Psalm 90 v16 pt 2: St Benedict's take - Extend our lives O Lord?

Hezekiah's sundial

Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: et osténdam illi salutáre meum.

I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

In the last post I discussed the interpretations of the last verse of Psalm 90 offered by the Fathers and Theologians that centre around the Christological interpretation of the verse, as well as its promise of eternal life to us.  

In this post I want to continue with some speculation on St Benedict's particular take on the verse.

A long temporal life?

Not all interpreters of this verse see it as referring only to eternal life; instead, some see if as a  promise of a long life here and now.  

St Alphonsus Liguori, for example, argued that of the eight promises set out in these last three verses of the psalm, four of them relate to this work, and four to the next:

I will give him a long life, and will make him enjoy the health and salvation that I shall bestow upon him in this life, and eternal salvation which I reserve for him in the next… that is: I will draw him from this world of tribulation, and I will raise him to the abode of glory; there his life will have no longer an end, and he will enjoy a happiness that I enjoy myself.

How long though, is long enough in this world?

Extend our lives so that we can amend our evil ways

St Benedict's commentary in the Prologue to the Rule suggests that we must hope and pray that God 

'lengthens the days of our life' to give us enough time ‘to amend our evil ways’ and ‘to make our life correspond with God’s holy admonitions’.

There is an interesting possible connection to this theme in the psalm made by Theodore of Cyrus.

King Hezekiah, who, when told he was dying, begged for his life to be extended, and was granted an additional fifteen years of life.

Theodore's commentary on the psalm notes that:

Blessed Hezekiah also enjoyed these benefits, asking for an extended life, he received a span of fifteen years…

The Gradual psalms and the canticle of Hezekiah

Fifteen is of course, a significant number, associated with both the number of steps between the inner and outer courtyards of the Temple, symbolizing the ascent to heaven, and with the Gradual Psalms that were recited as the pilgrims ascended them on great feasts.  

In order to remind us of the need to make our own ascent through humility, St Benedict assigned the first nine of the Gradual psalms to be said at Terce to None most days.  

But it is particularly symbolic that St Benedict assigns all of the Gradual Psalms (bar one) to Tuesdays, the day on which the Canticle of Hezekiah (in which Hezekiah begs for God to save him from death) is traditionally said at Lauds.

We too, it seems to me, are being invited, as the canticle pleads, to ask God to correct us, and thus enable us to live (corrípies me et vivificábis me).

In the Rule, St Benedict makes repeated references to the need for us to continually strive to do good works, to grow in humility and virtue, so that our hearts are enlarged with charity and we can deserve to be partakers in his kingdom.

And our entry into that kingdom is foreshadowed in the fifteenth and last Gradual Psalm (Ps 133) which is recited immediately after this final verse of Psalm 90 each day at Compline in the Benedictine Office.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório 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.
2  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.
3 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.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  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.
7  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.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
Hezekiah's sundial 9  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.
10  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.
11  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.
12  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.
13  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.
14  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.
15  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.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

And that brings to an end this series on Psalm 90 - please do pass on any reactions, comments or suggestions in the comm box or by emailing me.

Next week, I plan to take a look at one of the repeated psalms of the (pre-1911) Roman Office, Psalm 53, which also features heavily in Tenebrae of Holy Week.