aka the Psalms Blog. A blog on Scripture in line with the "new exegetical movement" proposed by Pope Benedict XVI, with a particular focus on the psalms.
This week I plan to present to you some extracts from the Fathers and Theologians on the opening psalms of Matins each day, starting with Monday, which is Psalm 32.
Psalm 32: Monday Matins I, 1
Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David.
A psalm for David.
1 Exsultáte, justi in Dómino: * rectos decet collaudátio.
Rejoice in the Lord, O you just: praise becomes
the upright.
2 Confitémini Dómino in cíthara: * in psaltério decem chordárum
psállite illi.
2 Give praise to the Lord on the harp; sing
to him with the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings
3 Cantáte ei cánticum novum: * bene psállite ei in
vociferatióne.
3 Sing to him a new
canticle, sing well unto him with a loud noise.
4 Quia rectum est
verbum Dómini, * et ómnia ópera ejus in fide.
4 For the word of the Lord is
right, and all his works are done with faithfulness.
5 Díligit
misericórdiam et judícium: * misericórdia Dómini plena est terra.
5 He loves mercy and
judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
6 Verbo Dómini cæli firmáti sunt:
* et spíritu oris ejus omnis virtus eórum.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were
established; and all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth:
7 Cóngregans sicut in
utre aquas maris: * ponens in thesáuris abyssos.
7 Gathering together the
waters of the sea, as in a vessel; laying up the depths in storehouses.
8 Tímeat Dóminum omnis
terra: * ab eo autem commoveántur omnes inhabitántes orbem.
8 Let all the earth fear the
Lord, and let all
the inhabitants of the world be in awe of him.
9 Quóniam ipse dixit,
et facta sunt: * ipse mandávit, et creáta sunt.
9 For he spoke and they
were made: he commanded and they were created.
10 Dóminus díssipat consília Géntium: * réprobat
autem cogitatiónes populórum et réprobat consília príncipum.
10 The Lord brings to nought
the counsels of nations; and he rejects the devices of people, and casts away
the counsels of princes.
11 Consílium autem Dómini in ætérnum manet: *
cogitatiónes cordis ejus in generatióne et generatiónem.
11 But the counsel of the Lord stands for ever:
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Beáta gens, cujus est Dóminus,
Deus ejus: * pópulus, quem elégit in hereditátem sibi.
12 Blessed is the nation
whose God is the Lord: the people whom
he has chosen for his inheritance.
13 De cælo respéxit Dóminus: * vidit omnes fílios hóminum.
13 The Lord has looked from heaven: he has beheld
all the sons of men.
14 De præparáto habitáculo suo * respéxit super omnes, qui
hábitant terram.
14 From his habitation which
he has prepared, he has looked upon all that dwell on the earth.
15 Qui finxit
sigillátim corda eórum: * qui intélligit ómnia ópera eórum.
15 He who has made the
hearts of every one of them: who understands all their works.
16 Non salvátur rex per multam virtútem: * et gigas non
salvábitur in multitúdine virtútis suæ.
16 The king is not saved by
a great army: nor shall the giant be saved by his own great strength.
17 Fallax equus ad
salútem: * in abundántia autem virtútis suæ non salvábitur.
17 Vain is the horse for safety:
neither shall he be saved by the abundance of his strength.
18 Ecce óculi Dómini super metuéntes eum: * et in eis, qui sperant super
misericórdia ejus :
18 Behold the eyes of the Lord are on them that
fear him: and on them that hope in his mercy.
19 Ut éruat a morte
ánimas eórum: * et alat eos in fame.
19 To deliver their souls from death; and
feed them in famine.
20 Anima nostra sústinet Dóminum: * quóniam adjútor et
protéctor noster est.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord: for he is our
helper and protector.
21 Quia in eo
lætábitur cor nostrum: * et in nómine sancto ejus sperávimus.
21 For in him our heart
shall rejoice: and in his holy
name we have
trusted.
22 Fiat misericórdia
tua, Dómine, super nos: * quemádmodum sperávimus in te.
22 Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we
have hoped in you.
St Augustine
St Augustine does not provide a general introduction to this psalm, but his interpretation of the opening verses perhaps explains why it might seem particularly suitable to start a day:
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous: rejoice, O you righteous, not in yourselves, for that is not safe; but in the Lord. For praise is comely to the upright: these praise the Lord, who submit themselves unto the Lord; for else they are distorted and perverse.
Praise the Lord with harp: praise the Lord, presenting unto Him your bodies a living sacrifice.
Sing unto Him with the psaltery for ten strings: let your members be servants to the love of God, and of your neighbour, in which are kept both the three and the seven commandments.
Sing unto Him a new song: sing unto Him a song of the grace of faith.
Sing skilfully unto Him with jubilation: sing skillfully unto Him with rejoicing.
For the Word of the Lord is right, to make you that which of yourselves ye cannot be.
St Basil
St Basil provides a short meditation on the necessity of joy:
The voice of exultation is familiar in the Scripture, betokening a very bright and happy state of soul in those deserving of happiness. 'Rejoice therefore, in the Lord, O ye just not when the interests of your home are flourishing, not when you are in good health of body, not when your fields are filled with all sorts of fruits, but, when you have the Lord such immeasurable Beauty, Goodness, Wisdom.
Let the joy that is in Him suffice for you. He who exults with joy and happiness in anything that is much desired, seems thus to rejoice in Him. Therefore, Scripture urges the just to be aware of their dignity, because they have been considered worthy to be the servants of so great a Master, and to glory in His service with inexpressible joy and exultation, since the heart is, as it were, bounding with ecstasy of love of the good. If at any time a light, for example, falling upon your heart, produced a continuous thought of God and illumined your soul, so that you loved God and despised the world and all things corporeal, understand from that faint and brief resemblance the whole state of the just, who are enjoying God steadily and uninterruptedly.
At some rare times by the dispensation of God that transport of joy seizes you in order that through a little taste He may remind you of what you have been deprived. But, for the just man the divine and heavenly joy is lasting, since the Holy Spirit dwells in him once for all. 'But the first fruit of the Spirit is: charity, joy, peace.'
St Thomas Aquinas:
In the preceding Psalm, the Psalmist has treated his justification, in this he treats the dignity of the just, concerning which he does two things. First, he exhorts just persons to spiritual praise. Second, he states their worth: 'Blessed is the nation' (Psalm 32:12).
Regarding the exhortation, he first urges spiritual delight and praise, and then discusses their ground: 'Praise becometh the upright' (Psalm 32:1). Again regarding delight and praise, he first urges them, second he discusses the means: 'Give praise to the Lord on the harp,' etc. (Psalm 32:2).
Again regarding the first [viz., urging to delight and praise] he does two things. He makes the exhortation, and then provides the reason: 'Praise becometh the upright' (Psalm 31:1); for he had said, 'I said I will confess...and thou hast forgiven... For this shall every one that is holy pray', etc. (Psalm 31:5-6). Wherefore, 'ye just', as you are justified, 'rejoice in the Lord' (Psalm 31:11), not the world. Otherwise you are not just, for he is not just who does not rejoice in justice. Again, God himself is just, and he himself is justice: 'The Lord is just' (Psalm 10:8). So 'be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just,' (Psalm 31:11). -- 'But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus' (Habakkuk 3:18).
St Alphonsus Liguori:
The psalmist exhorts the just to praise the Lord, to fear his judgments, and to confide in his mercy.
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt van Rijn
As well as more general 'tidying up' (clearing out assorted added prayers etc), the 1962 reforms of the Office made a number of changes to the traditional division points in some of the psalms.
I haven't been able to find out what the ostensible rationale for these changes was, so have been taking a look at them to see what I can discover. Some of them I think I have a pretty good idea what the motivation was, and it is not good news. Some are less obvious though, and I would put the change to Psalm 106, which I want to look at today, in this category.
St Benedict's divisions of the psalms
In the case of the day hours, St Benedict specifies which psalms are to be divided, presumably because they are not always the longest ones. In the case of the Night Office though, he just says:
Having arranged the order of the office, let all the rest of the psalms which remain over, be divided equally into seven night offices, by so dividing such of them as are of greater length that twelve fall to each night.
This makes it sound as if the psalms to be divided, and the division points in them, are random and unimportant. In reality though, I'm not convinced this is the case. For one thing, if it was entirely random, wouldn't the division point be more or less in the middle of each psalm, or perhaps at some obvious point that fits the structure of the psalm? In fact that is not necessarily the case as we shall see in the case of Psalm 106.
The structure of Psalm 106
Psalm 106 is said as the third and fourth psalm in the second nocturn of Matins on Saturdays in the Benedictine Office. Its three opening lines provide the context for the psalm:
Give glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy
endures for ever.
2 Dicant qui redémpti sunt a Dómino, quos redémit de manu
inimíci: * et de regiónibus congregávit eos:
2 Let
them say so that have been redeemed by the Lord, whom he has redeemed from the hand
of the enemy: and gathered out of the countries.
3 A solis ortu, et occásu: * ab aquilóne, et mari.
3 From
the rising and from the setting of the sun, from the north and from the sea.
In these verses the psalmist urges all those redeemed by God, believers gathered from the four corners of the world, and redeemed through baptism (symbolised by the sea), to praise God for his great mercy.
The psalm then divides into four sections, dealing with a series of afflictions, each of which contains a version of two refrains:
6 Et clamavérunt ad
Dóminum cum tribularéntur: * et de necessitátibus eórum erípuit eos.
6 And
they cried to the Lord
in their tribulation: and he delivered them out of their distresses.
8 Let
the mercies of the Lord
give glory to him:
and his wonderful works to the children of men.
Interpretations
There are two broad lines of interpretations of this psalm, one seeing it as being primarily about the crises of the individual soul, the other as dealing with the salvation of mankind (though of course both lines can be held simultaneously).
St Robert Bellarmine, for example, takes the first approach, and interprets it primarily as literally dealing with the physical afflictions of hunger and thirst, captivity, disease or sickness, and shipwreck; spiritually, they are 'ignorance, concupiscence, bad temper and malice'.
St Alphonsus Liguori adopts the second approach:
In the literal sense this psalm sets forth the sufferings that the Jews endured in their captivity and in the desert, and it exhorts them to return thanks to God for having delivered them therefrom. In the figurative sense it represents the miseries from which Jesus Christ has delivered Christians. In it, moreover, the prophet clearly announces the ruin of the Synagogue, the vocation of the Gentiles, and the establishment of the Church.
The psalmist begins by an invitation to praise the goodness and the mercy of God. He then describes four examples of recourse to the Lord in affliction, and at the end of each repeats his invitation: verses 6-8, 13-15, 19-21, and 28-31. He concludes by an eulogium and a prophecy of the all-powerful and ever-merciful Providence of the Most High towards his servants, or his Church.
Psalms 104 to 106 in the Benedictine Office
St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus follows the second approach, seeing the psalm as linked to the two that immediately precede it, not least because they all start with the same title (Alleluia) opening words, viz Confitémini Dómino (Give glory to the Lord). That linkage arguably provides the clue to the traditional division point in the psalm.
Psalms 104 and 105 are both long psalms that are also divided in the Office, and chronicle salvation history.
Psalm 104 starts from Abraham and the promises made to him and takes us through Joseph; the second half in the Office starts 'And Israel went into Egypt' and describes the exit from Egypt under Moses.
Psalm 105 focuses on the sins of the Israelites under Moses, and associates the reader with them, but ends with their repentance and a plea for God to save his people:
45 Salvos nos fac, Dómine, Deus noster: * et cóngrega nos
de natiónibus:
47 Save us, O Lord, our God: and gather us from
among the nations:
46 Ut confiteámur
nómini sancto tuo: * et gloriémur in laude tua.
That
we may give thanks to your holy name, and may glory in your praise.
The division point
Looked at in this context, Psalm 106 can be seen as recapitulating the events of the previous two psalms, but also attesting to God's answer to this prayer.
The traditional division point, at verse 25/43, highlights God's action, and in fact can be seen as relating to the harrowing of hell, a particularly appropriate subject for meditation on a Saturday:
25 Dixit, et stetit
spíritus procéllæ: * et exaltáti sunt fluctus ejus.
25He
said the word, and there arose a storm of wind: and the waves thereof were
lifted up.
26 Ascéndunt usque ad
cælos, et descéndunt usque ad abyssos: * ánima eórum in malis
tabescébat
26 They
mount up to the heavens,
and they go down to the depths:
their soul pined
away with evils.
It is worth noting that Romans 10:6-7 makes this allusion explicit, albeit in a slightly different context (it contrasts the justification from the Old law, with the justification by faith of the new):
But the justice which is of faith, speaketh thus: Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; Or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead....
The 1962 change
The 1962 breviary, however, changes the division point to two verses earlier.
31 Let
the mercies of the Lord
give glory to him,
and his wonderful works to the children of men.
32 Et exáltent eum in
ecclésia plebis: * et in cáthedra seniórum laudent eum...
And let them exalt him in the
church of the people: and praise him in the chair of the ancients....
It is a logical division point in some respects. It arguably follows the structure of the psalm more closely, particularly if you follow the more literal line of interpretation. It also has the advantage, perhaps, of highlighting the verse on the sacrifice of praise (although given that in choir everyone will be scrambling to stand up, maybe it actually obscures it?!), as well as the section of the psalm popularised by the nineteenth century Anglican hymn Eternal Father Strong to Save (aka For those in peril on the sea).
None of those reasons seem all that compelling though. Accordingly, you really have to wonder why they felt it so important to make this change in emphasis.
Was it just change for change's sake, a general anti-tradition gesture in the absence of awareness of the Christological interpretation of the psalm?
Was it perhaps that they wanted to downplay the emphasis on the action of Christ?
Or was it, perhaps, that the reformers wanted to downplay the idea that the Benedictine Office contains a mini-Triduum each week and expunge all references to it, in the interest of reordering the psalms according to their own whims?
