Introduction to Psalm 134

Moses views the Promised Land
Gerard Jollain, 1670

The opening psalm of Vespers on Wednesday in the Benedictine Office is Psalm 134, Laudate Nomen Domini.

First take a look at the text.

Psalm 134 (135) – Laudate nomen Domini 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Alleluja.	Alleluia
1 Laudáte nomen Dómini, * laudáte, servi Dóminum.	Praise the name of the Lord: O you his servants, praise the Lord:
2  Qui statis in domo Dómini, * in átriis domus Dei nostri.	2 You that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
3  Laudáte Dóminum, quia bonus Dóminus: * psállite nómini ejus, quóniam suáve.	3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing to his name, for it is sweet.
4  Quóniam Jacob elégit sibi Dóminus, * Israël in possessiónem sibi.	4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself: Israel for his own possession.
5  Quia ego cognóvi quod magnus est Dóminus, * et Deus noster præ ómnibus diis.	5 For I have known that the Lord is great, and our God is above all gods.
6  Omnia quæcúmque vóluit, Dóminus fecit in cælo, et in terra, * in mari, et in ómnibus abyssis.	6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased he has done, in heaven, in earth, in the sea, and in all the deeps.
7  Edúcens nubes ab extrémo terræ: * fúlgura in plúviam fecit.	7 He brings up clouds from the end of the earth: he has made lightnings for the rain. He brings forth winds out of his stores:
8  Qui prodúcit ventos de thesáuris suis: * qui percússit primogénita Ægypti ab hómine usque ad pecus.	8 He slew the firstborn of Egypt from man even unto beast.
9  Et misit signa, et prodígia in médio tui, Ægypte: * in Pharaónem, et in omnes servos ejus.	9 He sent forth signs and wonders in the midst of you, O Egypt: upon Pharao, and upon all his servants.
10  Qui percússit gentes multas: * et occídit reges fortes:	10 He smote many nations, and slew mighty kings:
11  Sehon, regem Amorrhæórum, et Og, regem Basan, * et ómnia regna Chánaan.	11 Sehon king of the Amorrhites, and Og king of Basan, and all the kingdoms of Chanaan.
12  Et dedit terram eórum hereditátem, * hereditátem Israël, pópulo suo.	12 And gave their land for an inheritance, for an inheritance to his people Israel.
13  Dómine, nomen tuum in ætérnum: * Dómine, memoriále tuum in generatiónem et generatiónem.	13 Your name, O Lord, is for ever: your memorial, O Lord, unto all generations.
14  Quia judicábit Dóminus pópulum suum: * et in servis suis deprecábitur	14 For the Lord will judge his people, and will be entreated in favour of his servants.
15  Simulácra Géntium argéntum et aurum: * ópera mánuum hóminum.	15 The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of men's hands.
16  Os habent, et non loquéntur: * óculos habent, et non vidébunt.	16 They have a mouth, but they speak not: they have eyes, but they see not.
17  Aures habent, et non áudient: * neque enim est spíritus in ore ipsórum.	17 They have ears, but they hear not: neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18  Símiles illis fiant qui fáciunt ea: * et omnes qui confídunt in eis.	18 Let them that make them be like to them: and every one that trusts in them.
19  Domus Israël,  benedícite Dómino: * domus Aaron, benedícite Dómino.	19 Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron.
20  Domus Levi, benedícite Dómino: * qui timétis Dóminum, benedícite Dómino.	20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi: you that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
21  Benedíctus Dóminus ex Sion, * qui hábitat in Jerúsalem.	21 Blessed be the Lord out of Sion, who dwells in Jerusalem.

The place of Psalm 134 in the Office

In his book Christ in the Psalms, Patrick Reardon suggests that the placement of Psalm 134 (and Psalm 135) in the Benedictine Office is, in contrast to the more deliberate Orthodox use of the psalm, simply a matter of how the psalms happen to fall out.

I'd like, though, to take a different view, for I think that the placement of these two psalms is a very deliberate choice indeed, and one whose theological implications are worth meditating on.

Part of the genius of St Benedict's psalter, I think, are the deliberate patterns he engineers into his Office, patterns that help shape our thinking mostly at the subconscious level, shaping our implicit knowledge of the faith.  What is implicit though, can be made explicit and appropriated more actively as our own through study and meditation, and in part this is surely why the saint in his Rule explicitly bids us to meditate on the psalms.

If you look at Vespers for example, it is clear that St Benedict has undertaken some extensive engineering of the hour compared to the Roman version of the Office from which he started.  He shifts nine psalms (Psalms 119-127) out of the hour altogether, and makes extensive use of divisions and amalgamations of psalms in order to shape each day's Office to his agenda.

That agenda, it seems to me, often runs both horizontally and vertically, something akin to a crossword puzzle.

In my overview posts for the psalms of the day, I've talked about his 'vertical' agenda, based around the life of Christ, and I'll come back to how this psalm fits into that schema below.

But there is often also a horizontal logic to the psalm choices as well, both within the hours for a particular day, and across the sequences set for particular hours.  In the case of Vespers, for example, I would suggest that all of the opening psalms have something important to say about the nature of God, with Monday to Wednesday focusing above all on God's providential interventions in salvation history.

A Redemption triptych?

Consider first of all that Psalm 134 on Wednesday takes us back to many of the themes of Psalm 113 on Monday.

Psalm 113's verses on the impotence of false idols are repeated here, in a slightly cut down version.

Both psalms take us to the miracles associated with the exodus from Egypt, and entry into the Promised Land.

And both end with a call to action on the part of the Houses of Israel, Aaron and all those who fear the Lord.

I would argue that St Benedict has deliberately created something of a triptych here for us, in the first psalms of Vespers on the first three days of the week.  The left-hand panel, Monday, focuses on those parting of the waters that prefigures our baptism.  In the middle stands Psalm 129's promise of the redemption of Israel.  And in Wednesday's right-hand panel of the picture we are presented with the opening of the covenant to the gentiles and the Church as the New Israel.

The election of the gentiles

As I noted above there is, in my view, a weekly programmatic cycle to St Benedict's design that gives a unity to each particular day in the Office.

I've suggested previously that the Lauds ferial canticles are the interpretative key for this.  Today's canticle, the The Canticle of Hannah, has long been interpreted, particularly in the monastic tradition, as being about God's election of Israel - the Church - as his people.  That's a key theme in this psalm, and an important one in these confused times when some see pretty much any religion as offering the potential for redeeming grace to flow.

Both this psalm and the next take us through key events in salvation history, emphasizing that God made a deliberate choice of the people of Israel (verse 4) as his people, and then guided history to lead them into the promised land, dispossessing their enemies to do so (verses 8-12).  And it is to him alone, and not to any false gods, that we are urged to put our trust in, and praise.

Psalms 113, 134 and 135 all witness to God's wonderful interventions in history.  They praise him not just for himself (though they have a lot to say on that subject as well), but also for his work of creation and redemption. He is, this psalm tells us, the God who deposed Pharaoh and caused the first-born of Egypt to be killed in retaliation for Pharaoh's refusal to release the Hebrew slaves.  He is the God who deposed great kings because of their evil deeds, and gave their lands to the Israelites instead.

Unsurprisingly, the Fathers have long applied this dispossession to the Jews: for the majority of the original people of Israel rejected their Messiah.  Because they rejected their God when he walked on the earth and preached the good news to them, choosing instead to make idols of the law itself and ultimately to kill him on the cross, now they too have been dispossessed, the old covenant closed off in favour of the new (and for those who dispute this and prefer  an entirely 'two covenants theory', please do read Fr Hunwick's useful analysis of Vatican II on this subject).  The chosen people, Israel, are no longer the Jewish people, but rather the Church which is open to Jews and gentiles alike, indeed all those who truly seek to become his servants; the earthly Jerusalem is no longer God's special dwelling, instead we focus on heaven.

Appropriating salvation

In reality of course, this dispossession applies equally  to all who would betray the living, personal God, 'the Lord of the universe and of history', as Pope Benedict XVI puts it, in favour of creating a false religion borne of our own desires.

We can, then, apply the warning in verses 14-18 of Psalm 134, about coming judgment and the uselessness of the false idols we make for ourselves, that is power, pride, money and pleasure, to Judas and all those who plotted to kill Jesus.  And of course to all those today who would follow their path.

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of the psalm

NT references	Rev 19:5 (1) Heb 10:30 (v14); Rev 9:20 (v15)
RB cursus	Wed Vespers+AN 4139
Monastic feasts etc	AN 3588
Roman pre 1911	Thursday Vespers
Responsories	several martyrs in paschaltide, In servis suis, 6936 (14)
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Tues Lauds . 1970: Evening Prayer - Friday of Week Three
Mass propers (EF)	Lent 4 Sunday, OF (3, 6)

And you can find verse by verse notes on this psalm starting here.

St Benedict's psalter and the election of the Gentiles**

This is a cross-post from my Saints Will Arise Blog.

There is a very interesting series over at the always excellent Fr Hunwicke's Mutual Enrichment blog, which I strongly recommend reading, on what is known as 'two covenants theory', the idea that Judaism is not superseded by the New Covenant.

The situation of modern Jews when it comes to the Church is sensitive territory these days, for many in the Church, swayed by the desire to promote inter-religious unity, advocate ideas that are at odds with both Scripture and tradition.  Fr Hunwicke does a fairly comprehensive demolition on these erroneous theories in the light of the tradition, what Vatican II's Nostra Aetate actually says, and other evidence.

Fr Hunwicke's posts (as on some many other issues) have been rather helpful for my own understanding of this touchy subject, so I thought it might be timely to share some of my speculations on St Benedict's ordering of his psalm cursus that may reflect his understanding of this topic by way of a minor footnote.

The traditional understanding of the Old and New covenants

Fr Hunwicke provides a very carefully nuanced articulation of the tradition on this topic; let me provide the un-nuanced version for the sake of debate.

I would suggest that the hardline version of the traditionalist position is that modern-day Jews are no longer the chosen people: for God's promise to Abraham is fulfilled in the Church, which was founded by the faithful remnant of the Jewish people that he preserved, consisting of the apostles and disciples and their subsequent converts.  Catholics, in other words, are the new Jews.

In this view, instead of the whole Jewish people being granted a privileged place in ongoing salvation history (or at least are still the inheritors of an eschatological promise of reconciliation), they have been dispossessed just as the Canaanites were in their time, and their inheritance given to the new Israel, the Church, which is open to gentiles and Jews alike; Rabbinic Judaism, in other words, is not the Judaism of Our Lord's time.

Fr Hunwicke demolishes some of the obviously erroneous liberal views on this subject, but many traditionalists still struggle with the suggestion made by modern theologians, including Pope Benedict XVI, to the effect that while the Mosaic Covenant has been closed, modern Jews still have a privileged place in salvation history by virtue of the covenant with Abraham.

Fr Hunwicke suggests that Pope Benedict's rewrite of the (EF) Good Friday prayer, which reflects St Paul's words on the subject, arguably reflects an eschatological explanation for this view of the continuing covenant, while leaving the traditional view, that Jewish worship and practices have no salvific value, intact.

I want to draw your attention to five insights on this issue that can, I think, be gained from St Benedict's version of the Divine Office, which I think helps support the eschatological promise approach advocated by Pope Benedict and others.

1.  The old sacrifices have been superseded: Psalm 91 (92) on Friday

In the traditional version of the Roman Office, Psalm 91 (Bonum est confiteri Domino) is said on Saturday, perhaps because the title given to in Scripture is 'For (or 'on the day of' in the Vulgate) the Sabbath'.

St Benedict, however, places it on Friday at Lauds.  It is a change that contemporary liturgical scholar Paul Bradshaw, for one, finds puzzling (Daily Prayer in the Early Church, p147).

Ex-Trappist turned Orthodox scholar Patrick Reardon, in his book Christ in the Psalms, though offers a very elegant and plausible rationale for this change, for he notes that as well as the Sabbath, Jewish commentaries state that it was sung daily as an accompaniment to the morning sacrifice of a lamb.  Reardon, accordingly, sees the shift of the psalm to Friday Lauds as a testimony to the idea that Friday is "our true the true Pascha and Atonement Day, on which the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world."(p181)

Reardon sees Psalm 91 as a reminder that the Old Covenant, which merely foreshadowed what was to come, has ended, and the New has replaced it:

"Prayed on Friday mornings, as the ancient Western monastic rule prescribed, this psalm reminds the Church why it is no longer necessary to make the daily offering of lambs in the temple, for those sacrifices had only "a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things" (Heb. 10:1). With respect to those quotidian lambs offered of old, we are told that "every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins" (10:11). But, with respect to the Lamb in the midst of the Throne, we are told that "this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God . . . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (10:12-14). This is the true Lamb to whom we chant: "You are worthy to take the scroll, / And to open its seals; / For You were slain, / And have redeemed us to God by Your blood" (Rev. 5:9)." (p181)

2.  Psalm 118: the new testament is superior to the old

In the Roman Office, Psalm 118 is sung over the course of Sunday from Prime to None (and in the older form of the Office, daily at these hours).  St Benedict, by contrast, splits the longest psalm in the psalter between Sunday (Prime to None) and Monday (Terce to None).   And he organises the split so as to end Sunday Nones with a stanza where the psalmist claims to have outshone his teachers and those of old in his understanding:

"Through your commandment, you have made me wiser than my enemies: for it is ever with me. I have understood more than all my teachers: because your testimonies are my meditation. I have had understanding above ancients: because I have sought your commandment." (verses 98-100)

It could of course just be how things fell out.  But St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus (author of easily the most popular commentary on the psalms amongst medieval monks) certainly understood these verses as affirming the new covenant over the Old:

“Certainly the new people had better understanding than the older Jewish people, for they happily accepted the Lord Christ who the Jews with mortal damage to themselves believed was to be despised.”

Cassiodorus actually sees the reference in another verse of the stanza, verse 103, which refers to the law being sweeter than honey, as another allusion to this same idea:

“Honey has particular reference to the Old Testament, the comb to the New; for though both are sweet, the taste of the comb is sweeter because it is enhanced by the greater attraction of its newness. Additionally, honey can be understood as the explicit teaching of wisdom, whereas the comb can represent that known to be stored in the depth, so to say, of the cells. Undoubtedly both are found in the divine Scriptures.”

3.  The canticle of Hannah and younger sons

Over at Fr Hunwicke's blog, commenters have noted that the recent tendency to refer to Jews as our 'older brother' is something of a mixed message given the fate of so many older brothers in the Bible!   Indeed, St Paul uses just this typology in one of his discussions on the status of the Jews, in Galatians 4:

"21 Tell me, you who are so eager to have the law for your master, have you never read the law? 22 You will find it written there, that Abraham had two sons; one had a slave for his mother, and one a free woman. 23 The child of the slave was born in the course of nature; the free woman’s, by the power of God’s promise. 24 All that is an allegory; the two women stand for the two dispensations. Agar stands for the old dispensation, which brings up its children to bondage, the dispensation which comes to us from mount Sinai.25 Mount Sinai, in Arabia, has the same meaning in the allegory as Jerusalem, the Jerusalem which exists here and now; an enslaved city, whose children are slaves. 26 Whereas our mother is the heavenly Jerusalem, a city of freedom. 27 So it is that we read, Rejoice, thou barren woman that hast never borne child, break out into song and cry aloud, thou that hast never known travail; the deserted one has more children than she whose husband is with her. 28 It is we, brethren, that are children of the promise, as Isaac was. 29 Now, as then, the son who was born in the course of nature persecutes the son whose birth is a spiritual birth. 30 But what does our passage in scripture say? Rid thyself of the slave and her son; it cannot be that the son of a slave should divide the inheritance with the son of a free woman."

Wednesday, in the Christian week, is traditionally associated with the betrayal of Judas.  That's the reason that Wednesday was a fast day in the early Church as it is in the Benedictine Rule, and in the Office, this is reflected, inter alia, in the choice of Psalm 63 at Lauds.  The variable (ferial) canticle of the day, though, is the Canticle of Hannah (I Kings [1 Sam] 2:1-10), a song of rejoicing at her pregnancy (with the prophet Samuel) that put paid to the taunts of her husband's fecund other wife.  We today tend to interpret this canticle as foreshadowing the Magnificat, which it certainly does.  But one of the earliest Benedictine monastic commentaries on the Office Canticles, by Rabanus Maurus (780-856), also interprets that typology in the light of St Paul's Galatians typology, saying by way of summary:

"But on Wednesday the Canticle of Anna the prophetess is sung, in which the expulsion of the perfidious Jews is set out, and the election of the Church of the gentiles is demonstrated."

And indeed St Benedict's psalm selections for this day come back to the theme of God's choice of peoples several times, most notably in Psalms 134 and 135.

4.  The redemption triptych (Psalms 113, 129 and 134/5) - redemption comes only through Christ

In the Benedictine Office, Psalm 113 (In exitu Israel) is said at Vespers on Monday rather than Sunday as it is in the Roman Office.  In part I think that is because it provides a type of baptism, in the parting of the Red Sea and the Jordan (especially in verse 3: Mare vidit, et fugit: Jordánis convérsus est retrórsum), one of the themes Maurus identifies in the Monday Lauds canticle (along with the Incarnation).  But it also, I think, sets up a nice triptych of opening psalms at Vespers on the first three days of the week around our redemption through Christ.

The two outer panels are provided by Psalms 113 on Monday and 134 and 135 (known as the Great Hallel in Jewish liturgy) on Wednesday.  These three psalms share both common themes and several verses between them, and take us through God's power compared to empty idols, manifested through the creation of the universe, and intervention in history to lead his people out of Egypt,and into the Promised Land.

If he were being consistent, St Benedict would have placed Psalm 128 as the first Psalm at Vespers on Tuesday, for on that day all of the other Gradual psalms are said from Terce through Vespers.  But St Benedict actually places Psalm 128 (where it arguably fits well for other reasons) on Monday, and instead, in the middle of the triptych sits Psalm 129 (De Profundis), with its promise of Christ's redeeming action ('For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption: he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquity').  Dom Gueranger, in his Liturgical Year, notes that this psalm above all, was often interpreted by medieval commentators, as a prophecy of that final reconciliation of the Jews.

5. The Hallel psalms reversed: The first shall be last?

St Benedict’s arrangement of the Sunday Office at both Lauds and Vespers is significantly different to the old Roman he is assumed to have started from.  Two key changes he makes are to start the variable psalmody  at Lauds with Psalm 117 (it was in Prime in the old Roman Office), and to end it with Psalm 112, at Vespers (moving Psalm 113 to Monday in order to do so).  These are, of course, the last and first respectively of the ‘Hallel’ psalms, the psalms sung at the three major Jewish festivals each year.

The more prominent St Benedict accords to Psalm 117 is easily explained: it is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament, important in particular for the verses directly prophesying the Resurrection, and pointing to Christ as the stone the builders rejected.

Is it possible, though, that the ending of Vespers on Psalm 112 was also meant to provide a subtle reference to the idea that the first shall come last in relation to St Paul's prophesy in Romans that  'all Israel shall come in'?

St Benedict (485-547) may very well have been familiar with the Bishop of Ravenna, St Peter Chrysologus' (380-450) teaching to just this effect (now used in the readings of the Liturgy of Hours as Fr Hunwicke notes).  And it is certainly nicely consistent with Pope Benedict's rewrite of the Good Friday prayer:

"Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men. (Let us pray. Kneel. Rise.) Almighty and eternal God, who want that all men be saved and come to the recognition of the truth, propitiously grant that even as the fullness of the peoples enters Thy Church, all Israel be saved. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen"

So, is this all too much of a stretch?  Do let me know what you think.

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.

Psalm 113: verses 24-25

Verses 24 and 25 of Psalm 113 takes us back to God as creator of heaven and earth:

Benedícti vos a Dómino, * qui fecit cælum, et terram.
Cælum cæli Dómino: * terram autem dedit fíliis hóminum.

or

Blessed be you of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The heaven of heaven is the Lord's: but the earth he has given to the children of men.

Lectio

Benedicti (Blessed) [are/be] vos (you) a (by) Domino (the Lord) qui (who) fecit (he has made) cælum (heaven) et (and) terram (earth)

Cælum (The heaven) cæli (of heaven)[belongs] Domino (to the Lord) terram (The earth) autem (but) dedit (he gave) filiis(the sons/children) hominum (of men) 

Studio/meditatio

Cassiodorus comments:

"Since heaven is the term for just men, the Lord Christ is aptly called the heaven of heavens, as He is called the Holy of the holy, the God of gods, and other grandiloquent expressions of this kind. Caelum (heaven) gets its name from concealing (celare) all things within itself. Whereas the heaven of heavens is attributed to the Lord—as we read in Psalm 67: Who mounteth above the heaven of heavens from the east'—the earth is allotted to the children of men, so that by the Lord's grace they may there purify themselves by manifold struggles and from the contest of the world attain eternal life. He has given has reference to Christ's humanity in the incarnation; for what could be given to the Word, who with the Father and the holy Spirit has always possessed and possesses all things?"

Oratio

Through your goodness you have created us Lord; perfect us in this world that we might be drawn up into your highest heavens through your grace, and dwell with you forever.

Contemplatio

St Augustine reminds us that we must co-operate with what God offers:

...But nevertheless since they derive the truth and richness of wisdom, not from man nor through man, but through God Himself, they have received little ones who shall be heaven, that they may know that they are heaven of heaven; as yet however earth, unto which they say, I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6 For to those very sons of men whom He made heaven, He who knows how to provide for the earth through heaven, has given earth upon which they work. 

The final section of the Psalm:

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.

The final set of notes on the psalm can be found here.

Psalm 113: Verses 20-23

Lectio

Today's verses of Psalm 113 are:

Dóminus memor fuit nostri: * et benedíxit nobis:
Benedíxit dómui Israël: * benedíxit dómui Aaron.
Benedíxit ómnibus, qui timent Dóminum, * pusíllis cum majóribus.
Adjíciat Dóminus super vos: * super vos, et super fílios vestros.

or

The Lord has been mindful of us, and has blessed us. 
He has blessed the house of Israel: he has blessed the house of Aaron. 
He has blessed all that fear the Lord, both little and great. 
May the Lord add blessings upon you: upon you, and upon your children. 

Lectio

Dominus (the Lord) memor (mindful) fuit (he has been) nostri (of us) = The Lord has been mindful of us

memor, oris  mindful of, thoughtful of; to remember, call to mind, think of, take thought for, recall, recount, etc.

et (and) benedixit (he has blessed) nobis (us) = and he has blessed us

Note that the Neo-Vulgate turns this into the future tense (benedicet), possibly to make the references to the verse in Revelation to fit (as they deal with the final judgment).

benedico, dixi, dictum, ere 3  to bless, to praise, bless, give thanks to (God);  to be well pleased with, to take pleasure in

Benedixit (he has blessed) domui (the house) Israël (of Israel)

benedixit (he has blessed) domui (the house) Aaron (of Aaron)

Benedixit (he has blessed) omnibus (all) qui (who) timent (they fear) Dominum (the Lord)

Note that domui is dative, governed by benedicere

pusillis (the small/little/lowly) cum (with) majoribus (the great)

pusillus, a, um small, little.

magnus, a, um, great, mighty; the comparative is used for the positive. 

Adjiciat (May he increase/add/grant) [blessings] Dominus (the Lord) super (over) vos (you)

adjicio, jeci, jectum, ere 3  to add, increase

super (over/upon) vos (you) et (and) super (over) filios (the sons/children) vestros (your)

Studio/meditatio

What does it mean when the psalmist says that God is mindful of us?  How has he blessed us?

If we consider the progression of the baptismal promises, we can arrive at a suitable answer, for after confirming our belief in God as the creator or heaven and earth, we are asked:

V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father? 
R. I do.

Cassiodorus explains these verses as follows:

"To what possible merits was the Lord Christ's coming owed, that He should both teach erring people and by His blessing save those who turned to Him?  He blessed the house of Israel by being born of the virginity of saint Mary.  He also blessed the house of Aaron when he invested himself with the distinctions of the priesthood...."

He blesses us by offering salvation through his Incarnation, death and Resurrection in other words.

How then should we understand the blessing on us and our children, and the call for an increase thereof?

St John Chrysostom explains that it is not a question of numbers alone that counts here, but rather the virtue we should be seeking to increase.

Oratio

For the gift of membership of the Church, we give thanks O Lord, for the grace that flows to us through its font.

Contemplatio

St Robert Bellarmine sees in the heart of the psalmist a heart 'burning desire for the glory of God and the salvation of his neighbour'.  We too should cultivate such a heart, and devote ourselves to these ends.

Final section of Psalm 113

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.

The next set of notes on the psalm can be found here.