Psalm 30 v3: Where is our home of refuge?

Today's verse is a plea applicable to any Christian:

Esto mihi in Deum protectórem, et in domum refúgii: ut salvum me fácias.

Be unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary for the Vulgate version of the Verse is:

protector, oris, m. a protector, defender; a shield, buckler; a stronghold, fortress; a refuge, deliverer, etc

domus, us,. a house, structure; a house, abode, dwelling place; Temple; ;a race, people, nation; the priesthood.

refugium, ii, n.  a refuge, a place of refuge; fortress, high tower, dwelling place, hiding place, etc.

salvus, a, um, safe, saved,  salvum facere, to save, keep safe, preserve from harm..  

This verse has, though, a number of different text traditions, reflected in the various Latin versions:

Vulgate	Esto mihi in Deum protectórem, et in domum refúgii: ut salvum me fácias.
Romanum	Esto mihi in Deum protectorem et in locum refugii ut salvum me facias
Neo-Vulgate	Esto mihi in rupem praesidii et in domum munitam, ut salvum me facias.
Pian	Esto mihi petra refugii, Arx munita, ut salves me.
Jerome from the Hebrew	Esto mihi in lapidem fortissimum et in domum munitam ut salves me

As well as in the English:

DR	Be unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.
Brenton	Be thou to me for a protecting God, and for a house of refuge to save me.
Collegeville	Be my protection my God, my house of refuge, and save me,
RSV	Be thou a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!
Coverdale	And be thou my strong rock, and house of defence that thou mayest save me.
Knox	Ny hill-fastness, my stronghold of defence, to save me from peril.
Grail	Be a rock of refuge for me, a mighty stronghold to save me,

Our spiritual home

The key phrase in this verse is a house of refuge.

St Cassiodorus interpreted this phrase firstly as a reference to heaven, opened to us by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross:

The house of refuge is the glorious resurrection, once debilitated by no weakness, but enjoying majesty uncorrupted, for He was safe when death could not prevail further against Him. So His fear springs from concern for us; His confidence is the mark of His divinity. 

Cassiodorus also noted, however, that the phrase can be taken as a reference to the Church:

Some say that the house of refuge refers to the Catholic Church in which He seeks safety for His members, because every Christian truly achieves safety in it, just as when the flood rose only they were saved who happily deserved to enter Noah's ark.

One could also, though, I think, interpret it as the Rule and our own monasteries or hermitages, or whatever the particular source of our spiritual nourishment is.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David, pro extasi	Unto the end, a psalm for David, in an ecstasy
1 In te, Dómine, sperávi non confúndar in ætérnum: * in justítia tua líbera me.	In you, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in your justice.
2  Inclína ad me aurem tuam, * accélera ut éruas me.	3 Bow down your ear to me: make haste to deliver me.
3  Esto mihi in Deum protectórem, et in domum   refúgii: * ut salvum me fácias.	Be unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.
4  Quóniam fortitúdo mea, et refúgium meum es   tu: * et propter nomen tuum dedúces me, et enútries me.	4 For you are my strength and my refuge; and for your name's sake you will lead me, and nourish me.
5  Edúces me de láqueo hoc, quem abscondérunt mihi: * quóniam tu es protéctor meus.	5 You will bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: for you are my protector.
6  In manus tuas comméndo spíritum meum: * redemísti me, Dómine, Deus veritátis.	6 Into your hands I commend my spirit: you have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

And to continue on to the next part in this series, go here.

Psalm 30 v2 - Perseverance in prayer

Inclína ad me aurem tuam, accélera ut éruas me

Bow down your ear to me: make haste to deliver me.

Looking at the Latin

Key vocab:

inclino, avi, atum, are, to bend, incline

auris, is, f the ear.

accelero, avi, atum, are  to make haste.

eruo, rui, rutum, ere 3, to deliver, rescue, save

Most translations adopt a fairly literal approach to the first phrase of this verse, saving bow down, or incline your ear to us.  The key exception is Knox, who rendered it, 'Grant me audience':

DR	Bow down your ear to me: make haste to deliver me.
Brenton	Incline thine ear to me; make haste to rescue me:
MD	Incline your ear to me, make haste to deliver me!
RSV	Incline thy ear to me, rescue me speedily!
Cover	Bow down thine ear to me make haste to deliver me.
Knox	Grant me audience, and make haste to rescue me;
Grail	hear me and speedily rescue me.

Hasten to deliver me from peril

The older commentaries on it, though, interpret the verse primarily as the plea from the cross, making 'grant me audience' perhaps overly formal.  

St Augustine for example, commented:

Hear Me in My humiliation, near at hand unto Me. Make haste to deliver Me. Defer not to the end of the world, as with all who believe in Me, My separation from sinners.

St Cassiodorus built on that idea, suggesting:

Since His human condition by its nature could not attain divinity, he asked that the Godhead should bow down and descend to it, all this occurred through the incarnation of the almighty Word. So what was known never to have happened previously was rightly requested. Next comes: Make haste to deliver me, in other words, "Hasten to grant Me a most speedy resurrection," not the lugubrious one which the mass of mankind is hitherto known to endure.

Perseverance in prayer

The sentiments of the verse can obviously be used by anyone in times of trouble, though its relevance to Compline is perhaps less obvious.

St Cassiodorus also, though, saw the verse as instructing us to persist in prayer:

The numerous occasions on which this prayer is made teach us chat we ought not to interrupt our praying even when we think that something can be granted to us.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David, pro extasi	Unto the end, a psalm for David, in an ecstasy
1 In te, Dómine, sperávi non confúndar in ætérnum: * in justítia tua líbera me.	In you, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in your justice.
2  Inclína ad me aurem tuam, * accélera ut éruas me.	3 Bow down your ear to me: make haste to deliver me.
3  Esto mihi in Deum protectórem, et in domum   refúgii: * ut salvum me fácias.	Be unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.
4  Quóniam fortitúdo mea, et refúgium meum es   tu: * et propter nomen tuum dedúces me, et enútries me.	4 For you are my strength and my refuge; and for your name's sake you will lead me, and nourish me.
5  Edúces me de láqueo hoc, quem abscondérunt mihi: * quóniam tu es protéctor meus.	5 You will bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: for you are my protector.
6  In manus tuas comméndo spíritum meum: * redemísti me, Dómine, Deus veritátis.	6 Into your hands I commend my spirit: you have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

And for the next part in this series click here.