Psalm 4, verse 7: The light of Christ inscribed on our souls

Verse 7 of Psalm 4 introduces the idea of God's light being signed upon us, which was often interpreted by the Fathers as a reference to our baptism, keeping us safe through the darkness of the night through Christ's light within us.

Understanding the Latin

The Vulgate of verse 7 of Psalm 4 is:

Signátum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Dómine: dedísti lætítiam in corde meo.

The key vocabulary for the verse is:

signo, avi, atum, are , to mark, sign, imprint. 

lumen, inis, n.  light; in the hymns, brightness, splendor. 

vultus, us, m., the face, countenance; 

laetitia, ae, f joy, gladness.

A literal word by word translation therefore runs:

Signátum est (it is marked/imprinted/signed) super (over/on) nos (us) lumen (the light) vultus (face/countenance) tui (your), Dómine (O Lord): dedísti (you have given) lætítiam (the joy) in corde (the heart) meo (mine)

The Douay-Rheims Challoner translates the verse as:

The light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: you have given gladness in my heart.

Christ's light signed on us

At both Lauds and Compline, light is a key theme: its coming into the world through the Resurrection, symbolised by the rising sun at Lauds, and the light of Christ shining through the darkness to guide us through the night at Compline.

And at both Lauds and Compline the first psalm of the hour refers to the light of God's countenance on us.  In Psalm 66 at Lauds, the relevant verse asks for the blessing of God's countenance on us (Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis; illuminet vultum suum super nos, et misereatur nostri); at Compline we acknowledge its receipt, and its importance in keeping us safe through the darkness of the night.

The early Church Father Tertullian, for example, pointed to the idea of Christ as the light shining in the darkness through the Church:

Now he did not observe how much this clause of the sentence made against him: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to (give) the light of the knowledge (of His glory) in the face of (Jesus) Christ.”  Now who was it that said; “Let there be light?”. And who was it that said to Christ concerning giving light to the world: “I have set Thee as a light to the Gentiles” to them, that is, “who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death?”  and. (None else, surely, than He), to whom the Spirit in the Psalm answers, in His foresight of the future, saying, “The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, hath been displayed upon us.”. Now the countenance (or person of the Lord here is Christ. Wherefore the apostle said above: “Christ, who is the image of God.” Since Christ, then, is the person of the Creator, who said, “Let there be light,” it follows that Christ and the apostles, and the gospel, and the veil, and Moses—nay, the whole of the dispensations—belong to the God who is the Creator of this world, according to the testimony of the clause (above adverted to), and certainly not to him who never said, “Let there be light.” 

St Augustine similarly sees this verse firstly as a reminder that we are made in God’s image:

The light of Your countenance, says he, is stamped on us, O Lord. This light is the whole and true good of man, which is seen not with the eye, but with the mind. But he says, stamped on us, as a penny is stamped with the king's image. For man was made after the image and likeness of God…

St Augustine goes on to argue that just as the head on a coin symbolizes to whom one must pay our taxes, so to must those marked with the sign of God on their souls render homage to God.

Others of the saints and theologians, most notably St Thomas Aquinas, interpret the verse more directly as a reference to the sacraments: that mankind defaced that image of God through Original Sin, but reclaims it by baptism; we can deface that image again by sin, but yet have it restored by confession.  In this they are building on several New Testament passages that draw on the idea of a mark or seal on the soul (such as Rom 8:29; 2 Cor 1:21- 22; Eph 1:13, 4:30; Rev 7:2-3, 9:4; Jn 6:27) that make a permanent mark on our soul also draw on the imagery of a seal or mark made on us by God, and called to mind anew each time we make the sign of the cross.

Masoretic vs Septuagint traditions

This is one of those verses, though, where the Hebrew Masoretic Text, used in the Neo-Vulgate translation, is significantly different from the text tradition preserved in the Greek Septuagint.

Instead of being signed on us, the first phrase of the Neo-Vulgate runs: 'Leva in signum super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine', or as the Revised Standard Version translates it, 'Lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, O Lord'.  The Knox translation makes the connection to the night even less obvious, reading 'do thou, then, Lord, shew us the sunshine of thy favour'.

There is at least some Patristic support for this reading.  Origen for example suggests that the light is a guide to the path we must take:

And therefore that very ancient prophet...expressed himself in these words:  “The Lord is my light and my salvation:  whom shall I fear?”(attributed to David).and, “Thy law is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path;”   and again, “The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, was manifested towards us;”  “Lift up upon us,” etc. and, “In Thy light we shall see light.”  And the Logos, exhorting us to come to this light, says, in the prophecies of Isaiah:  “Enlighten thyself, enlighten thyself, O Jerusalem; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” The same prophet also, when predicting the advent of Jesus, who was to turn away men from the worship of idols, and of images, and of demons, says, “To those that sat in the land and shadow of death, upon them hath the light arisen;”

The Septuagint-Vulgate reading though, it seems to me more readily lends itself to a particularly Christian interpretation.  Either way, light is a common image in Scripture, standing here for the guidance God gives us to show us the correct path to take.  Above all, it stands for the gift of Our Lord himself, the light of the world.

Joy and gladness of heart

The second half of the verse goes to God’s promise of happiness to those who serve him.

Several of the Fathers see this verse as reminding us that true happiness lies in eternal things, not the material benefits referred to in the next verse.  St John Chrysostom, for example, points out that it is not the joy or gladness that comes from the things of this life, but rather comes from looking to the world to come:

…that is to say, You have taught me to love wisdom, to overlook the things of this life, to know the things that are true and lasting, you have lifted my expectation upwards to sound hope, you have led me forward to the life to come, you have raised me from the enjoyment of present goods to the prospect of future goods...

You see, if you are on the point of succeeding to wealth or entering an important office, you are exhilarated not only at the moment of acceptance but also by expectation before the actual experience, buoyed up by hope and thus enjoying the whole period. So consider how natural this is for someone who has expectations of the kingdom living and immortal, and of those goods which eye has not seen nor ear heard nor have they entered human heart (cf 1 Cor 2.9; Is 64.4). Hence he said, You have made me the gift of joy of heart... 

...he did not say simply, You have made me the gift of joy but of heart, suggesting that the joy is not in external things, not in slaves or gold or silver, not in clothing or groaning tables, not in the extent of sovereignty or the size of one's house. Such joy is not of heart but of eyes only. Many people with these possessions, at any rate, think life not worth living; they carry around with them in their soul a furnace of despondency, exhausted by the multitude of concerns and oppressed by unceas­ing apprehension.  

To me on the contrary, you say, joy is not in these things, but in the core of my intellect, in my understanding which is immaterial and gives thought to immaterial things…

Psalm 4: Cum invocarem

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Psalmus David.	Unto the end, in verses. A psalm for David.
1 Cum invocárem exaudívit me deus justítiæ meæ: * in tribulatióne dilatásti mihi.	When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, you have enlarged me.
2 Miserére mei, * et exáudi oratiónem meam.	Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.
3 Filii hóminum, úsquequo gravi corde? *  ut quid dilígitis vanitátem et quæritis mendácium?	O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?
4 Et scitóte quóniam mirificávit dóminus sanctum suum: * dóminus exáudiet me cum clamávero ad eum.	Know also that the Lord has made his holy one wonderful: the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him.
5 Irascímini, et nolíte peccáre: * quæ dícitis in córdibus vestris, in cubílibus vestris compungímini.	Be angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.
6 Sacrificáte sacrifícium justítiæ, et speráte in dómino, * multi dicunt quis osténdit nobis bona?	Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord: many say, Who shows us good things?
7 Signátum est super nos lumen vultus tui, dómine: * dedísti lætítiam in corde meo.	The light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: you have given gladness in my heart.
8 A fructu fruménti, vini et ólei sui * multiplicáti sunt.	By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they rest
9 In pace in idípsum * dórmiam et requiéscam;	In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest
10 Quóniam tu, dómine, singuláriter in spe * constituísti me.	For you, O Lord, singularly have settled me in hope.

And continue on to the next part in this series.