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| Two Ziphites before Saul Library of the Holy Monastery of Pantokrator |
Psalm 53 has a particular appropriateness for the Lenten season, since it is used on both Good Friday and Holy Saturday at Tenebrae, as well as said daily at Prime during the Triduum.
My other reason for looking at it though, is that it was once one of the psalms recited daily in the Roman Office, thus contributing to the particular character of that Office.*
Vulgate
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Douay-Rheims
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In finem, in carminibus. Intellectus David, 2 cum venissent Ziphæi, et dixissent ad Saul : Nonne David absconditus est apud nos?
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Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us?
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1 Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac: * et in virtúte tua júdica me.
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Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength.
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| 2 Deus, exáudi oratiónem meam: * áuribus pércipe verba oris mei. |
O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.
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| 3 Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: * et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum. |
For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
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4 Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: * et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.
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For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
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5 Avérte mala inimícis meis: * et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.
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Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
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6 Voluntárie sacrificábo tibi, * et confitébor nómini tuo, Dómine: quóniam bonum est :
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I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God, to your name: because it is good:
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| 7 Quóniam ex omni tribulatióne eripuísti me: * et super inimícos meos despéxit óculus meus. |
For you have delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye has looked down upon my enemies.
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A once prominent psalm
Psalm 53 doesn't feature much in the versions of the Office still in official use.
In the Benedictine psalm schema Psalm 53 is said normally said only once a week, as the second psalm of the second Nocturn of Matins on Tuesday.
Similarly, in the Roman Office, since 1911 it has been said said once a week only, at Sunday Prime.
The 1970 Liturgy of the Hours reduced its use further, cutting out one verse altogether, and consigning what is left to being said one every four weeks (to daytime prayer on Tuesday of week 2).
Prior to the twentieth century though, it had a much more prominent position, said daily at Prime in the Roman Office.
It was also said at Prime daily in the Little Office of Our Lady, a devotion that almost certainly originated at Monte Cassino and was said in addition to the Office for religious, as well as the main form of the Office for the laity for much of the Middle Ages, and was subsequently used by many religious sisters up until Vatican II.
The history of the liturgical use of this psalm then, raises a number of questions that I think are worth pondering, and which I hope to at least touch on as we go through its verses, such as:
- why does the psalm feature so heavily in the liturgy of Holy Week?
- why was the psalm considered so important as to be said daily in the Roman Office?
- why was it considered particularly appropriate for the hour of Prime?
- assuming that Psalm 53 already held its position at Prime in St Benedict's time, why didn't he follow the Roman model in this case (and if it was added after his time, why)? and
- why was it considered particularly apposite for the Little Office of Our Lady?
David, Christ and the Devil
The ancient title to Psalm 53, preserved in both the Hebrew Masoretic Text and Septuagint traditions, gives it a particular historical context, set out in 1 Samuel 23: David had taken refuge with the Ziphites, who, after feigning friendship betrayed him to King Saul; he was saved only because the Philistines invaded, preventing Saul from pursuing him.
Here are some of the key verses:
But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and he remained in a mountain of the desert of Ziph, in a woody hill. And Saul sought him always: but the Lord delivered him not into his hands. And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood...And the Ziphites went up to Saul in Gabaa, saying: Lo, doth not David lie hid with us in the strong holds of the wood, in mount Hachila, which is on the right hand of the desert. Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to come down: and it shall be our business to deliver him into the king’s hands. And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my case. Go therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence, and curiously inquire, and consider the place where his foot is, and who hath seen him there: for he thinketh of me, that I lie craftily in wait for him. Consider and see all his lurking holes, wherein he is hid, and return to me with the certainty of the thing, that I may go with you. And if he should even go down into the earth to hide himself, I will search him out in all the thousands of Juda. And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: and David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain at the right hand of Jesimon.The Fathers almost invariably interpreted the psalm title's allusion to this story typologically: Saul stands for the devil; David for Christ, and the Ziphites for the Jewish authorities who harassed and ultimately handed him over to be crucified.
The first verse of the Psalm, then, which reads 'Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength', becomes a reference first to Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemene, and then to his vindication through the Resurrection; other verses take us through the other events of the Triduum, most notably verse 6 as a reference to Christ's willing sacrifice of himself on the cross, hence its use at Tenebrae.
And the link to the Resurrection perhaps also helps to explain its position at Prime, since it thus provides a lead in to stanzas of Psalm 118, which, by dint of its reference to the blessed many in the opening verse, is often interpreted as relating to the way to heaven reopened by virtue of the Resurrection.
Psalm 53 in the Little Office of Our Lady
Typological interpretations of the psalm title also, I think, account for its use in the Little Office of Our Lady, as the seventh or eighth century (probably Irish) commentary on it by Pseudo-Jerome drew a parallel between David's hiding in the woods and caves of Zith, and his hidden time spent in the womb of Our Lady.
That commentary also points to his time in the flesh as one of hidden divinity, thus it is a prayer of his acceptance of the form of a servant, and offering of himself for our salvation.
The Benedictine Office
St Benedict's arrangement of the psalter does not particularly highlight Psalm 53, but rather places in the context of a set of psalms that tell first of God's power and glory (the 'Sons of Zion', starting with Psalm 45), and then of man's reaction to this revelation: rather than hearing God's message and converting from sin, Psalm 51 onwards tell us, the seek David - and thus Christ's life.
This interpretation, I think, helps explain why St Benedict saw the psalm as particularly appropriate to Tuesdays, since that day in the Benedictine Office particularly focuses on Christ's public mission: David's betrayal by the Zithites, after all, was not the end of his struggles with Saul.
Instead, particularly in the context of the Benedictine arrangement of the psalter which connects the psalms of Zion to the Gradual Psalms on Tuesdays, invites us to take a different path to the Zithities.
Instead of seeking to betray Christ, we must call upon him for help (verse 1 -3), relying on his justice and mercy.
Instead of striking back, we should pray for the conversion of our enemies (the proper interpretation of verse 5, excised in the Liturgy of the Hours!).
And in response to all the aid that God gives us, in recognition of his great goodness, we should in turn offer to him our sacrifice of praise in the Office and the Mass (verse 6-7).
A prayer for aid in the spiritual battle
Above all, Psalm 53 is a prayer for aid in the spiritual battle.
In the Benedictine Office, the very first psalm said each day, Psalm 3 (said at Matins), serves to call and aid us in the daily spiritual battle.
Psalm 53, though, arguably served the same function in the Roman Office, as St Robert Bellarmine, in continuity with a stream of commentaries from Amalarius of Metz onwards, noted:
This Psalm is daily recited in the canonical hour of Prime, in order that, in imitation of David, we may learn to strengthen ourselves with the arm of prayer against all our persecutors, at the beginning of each day, recollecting, “That all who wish to live piously in Jesus Christ shall suffer persecution.”Though it is no longer said daily, it is a psalm that deserves our attention as we move closer to Holy Week, and in the next post I will starting at it verse by verse.
*The repeated psalms of the pre-1911 Roman and the Benedictine Offices are set out in the table below for reference purposes. Psalms that are repeated over the week in one form of the Office but not the other are bolded.
Hour
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Roman pre 1911
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Benedictine
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Matins
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94
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3, 94
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Lauds
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62, 66, [50], 148, 149, 150
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66, 50, 148, 149, 150
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Prime
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53,
Ps 118 (1-32)
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nil
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Terce-None
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Ps
118 (33-176)
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Ps
119-127 (Tues - Sat)
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Vespers
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nil
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nil
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Compline
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4 , 30 (1-6), 90, 133
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4, 90, 133
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Other scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm
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- |
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RB
cursus |
Tuesday
Matins |
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Monastic
feasts etc |
Triduum
Prime; |
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Responsories |
6421
(3) – tues in summer? |
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Roman
pre 1911 |
Prime
daily |
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Roman
post 1911 |
1911-62:
Wednesday Terce. |
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Mass
propers (EF) |
Lent 4 Monday, IN (3-5); |
