Psalm 113: Verses 26-27

The final two verses of Psalm 113 are:

Non mórtui laudábunt te, Dómine: * neque omnes, qui descéndunt in inférnum.
Sed nos qui vívimus, benedícimus Dómino, * ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.

or

The dead shall not praise you, O Lord: nor any of them that go down to hell. 
But we that live bless the Lord: from this time now and for ever.

Lectio

Non (not) mórtui (the dead) laudábunt (they will/shall praise) te (you), Dómine (O Lord)

mortuus, a, um, part. adj. Subst., a dead man, pi., the dead

neque (neither) omnes (all/any), qui (who) descéndunt (they go down) in (into) inférnum (hell/hades)

infernus, i, m. Sheol; the nether world, the underworld, the grave, the kingdom of the dead, hell  

sed (but) nos (we) qui (who) vivimus (we live) 

vivo, vixi, victum, ere 3  to live, to have life, be alive,

benedicimus (we bless) Domino (the Lord) ex hoc nunc (from now) et usque (and henceforward) in sæculum (forever)

Studio/meditatio

The psalm concludes with a reminder of the consequences of our choice to worship God and reject false idols.  Those who follow the false in this life will go to hell, eternally separated from God; those who live spiritually now, will live forever rejoicing.

Too often today we avoid confronting the reality of this choice, telling ourselves and others that 'all will be well', for all are saved.  Scripture reminds us otherwise, and should impel us to pray for God's help and protection, especially in times of need.

Psalm 113

Psalm 113 (114-115) – In exitu Israel

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Alleluja.	Alleluia
1  In éxitu Israël de Ægýpto, * domus Jacob de pópulo bárbaro:	When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people:
2  Facta est Judæa sanctificátio ejus, * Israël potéstas ejus.	2 Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
3  Mare vidit, et fugit: * Jordánis convérsus est retrórsum.	3 The sea saw and fled: Jordan was turned back.
4  Montes exsultavérunt ut aríetes, * et colles sicut agni óvium.	4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock.
5  Quid est tibi, mare, quod fugísti: * et tu, Jordánis, quia convérsus es retrórsum?	5 What ailed you, O you sea, that you fled: and you, O Jordan, that you were turned back?
6  Montes, exsultástis sicut aríetes, * et colles, sicut agni óvium.	6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams, and you hills, like lambs of the flock?
7  A fácie Dómini mota est terra, * a fácie Dei Jacob.	7 At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob:
8  Qui convértit petram in stagna aquárum, * et rupem in fontes aquárum.	8 Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the stony hill into fountains of waters.

9  Non nobis, Dómine, non nobis: * sed nómini tuo da glóriam.	9 Not to us, O Lord, not to us; but to your name give glory.
10  Super misericórdia tua, et veritáte tua: * nequándo dicant gentes: Ubi est Deus eórum?	10 For your mercy, and for your truth's sake: lest the Gentiles should say: Where is their God?
11  Deus autem noster in cælo: * ómnia quæcúmque vóluit, fecit.	11 But our God is in heaven: he has done all things whatsoever he would.
12  Simulácra géntium argéntum, et aurum, * ópera mánuum hóminum.	12 The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men.
13  Os habent, et non loquéntur: * óculos habent, et non vidébunt.	14 They have ears and hear not: they have noses and smell not.
14  Aures habent, et non áudient: * nares habent, et non odorábunt.	14 They have ears and hear not: they have noses and smell not.
15  Manus habent, et non palpábunt: pedes habent, et non ambulábunt: * non clamábunt in gútture suo.	15 They have hands and feel not: they have feet and walk not: neither shall they cry out through their throat.
16  Símiles illis fiant qui fáciunt ea: * et omnes qui confídunt in eis.	16 Let them that make them become like unto them: and all such as trust in them.
17  Domus Israël sperávit in Dómino: * adjútor eórum et protéctor eórum est,	17 The house of Israel has hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.
18  Domus Aaron sperávit in Dómino: * adjútor eórum et protéctor eórum est,	18 The house of Aaron has hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.
19  Qui timent Dóminum, speravérunt in Dómino: * adjútor eórum et protéctor eórum est.	19 They that fear the Lord have hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.
20  Dóminus memor fuit nostri: * et benedíxit nobis:	20 The Lord has been mindful of us, and has blessed us.
21  Benedíxit dómui Israël: * benedíxit dómui Aaron.	He has blessed the house of Israel: he has blessed the house of Aaron.
22  Benedíxit ómnibus, qui timent Dóminum, * pusíllis cum majóribus.	21 He has blessed all that fear the Lord, both little and great.
23  Adjíciat Dóminus super vos: * super vos, et super fílios vestros.	22 May the Lord add blessings upon you: upon you, and upon your children.
24  Benedícti vos a Dómino, * qui fecit cælum, et terram.	23 Blessed be you of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
25  Cælum cæli Dómino: * terram autem dedit fíliis hóminum.	24 The heaven of heaven is the Lord's: but the earth he has given to the children of men
26  Non mórtui laudábunt te, Dómine: * neque omnes, qui descéndunt in inférnum.	25 The dead shall not praise you, O Lord: nor any of them that go down to hell.
27  Sed nos qui vívimus, benedícimus Dómino, * ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.	26 But we that live bless the Lord: from this time now and for ever.

And on that note, I hope you have found this series of notes on Psalm 113 of use.  You can find notes on the next psalm of Monday Vespers in the Benedictine Office, Psalm 114, here.

Monday at Vespers

I want to move next, to the psalms of Vespers of  Monday in the Benedictine Office.

First though, in this post I want to make a few general points about Monday Vespers.

In the next post, I'll start taking a look at Psalm 113.

The structure of Monday at Vespers

Normally, the Benedictine Office has four psalms at Vespers.

Monday, however, is the exception, with five (or even six depending on which version of the bible you use), namely Psalms 113 (114-115 in the Neo-Vulgate), 114 (116), 115 (117), 116 (118) and 128 (129).

While Psalm 116 is the shortest in the psalter, at two verses, and is said under the same Gloria as Psalm 115, that still adds up to some 63 verses to be said, making it the second longest day (after Wednesday) at Vespers.

There are, on the face of it, two curious features in the selection of psalms for this day that need to be explained, namely the move of Psalm 113 from its place on Sunday Vespers in the Roman Office to Monday in the Benedictine; and the jump in the numerical sequence to Psalm 128.

The puzzles of Psalm 113 and Psalm 128

In the older form of the Roman Office which St Benedict almost certainly used as his starting point, Psalm 113 closes Sunday Vespers.  St Benedict, however, shifted it to Monday.

There are, I think, two main reasons why he chose to do so.

First, it makes Sunday Vespers a lot shorter.   Given that the monks had to rise earlier on Sundays in order to say the much longer than usual Matins, perhaps St Benedict felt his monks deserved a break by this point!

He could though, have achieved this objective in other ways.  He could for example, have treated Psalm 116 (the shortest psalm in the psalter) as a separate psalm: instead he attaches it under the one Gloria, to Psalm 115.  Alternatively, he could have split Psalm 113 in two, and shifted the second half of it only to Monday - after all, he certainly didn't hesitate to split other psalms set for Vespers later in the week in order to spread the load more evenly.  That he didn't do so, helps support the view, I think, that there is actually a program underlying the structure of the Benedictine Office.

A similar point can be made about the inclusion of Psalm 128 in Monday Vespers.  In the Roman Office, the 'Gradual psalms', Psalms 119-133, are all said at Vespers save for the last, which is reserved for (Sunday) Compline.  Psalm 128 is said on Wednesday in the Roman arrangement.

But St Benedict shifts Psalms 119-127 to Terce, Sext and None on Tuesday (and repeated each day thereafter until Sunday), and sets Psalms 129-132 at Tuesday Vespers, so that the whole set bar Psalm 128 are said on that day.  Why place Psalm 128 on Monday then, why not keep it in the numerical sequence on Tuesday?

Monday: From the incarnation to the temptation in the desert

St Benedict's main reason for these shifts, I would argue, lie in their particular relevance to what I think is the key theme of the day, namely the life of Christ from the Incarnation to his baptism, and our response to it in our own baptism and monastic vows/oblation.

My view is that St Benedict has arranged the psalms in his psalter to follow the life of Christ, picking up from the themes of the ferial canticle set for the day.  And Monday, in this arrangement, takes as its text the largely hidden life of Christ, from the Incarnation to his baptism and temptation in the desert, or the period of his life on earth up until the commencement of his public mission.

Consider the summary of the theme of the canticle set for the day by the tenth century monastic commentator Hrabanus Maurus:

 “On Monday [feria secunda], truly the second day, the canticle of Isaiah, in which the coming of the Saviour and the sacrament of baptism is preached, is decreed to be said, because these are the beginning of our salvation.” Hrabanus Maurus, Commentary on the Canticles (PL  )

The psalms set for the day, I think, contain many allusions to the events of the Incarnation and baptism, and those things that prefigure these events in the Old Testament.  Psalm 113 is particularly important in this regard, with its opening words, "When Israel came out of Egypt" taking us directly to Christ's saving action: just as the Israelites were baptised through that crossing of the Red Sea, and of the Jordan, so too are we.

And the psalms of the day keep coming back to the key message of the day, namely the promise that through the Incarnation, the enemy will be confounded.  Psalm 6’s (set at Prime) conclusion, Erubéscant, et conturbéntur veheménter omnes inimíci mei : convertántur et erubéscant valde summarises this  perfectly. Variants on this phrase echo throughout the day, starting from Matins.  And Psalm 128's ‘confundántur et convertántur retrórsum omnes, qui odérunt Sion’ gives us one last reminder of the theme.

The nature of liturgy

St Benedict could, of course, have reordered all of the psalms of each day so as to provide a straightforward linear program obvious to all.  But liturgy, it should be remembered, at least when it develops on a natural path, rarely operates a straightforward, linear narrative.  Rather, it stutters and stops, reminds, restarts and recapitulates and so gradually builds up the liturgical walls of the city within us.  

Consistent with this, St Benedict, I think, he makes more subtle approach, maintaining the traditional running cursus of psalms where possible, altering here and there to give his formulation a particular focus, going back to fill in a hole, or add an extra layer to the wall where it needs restoring.

As we say the day's psalms then, we should open ourselves to the mystery of the Incarnation, renew our commitment afresh to our baptismal vows in Psalm 113, rejecting all false gods; give thanks again for the grace that rescues us from the assaults of the enemy, in Psalm 114; recall again our oblation and other promises regarding fidelity to our state of life in Psalm 115; and remember that ultimately, Christ's victory will prevail, in Psalm 128.

Finally, just a reminder that you can listen to Monday Vespers being sung by going to the sites for the monasteries of Le Barroux or Norcia.

Psalm 114/6: On God's mercy

Continuing our look at Psalm 114 (116), here is today’s verse:

O Dómine, líbera ánimam meam: miséricors Dóminus, et justus, et Deus noster miserétur.
O Lord, deliver my soul. The Lord is merciful and just, and our God shows mercy.

Today’s verse, St Robert Bellarmine suggests, is a call to repentance:

To show what good hope he had in God, he assigns a reason for having had such hope, because "The Lord is merciful and just, and our God showeth mercy;" the Lord is merciful, because he goes before sinners, and inspires them with the idea of penance and prayer, "For he first loved us," as the apostle says. He is also just, for he lets no one go unchastised, as St. Paul says, "He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth," and he pardons those who do not pardon themselves, and not only forgives their sins, but makes them his heirs.

Phrase by phrase:

O Dómine = O Lord

líbera ánimam meam = free/deliver (imperative) my soul

miséricors Dóminus et justus =the Lord is merciful and just

et Deus noster miserétur = and our God has pity (note the deponent)

The Revised Standard Version translates the verse as "O LORD, I beseech thee, save my life!" Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.

Key vocab:

libero, avi, atum, are to free, set free, deliver
misericors, cordis merciful, abounding in mercy.
justus, a, um just
misereor, sertus sum, eri 2 to pity, have mercy on.

God’s mercy

The concept of God’s mercy dealt with by this verse is a rich one. St Basil the Great comments:

“Everywhere Scripture joins justice with the mercy of God, teaching us, that neither the mercy of God is without judgment nor His judgment without mercy. Even while He pities, He measures out His mercies judiciously to the worthy; and while judging, He brings forth the judgment, having regard to our weakness, repaying us with kindness rather than with equal reciprocal measurement…Mercy is an emotion experienced toward those who have been reduced beyond their desert, and which arises in those sympathetically disposed. We pity the man who has fallen from great riches into the uttermost poverty, him who has been overthrown from the peak of vigor of body to extreme weakness, him who gloried in the beauty and grace of body and who has been destroyed by most shameful passions. Though we at one time were held in glory, living in paradise, yet, we have become inglorious and humble because of our banishment; 'our God showeth mercy’ seeing what sort of men we have become from what we were. For this reason He summoned Adam with a voice of mercy, saying: 'Adam, where are you?' He who knows all things was not seeking to be informed, but He wished to perceive what sort he had become from what he had been. 'Where are you?' instead of 'to what sort of a ruin have you descended from so great a height?'

Psalm 114

Diléxi, quóniam exáudiet dóminus vocem oratiónis meæ.
Quia inclinávit aurem suam mihi: et in diébus meis invocábo.
Circumdedérunt me dolóres mortis: et perícula inférni invenérunt me.
Tribulatiónem et dolórem invéni: et nomen Dómini invocávi.
O Dómine, líbera ánimam meam: miséricors Dóminus, et justus, et Deus noster miserétur.
Custódiens párvulos Dóminus: humiliátus sum, et liberávit me.
Convértere, ánima mea, in réquiem tuam: quia Dóminus benefécit tibi.
Quia erípuit ánimam meam de morte: óculos meos a lácrimis, pedes meos a lapsu.
Placébo Dómino in regióne vivórum.

You can find notes on the next verse here.

Psalms verse by verse - Psalm 114/4 - The pains of death

Today at look at verse 3 of Psalm 114 (116), which tells us that the speaker is in peril of his life, suffering from the pain of dying.

Here are the verses we have looked at so far, plus today’s:

1. Diléxi, quóniam exáudiet Dóminus vocem oratiónis meæ.
I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer.

2. Quia inclinávit aurem suam mihi: et in diébus meis invocábo.
Because he has inclined his ear unto me: and in my days I will call upon him.

3. Circumdedérunt me dolóres mortis: et perícula inférni invenérunt me.
The sorrows of death have compassed me: and the perils of hell have found me

The sentiments are very similar to those of Psalm 17:5-7, which says:

The sorrows of death surrounded me: and the torrents of iniquity troubled me.
The sorrows of hell encompassed me: and the snares of death prevented me
In my affliction I called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God

Phrase by phrase

First a look at the Latin:

circumdedérunt me = They have surround/compass me

dolóres mortis = the pains/sorrows of death

The neo-Vulgate changes this to 'the cords of death’ (funes mortis), giving the image of someone being pulled down to hell.

et perícula inférni = the perils/dangers of hell

Again the neo-Vulgate makes a change here, from pericula (dangers or perils) to angustia (want, scarcity or distress).

invenérunt me = they have found me/seized upon me/overtaken me

In other words, ‘The sorrows of death have surrounded me: and the dangers of hell have found me’. Perhaps the most vivid translation of this verse remains that of Coverdale:

“The snares of death compassed me round about, and the pains of hell got hold upon me.”

Here are the key words used in the verse:

circumdo, dedi, datum, are, to surround, beset, encompass with a hostile intent; to gather round
dolor, oris, m. , pain whether of body or of mind, grief, sorrow, affliction. Sin
mors, mortis, f., death
periculum, i, n., peril, danger.
infernus, i, m. hell, the nether world, the underworld, the grave, the kingdom of the dead,
invenio, veni, ventum, ire, to find

Death is not easy!

These days, many people feel that the best kind of death happens suddenly, quietly in our sleep. Indeed, we do our best to avoid pain of any kind, if necessary drugging someone to death to avoid the realities of death. This verse, though, does not shirk from seeing some nobility in suffering, as St Basil the Great points out:

“…the name of these pains to those which besiege the animal in the division of soul and body at death. He says that he has suffered nothing moderately, but that he has been tried even to the sorrows of death and has arrived at the peril of the descent into hell. Now, did he endure only these things for which he is exalted, or did he endure these things frequently and unwillingly? Nothing that is forced is praiseworthy. But, look at the nobility of nature of the athlete. When 'the sorrows of death compassed me, and the perils of hell found me’ I was so far from succumbing to these trials that I willingly proposed to myself even much greater trials than these.”

The dangers of death though, are not just physical but even more importantly, spiritual as St Robert Bellarmine argues:

“He now tells us on what his prayers turned; on the dangers and temptations in regard of his eternal salvation, the only subject worth the notice of a soul that truly loves God…When he says, then "The sorrows of death have compassed me," he means, I am tormented with such dreadful temptations that I am compelled to cry out with the apostle, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He explains it more fully, when he adds, "The perils of hell have found me," for it is through fear of that peril the greatest of all perils, that those near death conceive the greatest fear and alarm. In the Hebrew the expression is, "The narrow ways of hell," giving us the idea of one walking on the edge of a precipice, in danger every moment of falling, and of being dashed to pieces, unless they tread with the greatest care and caution; and such is the way of salvation, difficult and narrow, so that they who walk without extreme caution run every risk of being precipitated into hell.”

Psalm 114

Diléxi, quóniam exáudiet dóminus vocem oratiónis meæ.
Quia inclinávit aurem suam mihi: et in diébus meis invocábo.
Circumdedérunt me dolóres mortis: et perícula inférni invenérunt me.
Tribulatiónem et dolórem invéni: et nomen Dómini invocávi.
O Dómine, líbera ánimam meam: miséricors Dóminus, et justus, et Deus noster miserétur.
Custódiens párvulos Dóminus: humiliátus sum, et liberávit me.
Convértere, ánima mea, in réquiem tuam: quia Dóminus benefécit tibi.
Quia erípuit ánimam meam de morte: óculos meos a lácrimis, pedes meos a lapsu.
Placébo Dómino in regióne vivórum.

This mini-series on Psalm 114 continues here.

Psalm 114/3: God hears our prayers

Folio 66v, Belles Heures of Jean de France
Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org)

Today’s verse of Psalm 114 (116) features one of those delightful anthropomorphisms, with the psalmist giving us an image of God as an old man, bending towards us in order to hear what we are saying:

Quia inclinávit aurem suam mihi: et in diébus meis invocábo.
Because he has inclined his ear unto me: and in my days I will call upon him.

St Basil the Great points out that this is an image for our benefit, not to be taken too literally:

“He inclined, he said, not that you might take some corporeal notion about God having ears and inclining them to a gentle voice, as we do, putting our ear close to those who speak low, so that by the nearness we may perceive what is said, but he said, 'He inclined’ in order that he might point out to us his own weakness. Because through kindness He came down to me while I was lying on the ground, as if, when some sick man is not able to speak clearly because of his great weakness, a kind physician, bringing his ear close, should learn through the nearness what was necessary for the sick man. Therefore, 'He hath inclined his ear unto me’. The divine ear, indeed, does not need a voice for perception; it knows how to recognize in the movements of the heart what is sought.”

Phrase by phrase

Quia inclinávit =for he has inclined/bent

quia, conj. for, because, that. truly, surely, indeed;
inclino, avi, atum, are, to bend, incline

aurem suam mihi = his ear to me

auris, is, /. the ear.
suus a um his
me, me, myself

That is to say, ‘For he listened to/heard me’.

et in diébus meis =and in my days [= while I live, or as long as I live]

dies, ei, m. and /.; fem. a day, the natural day

invocábo = I will call [upon him]

invoco, avi, atum, are, to invoke, call upon (God);to put trust in

Keep praying…

The key message of this verse, St Basil argues, is that we must keep praying, every day of our lives:

“If we have prayed on one day, or if in one hour for a brief time we were saddened by our sins, we are carefree as if we had already made some compensation for our wickedness. However, the holy man says that he is disclosing his confession which is measured by the whole time of his life, for he says: 'In all my days I will call upon him.' Then, in order that you may not think that he called upon God because he was fortunate in this life and because all his affairs were successful, he describes in detail the magnitude and difficulty of the circumstances in which, when he was involved, he did not forget the name of God. “

It is St Augustine, though, who perhaps puts this instruction into the context of praying for the dead, reminding us that this life is only an intermediate stage, and we must keep our eyes fastened on the ultimate reality:

“…And what are your days, since you have said, In my days I have called upon Him? Are they those perchance, in which the fullness of time came, and God sent His Son, Galatians 4:4 who had already said, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you? Isaiah 49:8 ...I may rather call my days the days of my misery, the days of my mortality, the days according to Adam, full of toil and sweat, the days according to the ancient corruption….

Psalm 114

Diléxi, quóniam exáudiet dóminus vocem oratiónis meæ.
I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer.
Quia inclinávit aurem suam mihi: et in diébus meis invocábo.
Because he has inclined his ear unto me: and in my days I will call upon him.
Circumdedérunt me dolóres mortis: et perícula inférni invenérunt me.
Tribulatiónem et dolórem invéni: et nomen Dómini invocávi.
O Dómine, líbera ánimam meam: miséricors Dóminus, et justus, et Deus noster miserétur.
Custódiens párvulos Dóminus: humiliátus sum, et liberávit me.
Convértere, ánima mea, in réquiem tuam: quia Dóminus benefécit tibi.
Quia erípuit ánimam meam de morte: óculos meos a lácrimis, pedes meos a lapsu.
Placébo Dómino in regióne vivórum

Notes on the next verse of the the psalm can be found here.

Psalm 114/2 - I have loved

Jean Fouquet, 1452-60

Today, a look at the first verse of Psalm 114. The literal translation of this verse is very straightforward. Penetrating its true meaning, however, takes a little more work.

The verse is, in the Vulgate:

Diléxi, quóniam exáudiet Dóminus vocem oratiónis meæ.

The Douay-Rheims translates it as ‘I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer’.

So just who is it that the speaker has loved – does he mean God or someone or something else? And does the verse really mean to suggest that this love really dependent on God hearing - and favourably answering - his prayer?

Phrase by phrase

Diléxi = I have loved

Dilexi comes from the verb third conjugation verb, diligo, dilexi, dilectum, diligere 3 to love, to be pleased.

quóniam exáudiet Dóminus = because the Lord will hear

The key words here are:

quoniam, for, because, since, seeing that, whereas.
exaudio, ivi, itum, ire, to hear, hearken to, listen to, give heed to; to regard, answer.

The neo-Vulgate actually changes the tense of the verb here, to ‘you have heard’ (exaudit).

vocem oratiónis meæ = the voice of my prayer

vox, vocis, f., the voice of a person, or, the sound of an instrument, thunder
oratio, onis, f prayer, supplication

I have loved the Lord?

From the breakdown above it can be seen that the Douay-Rheims translates the Latin fairly literally, and in this case that reflects both the Greek and the Latin. The Coverdale translation for example (from the Hebrew) makes it: ‘I am well pleased that the Lord hath heard the voice of my prayer’, while Brenton’s translation from the Greek renders the verse: ‘I am well pleased, because the Lord will hearken to the voice of my supplication’.

A number of other translations, however, give the verse a rather different emphasis, for example :

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my supplications (RSV); and
I love the Lord because He hath heard the voice of my prayer (Collegeville, Monastic Diurnal).

In fact St Basil the Great’s sermon on the psalm suggests that in fact these are legitimate (if less than attentive to the actual text) interpretations.  He says:

“It is not in the power of everyone to say: 'I have loved,' but of him who is already perfect and beyond the fear of slavery, and who has been formed in the spirit of adoption as sons. He does not add to ‘have loved’ the word 'someone’ but we supply in thought 'the God of the universe’. For, that which is properly beloved is God, since they define 'beloved' as that at which all things aim. Now, God is a good, and the first and most perfect of good things. Therefore, I have loved God Himself who is the highest of objects to be desired, and I have received with joy sufferings for His sake.”

Similarly, St Robert Bellarmine comments that:

“His soul burning with desire for the Lord, absolutely says, "I have loved," and does not say whom, taking it for granted that all others are equally in love with one so deserving of love, and, therefore, that they know whom he means. In like manner, when Mary Magdalen, at the sepulchre, was asked, "Whom seekest thou?" she answered, "Sir, if thou hast taken him away, tell me," without saying for whom she was looking, or for whom she was weeping, supposing that everyone shared in her love as well as in her sorrow, and knew the object of both. And, in fact, when we all seek for happiness, which, without any sprinkling of evil, we can find in God alone, as St. John intimates, when he says, "God is light, and in him there is no darkness;" man should absolutely love God alone, and when they hear the expression, "I have loved," they ought to understand it as applying to the love of the supreme good alone.”

Because he heard my prayer?

The second part of the verse serves as a reminder of the basic dynamic of the Christian life: God’s love for us calls us to him, encouraging us to respond with our prayers; and in turn, he listens.

It is, first of all, a call for those who are far from God at the moment to return to him, as St Augustine argues:

“Let the soul that is sojourning in absence from the Lord sing thus, let that sheep which had strayed sing thus, let that son who had "died and returned to life," who had "been lost and was found;" let our soul sing thus, brethren, and most beloved sons. Let us be taught, and let us abide, and let us sing thus with the Saints: "I have loved: since the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer."

But it is the assurance that God is with us, is listening, and acting in our best interests (even if those interests might not be apparent to us at the moment) the Fathers argue, that can get us through the trials and tribulations of life. Cassiodorus, for example, comments:

“We know that the Lord's love comes to men under two heads. The first is when He is loved and praised even by the unfaithful for the benefits He has bestowed; as we read of the sinner in another psalm: He will praise thee when thou shall do well to him. The other is the most certain and perfect, when the mind of one devoted to Him is cast down by no adversity caused by the ills befalling him, but in his love of the Lord is ever fired in the course of his miseries by hope of what is to come. As Paul says: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Or distress? Or persecution? Or famine? Or nakedness? and the rest. So the prophet later explains the attitude of showing love in the midst of afflictions and hardships, because the tribulations and pains bestowed on him the merit of calling on the Lord. So David joyfully exults not in the breadth of his kingdom, and not in worldly happiness, which he knew would fade; but he rejoices that his prayer uttered in hardship has been heard by the most merciful Lord, and he realised that this was of enduring benefit to him….”

Psalm 114

Here is the complete psalm, with today’s verse highlighted:

Diléxi, quóniam exáudiet dóminus vocem oratiónis meæ.
I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer.
Quia inclinávit aurem suam mihi: et in diébus meis invocábo.
Circumdedérunt me dolóres mortis: et perícula inférni invenérunt me.
Tribulatiónem et dolórem invéni: et nomen Dómini invocávi.
O Dómine, líbera ánimam meam: miséricors Dóminus, et justus, et Deus noster miserétur.
Custódiens párvulos Dóminus: humiliátus sum, et liberávit me.
Convértere, ánima mea, in réquiem tuam: quia Dóminus benefécit tibi.
Quia erípuit ánimam meam de morte: óculos meos a lácrimis, pedes meos a lapsu.
Placébo Dómino * in regióne vivórum.

Notes on the next verse continue here.