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| God the geometer, circa 1220-1230 Source: Wiki Commons |
Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo
in eum.
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He shall
say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I
trust.
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Verse 2 of Psalm 90 reminds us of a key
theme in Benedictine spirituality, namely our total dependence on God as the
sustainer of both our physical and spiritual life.
Understanding the Latin
Key vocabulary for the verse is:
dico, dixi, dictum, ere 3, to say, speak; to
sing; in the sense of to think, plan,
desire; to praise.
susceptor, oris, m. upholder, sustainer, a
protector, helper, defender, guardian; a stay, support
refugium, ii, n. a refuge, a place of refuge;
fortress, high tower, dwelling place, hiding place, etc.
spero, avi, atum, are , to hope or trust
in
A possible word by word translation is therefore:
Dicet (he will say) Dómino (to the Lord): suscéptor (upholder) meus (my) es (you are) tu (you), et (and) refúgium (refuge) meum (my): Deus (the God) meus (my) sperábo (I will hope) in (in) eum (him).
It is worth noting that in this verse
the Hebrew Masoretic Text reverts back to the more familiar names (and
trusting, less mysterious) of God, Yahweh, and Elohim.
God our sustainer and upholder
In verse 2, the psalm uses the word
susceptor, or person who lifts up and protects to refer to God. This is
the root of the verb suscipe used in the profession ceremony (Psalm 118):
Ps
118:114 : Adjútor
et suscéptor meus es tu: *
et in verbum tuum supersperávi.
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You are my helper and my protector: and in your
word I have greatly hoped.
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116:
Súscipe me secúndum elóquium tuum, et vivam: * et non confúndas me ab
exspectatióne mea.
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Uphold me according to your word, and I shall
live: and let me not be confounded in my expectation.
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St Benedict deploys psalms with verses
using this word at both the start of each day, in Psalm 3:
Psalm
3:4: Tu autem, Dómine, suscéptor
meus es, glória mea, et exáltans caput meum.
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But thou, O Lord art my protector, my glory, and
the lifter up of my head.
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as well as again here at
the end of each day:
Psalm
90:2 :
Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: *
Deus meus sperábo in eum.
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He shall say to the Lord: You are my upholder,
and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
|
The Latin meaning of susceptor (and the
associated verb suscipere) is complex, and can imply both a giving and receiving. In the context of Psalm 3, for example, St
Augustine interprets it as a reference to Christ taking human flesh; elsewhere
he suggests it was used in relation to a lawyer defending a client in court, and
in relation to the Roman ceremony for the adoption of a child. While the primary meaning here would seem to
be defender or protector, it can also be interpreted as a reference to God’s
ongoing work of sustaining our very existence.
Unfortunately, though, both twentieth
century attempts at new versions of the Latin, the Pian and the neo-Vulgate,
replaced the word, losing these connections:
2
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VULGATE
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Dicet dómino: suscéptor meus
es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.
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Neo Vulgate
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Dicet Domino: “Refugium meum
et fortitudo mea,
Deus meus, sperabo in eum ”.
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Pian
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Dic Domino: Refugium meum
et arx mea,
Deus meus, in quo confido.
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Jerome from the Hebrew
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Dicens Domino, Spes mea
et fortitudo mea,
Deus meus, confidam in eo.
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(Septuagint
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ἐρεῖ τῷ κυρίῳ ἀντιλήμπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου
ὁ θεός μου ἐλπιῶ ἐ{P'} αὐτόν)
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God's help: past, present and future
This verse develops just what the
protection of God alluded to in the first verse of the psalm mean in
practice. St Robert Bellarmine's commentary describes this verse as
setting out the three favours God grants to his faithful.
The first is that as the sustainer of our lives, God helps and guides us through the gift of grace, including giving us, as St Benedict suggests in the Prologue to the Rule, time to repent of our mortal sins and thus avoid hell. Bellarmine summarises it thus:
The first favor is that unspeakable mercy of God, through which he supports man after falling into mortal sin, and rushing headlong to hell...
Secondly, God provides a refuge for
us. Here I think we need to consider those helps that keep us going
from day to day: the Mass, the Office, moments when we can appreciate beauty in
nature, or truth. Bellarmine commented:
The second favor is one of the present time, and is contained in the expression, "and my refuge." For, when God protects anyone through the grace of justification, he does not, at once, take him up to heaven, but he places him in the line of his soldiers, who are fighting here below, but if he trust in the Lord, he will prove "a refuge" to him in every temptation and difficulty, and a most safe and secure refuge, as the Hebrew word for refuge implies.
The third 'favour' though, and the most
important, is that the verse reminds us that we have the hope of heaven, where
we will dwell forever with God. As Bellarmine puts it:
The third favor is a future one, and the greatest of all, and is contained in the words, "my God," for God is the supreme good, and God is always God in himself, and, therefore, the supreme good; and he will be peculiarly so "when we shall see him as he is," for then we shall enjoy the supreme good.
What do we have to do to attain this
protection? The answer is to tell God firmly and clearly, in words and
deed, of our total trust in his providence.
Psalm 90: Qui habitat
Vulgate
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Douay-Rheims
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Laus cantici David.
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The praise of a canticle for David
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Qui hábitat
in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.
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He that dwells in the aid of the
most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
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2 Dicet
Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.
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He shall say to the Lord: You are
my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
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3 Quóniam
ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.
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For he has delivered me from the
snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
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4 Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus
sperábis.
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He will overshadow you with his
shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
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5 Scuto
circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.
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His truth shall compass you with a
shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
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6 A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in
ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.
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Of the arrow that flies in the
day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the
noonday devil.
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7 Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris
tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.
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A thousand shall fall at your
side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
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8
Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.
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But you shall consider with your
eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
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9 Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum
posuísti refúgium tuum.
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Because you, O Lord, are my hope:
you have made the most High your refuge.
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10 Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non
appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.
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There shall no evil come to you:
nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
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11
Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.
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For he has given his angels charge
over you; to keep you in all your ways.
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12 In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad
lápidem pedem tuum.
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In their hands they shall bear you
up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
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13 Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et
conculcábis leónem et dracónem.
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You shall walk upon the asp and
the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
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14 Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum
quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.
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Because he hoped in me I will
deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
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15 Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso
sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.
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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.
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16 Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi
salutáre meum.
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I will fill him with length of
days; and I will show him my salvation.
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You can find the next part in this series here.
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