Psalm 140 v5: Treasure in heaven

 Verse 5 of Psalm 140 is a prayer for help against the temptations offered by the world we live in. 

5	V	Cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem: et non communicabo cum electis eorum.
	OR	cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem et non conbinabor cum electis eorum
	NV	cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem; et non comedam ex deliciis eorum.
	JH	cum uiris operantibus iniquitatem comedere in deliciis eorum.
	Sept	ἀνθρώποις ἐργαζομένοις ἀνομίαν καὶ οὐ μὴ συνδυάσωμετὰ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτῶν

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

Phrase by phrase 

Cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem: et non communicabo cum electis eorum.

With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them.

Word by word 

Cum (with) hominibus (men) operantibus (having worked) iniquitatem (wickedness): et (and) non (not) communicabo ( will share/participate) cum (with) electis (the delights/pleasures) eorum (of them/their). 

The Douay-Rheims notwithstanding, this verse is a somewhat ambiguous, and can have two meanings at the literal level: 'electis' could be a reference to the 'elect' of the band of evildoers; alternatively it can be read as concerning attending their gatherings and participating in their particular pursuits.

Key vocabulary 

homo, inis, m  man, a human being; mortal man as compared with God; person, individual.
opero are avi atum – form of operor, to work; operantium= participle
iniquitas, atis, f iniquity, injustice, sin.
communico are avi atum to partake, share, participate in
electa orum f; chosen, elect; dainties, choice bits, pleasures 

Selected translations 

DR	With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them.
Brenton	with me who work iniquity: and let me not unite with their choice ones.
MD	With men that work iniquity: I will not partake of their delights.
RSV	deeds in company with men who work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties!
Cover	let me not be occupied in ungodly works with the men that work wickedness, lest I eat of such things as please them.
Knox	never let me take part with the wrong-doers, and share the banquet with them.
Grail	Never allow me to share in their feasting.

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

The dangers of peer pressure 

Although often unavoidable, and even sometimes commendable (when done for example, for the purpose of converting them), associating with those committed to doing evil has obvious dangers. 

St Jerome commented that 'just as the Lord has His chosen saints, so does the devil have his elect'. 

It is all too easy to be seduced by pleasures and sins, the Fathers consistently suggest, if we freely associate with those who carry them out without any sign of repentance.

St John Chrysostom points us to the opening words of the first psalm of the book of psalms as the proper model to follow: Blessed is the man who has not lived by the counsel of the godless, or stood in the path of sinners, and has not sat on the seat of pestilent people.

We should therefore, he argues, avoid eating with sinners, avoid parties and gatherings lest we be lead astray:

Here he gives the apostolic advice, that their luxuries and parties are to be shunned, where the practice of sin is especially on the increase, where incaution waxes strong. Now, this is no little sign of virtue, no insignificant path to correction, shunning such parties and gatherings, not being beholden to friendship, not diminishing the strength of the spirit through becoming a slave to the belly and thus weakening the quality of our sound values. That is the way that many people, being beholden to friendship, were cast headlong into the billows of drunkenness, that is the way they fell victim to immorality, and kindled the fire of pleasure, chasing parties and spectacles characterised by extreme iniquity.

 

Treasure in heaven

Who, then, are the workers of iniquity referred to here? 

The Fathers offer a number of possibilities, and it is not hard to come up with a long list!

But the worst group, St Augustine argues, is who believe only in their own righteousness, and despise others, and thus refuse to help the poor.  

Yet our alms, he notes, drawing on Scripture, are translated directly to the treasure house of heaven: 'we cleanse thereby that bread, and transmit it into the treasure-house of the heavens'.  

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 find notes on verse 6 of Psalm 140 here.

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.

Psalm 140 v3 - Into Great Silence

Verse 3 of Psalm 140 is arguably closely linked to the previous two, in going to the conditions necessary to effect pure prayer, but also more broadly to the circumcision of the spirit that we must practice under the new covenant instituted by Christ at the Last Supper. It is particularly important to the monastic tradition, given the tradition's emphasis on the value of both silence, and of care in speech.

 Looking at the Latin 

3	V/OR	Pone, Dómine, custódiam ori meo: * et óstium circumstántiæ lábiis meis.
	NV	Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo et vigiliam ad ostium labiorum meorum.
	JH	Pone, Domine, custodiani ori meo; serua paupertatem labiorum meorum.
	Sept	θοῦ κύριε φυλακὴν τῷ στόματί μου καὶ θύραν περιοχῆς περὶ τὰ χείλη μου

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

Phrase by phrase: 

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.

Word by word

Pone (put, set), Dómine (O Lord), custódiam (a watch/guard) ori (to the mouth) meo (my): * et (and) óstium (a door/gate/ entrance) circumstántiæ (of fortification) lábiis (the lips) meis (my).

Vocabulary 

pono, posui, itum, ere 3,  to put, place, lay, set.
custodia ae f a guard, watch; night watch; custody, prison
os, oris, n., the mouth.
ostium ii n door, gate, entrance
circumstantia ae f a standing around, fortification, surrounding with a wall
labium, ii, n., a lip By metonymy lips frequently stands for language, speech, thought, plan, design.

 Selected English translations

DR	Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips.
Brenton	Set a watch, O Lord, on my mouth, and a strong door about by lips.
MD	Set a watch O Lord upon my mouth and a gate about my lips
RSV	Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD, keep watch over the door of my lips!
Cover	Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips
Knox	Lord, set a guard on my mouth, post a sentry before my lips;
Grail	Set, O Lord, a guard over my mouth; keep watch, O Lord, at the door of my lips!

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

The new covenant of grace

Verse 3 of Psalm 140 presents us with the first of a series of requests for assistance from God to stay on the right path, covering our words, thoughts and actions.

These requests can readily be interpreted, I think, as about cultivating and preserving the correct intentions needed to effect the pure prayer described in the first two verses, and to stay on the path that leads to eternal life (Ps 138).

In looking at the last verse, though, we saw that a number of the Fathers saw it as a reference to the institution of the new covenant.  As I've previously noted, St John Cassian, for example, suggested that we should see the offering of incense and the lifting up of hands to God in prayer as "that true evening sacrifice which was given by the Lord our Saviour in the evening to the Apostles at the Supper, when He instituted the holy mysteries of the Church...".

Circumcision of the lips and mouth

In an important sermon on the circumcision of Abraham, Origen explored the distinction between the Old and New Covenants in terms of the need for our connection to God to be more than mere circumcision of the flesh, but rather, as St Paul describes it, 'circumcision of the heart'.  And one of the key dimensions of circumcision of the heart, he argues, is what might be called circumcision, or control of the tongue, lips and mouth.  

To be circumcised of tongue, Origen argued, has both positive and negative dimensions.  The positive is that the person "always speaks the word of God and brings forward sound doctrine fortified with evangelic and apostolic norms." 

By contrast the person with "uncircumcised lips" is he who:

has not yet ceased from silly talk, from scurrility, who disparages good men, who calumniates his neighbours, who instigates quarrels, who promotes false accusations, who sets brothers against themselves by making false statements, who utters vain words, inept words, profane words, shameless words, filthy words, injurious words, wanton words, blasphemous words, and other words that are unworthy of a Christian.

St John Chrysostom built on this, drawing on the analogy of the door used here, to explain that it is not just about what it is said, but also when:

Consequently, let us guard our mouth constantly, set reason on it to close it, not for it to be constantly closed but for it to open appropriately in season: there are times when silence is of more value than speech, as likewise speech more than silence. This is the reason why that most sage composer said, "A time for keeping silence, and a time for speaking. After all, if being open at all times was necessary, there would be no doors, while if being closed was required at all times, there would be no need of a guard. I mean, what would you guard if things were closed up? Door and guard are for this reason, however, for us to use each at the proper time. 

Guard of the tongue  in monastic practice

It is worth noting though, that the monastic tradition goes rather further, advocating not just control over what is said and when, but also actively advocating for silence as a means of spiritual progress.

St Benedict refers to the importance of control over speech in many places in his Rule, but key summaries of his teaching on the subject are contained in chapter 4 the tools of good work), 6 (On silence) and 7 (where he devotes three of the twelve steps of humility to the topic).

In these chapters St Benedict built on an already well established monastic tradition that taught that speech too often and easily constituted sin, but even where it did not, it could be an impediment to the receptive listening necessary to progress in the spiritual life. 

Both Chapters 4 and 6 include commentary that uses words that echo Psalm 140.  Chapter 4 contains a series of injunctions on the subject of control over what is said including 'Guard your lips from harmful or deceptive speech' (os suum a malo vel pravo eloquio custodire).  And chapter 6 opens with a quote from Psalm 38:

Let us do as saith the prophet: I said, I will take heed unto my ways, that I offend not with my tongue. I have set a guard to my mouth [posui ori meo custodiam]. I was dumb and was humbled, and kept silence even from good words.

The key distinction between Psalm 38's text and Psalm 140 goes to the role of grace: in Psalm 38 the speaker has made a deliberate decision not to speak, lest he stir up those who inevitably attack the good; in Psalm 140 we ask for God's help in withstanding such assaults.

Presumably because the verse corresponds well to the verse that opens each day in the monastic life, O Lord open my lips that I may announce your praise, a seventh century document describing Roman Benedictine practices of the time instructs it to be used as the last thing said each night after Compline, to mark the start of the Great Silence. 

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.

For notes on verse 4 of the psalm, continue on here.