Introduction to Psalm 94

I'm looking, in this series, at the repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office, and today I want to turn to Psalm 94.

The second invitatory psalm of Matins, Psalm 94, is a joyful invitation to worship our creator, redeemer and protector.  But it also has a darker message, namely a warning not to put off repentance, but to respond to God’s call here and now.

Psalm 94: Venite Exultemus Domino

Vulgate	Psalter (Vetus latina)	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici ipsi David.		Praise of a canticle for David himself.
1 Venite, exsultemus Domino; jubilemus Deo salutari nostro;	1. Veníte, exsultémus Dómino, jubilémus Deo, salutári nostro:	Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
2 præoccupemus faciem ejus in confessione, et in psalmis jubilemus ei	præoccupémus fáciem ejus in confessióne, et in psalmis jubilémus ei.	2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
3 quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et rex magnus super omnes deos.	2. Quóniam Deus magnus Dóminus, et Rex magnus super omnes deos	3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 Quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitudines montium ipsius sunt;	: quóniam non repéllet Dóminus plebem suam : quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitúdines móntium ipse cónspicit.	4 For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.
5 quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et siccam manus ejus formaverunt	3. Quóniam ipsíus est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et áridam fundavérunt manus ejus	5 For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6  Venite, adoremus, et procidamus, et ploremus ante Dominum qui fecit nos:	Veníte, adorémus, et procidámus ante Deum : plorémus coram Dómino, qui fecit nos,	6 Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
7  quia ipse est Dominus Deus noster, et nos populus pascuæ ejus, et oves manus ejus.	quia ipse est Dóminus Deus noster ; nos autem pópulus ejus, et oves páscuæ ejus.	7 For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Hodie si vocem ejus audieritis, nolite obdurare corda vestra	4. Hódie, si vocem ejus audiéritis, nolíte obduráre corda vestra,	8 Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
9 sicut in irritatione, secundum diem tentationis in deserto, ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri : probaverunt me, et viderunt opera mea.	sicut in exacerbatióne, secúndum diem tentatiónis in desérto : ubi tentavérunt me patres vestri, probavérunt et vidérunt ópera mea.	9 As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
10 Quadraginta annis offensus fui generationi illi, et dixi : Semper hi errant corde.	5. Quadragínta annis próximus fui generatióni huic, et dixi : Semper hi errant corde;	10 Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.
11 Et isti non cognoverunt vias meas : ut juravi in ira mea : Si introibunt in requiem meam.	ipsi vero non cognovérunt vias meas : quibus jurávi in ira mea : Si introíbunt in réquiem meam.	11 And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.

 Scriptural context

Psalm 94 is part of a group of psalms (consisting of Psalm 92-99) which proclaim the kingship of God, express their hope and faith in the establishment of God’s domain over the whole world.  Some commentators view this as a psalm used in liturgical processions; others see it as a pilgrimage song.

The second half of the psalm (verses 9-11) refers to the events described in Exodus 17:1-7 when the Israelites doubted God because there was no water where they camped, and threatened to stone Moses until he, on God’s instructions, struck a rock and water poured out.  As punishment for their murmuring and doubting of God, none of those involved were allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Liturgical context

This psalm is used daily as the invitatory at Matins in both the Roman and Benedictine Breviaries, and though the direction of influence is unclear, this is probably a case of the Roman Office adopting it from the Benedictine.  

The reasons for its selection are reasonably clear cut: St Benedict quotes from this psalm extensively in the Prologue of his Rule, weaving it into his extended invitation to one who would become a monk.  And St Benedict often seems to enjoy employing nice literalisms, such as its opening call to 'come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms'.

There are two peculiarities, though, in the way this psalm is used in the Office.  

First, after each verse or group of verses a responsorial antiphon is said, the only survival of this approach in the Office.  

Secondly, the text used in the Office is not the Vulgate (St Jerome’s Gallican), but the Old Roman translation.  The ‘Roman Psalter’ translation was the one almost certainly used by St Benedict, and indeed throughout the West until the ninth century, and survived in Rome itself until the sixteenth century.  Its survival in the Office in this translation is presumably due to the ancient chant settings of the psalm, which can be found in the Liber Hymnarius and other places.

A call to adoration

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church points out, adoration is our first duty towards God (CCC2628).  In the modern world, we do everything possible to avoid acknowledging that our lives are not in fact under our control, but at God’s.  But if we are truly conscious of God’s greatness as creator and sustainer or the world and ourselves, the psalmist instructs in verse 6, we would prostrate ourselves before him, and weep for the sins that offend him.  

Accordingly, the psalm sets out a number of reasons why we should joyfully adore God.    He offers us the promise of salvation (v1); he is the true, real God, unlike the impotent inventions worshipped by the pagans (v3); he controls all things, and instead of rejecting us, has reopened the way to salvation (v4); he created the world (v5) and us (v6); he provides the necessities of life to us, spiritual and physical, and guides us through his continuing providential care (v7).  It is worth noting that the Fathers interpret the references to the sea, mountains and so forth not just as references to the natural world, but all as standing for the construction of our culture, society and in particular the Church.

If today you hear his voice...

St Benedict uses verse 8 to call us to the more intense spiritual life he proposes in his Rule:

“Let us arise, then, at last,  for the Scripture stirs us up, saying, "Now is the hour for us to rise from sleep" (Rom. 13:11). Let us open our eyes to the deifying light,  let us hear with attentive ears  the warning which the divine voice cries daily to us, "Today if you hear His voice,  harden not your hearts" (Ps. 94[95]:8).  And again, "Whoever has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Matt. 11-15; Apoc. 2:7).”

Hebrews provides an extended commentary on verses 8-11, pointing out that there are consequences to God’s providential care for us: we are part of a covenant relationship which means we too have obligations towards God, most importantly not to reject him through sin and unbelief.  Instead, we are called not only to adore God, but to obey his commandments and do good works.  As St Benedict instructs:

"Whenever you start out to do some good task, you should first ask God, who has deigned to count us among his children, that he bring it to its proper end; for then we shall never be downcast by our failure to do well. At all times we should make ourselves subject to Him in the use of all those goods he has placed at our disposal…With our eyes wide open to the divine light, we will clearly hear what the voice of God says to us every day: If you listen to his voice, your heart will not be hardened; and: Let him who has ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. And what does He say? Come, my children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Walk while it is still light, before you are caught out by the darkness of death. Girded with the belt of faith and the practice of good works, we will make our way forward along his paths, taking the Gospel as our guide, so that we may arrive to see the one who has called us into his kingdom. If we wish to make our home in his heavenly kingdom, we should always bear in mind that to reach his court we must travel with haste along the path of good works."

If we let him, he will lead us into the promised land of heaven. But if we reject him…

You can find the first set of verse by verse notes on the psalm here.

Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Heb 3:7-19 (4ff); 1 Cor 10:9 (4B); Heb 4:3-5 (5B)
RB cursus	Matins daily
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc	-
Roman pre 1911	Matins daily
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Matins daily . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	PP14, AL (1); PP 15, AL (2); September Ember Saturday, IN (3)

St Robert Bellarmine's Commentary on the Psalter/2

Yesterday I posted some material on the life of St Robert Bellarmine.  Today I want to give a few samples of his Commentary on the Psalms, from the translation by the Ven.  John O'Sullivan.

St Robert Bellarmine's Commentary is particularly helpful, I find, because it is firmly grounded in the tradition of the Church up to his time.  He frequently cites St Augustine and other patristic sources, is conscious of both the Vulgate/Septuagint traditions, but also of the Hebrew text variants.  Yet at the same time it has a distinctly more modern and engaging character than some of the medieval expositions.  Above all, St Robert provides a verse by verse exegesis that gets straight down to the juice to be squeezed out of the text for our spiritual advancement.

A contemplative

Though St Robert was a Jesuit, his commentary, though practical in orientation, is deeply contemplative in tone, something that helps make it extremely attractive to readers today.  Consider, for example, this take on the opening verse of Psalm 41 (42), 'As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after thee, O God':

"Love is a fiery affection, and, therefore, cannot be restrained, but breaks forth in words and sighs. To express his love somehow, David compares himself to a thirsty stag, say­ing, "As the hart panteth after the fountains of waters;" a most happy and expressive simile.

The stag is noted for four pecu­liarities. It is a deadly enemy to serpents, and constantly at war with them. When it is pursued by the hunters, it betakes itself to the highest mountains as quickly as possible. By some nat­ural instinct, they singularly carry out the advice of the apostle, "Bear ye each other's burdens;" for, according to St. Augustine, when they move in a body, or swim across a lake, the weaker ones rest their heads on the stronger, and are thus helped along. Finally, when they are tired after a combat with serpents, or a flight to the mountain, or from helping each other along, they seek to refresh themselves by copious droughts of water, from which they cannot be tempted or deterred.

Such is a most per­fect idea of the true lover of God. He has to wage a continued war against the serpents of his evil desires. When he is nigh overcome by temptation, or by persecutions, he flies away to the mount of contemplation, bears his neighbor's infirmities with the greatest patience, and, above all, thirsts ardently for God, from whom he will not be held back by any earthly hap­piness or trouble. Such was David, though a soldier; so was Paul, Peter, and the other apostles and martyrs; such were all who felt they were, while here below, in exile, and, through good and evil days, never lost sight of that country, the supreme object of their wishes."

A God who guides us individually

St Robert advocates an active role for the laity, most especially the cultivation of a deeply personal relationship with God through the sacraments, reading of Scripture, prayer and good works.  In his commentary on Psalm 94, said daily at Matins in the older forms of the Roman and Benedictine Offices, for example, he discusses the sources of guidance God provides for each of us individually in relation to the verse, 'If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts'.  He points to the conventional injunction to obey the commandments:

"...the Prophet exhorts God's people to praise God, not only by word of mouth, but also by their works. Now, the most agreeable sacrifice we can offer to God is the observance of his commandments, according to 1 Kings 15, "Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed?"

But he points to other important sources of guidance as well:

"The word "if" seems to mean that God does not speak to us every moment, but that he advises in fitting time and place, either through his teachers, or through the reading of the Scriptures, or in some other mode to make his will known to us."

A counter to clericalism

One of the more notable features of the work is that throughout the text, the saint offers careful correctives to the excesses of clericalist authoritarianism.  In his remarks on the verse in the same psalm 'we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture', for example, on the one hand he stresses the importance of the pastors of the Church, but on the other he is conscious of the only too contemporary problem of false and unworthy priests, and stresses that God guides us each individually as well:

"...the Lord not only made us, but he governs us by a special providence, as a shepherd would the flock that belonged to himself....are not sheep devoid of reason, that need to be driven with a staff; and they are called the sheep of his hand, either because he made them, or because he guides them with his hand; for though God's people have shepherds and teachers to feed and to direct them, still he has a peculiar care for them, and does not let them suffer from the negligence or the ignorance, or even the malice of the pastors. Whence we infer that God's people should put great confidence in God, their supreme Pastor, and have recourse to him, through prayer, when they fall in with an unworthy pastor, for God himself says, "I will feed my sheep," Ezech. 34."

I hope this little taster will encourage you to acquire and read more of this great work.