps 69. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Deus in adjutorium...(Psalm 69:1)

In this series on the repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office, I thought it might be useful also to give some mention to the repeated verses of the Office, and since the Deus in adjutorium verse from (Psalm 69) opens each of the day hours which I'll start on in the next post, I thought this might be an appropriate point to look at it.

I want to suggest that there are actually three reasons why St Benedict may have so favoured it:first as a prayer asking for God to perfect our work of the Office, and aid us at all times; secondly to make clear the Christological nature of the Office; and finally as a prayer for perseverance.

Psalm 69

First lines of psalms, in Scripture at least, are traditionally regarded as pointing us to the consideration of the entire psalm, and I think that is particularly worthwhile in this case.  Accordingly, here is the text of the full psalm:

Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David in rememorationem, quod salvum fecerit eum Dominus
Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that the Lord saved him.
1 Deus, in adjutórium meum inténde : * Dómine ad adjuvándum me festína.
O God come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
2  Confundántur et revereántur, * qui quærunt ánimam meam.
3 Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:
3  Avertántur retrórsum, et erubéscant, * qui volunt mihi mala.
4 Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils to me:
4  Avertántur statim erubescéntes, * qui dicunt mihi : Euge, euge.
Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me: 'Tis well, 'tis well.
5  Exsúltent et læténtur in te omnes qui quærunt te, * et dicant semper : Magnificétur Dóminus : qui díligunt salutáre tuum.
5 Let all that seek you rejoice and be glad in you; and let such as love your salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.
6  Ego vero egénus, et pauper sum : * Deus, ádjuva me.
6 But I am needy and poor; O God, help me.

7  Adjútor meus, et liberátor meus es tu : * Dómine, ne moreris.
You are my helper and my deliverer: O lord, make no delay.


Perfect our prayer

St Benedict, in the opening to his Rule, instructs that whatever good work we undertake, to start with a prayer asking God to perfect it.  This verse, I think, provides a built in means of doing this each time we pray the Office, that ultimate 'good work'.

The origin of the use of the verse has generally been attributed to Cassian, for in Conference 10, chapter 10, he provides an extended dissertation instructing the monk to employ this verse in all times and circumstances.  There is an excellent audio conference on this that you can listen to on the Norcia Monastery website, provided by Fr Cassian Folsom OSB.

The short version though, is that Cassian puts the verse in the context of cultivating a sense of continuous prayer and cultivating a sense of our total dependence on God.  In particular he sees it as the remedy against every kind of danger:

"For it embraces all the feelings which can be implanted in human nature, and can be fitly and satisfactorily adapted to every condition, and all assaults. Since it contains an invocation of God against every danger, it contains humble and pious confession, it contains the watchfulness of anxiety and continual fear, it contains the thought of one's own weakness, confidence in the answer, and the assurance of a present and ever ready help. For one who is constantly calling on his protector, is certain that He is always at hand. It contains the glow of love and charity, it contains a view of the plots, and a dread of the enemies, from which one, who sees himself day and night hemmed in by them, confesses that he cannot be set free without the aid of his defender. This verse is an impregnable wall for all who are labouring under the attacks of demons, as well as impenetrable coat of mail and a strong shield."

 Through his Incarnation and Resurrection

Fr Cassian in his series on continuous prayer notes that St Benedict interprets the Office as 'the work of Christ'.  This psalm fits very nicely with this Christological view of the Office, for the title of the psalm in the view of the Fathers, points us to the Resurrection.  St Augustine, for example, commented on it that:

"Thanks to the Corn of wheat, because He willed to die and to be multiplied: thanks to the only Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who disdained not to undergo our death, in order that He might make us worthy of His life."

That is important to keep in mind, since aside from the first verse, the psalms is essentially a repeat of the second half of Psalm 39, which is primarily focused on the Incarnation, opening a verse about waiting in hope for the coming of the Messiah.  Verses 2-4 in fact reprise a key theme of Monday in the Office, namely the promise that the devil will be defeated through Christ: you can find the words of those verses  repeated in various forms in Psalms 34, 6 and 128 in particular.  The Deus in adjutorium verse, then, can be seen as a plea for Christ's aid in our battle against the temptations that assail us.  And verses 4 and 5 perhaps invite us to draw on  Our Lady's example, for they seem to me at least to contain obvious echoes of the Magnificat.

A prayer for perseverance

The other key reason for use of this psalm though, seems to me to be as a prayer for aid in perseverance.

The final verse essentially echoes the first, but St Augustine's commentary on it puts a nice twist on it.  Rather than focusing on God's seeming delay in responding to our pleas, he puts the blame for any delay back on our poor efforts, and turns the psalm into a prayer for perseverance:

What is, delay not? Because many men say, it is a long time till Christ comes. What then: because we say, delay not, will He come before He has determined to come? What means this prayer, delay not? May not Your coming seem to me to be too long delayed. For to you it seems a long time, to God it seems not long, to whom a thousand years are one day, or the three hours of a watch. 

But if you shall not have had endurance, late for you it will be: and when to you it shall be late, you will be diverted from Him, and will be like those that were wearied in the desert, and hastened to ask of God the pleasant things which He was reserving for them in the Land; and when there were not given on their journey the pleasant things, whereby perchance they would have been corrupted, they murmured against God, and went back in heart unto Egypt: to that place whence in body they had been severed, in heart they went back. 

Do not thou, then, so, do not so: fear the word of the Lord, saying, Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:32 She too being on the way, but now delivered from the Sodomites, looked back; in the place where she looked back, there she remained: she became a statue of salt, in order to season you. For to you she has been given for an example, in order that you may have sense, may not stop infatuated on the way. Observe her stopping and pass on: observe her looking back, and do thou be reaching forth unto the things before, as Paul was. Philippians 3:13 What is it, not to look back. Of the things behind forgetful, he says. 

Therefore you follow, being called to the heavenly reward, whereof hereafter you will glory. For the same Apostle says, There remains for me a crown of righteousness, which in that day the Lord, the just Judge, shall render to me. 2 Timothy 4:8

I can't help thinking that this particular take on the psalm fits particularly well with St Benedict's spirituality...

Spiritual and liturgical uses of the psalm
 

NT references

1 Peter 5:7 (6)

RB cursus

Matins Wednesday II, 3

Monastic feasts etc

Maundy Thurs Tenebrae, I, 2;

AN (2330); 1547 (4);

Responsories

7475 (2) – Passion Sunday no 8

Roman pre 1911

Thursday Matins

Roman post 1911

1911-62: Thursday Compline  . 1970:

Mass propers (EF)

Lent 2 Monday GR (2, 7);
Lent 2 Thursday, IN (1-3);
Lent 4 Thursday, OF (1-3); 
PP 12, IN (1-3)

 

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Tenebrae/19 - Psalm 39: The rock that is Christ



Today's psalm in this series on Tenebrae, is Psalm 39, and it brings us back to a meditation on that greatest of sacrifices, our will.  It is also said at Matins on Monday in the Benedictine Office, and as the first psalm of the third nocturn of Matins in the Office of the Dead.

It is worth noting that Psalm 39 is actually one of those two for one psalms: verses 19 onwards are repeated in Psalm 69.

The call to obedience

On Good Friday, we particularly contemplate Christ's perfect obedience, even unto death, and this psalm explains once more the rationale for this:

"No sacrifice, no offering was thy demand; enough that thou hast given me an ear ready to listen. Thou hast not found any pleasure in burnt-sacrifices, in sacrifices for sin. See then, I said, I am coming to fulfil what is written of me, where the book lies unrolled; to do thy will, O my God, is all my desire, to carry out that law of thine which is written in my heart." (Knox Translation)

These verses are given some more exposition in the Letter to the Hebrews:

"Christ, during his earthly life, offered prayer and entreaty to the God who could save him from death, not without a piercing cry, not without tears; yet with such piety as won him a hearing. Son of God though he was, he learned obedience in the school of suffering, and now, his full achievement reached, he wins eternal salvation for all those who render obedience to him." (Knox Translation)

The help of the Church

The psalm also, though, also reminds us that we are not expected to achieve this holy state unaided, for Christ and his Church stand ready to aid us.

The psalm states that 'many shall see and fear', that there will be a great cloud of witnesses sharing the message of salvation.

Nor will they be left unguided, for in a verse particularly poignant, perhaps as we await the election of a new Pope, we are told:

"And he set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps."

Psalm 39 (40)

Vulgate

Douay-Rheims

In finem. Psalmus ipsi David.

Unto the end, a psalm for David himself.

Beátus qui intélligit super egénum, et páuperem: * in die mala liberábit eum Dóminus.

Blessed is he that understands concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.

Dóminus consérvet eum, et vivíficet eum, † et beátum fáciat eum in terra: * et non tradat eum in ánimam inimicórum eius.

The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth: and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Dóminus opem ferat illi super lectum dolóris eius: * univérsum stratum eius versásti in infirmitáte eius.

The Lord help him on his bed of sorrow: you have turned all his couch in his sickness.

Ego dixi: Dómine, miserére mei: * sana ánimam meam, quia peccávi tibi.

I said: O Lord, be merciful to me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.

Inimíci mei dixérunt mala mihi: * Quando moriétur, et períbit nomen eius?

My enemies have spoken evils against me: when shall he die and his name perish?

Et si ingrediebátur ut vidéret, vana loquebátur: * cor eius congregávit iniquitátem sibi.

And if he came in to see me, he spoke vain things: his heart gathered together iniquity to itself.

Egrediebátur foras, * et loquebátur in idípsum.

He went out and spoke to the same purpose.

Advérsum me susurrábant omnes inimíci mei: * advérsum me cogitábant mala mihi.

All my enemies whispered together against me: they devised evils to me.

Verbum iníquum constituérunt advérsum me: * Numquid qui dormit non adiíciet ut resúrgat?

They determined against me an unjust word: shall he that sleeps rise again no more?

Etenim homo pacis meæ, in quo sperávi: * qui edébat panes meos, magnificávit super me supplantatiónem.

For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has greatly supplanted me.

Tu autem, Dómine, miserére mei, et resúscita me: * et retríbuam eis.

But you, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise my up again: and I will requite them.

In hoc cognóvi quóniam voluísti me: * quóniam non gaudébit inimícus meus super me.

By this I know, that you have had a good will for me: because my enemy shall not rejoice over me.

Me autem propter innocéntiam suscepísti: * et confirmásti me in conspéctu tuo in ætérnum.

But you have upheld me by reason of my innocence: and have established me in your sight for ever.

Benedíctus Dóminus, Deus Israël, a sæculo et usque in sæculum: * fiat, fiat.

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity. So be it. So be it

Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.



Tenebrae of Good Friday


Nocturn I: Psalms 2, 21, 26*
Nocturn II: Psalms 37, 39, 53*
Nocturn III: Psalms 58, 87*, 93
Lauds: 50*, 142, 84, [Hab], 147

Other Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references

Rev 14:3 (4);
Mt 12:7, Heb 5:7-10 (9-10);
Heb 10:9, Eph 5:2 (10-11);
1 Peter 5:7 (23)

RB cursus

Monday Matins

Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc

Good Friday Tenebrae, II, 2;
Office of the Dead/All Souls
AN 2756 (8)
AN 1812 (13)
AN 1861 (14)

Responsories

Epiphanytide Tues no 2 – 7698
Palm Sunday - 7219 cf V)

Roman pre 1911

Tuesday Matins

Roman post 1911

1911-62: Tuesday Terce . 1970:

Mass propers (EF)

Lent 2 ?Monday GR (18);
Friday, OF (17-18);
Lent 4 Tuesday, OF (1-2, 4);
PP15, OF (1-2, 4);
PP16, OF (17-18).

 And you can find the next part in the series here.


Friday, February 15, 2013

Psalms of Tenebrae/3 - Psalm 69


Today's psalm, the second of the First Nocturn of Matins for Maundy Thursday, is very short, and the first verse at least will be very familiar, as the prayer 'O God come to my aid, O Lord make haste to help me' is frequently used in the liturgy.  In fact it is one of those verses that can be usefully said all through the day!

Psalm 69 is actually more or less a repeat of the second half of Psalm 39 (the main difference is in the Hebrew word used for God, here Adonai instead of Elohim).

In the Benedictine Office, it is normally said at Matins on Wednesday; in the pre-1911 Roman Office, it was said at Matins on Thursday, the 1962 Roman Office has it at Compline on the same day.

In the context of Maundy Thursday

In the context of Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday, it is first an intensification of that prayer for deliverance from what must come.  More importantly though, it is a prayer for what is to come: for in the Resurrection, Our Lord's enemies were indeed confounded, as the verse used for the antiphon (v 3) reminds us.

In the Septuagint and Vulgate, the psalm is given the title 'Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that the Lord saved him'.  Cassiodorus suggests that this is to differentiate the context for the two versions of the psalm:

"So in Psalm 39 where these words occur there is fear of future judgment and recollection of sins; but in the present passage hope of liberation and the promised trust in our future reward are maintained. To demonstrate that he remembered this, he added: That the Lord saved me, so that it could be shown that this recollection was born not of fear but of the kindness which had been received. It was fitting that, since in the previous psalm the Lord Christ had recounted His passion, and had added the hope of resurrection, so here His members should speak in similar vein after their Head, so that they might proclaim their faithful sufferings, and entertain hope of the resurrection for which they prayed."

Lent as spiritual warfare

For us today, the plea for help in the face of our enemies should serve as a reminder that Lent is a period when the spiritual warfare waged against us will tend to intensify.  We should make our own, then, the plea 'But I am needy and poor; O God, help me'.



Psalm 69

Deus, in adjutórium meum inténde : * Dómine ad adjuvándum me festína.
2  Confundántur et revereántur, * qui quærunt ánimam meam.
3  Avertántur retrórsum, et erubéscant, * qui volunt mihi mala.
4  Avertántur statim erubescéntes, * qui dicunt mihi : Euge, euge.
5  Exsúltent et læténtur in te omnes qui quærunt te, * et dicant semper : Magnificétur Dóminus : qui díligunt salutáre tuum.
6  Ego vero egénus, et pauper sum : * Deus, ádjuva me.
7  Adjútor meus, et liberátor meus es tu : * Dómine, ne moreris.

O God come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:
Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils to me:
Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me: 'Tis well, 'tis well.
Let all that seek you rejoice and be glad in you; and let such as love your salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.
But I am needy and poor; O God, help me.
You are my helper and my deliverer: O lord, make no delay.

And here is a lovely polyphonic setting of the psalm by the Mexican Jan de Padilla



Tenebrae of Holy Thursday

Nocturn I: Psalms 68, 69, 70
Nocturn II: Psalms 71, 72, 73
Nocturn III: Psalms 74, 75, 76
Lauds: 50, 89, 35, [Ex 15], 146

And you can find the next post in this series here.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

A psalm for Sunday...Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost


Conti (c18th), The parable of the Good Samaritan

Today's (Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost) Introit in the Extraordinary Form is verses from Psalm 69, but the sentiments and phrases are actually ones used in several other psalms as well.  Psalm 69 actually more or less duplicates the second half of Psalm 39, and its sentiments appear in several other places as well:

Deus, in adjutórium meum inténde: Dómine, ad adjuvándum me festína: confundántur et revereántur inimíci mei, qui quærunt ánimam meam. Avertántur retrórsum et erubéscant: qui cógitant mihi mala.

or:

Incline unto my aid, O God: O Lord, make haste to help me: let my enemies be confounded and ashamed, who seek my soul.  Let them be turned backward and blush for shame, who desire evils to me.

Let my enemies be confounded and ashamed!

The first verse of the Introit here is the familiar call for God's aid, a call that expresses our dependence on God in all circumstances.  It is used at the start of each hour of the Office and in the Mass as a constant reminder that we can do nothing without God, and that nothing happens without God willing it or allowing it.

But the next sets of words are equally important to the Christian, for they are restatements of the prophecies of the Incarnation and of God's promises to us included especially in the Benedictus and Magnificat: of God's help to us in times of temptation, and his commitment that we will never be tempted beyond our ability to resist; of the final victory over the devil; and of the ultimate triumph of the poor in spirit over the proud and powerful.

On the one hand they are a restatement of Our Lord's victory over death and ultimate triumph over the devil; on the other hand they are an invitation to us: to be confounded but the realization of our sinful state, and thus to be ashamed; and to be converted.  Only once we have come to this realization can we truly be said to be putting our trust in God's help.

In the Benedictine Office, these sentiments feature heavily in the psalms set for Monday (with Psalm 39), with similar phrases turning up not only at several psalms of Matins, but also closing off Prime (in Psalm 6) and Vespers (in Psalm 128).

But the sentiments are also a good fit to the themes of Wednesday Matins, where this version of the psalm appears, since that day deals with man's betrayal of God, and the election of the gentiles, for in the Gospel for this twelfth Sunday, with the story of the Good Samaritan.   The Jews who would have walked past the man who had been robbed and beaten without helping him; but we are invited to be ashamed, repent, and help.