Psalm 30 v 5 - The enemy tries to entrap us

Verse 5 of Psalm 30 echoes Psalm 90's verse on the snares of the hunter.

Edúces me de láqueo hoc, quem abscondérunt mihi: quóniam tu es protéctor meus.

You will bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: for you are my protector.

The key vocabulary for today's verse is:

educo, duxi, ductum, ere 3,  to lead out or forth.

laqueus, ei, m., a noose for capturing animals; a snare, trap

abscondo, condi, conditum, ere 3, to hide, conceal; to lay up, to treasure, guard jealously

protector, oris, m. a protector, defender; a shield, buckler; a stronghold, fortress; a refuge, deliverer, etc

The snare's laid for Christ

St Cassiodorus provided a Christological interpretation for this verse:

The snare was indeed hidden by the enemy, but it was not to be hidden from Christ, for He did not fall into death by deception but knowingly undertook it to free us. So the Jews hid the snare for Christ because they thought that He was only a man, and they plotted to destroy him by secret ambush. So He says that He is to be brought out of it, in other words, swiftly raised to the realms of heaven by the kindly gift of the resurrection. But He says that all the Jews' plans are to be foiled, for if the Lord offers protection, no opposition can prevail.

The image of the enemy laying traps for us though, and God's assistance to us in avoiding them, runs through many of the psalms, and so the verse serves as a salutary reminder that the ways of the world are not ours.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David, pro extasi	Unto the end, a psalm for David, in an ecstasy
1 In te, Dómine, sperávi non confúndar in ætérnum: * in justítia tua líbera me.	In you, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in your justice.
2  Inclína ad me aurem tuam, * accélera ut éruas me.	3 Bow down your ear to me: make haste to deliver me.
3  Esto mihi in Deum protectórem, et in domum   refúgii: * ut salvum me fácias.	Be unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.
4  Quóniam fortitúdo mea, et refúgium meum es   tu: * et propter nomen tuum dedúces me, et enútries me.	4 For you are my strength and my refuge; and for your name's sake you will lead me, and nourish me.
5  Edúces me de láqueo hoc, quem abscondérunt mihi: * quóniam tu es protéctor meus.	5 You will bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: for you are my protector.
6  In manus tuas comméndo spíritum meum: * redemísti me, Dómine, Deus veritátis.	6 Into your hands I commend my spirit: you have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

And you can find the last part in this series here.