Psalm 53 postscript

St Catherine's Monastery,c13th
Source: Wikipedia

At the beginning of this mini-series on Psalm 53 I noted that it is used intensively during the Triduum, said each day at Prime, but also at Tenebrae of Good Friday and Holy Saturday, so I thought I would conclude my notes on the psalm by coming back, briefly, to the reasons for its prominence in the older forms of the Roman Office.

The five wounds of Christ?

At first glance the five-fold appearance of the psalm during the Triduum might appear to be an accident: the psalm was, after all, said daily at Prime in the traditional version of the Roman Office and it is not altogether unusual for psalms to be said twice in a day in that form of the Office where it is appropriate to the feast or type of feast.

But if that was the case, why isn't it used at Tenebrae of Maundy Thursday, to which it is surely particularly appropriate?

My suggestion is that there is a bit of deliberate crafting here, meant to suggest the five wounds of Christ.

It is worth noting in this regard that St Hilary's commentary on the psalm notes that the psalm has a very deliberate structure, with each of the five key points of prayer matched to a result:

Petition	Result
Save me God by your name	I will give thanks unto Your name, O Lord, for it is good,
Judge me on your strength	And My eye has looked down upon Mine enemies
O God hear my prayer…	Behold God is My helper…
For strangers are risen up against Me and the violent have sought after My soul,	for You have delivered Me out of all affliction and the Lord is the upholder of My soul
they have not set God before their eyes	I will freely sacrifice to you

The Christological interpretation of the psalm

Whether or not the symbolism was deliberate, it is clear that the psalm's use during the Triduum does reflect the Christological interpretation of it suggested by St Hilary amongst others:

The suffering of the Prophet David is, according to the account we have given of the title, a type of the Passion of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. This is why his prayer also corresponds in sense with the prayer of Him Who being the Word was made flesh: in such wise that He Who suffered all things after the manner of man, in everything He said, spoke after the manner of man; and He who bore the infirmities and took on Him the sins of men approached God in prayer with the humility proper to men. 

This interpretation, even though we be unwilling and slow to receive it, is required by the meaning and force of the words, so that there can be no doubt that everything in the Psalm is uttered by David as His mouthpiece. For he says: Save me O God, by Your name. Thus prays in bodily humiliation, using the words of His own Prophet, the Only-begotten Son of God, Who at the same time was claiming again the glory which He had possessed before the ages. He asks to be saved by the Name of God whereby He was called and wherein He was begotten, in order that the Name of God which rightly belonged to His former nature and kind might avail to save Him in that body wherein He had been born.

At Prime

The Psalm use at Prime may also in part reflect this interpretation: Psalm 53 in a sense recapitulates the Triduum, with the psalm that follows, Psalm 118, taking us to the Resurrection, for its opening verse 'Beati immaculati' proclaims that the way to heaven has been reopened.

But the psalm can also be read as encouragement for the daily spiritual battle against those who reject God, in effect a summary of one of the key themes of the Benedictine version of the hour.

St Alphonsus Liguori, for example noted that:

This psalm may serve for all Christians that find themselves assailed by the temptations of the devil.  We may remark with Cardinal Bellarmine that the holy Church wishes to teach us how to arm ourselves with prayer against the tribulations and temptations that may assail us every day.

I want to conclude though with the ninth century commentator Amalarius of Metz, who suggested that:

Singing this Psalm at this point in the day is necessary for requesting divine protection through all the hours of the day against the machinations and subtleties of the devil's deceit, of which the psalmist speaks: "For strangers rise up against us who do not set God before their eyes" and also so that he may remove us from all our tribulations, and that our eye may look down upon our enemies, as David did in his time.

Coming up next

And for the last part of Lent, a quick look at the first six verses of Psalm 30, which was previously said at Compline each night in the (pre-1911) Roman Office, and concludes with the verse Christ used on the Cross, just before dying, when he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit'.

Psalm 53 v6 - Offering the sacrifice of praise

 

Verse 6 of Psalm 53 speaks of the return the speaker will give for the help that God has given him.

Voluntárie sacrificábo tibi, et confitébor nómini tuo, Dómine:  quóniam bonum est.

I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God, to your name: because it is good.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary for this verse is:

voluntarium , a free-will offering.

sacrifico, avi, atum, are to offer something to God in atonement for sin, sacrifice.

confiteor, fessus sum, eri  to praise, give thanks; confess, acknowledge one's guilt.

bonus, a, um, good;  pleasant; upright  good things, possessions, prosperity.

A word by word literal translation is:

 Voluntárie (With a free will offering) sacrificábo(I will sacrifice) tibi (to you), * et (and) confitébor (I will confess) nómini (to the name) tuo (your), Dómine (O Lord): quóniam (because) bonum (good) est (it is).

A freewill offering, in the historical context of the psalm, literally meant one not prescribed by the law, for example for expiation of sins or other required sacrifice.

The various English translations offer a variety of renderings of the phrase to try and convey the sense of it:

DR	I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God,  to your name: because it is good.
Brenton	I will willingly sacrifice to thee:  I will give thanks to thy name, O Lord; for it is good.
RSV	With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to thee;  I will give thanks to thy name, O LORD, for it is good.
Cover	An offering of a free heart will I give thee,  and praise thy Name, O Lord, because it is so comfortable.
Knox	So will I joyfully offer thee sacrifice,  and praise thy name, Lord, as praised it must ever be;
College	With a free heart will I offer you sacrifice, I will praise your name O Lord for its goodness
Grail	I will sacrifice to you with willing heart  and praise your name for it is good:

 On assorted heresies and the sacrifice of Christ

Today’s verse has famously given rise to more than a few heresies, featuring at different times in the battles around semi-Pelagianism, the Lutherans and the Jansenists to argue that all offerings must be free, and not compelled.

It is certainly true that the Father’s early interpreted the verse as foreshadowing the sacrifice of Christ on the cross that frees us from the requirement to offer the sacrifices of the law. 

St Hilary of Poitier, for example, commented:

The sacrifices of the Law, which consisted of whole burnt-offerings and oblations of goats and of bulls, did not involve an expression of free will, because the sentence of a curse was pronounced on all who broke the Law....It was from this curse that our Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us…He offered Himself to the death of the accursed that He might break the curse of the Law, offering Himself voluntarily a victim to God the Father, in order that by means of a voluntary victim the curse which attended the discontinuance of the regular victim might be removed…

St Thomas Aquinas, however, pointed out that in the context of the psalm, the verse is promising a return for the help that has been given to the speaker:

Here he sets down that which he gives in return…He intends to give back in return in two ways, by sacrifice and by giving praise.

What is it then, that we should offer?

The Fathers and Theologians offer a variety of suggestions as to what it is we should offer by way of sacrifice and praise.

One obvious interpretation of it is the sacrifice of the Mass, and the sacrifice of praise in the Office.

But St Cassiodorus saw the verse as particularly building on the previous, imprecatory verse, and putting it in a proper context by reinforcing the idea that it is a prayer for the conversion of our enemies, not their condemnation:

I will freely sacrifice to thee, and will confess, 0 Lord, to thy name because it is good. He freely sacrifices to the Lord when he prays with pious zeal for his enemies. The person who seeks vengeance on his enemies, who desires to avenge himself because of calamities imposed by others, or who prays for other worldly needs, does not sacrifice freely to the Lord because he does not pray out of love for Him, but begs for His power because of his need for certain things.

St Thomas makes three additional suggestions.  First, consistent with Psalm 50, he points to the offer of a contrite and humble spirit; secondly, he suggests the offering of physical sufferings; and the third is when we do good things.

The importance of intention

Either way, the key is our intention.

St Cassiodorus, for example, commented:

Freely sacrificing to the Lord means offering the purity of a good intention, and worshipping, fearing, loving Him only because He is known to be God the Creator, the loving Dispenser of all things. They also freely sacrifice to God who give thanks continually during hardships of sufferings, as the holy man Job is said to have done. …the desire to praise Him is a good beyond reckoning, the source both of refreshment for the de­voted mind and of escape from the enmity of this world.

 Our ideal, of course, should be to offer our sacrifices out of love, as St Augustine argued:

Wherefore then voluntarily? Because truly I love that which I praise. I praise God, and in the self-same praise I rejoice: in the praise of Himself I rejoice, at whom being praised, I blush not. For He is not praised in the same manner as by those who love the theatrical follies is praised either by a charioteer, or a hunter, or actor of any kind, and by their praisers, other praisers are invited, are exhorted, to shout together: and when all have shouted, ofttimes, if their favourite is overcome, they are all put to the blush. Not so is our God: be He praised with the will, loved with charity: let it be gratuitous (or voluntary) that He is loved and that He is praised. What is gratuitous? Himself for the sake of Himself, not for the sake of something else.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Intellectus David, 2 cum venissent Ziphæi, et dixissent ad Saul : Nonne David absconditus est apud nos?	Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. 2 When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us?
1 Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac: * et in virtúte tua júdica me.	3 Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength.
2  Deus, exáudi oratiónem meam: * áuribus pércipe verba oris mei.	4 O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.
3  Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: * et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum.	5 For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
4 Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: * et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.	6 For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
5  Avérte mala inimícis meis: * et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.	7 Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
6  Voluntárie sacrificábo tibi, * et confitébor nómini tuo, Dómine: quóniam bonum est :	8 I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God, to your name: because it is good:
7  Quóniam ex omni tribulatióne eripuísti me: * et super inimícos meos despéxit óculus meus.	9 For you have delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye has looked down upon my enemies.

And for the next part in this series, continue on here.

Psalm 53 v 5 - Censored!

Domenico Pagliarolo, c15th
http://www.themorgan.org/collection/medieval-and-renaissance/manuscript/113118?id=409
Source: Wiki Commons

Today’s verse of Psalm 53 is one of those deemed to ‘difficult’, or un-PC in its sentiments, for modern minds to cope with, and so was excised altogether from the Liturgy of the Hours.  We should not, however, shy away from the lessons Scripture places before us for our instruction.

Avérte mala inimícis meis: et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.

Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary for the verse is:

averto, verti, versum, ere 3, to turn away, avert; to bring back.

malum, i, n., evil, sin; woe, harm, misfortune.

inimicus, i, m., a foe, enemy

veritas, atis,  truth. grace, kindness ,goodness, fidelity to promises, faithfulness

disperdo, didi, ditum, ere 3, to destroy, destroy utterly.

Word for word then:

Avérte (turn back, imp) mala (the evils) inimícis (to the enemies, dat/abl pl) meis (to me): * et (and) in veritáte (the truth) tua (your) dispérde (destroy) illos (them).

Given the modern difficulties with this verse, it is not surprising to find that the neo-Vulgate version in particular attempts to often its tone:

Vulgate	Avérte mala inimícis meis: et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.
Pian	Retorque malum in adversarios meos, Et pro fidelitate tua destrue illos.
Neo-Vulgate	Converte mala super inimicos meos et in veritate tua disperde illos.
Jerome from the Hebrew	Redde malum insidiatoribus meis in veritate tua disperde eos.
Septuagint	ἀποστρέψει τὰ κακὰ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου ἐξολέθρευσον αὐτούς

The English translations, however, make clear that the literal meaning of the verse is that evil will rebound on those who seek to harm others:

DR	Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
Brenton	He shall return evil to mine enemies; utterly destroy them in thy truth.
RSV	He will requite my enemies with evil; in thy faithfulness put an end to them.
Cover	He shall reward evil unto mine enemies; destroy thou them in thy truth.
Knox	Let the blow recoil on my persecutors; ever faithful to thy word, do thou overthrow them.
Collegeville	Turn back the evil, against my foes, and in Your truth destroy them.
Grail	Let the evil recoil upon my foes; you who are faithful, destroy them.

How to read imprecatory verses

Given modern struggles with this verse, it is worth first taking the advice of the Fathers and Theologians on how to read this and other similar verses. 

Noting that it seems at first blush to contradict Christ’s instruction to pray for our enemies, St Thomas Aquinas suggested that the verse is first and foremost a prediction more than a request.

St Thomas saw it also though, as a prayer for the world to be conformed to divine justice.

The first phrase of the verse can certainly be read as a plea for karma, as it were, to prevail: for the harm intended to the psalmist to rebound on the one seeking to do him harm.  

In this light, St Augustine portrayed the verse as a warning to us not to be diverted from the right path by the lures of the ephemeral:

Because to wit they flourish now, because to wit they spring up like grass: do not thou be a man unwise and foolish, so that by giving thought to these things thou perish for ever and ever. For, Turn Thou away evil things unto mine enemies…These men flourish in the felicity of the world, perish in the virtue of God.

Confronting sinners with the truth: a prayer for conversion

Aquinas, though, interpreted the verse as a prayer for the conversion of sinners.

In particular, the first phrase of the verse can also be interpreted as a call for the evil intention to be removed from the person seeking to the speaker harm, as St Cassiodorus suggested:

Since the prophet knew that he had been freed by the Lord's pity from the persecution of his enemies, he is seen to offer this sacrifice of good-will. He strives on behalf of his enemies by every means to offer the prayer which the divine love is wont gladly to accept. So he prays that ill-will be removed from his enemies, for he knew that they would be weighed down by it.

This interpretation of the verse particularly flows from the second phrase though, for it presents the key to the conversion of sinners as being confrontation with the truth:

When evil men approach the truth, they abandon their earlier intention; if a man does not forsake his wicked plan, he will not take part in goodly actions. So the psalmist prays that the men of Ziph may fail to betray his hidden person, and that Saul may fail to persecute him in his innocence.

I am the way, the truth and the life

The key application of the verse, is of course, to the Resurrection of Christ, as St Hilary of Poitiers explained:

Truth confounds falsehood, and lying is destroyed by truth. We have shown that the whole of the foregoing prayer is the utterance of that human nature in which the Son of God was born; so here it is the voice of human nature calling upon God the Father to destroy His enemies in His truth. What this truth is, stands beyond doubt; it is of course He Who said: I am the Life, the Way, the Truth. And the enemies were destroyed by the truth when, for all their attempts to win Christ's condemnation by false witness, they heard that He was risen from the dead and had to admit that He had resumed His glory in all the reality of Godhead.

And, he explained, that while many converted after the Resurrection and lived, there was indeed a price to pay for those who did not heed the message:

Ere long they found, in ruin and destruction by famine and war, their reward for crucifying God; for they condemned the Lord of Life to death, and paid no heed to God's truth displayed in Him through His glorious works. And thus the Truth of God destroyed them when He rose again to resume the majesty of His Father's Glory, and gave proof of the truth of that perfect Divinity which He possessed.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Intellectus David, 2 cum venissent Ziphæi, et dixissent ad Saul : Nonne David absconditus est apud nos?	Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. 2 When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us?
1 Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac: * et in virtúte tua júdica me.	3 Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength.
2  Deus, exáudi oratiónem meam: * áuribus pércipe verba oris mei.	4 O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.
3  Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: * et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum.	5 For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
4 Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: * et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.	6 For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
5  Avérte mala inimícis meis: * et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.	7 Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
6  Voluntárie sacrificábo tibi, * et confitébor nómini tuo, Dómine: quóniam bonum est :	8 I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God, to your name: because it is good:
7  Quóniam ex omni tribulatióne eripuísti me: * et super inimícos meos despéxit óculus meus.	9 For you have delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye has looked down upon my enemies.

And for the next part in this series, go here.

Psalm 53 v4 - The God who protects and sustains us

Verse 4 of Psalm 53 is a strong assertion of trust in God's help and protection.

Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.

For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary for verse 4 of Psalm 53 is:

adjuvo, juvi, jutum, are, to help, assist, support, give aid, animate

susceptor, oris, m.  a protector, helper, defender, guardian; a stay, support.

The most difficult of these words to translate is susceptor, since the word means not only protector, but also upholder and sustainer.  The verb related to it (suscipio) is a key part of the Benedictine profession ceremony.

A word by word crib for the verse runs:

Ecce (behold) enim (for) Deus (God) ádjuvat (helps) me: * et (and) Dóminus (the Lord) suscéptor (protector/sustainer) est (he is) ánimæ (of the soul) meæ (of me).

Confidence in God's help

At this point in the psalm, the tone suddenly changes, from that of humble petition, to a bold statement of confidence in God's protection, perfectly appropriate if the psalm is read as the voice of Christ.

In fact St Robert Bellarmine suggested that the change in tone goes back to the story of David’s escape from the betrayal of the Ziphites:

And, in fact, God’s interference was most sudden and unexpected; for, when Saul had so surrounded David with his army, that his escape seemed impossible, a messenger suddenly came to Saul, bringing news of the Philistines having come in a great body to ravage his kingdom; on hearing which he was obliged to give up the pursuit of David; who, in spirit, foresaw all this, and was, possibly, at the very moment pronouncing the words, “For behold, God is my helper; and the Lord is the protector of my soul.”

Similarly the Gospels set out numerous occasions when Christ eluded his persecutors, until that time when he chose to give himself up in order to fulfill his mission.

St Hilary of Poitier suggested it teaches us that we can be sure that God will indeed help us, even in the face of death:

Let pure religion, therefore, have this confidence, and doubt not that amid the persecutions at the hand of man and the dangers to the soul, it still has God for its helper, knowing that, if at length it comes to a violent and unjust death, the soul on leaving the tabernacle of the body finds rest with God its upholder.

The concept of God as our protector and upholder

The concept of God as not just our creator, but also our sustainer, both physically and spiritually is a key one, particularly for Benedictines, whose profession ceremony includes a plea for God to accept and uphold them.

The verse also has strong echoes, as St Thomas Aquinas pointed out, of a verse of Psalm 3, said daily at Matins in the Benedictine (but not Roman Office), namely ‘Tu autem, Dómine, suscéptor meus es, glória mea, et exáltans caput meum’ (But thou, O Lord art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head).

For this reason it is perhaps a little surprising that St Benedict excluded this psalm from Prime and tempting perhaps to think that it was not part of the hour then, but rather added later by St Gregory the Great by way of a summary of St Benedict’s version of the hour…).

In what does God’s help consist?

Either way, what does this protection include?

St Benedict’s sixth century contemporary pointed to forgiveness of sins, and hence the preservation of our souls, as the key help:

When the Lord supports a person, He does not merely help him in his coils, but also pities and frees him from all sins. Note that he says: Of my soul, so that even if his body is exposed to hazards, the safety of his soul is preserved unharmed. He realised that the Lord protects it in a special way among His saints, for it is through the soul that at the Judgment He is believed to crown a person with abundant love.

St Augustine’s take on the verse, though, which emphasizes the spiritual joys we can enjoy in this life, seems to me more appealing, and a strong reason for inclusion in the Office each day:

For all holy men are helped by God, but within, where no one sees. For in like manner as the conscience of ungodly men is a great punishment, so a great joy is the very conscience of godly men. For our glory this is, says the Apostle, the testimony of our conscience. In this within, not in the flower of the Ziphites without, does glory that man that now says, For behold God helps me. Surely though afar off are to be those things which He promises, this day have I a sweet and present help; today in my heart's joy I find that without cause certain say, Who does show to us good things? For there is signed upon us the light of Your countenance, O Lord, You have put pleasantness into my heart. Not into my vineyard, not into my flock, not into my cask, not into my table, but into my heart. For behold God helps me. How does He help you? And the Lord is the lifter up of my soul.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Intellectus David, 2 cum venissent Ziphæi, et dixissent ad Saul : Nonne David absconditus est apud nos?	Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. 2 When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us?
1 Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac: * et in virtúte tua júdica me.	3 Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength.
2  Deus, exáudi oratiónem meam: * áuribus pércipe verba oris mei.	4 O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.
3  Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: * et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum.	5 For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
4 Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: * et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.	6 For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
5  Avérte mala inimícis meis: * et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.	7 Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
6  Voluntárie sacrificábo tibi, * et confitébor nómini tuo, Dómine: quóniam bonum est :	8 I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God, to your name: because it is good:
7  Quóniam ex omni tribulatióne eripuísti me: * et super inimícos meos despéxit óculus meus.	9 For you have delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye has looked down upon my enemies.

The next part in this series can be found here.