Psalm 90 - Introduction to Psalm 90

Christ Ministered to by Angels

French (St. Omer), c. 1190-1200

The Hague, Koninlijk Bibliotheek

MS KB 76 F 5, fol. 12v 

I noted in the first post to this series that Psalm 90 features heavily in the Lenten liturgy, urging us forward in the spiritual warfare.

But it is also the second psalm of Compline in the Benedictine Office each night, and its allusions to God's promises of protection, refuge and safety make it a particularly apt psalm for night prayer.

Psalm 90 and the temptation of Christ

As I noted in the previous post, this psalm is particularly important because Devil quotes it to Our Lord during his temptation in the desert, and thus it garners multiple references in Scripture (see esp Mt 23:37, Lk 13:3; Mt 18:10, 26:53, Mk 1:13, Lk 4:10-11; Lk 10:19; Jn 12:26) in that context.

Indeed, for that reason, the psalm is used extensively in the Mass propers for the first (EF) Sunday of Lent, particularly in what is surely by far the longest of all the Tracts.

St Augustine commented that as the devil used it, it should in turn help arm us against him:

This Psalm is that from which the Devil dared to tempt our Lord Jesus Christ: let us therefore attend to it, that thus armed, we may be enabled to resist the tempter, not presuming in ourselves, but in Him who before us was tempted, that we might not be overcome when tempted. Temptation to Him was not necessary: the temptation of Christ is our learning, but if we listen to His answers to the devil, in order that, when ourselves are tempted, we may answer in like manner, we are then entering through the gate, as you have heard it read in the Gospel...

 St Augustine argues that the psalm is an invitation to imitate Christ:

...Christ, who Himself said, I am the door: and to enter through Christ, is to imitate His ways....He urges us to imitate Him in those works which He could not have done had He not been made Man; for how could He endure sufferings, unless He had become a Man? How could He otherwise have died, been crucified, been humbled? Thus then do thou, when you suffer the troubles of this world, which the devil, openly by men, or secretly, as in Job's case, inflicts; be courageous, be of long suffering; you shall dwell under the defence of the Most High, as this Psalm expresses it: for if you depart from the help of the Most High, without strength to aid yourself, you will fall. 

Psalm 90 in the Office

For this reason Psalm 90 is a key psalm in the context of the Office, for, from the mists of antiquity until the wreckovations of the twentieth century (in this case St Pius X's revision of the Roman Breviary), it was near universally recited daily, either at midday (in the Eastern tradition) and/or before bed (in the Western tradition).

Like Psalm 4, Psalm 90's daily use as part of the prayers before bed is attested to by ancient tradition, including references to its use in this context by St Basil, as well as by St Benedict's contemporary, St Cassiodorus.

The ninth century commentator Amalarius of Metz suggests that its importance goes to the idea that sleep is like death:

Through this Psalm, the author of the Office advises us, in accordance with its words, that our mind should be intent on beseeching God amid all our dangers and difficulties;  and thus, because our sleep has some likeness to the sleep of those who have left this world under the Lord's protection, the same psalm also recalls the intention of those who are in difficulty and nevertheless pass from this difficulty to peace. (On the Liturgy, trans Eric Knibbs, vol 2, pg 379)

Psalm 90 and the Rule

St Benedict's decision to entrench it in his version of Compline though, surely also reflects the fact that it contains several key themes that run through the Rule.

First, it reflects the commitment to waging spiritual warfare, to enrolling in Christ's army, that opens the Rule.  In particular, verse 7, on standing firm in battle parallels the same numbered verse in the first psalm of the day in the Benedictine Office, Psalm 3

Secondly, the reference to God as our sustainer and upholder (susceptor) in verse 2 echoes the use of this key concept in the Suscipe verse of Psalm 118 used in the Benedictine profession ceremony.

And thirdly, it concludes with the hope that God will lengthen our days (verse 16).  While this can of course be interpreted as a reference to eternal life, it also reflects, it seems to me, a key theme of the Prologue to the Rule, namely the hope that God will give us enough time to repent and do good so that we can enter heaven with him.

I will try and draw out these themes further as we go through the psalm verse by verse.

The structure of the psalm

Before we do that though, it is worth getting a bit of an overview of the psalm, for it falls, St Cassiodorus tells us, into three parts:

In the first part David claims that every person of high fidelity is enclosed by divine protection. The second part hymns praise to the Lord Saviour. The third consists of words spoken by the Father to all faithful individuals, who as He knows hope in Him with the greatest devotion. He promises them protection in this world and rewards in the next.

Verses 1-7 all focus on the protection God provides to those who trust in him, and uses a variety of images to convey this: God as our protector and sustainer; the person who saves us from the snares of hunters; like a hen or eagle sheltering its young under its wings; and like a shield, protecting us from the arrows of the enemy.

From verse 9, the focus is more explicitly Christological, with allusions to Christ's temptation, conquest of death, and the  coming judgment.

The final three verses are put in the mouth of God.

St Robert Bellarmine comments that:

...this Psalm is, to a certain extent, dramatic, in the form of a dialogue, though the characters are not named, however; that the Prophet speaks at one time, the just man at another, and God at another time. The Prophet, then, having said to the just man, "God will overshadow thee with his shoulders," as the hen does her young; "will compass thee with a shield," as a general would his soldiers; "you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the day;" and hence many will fall on your right and left, but the danger will not come near you, but you will rather see your enemies conquered before your face—the just man, on hearing all this, turns to God, and says, "Because thou, O Lord, art my hope," I believe every word of it; it's all true, and that because you, O Lord, art my hope; I trust not in my own strength or arm, nor in the strength nor in the arms of my friends; but in thee alone, who art my whole and sole hope, and in whom alone I confide. 

The text and its uses


Psalm 90

Qui hábitat in adiutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
Dicet Dómino: Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis eius sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
Scuto circúmdabit te véritas eius: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
A sagítta volánte in die, † a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
Cadent a látere tuo mille, † et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum: † cum ipso sum in tribulatióne: * erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

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.

NT references	Mt 23:37, Lk 13:34 (4-5); Mt 18:10, 26:53, Mk 1:13, Lk 4:10-11 (vs11); Lk 10:19 (13); Jn 12:26 (15)
RB cursus	Compline
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc	Dedication of a church
Roman pre 1911	Compline
Roman post 1911	1911-62:Sunday Compline  . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Lent I: IN (1, 15, 16); GR (11-12); TR (1-7;11-16); OF (4-5); CO (4-5)

You can find the next part in this series here.