Psalm 50 and building up the walls of Jerusalem

Those of you who read my other blogs, most notably Australia Incognita (which I've recently revived) will know that I am currently reading St Bede's commentary On Ezra and Nehemiah.

This commentary is filled with allusions to both the Rule and Office of St Benedict, and indeed I think the whole commentary can be interpreted as a meditation on St Benedict's framing of the Office around the idea of rebuilding the walls of the Church through the use of verse 16 of Psalm 50 each day to open the Office at Matins, and its links to key themes in the Rule.

The relevant verses are:

16  Dómine, lábia mea apéries: * et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.	O Lord, you will open my lips: and my mouth shall declare your praise.
17  Quóniam si voluísses sacrifícium dedíssem útique: * holocáustis non delectáberis.	For if you had desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings you will not be delighted.
18  Sacrifícium Deo spíritus contribulátus: * cor contrítum, et humiliátum, Deus non despícies.	A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise.
19  Benígne fac, Dómine, in bona voluntáte tua Sion: * ut ædificéntur muri Jerúsalem.	Deal favourably, O Lord, in your good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
20  Tunc acceptábis sacrifícium justítiæ, oblatiónes, et holocáusta: * tunc impónent super altáre tuum vítulos.	Then shall you accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon your altar.

I may say more on this anon, but for the moment I just wanted to share St Bede's commentary on Verse 19 of Psalm 50 since it seems particularly pertinent advice to attend to as we enter the final days of Advent:

For the fiftieth psalm - in which the prophet prays specifically for the construction of this city, saying Deal favourably, Oh Lord, in your good will with Zion, that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up - is one of repentance and forgiveness.   

On the fiftieth day of the Lord's resurrection, the Holy Spirit; through which not only the desire to repent is poured into us but also the gift of pardon is conferred on those who repent, came to the primitive Church.   

Now there are two precepts concerning charity, namely love of God and of neighbour, in which, once pardon for sins has been granted to us by the Holy Spirit, we are commanded to endeavour to attain eternal life.   

It is therefore most appropriate that, when rebuilding the wall of the holy city that has been destroyed by the enemies, its citizens restore it in fifty-two days, because this, undoubtedly, is the perfection of the righteous in this life - namely that they should not only, by repenting through the grace of divine inspiration, set aright whatever sins they have committed, but afterwards adorn themselves with good works in love of God and neighbour. (On Ezra and Nehemiah, trans DeGregorio, pg 189)

Psalm 99 - Serve the Lord with gladness

Psalm 99 - Jubiláte Deo, omnis terra - Festal Lauds/Matins Friday II, 5 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus in confessione.	A psalm of praise.
1 Jubiláte Deo, omnis terra: * servíte Dómino in lætítia.	Sing joyfully to God, all the earth: serve the Lord with gladness.
2  Introíte in conspéctu ejus, * in exsultatióne.	Come in before his presence with exceeding great joy.
3  Scitóte quóniam Dóminus ipse est Deus: * ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos.	3 Know that the Lord he is God: he made us, and not we ourselves
4  Pópulus ejus, et oves páscuæ ejus: * introíte portas ejus in confessióne, átria ejus in hymnis: confitémini illi.	We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Go into his gates with praise, into his courts with hymns: and give glory to him.
5  Laudáte nomen ejus: quóniam suávis est Dóminus, in ætérnum misericórdia ejus, * et usque in generatiónem et generatiónem véritas ejus.	Praise his name: 5 For the Lord is sweet, his mercy endures for ever, and his truth to generation and generation.

The second of the festal psalms of Lauds is Psalm 99, which is the last of the set of psalms focusing on Christ's kingship that started with Psalm 92, the first of the festal psalms of Lauds.

As St Augustine points out, the psalm is reasonably straightforward in its meaning:

...it is short, and not obscure: as if I had given you an assurance, that you should not fear fatigue....The title of this Psalm is, A Psalm of confession. The verses are few, but big with great subjects; may the seed bring forth within your hearts, the barn be prepared for the Lord's harvest.

Similarly, St Liguori summarises it as:

The royal prophet exhorts the faithful to praise God and to thank him first for having created us; then for having given us for our mother this holy Church which nourishes her children as young and tender sheep.

The whole psalm is very upbeat, urging us to joy, and Cassiodorus therefore alludes to the use of the imagery of the sheep of his pasture in Psalm 94 (the Matins invitatory) and the instruction to serve the Lord with gladness in verse 2:

Though service to the Lord is seen to be discharged by the various functions of ecclesiastical orders, monasteries of the faithful, solitary hermits, and devoted laity, all are appropriately associated with these five words, serve the Lord with gladness, and not with murmuring or mental bitterness, as happened in the desert when the Jewish people murmured against the Lord.  This gladness is none other than charity...So those who server the Lord with gladness are those who love Him above all else and show brotherly charity to each other.

Cassiodorus' interpretation of the gates reflects the theme of charity reflected in works:

The Lord's gates are humble repentance, sacred baptism, holy charity, almsgiving, mercy and the other commands by which we can attain his presence.  So the prophet urges us first to enter the gate's of the Lord's mercy by means of this humble confession...

Place in Lauds

Once again it doesn't contain any overt references to morning or light, but it does have a strong connection to the key themes of Lauds they we have noted in this series.

In particular it fits perfectly with the 'entering into heaven' and 'truth and mercy' memes of the Lauds group, in which position it has been placed in the festal office.  And this in turn perhaps suggests that as in a number of other cases, St Benedict was not, in his Lauds selections, starting from nothing, but rather taking an existing theme and amplifying it, making it more explicit.

It also suggests that St Benedict's decision not to use this psalm at Lauds may perhaps have been dictated by factors such as the design of the Matins cursus as much as the content of this particular psalm.  Still, the focus of the psalm is primarily on the kingship of Christ rather than his priesthood, so that too may have been a factor.

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of the psalm

NT references	Eph 2:10 (3); Lk 1:50 (5)
RB cursus	Friday II, 5
Monastic feasts	Festal Lauds
Roman pre 1911	Sunday Lauds
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Sunday Lauds . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Lent 4 Monday OF 1-3;

And that ends this series on the variable psalms of Lauds.