Ps 140 v4: For the heart of the Church

Verse 4 of Psalm 140 asks that even if we fail to guard our tongue properly, we might acknowledge our sin rather than trying to find excuses for them.

 Looking at the Latin 

First, a selection of Latin (and Greek) translations, starting with the Vulgate: 

4	V	Non declínes cor meum in verba malítiæ: * ad excusándas excusatiónes in peccátis.
	OR	ut non declines cor meum in verbum malum ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis
	NV	Non declines cor meum in verbum malitiae ad machinandas machinationes in impietate
	JH	Ne declines cor meum in uerbum malum, voluere cogitationes impias
	Sept	μὴ ἐκκλίνῃςτὴν καρδίαν μου εἰς λόγους πονηρίας τοῦ προφασίζεσθαιπροφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις σὺν

[Key: V=Vulgate; OR=Old Roman; NV=Neo-Vulgate; JH=St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint]

Phrase by phrase (Vulgate v Douay Rheims)

Non declínes cor meum in verba malítiæ: ad excusándas excusatiónes in peccátis.

Incline not my heart to evil words to make excuses in sins.

 Word by word 

Non (not) declínes cor (heart) meum (mine) in verba (words) malítiæ: * ad excusándas (to the excusing) excusatiónes (excuses) in (in) peccátis (of sins). 

Key vocabulary

declino, avi, atum, are,  to bend from the straight path, to turn aside or away, depart from, go astray
cor, cordis, n., the heart, regarded as the seat of the faculties, feelings, emotions, passions; the mind, the soul
malitia, ae, f, evil, malice, wickedness
verbum, i, n.,word, command, edict, also a promise; saying, speech; Law, the Eternal Son
excusatio, onis f an excuse
excuso are avi atum to excuse
peccatum, i, n., sin, failure, error , perversion, going astray

Selected English translations: 

DR	Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins.
Brenton	Incline not my heart to evil things, to employ pretexts for sins,
MD	Let not my heart incline to evil words, to make excuses for my sins.
RSV	Incline not my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked
Cover	O let not mine heart be inclined to any evil thing;
Knox	do not turn my heart towards thoughts of evil, and deeds of treachery;
Grail	Do not turn my heart to things that are wrong, to evil deeds with men who are sinners.

 [Key: DR=Douay-Rheims Challoner; MD=Monastic Diurnal; RSV=Revised Standard Version; Cover=Coverdale]

Heart and mind

St John Chrysostom posed an interesting question in relation to this verse, namely why does the reference to protecting the heart (or as we would say mind) come after the request for control over what we say in the previous verse, rather than before it?

The answer, he suggests, is akin to the approach of a prison: first make sure that the doors to the prison are secure, then worry about subduing the impulses to evil within.

In essence, our aim must be to achieve that circumcision of heart, which Origen argued means guarding "..the pure faith of sincerity of conscience, about whom it can be said, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God'".

Thoughts and words

The first petition in this verse is to protect our mind so that our thoughts do not deviate onto the wrong path.  As Theodoret puts it: 

He begs that not only his tongue be guarded but also the very movements of the mind lest any other thought beyond the divine laws be found in them.

But it goes on to ask for help in confessing when we have failed, whether in words or deeds, so that we acknowledge our sins rather than coming up with excuses for them.

St Jerome commented:

0 unhappy race of men! We seek excuse for sin by saying, 'Nature got the better of me,' and all the while it has been in our power to sin or not to sin. We are always justifying ourselves and saying: I did not want to sin, but lust overwhelmed me; that woman came to me; she herself made the advances; she touched me; she said this or that to me, she called me; and while we ought to be doing penance and crying, 'Lord, I have sinned,' we excuse ourselves instead, and yoke sin to sin. 

St Robert Bellarmine adds:

...such is human frailty, that even the “just man falls seven times,” and “we all offend in many things;” that God may give us the grace to make a free confession of our sins, for fear, by representing ourselves in a state of perfect health, we may prevent our heavenly physician from curing us. “Incline not my heart to evil words.” Do not allow us, when we shall have fallen into sin, to let our heart incline” to lies and excuses. “To make excuses in sins;” instead of acknowledging our guilt, to excuse ourselves in all possible forms.“

Several of the commentaries provide helpful examples of what to do and what not to do when we have sinned, drawn from Scripture.  St John Chrysostom for example, points to Adam and Eve and King David amongst others:

Adam should have confessed his mistakes, but he transferred responsibility to the other person, and she in tum to the devil. They should have said, "We sinned, we broke the law," whereas not only did they not confess but they even concocted an excuse...Observe David offering no excuses when he sinned, but saying, "I have sinned against the Lord." Actually, he could have said, Why did the woman expose herself, after all? I mean, why did she bathe before my eyes? But he knew this excuse was baseless; hence he proceeded to the clear admission in saying, "I have sinned." 

It is our thoughts that drive sin

The point is that excuses are a barrier to reform: instead of experiencing shame, we will continue to commit the same sins over and over again, even at the cost of our salvation, and God's anger, as St John Chrysostom explained:

The devil, in fact, knowing that confession of sin is absolution of sin, persuades the soul to lose all shame. You for your part, on the contrary, dearly beloved, when you sin, say, I have sinned: nothing is more righteous than this admission. In this way you make God propitious; in this way you also make yourself less likely to fall victim to the same sins. But when you are anxious to look for excuses that do not exist, and to rid your soul of fear, you make it more inclined to be addicted to the same sins again and irk God further. No sinner is short of a shameful excuse, after all: the murderer has anger to blame, the robber indigence, the adulterer lust, another influence of saying that, he beat about the bush in search of baseless excuses, offering no commendable defence; not they but the sinners' attitudes are the cause of sin.

 The heart of the Church

It is also important to keep in mind that there is a collective force to all of this.

God made both the new and old covenants on the basis of a people, not just one individual, and offers his grace to all of us through that body of people, the Church, not just to each of individually, most especially through the sacraments, above all in this case, that of confession.

But St Augustine suggested that the verse can also be read as a prayer by Christ for his body the Church more generally, asking that it not be turned to wicked words.  In times such as ours, such prayer is needed more urgently than ever!

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David.	A psalm of David.
1 Dómine, clamávi ad te, exáudi me: * inténde voci meæ, cum clamávero ad te.	I have cried to you, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice, when I cry to you.
2  Dirigátur orátio mea sicut incénsum in conspéctu tuo: * elevátio mánuum meárum sacrifícium vespertínum.	2 Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice.
3  Pone, Dómine, custódiam ori meo: * et óstium circumstántiæ lábiis meis.	Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips.
4  Non declínes cor meum in verba malítiæ: * ad excusándas excusatiónes in peccátis.	4 Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins.
5  Cum homínibus operántibus iniquitátem: * et non communicábo cum eléctis eórum	With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them
6  Corrípiet me justus in misericórdia, et increpábit me: * óleum autem peccatóris non impínguet caput meum.	5 The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head.
7  Quóniam adhuc et orátio mea in beneplácitis eórum: * absórpti sunt juncti petræ júdices eórum.	For my prayer shall still be against the things with which they are well pleased: 6 Their judges falling upon the rock have been swallowed up.
8  Audient verba mea quóniam potuérunt: * sicut crassitúdo terræ erúpta est super terram.	They shall hear my words, for they have prevailed: 7 As when the thickness of the earth is broken up upon the ground:
9  Dissipáta sunt ossa nostra secus inférnum: * quia ad te, Dómine, Dómine, óculi mei: in te sperávi, non áuferas ánimam meam.	Our bones are scattered by the side of hell. 8 But to you, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in you have I put my trust, take not away my soul.
10  Custódi me a láqueo, quem statuérunt mihi: * et a scándalis operántium iniquitátem.	9 Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.
11  Cadent in retiáculo ejus peccatóres: * singuláriter sum ego donec tránseam.	10 The wicked shall fall in his net: I am alone until I pass.

You can notes on verse 5 of Psalm 140 here.