Psalm 63 - Shield us from the Counsel of the malignant

Eadwine Psalter

The first variable psalm of Wednesday Lauds, Psalm 63, also features in the Office of Tenebrae on Holy Saturday.

St Liguori points to both the literal and Christological senses of the psalm:

Pursued by calumny, David implores the help of God, and proclaims his hope of seeing this persecution turn to the ruin of his enemies and to the advantage of the just. In the mystical sense this psalm applies to the Passion of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 63: Exaudi Deus

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David.	Unto the end, a psalm for David.
1 Exáudi, Deus, oratiónem meam cum déprecor: * a timóre inimíci éripe ánimam meam.	Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to you: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.
2 Protexísti me a convéntu malignántium: * a multitúdine operántium iniquitátem.	You have protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.
3  Quia exacuérunt ut gládium linguas suas: * intendérunt arcum rem amáram, ut sagíttent in occúltis immaculátum.	For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing, to shoot in secret the undefiled.
4  Súbito sagittábunt eum, et non timébunt: * firmavérunt sibi sermónem nequam.	They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness.
5 Narravérunt ut abscónderent láqueos: * dixérunt: Quis vidébit eos?	They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them?
6  Scrutáti sunt iniquitátes: * defecérunt scrutántes scrutínio.	They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search.
7  Accédet homo ad cor altum: * et exaltábitur Deus.	Man shall come to a deep heart: And God shall be exalted.
8  Sagíttæ parvulórum factæ sunt plagæ eórum: * et infirmátæ sunt contra eos linguæ eórum.	The arrows of children are their wounds: And their tongues against them are made weak
9  Conturbáti sunt omnes qui vidébant eos: * et tímuit omnis homo.	All that saw them were troubled; and every man was afraid.
10  Et annuntiavérunt ópera Dei, * et facta ejus intellexérunt.	And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings.
11  Lætábitur justus in Dómino, et sperábit in eo: * et laudabúntur omnes recti corde.	The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.

Morning prayer or the betrayal of Judas?

This psalm has, on the face of it, no obvious references to morning prayer or light at all, though some commentators have found some.  Fr Mark over at Vultus Christi has suggested a reference in verse 2:

Hear, O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.

And the early commentator on the Benedictine Rule Hildemar saw one in verse 7:

In the sixty-third psalm mention is made of light where it says: They have failed in their search, man shall come to a deep heart;  that is, when the night ends, man shall come to a deep heart, that is, to light. 

I have to say that neither seem all that convincing to me - the most obvious reason for highlighting this psalm by placing it at Lauds on Wednesday is its link to the day of the week when Judas' betrayal is remembered, as St Augustine points out:

Thou hast hidden me from the secret counsel of the wicked, from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity...He was hidden from the secret counsel of the wicked; hidden by God, being Himself God; hidden, as touching the Manhood, by God the Son, and the very Manhood, Which is taken into God the Son; because He is the Son of man, and He is the Son of; God Son of God, as being in the form of God; Son of man, as having taken upon Him the form of a servant, Whose life no man taketh from Him, but Who layeth it down of Himself. He hath power to lay it down, and He hath power to take it again. 

What then was all that they which hated Him could do? They could kill the Body, but they were not able to kill the Soul. Consider this very earnestly. It had been a small thing for the Lord to preach to the Martyrs by His word, if He had not also nerved them by His example.

We know what secret counsel was that of the wicked Jews, and what insurrection was that of the workers of iniquity. Of what iniquity were they the workers? The murder of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many good works, saith He, have I showed you for which of those works go ye about to kill Me? He had borne with all their weaknesses : He had healed all their diseases : He had preached unto them the kingdom of heaven : He had discovered to them their iniquities, that they might rather hate them, than the Physician That came to cure them. And now at last, without gratitude for all the tenderness of His healing love, like men raging in an high delirium, throwing themselves madly on the Physician, Who had come to cure them, they took counsel together how they might kill Him, as if to see if He were a Man and could die, or Something more than a man, and That would not let Himself die....

God's protection

Nonetheless, the psalm does contain one key theme that resonates through the variable psalms of Lauds, and that is God's protection of his elect against the assaults of the wicked: our refuge, even in this world.  All of these references urge us to persevere, even up until death, so that we might ultimately triumph with Christ.

A key verse in this psalm is verse 2:

2 Protexísti me a convéntu malignántium: * a multitúdine operántium iniquitátem.

You have protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.

The other is verse 8 (where the blows and words of the wicked are made weak and useless), an idea also echoed in Psalm 75 on Friday.

Psalm 117 also has several verses on this key theme:

5  De tribulatióne invocávi Dóminum: * et exaudívit me in latitúdine Dóminus.	5 In my trouble I called upon the Lord: and the Lord heard me, and enlarged me.
6  Dóminus mihi adjútor: * non timébo quid fáciat mihi homo.	6 The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man can do unto me.

7  Dóminus mihi adjútor: * et ego despíciam inimícos meos.	7 The Lord is my helper: and I will look over my enemies.
8  Bonum est confídere in Dómino: * quam confídere in hómine.	8 It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to   have confidence in man.
9  Bonum est speráre in Dómino: * quam speráre in princípibus.	9 It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes.
14  Fortitúdo mea, et laus mea Dóminus: * et factus est mihi in salútem.	14 The Lord is my strength and my praise: and he has become my salvation.

The theme particularly gets a work out in the second psalm of each day, including the beautiful image of God sheltering us under his wings (ala, ae,  a wing; care, protection or patronage):

Psalm 62

8  Et in velaménto alárum tuárum exsultábo, adhæsit ánima mea post te: * me suscépit déxtera tua.

And I will rejoice under the covert of your wings: 9 My soul has stuck close to you: your right hand has received me.

Psalm 35

8  Fílii autem hóminum, * in tégmine alárum tuárum sperábunt.

But the children of men shall put their trust under the covert of your wings.

Psalm 56

2  Et in umbra alárum tuárum sperábo: * donec tránseat iníquitas.

And in the shadow of your wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away.

Liturgical and scriptural uses of the psalm

The text of the psalm arranged for liturgical use is set out below.

Psalm 63

Exáudi, Deus, oratiónem meam cum déprecor: * a timóre inimíci éripe ánimam meam.	Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to you: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.
Protexísti me a convéntu malignántium: * a multitúdine operántium iniquitátem.	You have protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.
Quia exacuérunt ut gládium linguas suas: † intendérunt arcum rem amáram, * ut sagíttent in occúltis immaculátum.	For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing, to shoot in secret the undefiled.
Súbito sagittábunt eum, et non timébunt: * firmavérunt sibi sermónem nequam.	They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness.
Narravérunt ut abscónderent láqueos: * dixérunt: Quis vidébit eos?	They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them?
Scrutáti sunt iniquitátes: * defecérunt scrutántes scrutínio.	They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search.
Accédet homo ad cor altum: * et exaltábitur Deus.	Man shall come to a deep heart: And God shall be exalted.
Sagíttæ parvulórum factæ sunt plagæ eórum: * et infirmátæ sunt contra eos linguæ eórum.	The arrows of children are their wounds: And their tongues against them are made weak
Conturbáti sunt omnes qui vidébant eos: * et tímuit omnis homo.	All that saw them were troubled; and every man was afraid.
Et annuntiavérunt ópera Dei, * et facta eius intellexérunt.	And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings.
Lætábitur iustus in Dómino, et sperábit in eo: * et laudabúntur omnes recti corde.	The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

NT references	-
RB cursus	Lauds Wednesday+AN 1196
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc	Common of Apostles, Martyr(s); Easter; Good Friday Tenebrae, exposition on by St Augustine, Holy Sat Tenebrae, Lauds AN 1429 (10), 3561 (11)
Roman pre 1911	Wed Matins
Responsories	-
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Saturday Lauds . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Martyr IN 2, 11 -Laetabitur Martyr IN (2, 3) – Protexisti me

And for more....

The next part in this series is on Psalm 87.

You may also care to read my previous notes on the psalm in the context of the Office on Wednesday.. 

Psalm 42 - Bring me into your holy tabernacles

The first of the variable psalms of Lauds on Tuesday is Psalm 42, which will be familiar to EF Mass goers due to its use in the prayers at the foot of the altar.

Psalm 42 - Lauds Tuesday

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David	A psalm for David.
Júdica me, Deus, et discérne causam meam de gente non sancta, * ab hómine iníquo, et dolóso érue me.	Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.
2  Quia tu es, Deus, fortitúdo mea: * quare me repulísti? et quare tristis incédo, dum afflígit me inimícus?	For you are God my strength: why have you cast me off? And why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicts me?
3  Emítte lucem tuam et veritátem tuam: * ipsa me deduxérunt, et adduxérunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernácula tua.	Send forth your light and your truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto your holy hill, and into your tabernacles.
4  Et introíbo ad altáre Dei: * ad Deum, qui lætíficat juventútem meam.	And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who gives joy to my youth.
5  Confitébor tibi in cíthara, Deus, Deus meus: * quare tristis es, ánima mea? et quare contúrbas me?	To you, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp: why are you sad, O my soul? And why do you disquiet me?
6  Spera in Deo, quóniam adhuc confitébor illi: * salutáre vultus mei, et Deus meus.	Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

Light and truth

At first blush, Psalm 42 barely meets the criteria of a reference to morning prayer and/or light.

There is some connection though, as Pope John Paul II's exegesis makes clear:

The person praying has not yet reached the temple of God, he is still overwhelmed by the darkness of the trial; but now before his eyes shines the light of the future encounter, and his lips already experience the tone of the song of joy. At this point, the appeal is largely characterized by hope.

One of the key themes of the psalm, and one that echoes through the Lauds psalms, is that in shining his light on us, we cannot help but be discomforted as we are confronted with the reality of our sinfulness.  Pope John Paul II, for example continued:

In commenting on our Psalm St Augustine in fact observes:  "Hope in God, he will respond to him whose soul disquiets him.... Meanwhile live in hope:  for "hope that is seen is not hope; but if we hope for that which we cannot see, it is thanks to patience that we wait for it' (cf. Rom 8, 24-25)"... The Psalm then becomes the prayer of the one who is a pilgrim on earth and still finds himself in contact with evil and suffering, but has the certainty that the endpoint of history is not an abyss of death, but rather a saving encounter with God. 

It is for this reason that in the prayers at the foot of the altar it is linked to the saying of the Confiteor: our proper response to this light is to confess our sins and throw ourselves on God's mercy, placing our hope in him.

The reference to the altar here, though, should not be viewed literally.  Psalm 42 has thematic connections both to the songs of Sion sung at Matins and the Gradual psalms sung at the hours from Terce to Vespers (and completed at Compline) on Tuesdays in the Benedictine Office, all of which can be seen as referring not just to the physical temple, but also to each of us, as temples of Christ, and to the Church.  St Liguori, for example, applies the psalm to the individual:

David begs of God to be delivered from his enemies, and consoles himself with the hope of again seeing the Tabernacle of the Lord. In the spiritual sense this psalm applies to the just man who in the trials of the present life longs to leave this world, and to go to his heavenly country.

Temple, tabernacle and altar

But there is a double meaning to this invitation to enter into the altar, for it also, I think, applies to the hear and now.  The Fathers, following St Paul, interpreted the images of temple, tabernacle and altar as symbolising both the Church in this present life, and the individual Christian.

In the Office we are invited each day to commit ourselves to our rest, a mini-sleep of death, but with the hope of Resurrection: dormiam et requiescam (Psalm 4).  In the dark of the night we rise again with Christ (Psalm 3):

6  Ego dormívi, et soporátus sum: * et exsurréxi, quia Dóminus suscépit me.

I have slept and taken my rest: and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me

Now at Lauds we are invited to take the next step in building that future temple, the new Jerusalem by participating in the work of building the temple within ourselves and in our communities, offering ourselves as a holocaust to God on the altar of our bodies and souls through conversion, penance and good works.

St Bede, for example, saw the altar of incense in the tabernacle (Exodus 30:1-2) as symbolising:

that general way of life of the righteous who daily crucify their flesh with its vices and desires and are accustomed to offer themselves to God as a living sacrifice...the way of life of those who are perfect (On the Tabernacle III:11)

He interprets this psalm as the prayer of those who "offer nothing to the Lord but prayers of longing, having completely quenched all the charms of the flesh and laid them to rest".

Where the ancient Israelites offered animal and other sacrifices on their altars, he argues, we perform this spiritually when we place faith in the Lord's Incarnation and Passion; the bases of the altar are 'the hearts of the elect which are prepared by the precepts of the teachers' (On Ezra, Book I).  St Bede goes on to point to our Lauds prayer as dedicated to ensuring that at every moment we be seen to be pleasing to God.

St Benedict makes this connection between good works and being 'dwellers in the tabernacle' many times throughout the Rule, and it is in the Tuesday psalms that it gets its most explicit workout.

The coming of Christ

Cassiodorus' explanation of the number of the psalm may also have some relevance to its selection for Tuesday Lauds:

It was in the forty-second generation from Abraham that the Lord Saviour came and saved the world by His coming, so it is rightly believed that this faithful spokesman known to have been associated with this ancient number will attain the Lord's kingdom. So the faithful soul finds here all virtues and all pleasures; thus whoever obtains that spark of divine love can console and renew himself by God's grace.

Latin word study: heaven/the Church

In the psalms of Lauds we have already looked at we have seen a number of words that are typically taken by the Fathers as references to heaven and/or the Church, including

Israel 

Psalm 117

2  Dicat nunc Israël quóniam bonus: * quóniam in sæculum misericórdia ejus.

2 Let Israel now say, that he is good: that his mercy endures for ever.

Tabernacle (tabernaculum), or tent

Psalm 117

15  Vox exsultatiónis, et salútis: * in tabernáculis justórum.

15 The voice of rejoicing and of salvation is in the tabernacles of the just.

Jersualem, a city surrounded by walls and protected with gates and towers

Psalm 117

19  Aperíte mihi portas justítiæ, ingréssus in eas confitébor Dómino: * hæc porta Dómini, justi intrábunt in eam.

19 Open to me the gates of justice: I will go in to them, and give praise to the Lord 20 This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it.

The temple (templum), whose cornerstone is the Lord

Psalm 117

21  Lápidem, quem reprobavérunt ædificántes: * hic factus est in caput ánguli.

22 The stone which the builders rejected; the same has become the head of the corner.

Psalm 5

8  Introíbo in domum tuam: * adorábo ad templum sanctum tuum in timóre tuo.

I will come into your house; I will worship towards your holy temple, in your fear.

The house of the Lord (domus Dei or Domini)

Psalm 117

25  Benedíximus vobis de domo Dómini: * Deus Dóminus, et illúxit nobis.

We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has shone upon us.

Psalm 5

8  Introíbo in domum tuam: * adorábo ad templum sanctum tuum in timóre tuo.

I will come into your house; I will worship towards your holy temple, in your fear.

(Holy) Mountain (mons, montis; Sion)

Today's psalm adds the holy mountain to the list:

3  Emítte lucem tuam et veritátem tuam: * ipsa me deduxérunt, et adduxérunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernácula tua.

Send forth your light and your truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto your holy hill, and into your tabernacles.

There are many more such references to come!




You can find some more notes on this psalm here.

And the next part in this series is on Psalm 63.

Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Mt 26:38, Mk 14:34 (v5)
RB cursus	Tuesday Lauds+AN 4683
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc	Corpus Christi AN 2823, 3516, 3518, 3718 (1) 3388(4)
Responsories	7043
Roman pre 1911	Tues lauds
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Sat Lauds 1970: Thursday Lauds wks 2&4;
Mass propers (EF)	Prayers at the foot of the altar; Sexagesima Sunday CO (4) Passion Sunday I IN (1-3); Passion Tues GR (1, 3);