Psalm 7: Dómine, Deus meus, in te sperávi
Vulgate
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Douay-Rheims
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Psalmus David,
quem cantavit Domino pro verbis Chusi, filii Jemini.
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The psalm
of David, which he sung to the Lord, for the words of Chusi, the son of
Jemini.
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Dómine, Deus
meus, in te sperávi : * salvum me fac ex ómnibus persequéntibus me, et líbera
me.
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Lord, my God,
in you have I put my trust; save me from all them that persecute me, and
deliver me.
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2. Nequándo rápiat ut leo
ánimam meam, * dum non est qui rédimat, neque qui salvum fáciat.
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Lest at any
time he seize upon my soul like a lion, while there is no one to redeem me,
nor to save.
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3 Dómine,
Deus meus, si feci istud. * si est iníquitas in mánibus meis :
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O Lord, my God,
if I have done this thing, if there be iniquity in my hands
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4 Si
réddidi retribuéntibus mihi mala, * décidam mérito ab inimícis meis inánis.
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If I have
rendered to them that repaid me evils, let me deservedly fall empty before my
enemies.
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5 Persequátur
inimícus ánimam meam, et comprehéndat, et concúlcet in terra vitam meam, * et
glóriam meam in púlverem dedúcat.
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Let the
enemy pursue my soul, and take it, and tread down my life, on the earth, and
bring down my glory to the dust.
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6 Exsúrge,
Dómine, in ira tua : * et exaltáre in fínibus inimicórum meórum.
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Rise up, O Lord,
in your anger: and be exalted in the borders of my enemies.
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7
Et exsúrge, Dómine Deus meus, in præcépto quod mandásti : * et synagóga
populórum circúmdabit te.
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And arise, O
Lord, my God, in the precept which you have commanded: And a congregation of
people shall surround you.
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8
Et propter hanc in altum regrédere : * Dóminus júdicat pópulos.
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And for their
sakes return on high. The Lord judges the people.
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9
Júdica me, Dómine, secúndum justítiam meam, * et secúndum innocéntiam meam
super me.
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Judge me, O Lord,
according to my justice, and according to my innocence in me.
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10
Consumétur nequítia peccatórum, et díriges justum, * scrutans corda et
renes Deus.
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The wickedness
of sinners shall be brought to nought; and you shall direct the just: the
searcher of hearts and reins is God.
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11
Justum adjutórium meum a Dómino, * qui salvos facit rectos corde.
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Just is my
help from the Lord; who saves the upright of heart
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12
Deus judex justus, fortis, et pátiens : * numquid iráscitur per síngulos
dies?
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God is a just
judge, strong and patient: is he angry every day?
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13
Nisi convérsi fuéritis, gládium suum vibrábit : * arcum suum teténdit, et
parávit illum.
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Except you
will be converted, he will brandish his sword; he has bent his bow, and made
it ready.
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14
Et in eo parávit vasa mortis : * sagíttas suas ardéntibus effécit.
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And in it he
has prepared to instruments of death, he has made ready his arrows for them
that burn.
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15
Ecce partúriit injustítiam : * concépit dolórem, et péperit iniquitátem.
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Behold he
has been in labour with injustice: he has conceived sorrow, and brought forth
iniquity.
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16
Lacum apéruit, et effódit eum : * et íncidit in fóveam quam fecit.
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He has opened
a pit and dug it: and he is fallen into the hole he made.
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17
Convertétur dolor ejus in caput ejus : * et in vérticem ipsíus iníquitas ejus
descéndet.
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His sorrow
shall be turned on his own head: and his iniquity shall come down upon his
crown.
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| 18 Confitébor Dómino secúndum
justítiam ejus : * et psallam nómini Dómini altíssimi. |
I will give glory to the Lord
according to his justice: and will sing to the name of the Lord the most
high.
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You can listen to Psalm 7 being read aloud at Boston Catholic. and then listen to this version which alternates chant tones with a harmonised version (note antiphon first).
The overall theme of Tuesday in the
Benedictine Office is Christ's public ministry, the preaching of the kingdom, and
particularly of Our Lord as the true Temple.
In this context, the psalms St
Benedict set for Prime form a triptych that looks at our response to God’s
call: in particular, they focus on God’s gift to us of free will, and the
consequences thereof, both positive and negative.
This psalm, Psalm 7, is the plea of
a man falsely accused and persecuted by a friend, asking for God to help him
and to set things right. In the psalm King
David, asks the Lord to attest to his innocence of the charges made against
him, while speaking of his anguish at the attacks on his integrity. The Fathers
typically saw it as a prophesy of the rejection of Christ’s teaching by those who should have most welcomed his coming.
The second half of the psalm sets
out God’s role in rendering judgment: God knows what is in our hearts and
minds; based on that, he saves the righteous and punishes the sinner. St Benedict
actually quotes verse 10 of Psalm 7, on God searching our hearts and minds, in
his discussion of the first degree of humility (ch 7, line 14), urging us to be
always consciously aware of the presence of God, who is watching us to see if
we turning away from evil and doing good.
Because of the psalm's pleas for
God’s redeeming power to be manifested, and emphasis on salvation through repentance,
it is also said in the Office of the Dead at Matins.
St Augustine:
Now the story which gave occasion to this prophecy may be easily recognised in the second book of Kings (2 Samuel 15:34-37) For there Chusi, the friend of king David, went over to the side of Abessalon, his son, who was carrying on war against his father, for the purpose of discovering and reporting the designs which he was taking against his father, at the instigation of Achitophel, who had revolted from David's friendship, and was instructing by his counsel, to the best of his power, the son against the father.
But since it is not the story itself which is to be the subject of consideration in this Psalm, from which the prophet has taken a veil of mysteries, if we have passed over to Christ, let the veil be taken away...The ruin then of that disciple, who betrayed Him, is rightly understood to be a brother's ruin, which we said is the interpretation of Achitophel. Now as to Chusi, from the interpretation of silence, it is rightly understood that our Lord contended against that guile in silence, that is, in that most deep secret, whereby blindness happened in part to Israel, when they were persecuting the Lord, that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter in, and so all Israel might be saved...Thus that great silence he does not so much discover by explanation, as he sets forth its greatness in admiration. In this silence the Lord, hiding the sacrament of His adorable passion, turns the brother's voluntary ruin, that is, His betrayer's impious wickedness, into the order of His mercy and providence: that what he with perverse mind wrought for one Man's destruction, He might by providential overruling dispose for all men's salvation.
...This Psalm can also be taken in the person of the Lord Man: if only that which is there spoken in humiliation be referred to our weakness, which He bore.
Cassiodorus:
So the prophet hymned this psalm about the future mystery of the Lord, taking Chusi as a model, for just as David endured unjust persecution from his son Absalom whom he had begotten and raised, so the Lord bore the madness of the abominable arrogance shown by the people whom He had freed and nurtured....In the first section the psalmist speaks in his own person, begging the Lord to be set free from his persecutors through His strength....In the second section, the prophet also asks that the glory of His Resurrection should be made manifest and come to his aid. The third section ushers in the Lord as Spokesman, asking in the lowly role he has assumed to be judged according to his justice and truth....In the fourth part the prophet again speaks, warning the Jews to abandon their intended wickedness from fear of future judgment...
St Thomas Aquinas:
The account in 2 Kings 17 tells that David fled from the presence of his son...Therefore, when David heard that message of Chusi, he sang this song to the Lord. In a mystical sense, this Psalm can be about the Church and against its persecutors…this psalm has three sections. First, a prayer is set forth. Second, there is a hearkening to the prayer at May the Lord judge, and third, an act of thanksgiving at I will praise the Lord." …First he prays that he would be set free from his enemies…he asks for mercy. Second, that his enemies would be weighed down, Second, he recounts his own innocence…St Alphonsus Liguori:
Addressing himself to God, David represents to him his innocence and at the same time the anguish of his heart; this was at the time of the persecution that he had to endure from Saul or from Absalom more probably from Saul. The holy king exhorts at the same time his enemies to be converted, and predicts to them the chastisement of heaven if they are not converted.
In the prophetical sense, says Bellarmine, David represents the person of Jesus Christ, and that of all the just who are calumniated and persecuted.
And a setting of the psalm to meditate to:
