Friday, April 12, 2019

Psalm 30 v1: Free us from our sin



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.


Aids to understanding the Latin

The key vocabulary for the verse is: 

spero, avi, atum, are, to hope or trust in
confundo, fudi, fusum, ere 3, to put or bring to shame, to discomfit, confounded
aeternus, a, um eternal. forever
iustitia, ae, f justice, righteousness, innocence, piety, moral integrity
libero, avi, atum, are  to free, set free, deliver

A selection of translations follows:

DR
In you, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded:
deliver me in your justice.
Brenton
O Lord, I have hoped in thee; let me never be ashamed:
deliver me in thy righteousness and rescue me.
Collegeville
In you Lord I have hoped; never shall I be put to shame:
in your justice set me free.
RSV
In thee, O LORD, do I seek refuge; let me never be put to shame;
in thy righteousness deliver me!
Cover
In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust let me never be put to confusion,
deliver me in thy righteousness.
Knox
To thee, O Lord, I look for refuge, never let me be ashamed of my trust;
in thy faithful care, deliver me.
Grail
In you, O Lord, I take refuge. Let me never be put to shame.
In your justice, set me free,

David, Christ and us

St Robert Bellarmine puts the opening verse of Psalm 30 in its original historical context:

King David, in his flight from Absalom, destitute of all earthly assistance, appeals to God, and says, “In thee have I hoped,” and I am therefore confident, as you are all powerful, and most true to me, that you will not disappoint me in my hope.
St Cassiodorus, however, saw David as a type of Christ:
Christ begs the Father, in accordance with the human nature which He as­sumed, that He may not be disappointed in His hope, and suffer the revilings of men's scorn.
It can obviously be applied to our own situation though, as Theodore of Cyr pointed out:
…sin covered me in deep shame, he is saying, but I pray this may not long remain with me owing to my confidence placed in you. In your righteousness rescue me and snatch me away. Do not fix your eyes on my sin, he is saying, but on the lawlessness of my pursuers: by applying this righteous verdict you will free me from the calamities besetting me.

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 the next post in this series can be found here.

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