Psalm 35: Extend your mercy to them that know you!

Mercy and truth,
Peterborough Psalter
c1220-25

Today I want to resume my series proposing that St Benedict had a thematic scheme in mind in his organization of the Office with a look at the second variable psalm of Monday Lauds, Psalm 35.

Monday in the Benedictine Office

Monday in the Benedictine Office, I suggested previously, takes as its starting point, I think, in the Incarnation, and considers Our Lord’s life from the Incarnation to his baptism.

But there is, I think, always a dual path in the Office: first Our Lord’s life, and secondly how we can apply those events to ourselves, how we can pursue the imitation of Christ.

On Mondays, I think the application to us comes above all from the renewal of monastic vows, with the saying of the Suscipe verse at Terce. There is a particular logic to this: first monastic vows or oblation represent a new start in the life of the monk or oblate, a deepening of our their baptismal promises. But secondly, monastic theology often sees a particular identification between the monk’s life with the hidden years of Our Lord, which is the period of his earthly life I think we are particularly invited to meditate on today.

Psalm 5, I suggested a couple of weeks back, is the start of a meditation on the vows. Psalm 35 continues this.

Why move Psalm 35 to Lauds

First some context on the design of the Office. Psalm 35 was a Matins psalm in the older form of the Roman Office. So why did St Benedict move it to Lauds?

The psalm is certainly particularly appropriate to Lauds given its references to light, in verse 10, which also serves to link the psalm firmly to the Incarnation theme of the day, for in the phrase ‘in your light we shall see light’ was interpreted by the Fathers as a reference to the coming of Christ, who through his light shows us the Father.

Similarly, the reference to the rushing torrent and the fountain of life (verses 9-10) are echoed in many places in the Gospels, and are often taken as allusions to the waters of baptism.

I suspect the main reason for moving it to Lauds though, is that St Paul, in Romans 3:10-13, directly connects these two Lauds psalms as part of his argument as to why being Jewish provided no particular advantage when it comes to salvation:

“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all; for I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips.""Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. "Their feet are swift to shed blood, in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they do not know.""There is no fear of God before their eyes."

The evil man is us

Psalm 35 opens with a description of an evil man, and then contrasts his state with those who experience the mercy of God. The point, according to St Paul is that we are all evil men, standing in need of grace to save us and help us persevere in the Christian life.

The Suscipe (Ps 118:116) asks for that grace to be given:

Ps 118: 116 Súscipe me secúndum elóquium tuum, et vivam: et non confúndas me ab exspectatióne mea, or Uphold me according to your word, and I shall live: and let me not be confounded in my expectation.

Psalm 35 provides a meditation on just what that upholding and confounding of the evil in ourselves involves: God will preserve us (v7); protect us under his wings (v8); fill us with grace (9); show us his truth and enlighten us (vv5&10); grant us mercy (vv5-6, 11); and keep us humble (v12). Above all, he will help us overcome the temptations of the devil (v13).

Even if we are not monks, nuns or oblates, we can surely use this psalm to beg for God's grace, remembering that it is not through our own merits that the workers of iniquity will be cast out, but through the merits of Christ, and through our acceptance of God's mercy and truth.

Psalm 35

Unto the end, for the servant of God, David himself.

The unjust has said within himself, that he would sin: there is no fear of God before his eyes.
3 For in his sight he has done deceitfully, that his iniquity may be found unto hatred.
4 The words of his mouth are iniquity and guile: he would not understand that he might do well.
5 He has devised iniquity on his bed, he has set himself on every way that is not good: but evil he has not hated.
6 O Lord, your mercy is in heaven, and your truth reaches even to the clouds.
7 Your justice is as the mountains of God, your judgments are a great deep. Men and beasts you will preserve, O Lord:
8 O how have you multiplied your mercy, O God! But the children of men shall put their trust under the covert of your wings.
9 They shall be inebriated with the plenty of your house; and you shall make them drink of the torrent of your pleasure.
10 For with you is the fountain of life; and in your light we shall see light.
11 Extend your mercy to them that know you, and your justice to them that are right in heart.
12 Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of the sinner move me.
13 There the workers of iniquity are fallen, they are cast out, and could not stand.

In finem. Servo Domini ipsi David
2 Dixit injustus ut delinquat in semetipso: non est timor Dei ante oculos ejus.
3 Quoniam dolose egit in conspectu ejus, ut inveniatur iniquitas ejus ad odium.
4 Verba oris ejus iniquitas, et dolus; noluit intelligere ut bene ageret.
5 Iniquitatem meditatus est in cubili suo; astitit omni viæ non bonæ : malitiam autem non odivit.
6 Domine, in cælo misericordia tua, et veritas tua usque ad nubes.
7 Justitia tua sicut montes Dei; judicia tua abyssus multa. Homines et jumenta salvabis, Domine,
8 quemadmodum multiplicasti misericordiam tuam, Deus. Filii autem hominum in tegmine alarum tuarum sperabunt.
9 Inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuæ, et torrente voluptatis tuæ potabis eos:
10 quoniam apud te est fons vitæ, et in lumine tuo videbimus lumen.
11 Prætende misericordiam tuam scientibus te, et justitiam tuam his qui recto sunt corde.
12 Non veniat mihi pes superbiæ, et manus peccatoris non moveat me.
13 Ibi ceciderunt qui operantur iniquitatem; expulsi sunt, nec potuerunt stare.

The eighth day: Psalm 117

For obvious reasons we tend to think of Sunday as the start of the liturgical week rather than its end: a new collect for the week is given each Sunday; Monday is labelled as 'feria secunda' or second day in the breviary/Diurnal, reflecting the fact that Saturday is the sabbath, or seventh day in the Jewish week; and the Sunday Mass propers are used throughout the week in the Extraordinary Form when other feasts do not intervene.

For Christians, however, Sunday has become our sabbath or day of rest, and it is also celebrated in the liturgy as the day of the Resurrection, the 'eighth day'.

The end of the weekly cycle?

Pope John Paul II drew attention to the traditional view of Sunday in his letter Dies Dominici, citing several patristic sources:

"We celebrate Sunday because of the venerable Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we do so not only at Easter but also at each turning of the week": so wrote Pope Innocent I at the beginning of the fifth century, testifying to an already well established practice which had evolved from the early years after the Lord's Resurrection. Saint Basil speaks of "holy Sunday, honoured by the Lord's Resurrection, the first fruits of all the other days"; and Saint Augustine calls Sunday "a sacrament of Easter".

In the context of Orthodox liturgy, Patrick Reardon argues that Sunday is the end of a weekly cycle that starts with Wednesday:

"...Sunday evening is the quiet closing of a small weekly cycle commemorating the redemption that God "sent" unto  His people in the death and Resurrection of Christ.  That cycle began on Wednesday, when we observed a regular fast day to recall that dreadful Wednesday on which Judas sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver.  Then, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we again bore in mind the events of the Lord's suffering, death, and burial..." (Christ in the Psalms, 2011 ed, p219)

I've suggested in this series that the psalm cycle in St Benedict's Office actually goes further than this, taking in the whole week in its story of Redemption: to the Wednesday to Sunday cycle can be the Incarnation and Christ's hidden life on earth up to his baptism on Monday; and Christ's earthly ministry on Tuesday.

Today, however, I want to look briefly at how St Benedict reflects that Sunday Resurrection focus in his Office.

Sunday in the Benedictine Office

St Benedict’s Sunday Office is radically different from the old Roman he started from, and in ways that I think serve to reinforce the idea that this is the end of the week as much as its beginning.

The old Roman Office, for example started Sunday Matins at Psalm 1 and worked through in numerical order from there; St Benedict instead starts at Psalm 20, one of the Royal psalms which speaks of the crowning of the King.  Instead of reciting the entirety of Psalm 118 over the course of the day, he spreads it over Sunday and Monday.

In fact the only hours that are more or less the same are Vespers and Compline, and even there he shaves a psalm off in each case.

At Lauds, St Benedict shifted Psalms 92 & 99 (still said in Sundays in the 1962 version of the Roman Office) out of the day altogether (though due to later changes, these psalms are now said as ‘festal’ psalms on Sundays at certain periods of the year), and moved Psalm 117 from Prime to Lauds instead.

These are the days...

The more prominent position given to Psalm 117 in the Benedictine Office by placing it into one of the more elaborate ‘hinge hours’ is, I think, easily explained.

Probably originally composed as a liturgical hymn suitable for use in a procession, this is a joyous hymn of praise and thanksgiving for the harvest. For Christians though, it takes on an additional level of meaning as a prophesy of Our Lord’s Resurrection, and its verses are used extensively in the Easter liturgy, as well, I would suggest, as a remembrance of the Resurrection each Sunday in the Benedictine Office.

Psalm 117 is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament, important in particular for the verses directly prophesying the Resurrection, such as verse 17, Non móriar, sed vivam, or, I shall not die but will live, and the reopening of the gates of heaven to the just (v19).

The verse starting Hæc est dies, this is the day the Lord has made (v23), is used throughout the Easter Octave.

Similarly verse 24 is quoted in the Sanctus (benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini).

The most important verse of all though, is arguably the reference to the stone that the builders rejected, verse 21, Lápidem, quem reprobavérunt ædificántes: hic factus est in caput ánguli.

Psalm 117

Alleluia.
Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let Israel now say, that he is good: that his mercy endures for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
4 Let them that fear the Lord now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
5 In my trouble I called upon the Lord: and the Lord heard me, and enlarged me.
6 The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man can do unto me.
7 The Lord is my helper: and I will look over my enemies.
8 It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to have confidence in man.
9 It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes.
10 All nations compassed me about; and, in the name of the Lord I have been revenged on them.
11 Surrounding me they compassed me about: and in the name of the Lord I have been revenged on them. 12 They surrounded me like bees, and they burned like fire among thorns: and in the name of the Lord I was revenged on them.
13 Being pushed I was overturned that I might fall: but the Lord supported me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my praise: and he has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and of salvation is in the tabernacles of the just.
16 The right hand of the Lord has wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord has exalted me: the right hand of the Lord has wrought strength.
17 I shall not die, but live: and shall declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord chastising has chastised me: but he has not delivered me over to death.
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.
21 I will give glory to you because you have heard me: and have become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected; the same has become the head of the corner.
23 This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made: let us be glad and rejoice therein.
25 O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success.
26 Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has shone upon us. Appoint a solemn day, with shady boughs, even to the horn of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you: you are my God, and I will exalt you. I will praise you, because you have heard me, and have become my salvation.
29 O praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.



Alleluja
Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus, quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus.
2 Dicat nunc Israël : Quoniam bonus, quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus.
3 Dicat nunc domus Aaron : Quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus.
4 Dicant nunc qui timent Dominum : Quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus.
5 De tribulatione invocavi Dominum, et exaudivit me in latitudine Dominus.
6 Dominus mihi adjutor; non timebo quid faciat mihi homo.
7 Dominus mihi adjutor, et ego despiciam inimicos meos.
8 Bonum est confidere in Domino, quam confidere in homine.
9 Bonum est sperare in Domino, quam sperare in principibus.
10 Omnes gentes circuierunt me, et in nomine Domini, quia ultus sum in eos.
11 Circumdantes circumdederunt me, et in nomine Domini, quia ultus sum in eos.
12 Circumdederunt me sicut apes, et exarserunt sicut ignis in spinis : et in nomine Domini, quia ultus sum in eos.
13 Impulsus eversus sum, ut caderem, et Dominus suscepit me.
14 Fortitudo mea et laus mea Dominus, et factus est mihi in salutem.
15 Vox exsultationis et salutis in tabernaculis justorum.
16 Dextera Domini fecit virtutem; dextera Domini exaltavit me : dextera Domini fecit virtutem.
17 Non moriar, sed vivam, et narrabo opera Domini.
18 Castigans castigavit me Dominus, et morti non tradidit me.
19 Aperite mihi portas justitiæ: ingressus in eas confitebor Domino.
20 Hæc porta Domini : justi intrabunt in eam.
21 Confitebor tibi quoniam exaudisti me, et factus es mihi in salutem.
22 Lapidem quem reprobaverunt ædificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli.
23 A Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris.
24 Hæc est dies quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus, et lætemur in ea.
25 O Domine, salvum me fac; o Domine, bene prosperare.
26 Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini : benediximus vobis de domo Domini.
27 Deus Dominus, et illuxit nobis. Constituite diem solemnem in condensis, usque ad cornu altaris.
28 Deus meus es tu, et confitebor tibi; Deus meus es tu, et exaltabo te. Confitebor tibi quoniam exaudisti me, et factus es mihi in salutem.
29 Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus, quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus.

Holy Saturday and the puzzle of Psalm 142

Harrowing of Hell, c1400

St Benedict sets only one Psalm at Lauds on Saturday, presumably in view of the length of the canticle of the day (which has been drastically truncated in the 1962 breviary).

A prayer of the crucifixion or Christ's coming?

Contemporary scholar Paul Bradshaw puzzles, however, in his book Daily Prayer in the Early Church, over just why the saint chose Psalm 142 for this position, given that the old Roman office had it on Friday, presumably for its references to the Crucifixion.

The answer to this puzzle, I think lies in the Patristic commentaries on this last of the seven penitential psalms, for they generally place it our lips, not Christ's: this is a prayer of the desperate longing of the penitent, who pleads with Christ to come in the Resurrection and heal him, rather than as the words of Christ himself on the Cross. Indeed, the psalm is used at the Ordinary Form Easter Vigil presumably for this very reason.

St Benedict presumably saw the reference to stretching out our arms as in imitation of his Crucifixion as set in context by the longing for his coming expressed in the second half of the verse: 'Expándi manus meas ad te: ánima mea sicut terra sine aqua tibi, or, I spread forth my hands to thee; my soul thirsts for thee, as a dry land'.

Certainly St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus puts the verse in that light:

"Though he has prophesied the Lord Saviour's coming in countless passages, here too by stretching out his hands he formed the shape of the holy cross. The person who prays with hands extended imitates the cross of the Redeemer which was inflicted as punishment by the faithless Jews, but was none the less bestowed on believers as salvation…The comparison follows in which he says that his soul longs for God as the parched earth often absorbs abundant rain. The beginning of Psalm 41 is similar: As the hart pants after fountains of water, so my soul pants for thee, 0 God."

Today's liturgy invites us to ponder our own sins and repent of them, to remember the many times that God's people turned away from him and were punished for this. Yet each time a remnant was preserved, waiting in hope for their liberation, just as we wait in hope for the Second Coming, and more immediately perhaps, to celebrate the Eighth Day.

You can find verse by notes on the psalm in the context of the penitential psalms starting here.


Psalm 142 (143)

Psalm 142: Domine, exausi orationem meam

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David, quando persequebatur eum Absalom filius ejus.	A psalm of David, when his son Absalom pursued him
1 Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam: áuribus pércipe obsecratiónem meam in veritáte tua : * exáudi me in tua justítia.	Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in your truth: hear me in your justice.
2  Et non intres in judícium cum servo tuo: * quia non justificábitur in conspéctu tuo omnis vivens.	And enter not into judgment with your servant: for in your sight no man living shall be justified.
3  Quia persecútus est inimícus ánimam meam: * humiliávit in terra vitam meam.	For the enemy has persecuted my soul: he has brought down my life to the earth.
4  Collocávit me in obscúris sicut mórtuos sæculi : * et anxiátus est super me spíritus meus, in me turbátum est cor meum.	He has made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been dead of old: And my spirit is in anguish within me: my heart within me is troubled.
5  Memor fui diérum antiquórum, meditátus sum in ómnibus opéribus tuis: * in factis mánuum tuárum meditábar.	I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all your works: I meditated upon the works of your hands.
6  Expándi manus meas ad te: * ánima mea sicut terra sine aqua tibi.	I stretched forth my hands to you: my soul is as earth without water unto you.
7  Velóciter exáudi me, Dómine: * defécit spíritus meus.	Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit has fainted away.
8  Non avértas fáciem tuam a me: * et símilis ero descendéntibus in lacum.	Turn not away your face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
9  Audítam fac mihi mane misericórdiam tuam: * quia in te sperávi.	Cause me to hear your mercy in the morning; for in you have I hoped.
10  Notam fac mihi viam, in qua ámbulem: * quia ad te levávi ánimam meam.	Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk: for I have lifted up my soul to you.
11  Eripe me de inimícis meis, Dómine, ad te confúgi: * doce me fácere voluntátem tuam, quia Deus meus es tu.	Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, to you have I fled: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.
12  Spíritus tuus bonus dedúcet me in terram rectam: * propter nomen tuum, Dómine, vivificábis me, in æquitáte tua.	Your good spirit shall lead me into the right land: For your name's sake, O Lord, you will quicken me in your justice.
13  Edúces de tribulatióne ánimam meam: * et in misericórdia tua dispérdes inimícos meos.	You will bring my soul out of trouble: And in your mercy you will destroy my enemies.
14  Et perdes omnes, qui tríbulant ánimam meam, * quóniam ego servus tuus sum.	And you will cut off all them that afflict my soul: for I am your servant.

The sixth seal and Psalm 75 (76)

Simon Vouet 1622

Friday has of course always had an association with the Crucifixion in Christian piety, and for this reason it was the second fast day of the week (and still is, at least in theory, a day of abstinence or other penance).

St Benedict’s Office can certainly be seen as reflecting this association: the day opens at Matins with Psalm 85, which the Fathers interpreted as the prayer of Christ poured out in his Passion. Similarly, the psalms of Prime all have reasonably obvious connections with the Passion of Our Lord.

The sixth seal?

St Benedict’s choice of psalms for Friday Lauds though, has, puzzled some commentators because he shifted the more obvious choice of Psalm 142 from the Old Roman Office to Saturday, and added in Psalms 75 and 91 instead.

I will look at the possible reasons the saint had for moving Psalm 142 to Saturday tomorrow, but I want to suggest that the choice of Psalm 75 (and 91) for Friday does in fact make perfect sense in the context of a mini-Triduum celebrated each week in the Benedictine Office.

The Fathers often associated the Crucifixion, and the ‘sixth day’ with the description of the opening of the sixth seal in Revelation 6: 12-14:

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale; the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”

This imagery is particularly echoed in the (ferial) canticle that St Benedict imported from the old Roman Office (Habacuc 3:2-19), and aspects of it are picked up in many of the psalms of the day.

The earth trembled - and so should we

In particular, Psalm 75 includes the earthquake, surely that which occurred at the moment of Our Lord’s death, rending the temple veil in two, with the verse 'De caelo auditum fecisti judicium: terra tremuit et quievit (From heaven you have pronounced your judgment: the earth trembled and was still).  Though we mostly associate this verse with the Resurrection by virtue of the Easter Sunday Offertory, the verse surely works equally well in the context of Good Friday?

The key focus of the meditation St Benedict places before us in today's psalms seems to me to be on the terribleness of these events and their consequences: the God-man has been put to death by his own people; as a result, the old covenant has been closed, and the inheritance of Israel given to the gentiles.

The Old Testament historical context for the psalm (suggested by the title) is the victory over the king of the Assyrians, Sennacherib described in 2 Kings 19: 35; Isaiah 37:36 (as indeed is Psalm 74). The language of fear and awe is an appropriate reaction to the scene described there:

“And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead.”

Both Isaiah and this psalm imply that the attack of Sennacherib foreshadows the dawning of the Messianic era, reminding us of God’s stupendous power: Tu terríbilis es, et quis resístet tibi? ex tunc ira tua’, or You are terrible, and who shall resist you? From that time your wrath (verse 8).

God came to save...

This emphasis seems to me entirely consistent with the spirituality St Benedict articulates in his Rule, which is almost devoid of references to the humanity of Christ and the Cross. Instead, the saint emphasizes God’s awesome Majesty, his all-seeing, overwhelming power that redeems us and should lead us to cultivate a holy fear of Him.

The design of Friday Lauds surely reflects this: rather than placing a lot of emphasis on the sufferings of Christ, we are invited to meditate on the terrible and wondrous nature of his saving works, of just what it means that Christ, the man-God, died for us.

In particular, the psalm reminds us that despite God's 'anger', Christ died on the cross for a reason, namely ‘to save all the meek of the earth’ (v9).  And in the light of this, the opening references to God being known in Judaea, and in the Temple in (Jeru)salem, in verses 1-2, have, the Fathers point out, a layer of irony attached to them: when the people denied God the Son, the veil of the Temple was pierced, the earth trembled, and the true Judaea, where God is really known, became the Church.

Jerusalem too is transfigured into the heavenly Jerusalem, from which judgment comes, causing the earth to fear and stand still.

This psalm is a fierce reminder of God’s justice, power and might before which we should tremble.

No wonder then that it ends in a call to persevere in our vows and offerings.

Psalm 75

Unto the end, in praises, a psalm for Asaph: a canticle to the Assyrians.
In Judea God is known: his name is great in Israel.
3 And his place is in peace: and his abode in Sion:
4 There has he broken the powers of bows, the shield, the sword, and the battle.
5 You enlighten wonderfully from the everlasting hills.
6 All the foolish of heart were troubled. They have slept their sleep; and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands.
7 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, they have all slumbered that mounted on horseback.
8 You are terrible, and who shall resist you? From that time your wrath.
9 You have caused judgment to be heard from heaven: the earth trembled and was still,
10 when God arose in judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.
11 For the thought of man shall give praise to you: and the remainders of the thought shall keep holiday to you.
12 Vow and pay to the Lord your God: all you that are round about him bring presents. To him that is terrible,
13 even to him who takes away the spirit of princes: to the terrible with the kings of the earth.


In finem, in laudibus. Psalmus Asaph, canticum ad Assyrios.
Notus in Judæa Deus; in Israël magnum nomen ejus.
3 Et factus est in pace locus ejus, et habitatio ejus in Sion.
4 Ibi confregit potentias arcuum, scutum, gladium, et bellum.
5 Illuminans tu mirabiliter a montibus æternis;
6 turbati sunt omnes insipientes corde. Dormierunt somnum suum, et nihil invenerunt omnes viri divitiarum in manibus suis.
7 Ab increpatione tua, Deus Jacob, dormitaverunt qui ascenderunt equos.
8 Tu terribilis es; et quis resistet tibi? ex tunc ira tua.
9 De cælo auditum fecisti judicium : terra tremuit et quievit
10 cum exsurgeret in judicium Deus, ut salvos faceret omnes mansuetos terræ.
11 Quoniam cogitatio hominis confitebitur tibi, et reliquiæ cogitationis diem festum agent tibi.
12 Vovete et reddite Domino Deo vestro, omnes qui in circuitu ejus affertis munera : terribili,
13 et ei qui aufert spiritum principum : terribili apud reges terræ.

The mini-Triduum of the Benedictine Office: Psalm 87

The Agony in the Garden
Duccio di Buoninsegna c1308-11

One of the most striking changes St Benedict made to his Office, compared to the old Roman, was surely the addition of Psalm 87, generally agreed to be the darkest psalm in the entire psalter, to Lauds.

A mini-Triduum?

The lamentation of a man close to death, it is the only psalm in the psalter not to end on a positive note. It is a song of abandonment, of the agony in the garden, making it, at first glance at least, a surprising choice for an hour of the day generally associated with the Resurrection.

It is a choice that makes sense, however, if the Office of Thursday to Saturday is viewed as a mini-Triduum each week, for while there is something of a Eucharistic sub-theme that can be found in today’s Office, it is the theme of abandonment and betrayal that stands at the forefront of the day, and most especially in this psalm.

The Father’s saw this psalm as a prophesy of the Passion, as St Cyril of Jerusalem explains:

“Accept an additional testimony from the eighty-seventh psalm, where Christ speaks in the prophets—for he who then spoke afterwards came among us: "O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day and in the night before you"; and subsequently, "I am become as a man without help, free among the dead." He did not say, "I am become a man with¬out help," but "as a man without help"; for he was crucified, not because of helplessness but because he willed it; his death was not a result of involuntary weakness. "I am numbered with those who go down into the pit." What is the sign? "You have taken my friends away from me" (for the disciples fled away). "Will you work wonders for the dead"? Then, "But I, O Lord, cry out to you; with my morning prayer I wait on you." See how these verses manifest the actual circumstances of the passion and the resurrection.”

It is the dark prayer of Gethsemane, before that final resolution point is reached.

St Benedict on humility
This psalm invites us, I think, to contemplate the humility of Christ in taking on human form: the God who washed the feet of his disciples to teach them humility, and suffered for us.  St Benedict invites us to compare ourselves to both God and others, and accept out own lack of worth, citing of verse 16 in his treatment of the twelve degrees of humility in his Rule:

“The seventh degree of humility is that he should not only in his speech declare himself lower and of less account than all others, but should in his own inmost heart believe it, humbling himself and saying with the prophet: But I am a worm and no man, a byword to all men and the laughing-stock of the people. I have been lifted up only to be humbled and confounded; and again: It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I may learn thy commandments.”

In the face of abandonment

This is a psalm for the dark night of the soul: despite the fact that the speaker seems to receive no answer, he continues to call out to ‘the God of my salvation’ (verses 1, 2, 10, 14), and to set out the reasons why God will listen to his plea. Cassiodorus interprets this as a prayer ‘that the resurrection will come with all speed’, and recitation of his sufferings that invites us all to be joined to:

“This is Christ's chorus…for the faithful people, following His most holy passion, gave answer with a most splendid imitation. On one side the prison held confessors in confinement; from another the blood of martyrs welled forth, more precious than purple garments and fine linen; from another the words of the apostles thundered through the whole world; from another the sacred faith came forth like the brightest sun; from another, even today people hasten to embrace deaths which are transient in search of the rewards of eternal life. So let no person fear the wretchedness which makes men blessed. Let none tremble at the tortures which bring lasting security; let none fear the sadness which bestows eternal joy. How slight a thing is momentary death when its purpose is to win enduring life! How slight an imposition is the judgment of men, enabling us to obtain divine forgiveness! Who would be ashamed of the pains which the Lord Christ deigned to bear? Who would regard as dishonour what our Creator chose to endure for all? So let us shoulder for Him disaster in this world if we wish to possess with Him our enduring portion.”

Psalm 87

A canticle of a psalm for the sons of Core: unto the end, for Maheleth, to answer understanding of Eman the Ezrahite.

2 O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before you.
3 Let my prayer come in before you: incline your ear to my petition.
4 For my soul is filled with evils: and my life has drawn near to hell.
5 I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I have become as a man without help,
6 free among the dead. Like the slain sleeping in the sepulchres, whom you remember no more: and they are cut off from your hand.
7 They have laid me in the lower pit: in the dark places, and in the shadow of death.
8 Your wrath is strong over me: and all your waves you have brought in upon me.
9 You have put away my acquaintance far from me: they have set me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and came not forth:
10 My eyes languished through poverty. All the day I cried to you, O Lord: I stretched out my hands to you.
11 Will you show wonders to the dead? Or shall physicians raise to life, and give praise to you?
12 Shall any one in the sepulchre declare your mercy: and your truth in destruction?
13 Shall your wonders be known in the dark; and your justice in the land of forgetfulness?
14 But I, O Lord, have cried to you: and in the morning my prayer shall prevent you.
15 Lord, why do you cast off my prayer: why do you turn your face from me?
16 I am poor, and in labours from my youth: and being exalted have been humbled and troubled.
17 Your wrath has come upon me: and your terrors have troubled me.
18 They have come round about me like water all the day: they have compassed me about together.
19 Friend and neighbour you have put far from me: and my acquaintance, because of misery.

Canticum Psalmi, filiis Core, in finem, pro Maheleth ad respondendum. Intellectus Eman Ezrahitæ.
2 Domine, Deus salutis meæ, in die clamavi et nocte coram te.
3 Intret in conspectu tuo oratio mea, inclina aurem tuam ad precem meam.
4 Quia repleta est malis anima mea, et vita mea inferno appropinquavit.
5 Æstimatus sum cum descendentibus in lacum, factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio,
6 inter mortuos liber; sicut vulnerati dormientes in sepulchris, quorum non es memor amplius, et ipsi de manu tua repulsi sunt.
7 Posuerunt me in lacu inferiori, in tenebrosis, et in umbra mortis.
8 Super me confirmatus est furor tuus, et omnes fluctus tuos induxisti super me.
9 Longe fecisti notos meos a me; posuerunt me abominationem sibi. Traditus sum, et non egrediebar;
10 oculi mei languerunt præ inopia. Clamavi ad te, Domine, tota die; expandi ad te manus meas.
11 Numquid mortuis facies mirabilia? aut medici suscitabunt, et confitebuntur tibi?
12 Numquid narrabit aliquis in sepulchro misericordiam tuam, et veritatem tuam in perditione?
13 Numquid cognoscentur in tenebris mirabilia tua? et justitia tua in terra oblivionis?
14 Et ego ad te, Domine, clamavi, et mane oratio mea præveniet te.
15 Ut quid, Domine, repellis orationem meam; avertis faciem tuam a me?
16 Pauper sum ego, et in laboribus a juventute mea; exaltatus autem, humiliatus sum et conturbatus.
17 In me transierunt iræ tuæ, et terrores tui conturbaverunt me:
18 circumdederunt me sicut aqua tota die; circumdederunt me simul.
19 Elongasti a me amicum et proximum, et notos meos a miseria.

Psalm 63: Remembering Judas' betrayal on Wednesday

The association of Wednesday with the councils of the Jews plotting to kill Our Lord and the betrayal of Judas goes back to the earliest days of Christianity: that it was a fast day throughout the year for this reason is attested to in many early Christian documents.

St Benedict certainly follows this tradition in his own prescriptions on fasting. Does he echo the theme liturgically however?

Human malice

Psalm 63, the first of the two variable psalms said at Lauds today, certainly suggests so. Indeed it is part of a set (the rest of which are said at Matins) which, according to the Navarre Commentary on the Psalms, deal with different aspects of the theme of human malice.

The original historical context for the psalm is not clear: the title clams Davidic authorship, and the style and language seems to support this, so some modern commentators have suggested that it may refer to David’s early days at Saul’s court, when enemies plotted to bring about his downfall.

The Fathers, however, gave it an entirely Christological interpretation, as Cassiodorus explains:

“The words of this heading, as has often been remarked, are wholly related to the Lord Christ, who is to speak through the entire psalm. These words are written without historical narration; the clarity of the heading seems to waft the light of the coming psalm over us. The Lord will speak of His passion, which has afforded life to the world and has poured on us the light of belief…initially prays that He be freed from fear of the Jewish people, as He relates their deceits and impious deeds as if they have already been performed. He teaches that they have failed in their acts of persecution, whereas He has attained the glory of resurrection.”

We are all Judas'...

Many of the patristic and medieval commentaries on the betrayal of Jesus are portrayed these days as ideologically unsound for their anti-semitism: they typically link, for example, the betrayal of Jesus by the Jews with the closure of the Old Covenant and the opening of the New to the Gentiles. Indeed, the (ferial) canticle set for today, the Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2: 1-10) Hannah's change in status from the denigrated barren wife to the mother of the prophet Samuel was typically interpreted as a type for just this event.
 
Yet this psalm, and those same commentaries on it, places the election of the Gentiles in a slightly broader context: in the end, we must all choose to be whether part of the 'assembly of the malignant' (verse 2), resolute in wickedness (v6) or to join the just, the upright of heart.   The Apostles preached the works of the Lord (v10) to those who had crucified Jesus, offering them the chance of redemption.  And many of those same persecutors were indeed converted, as the life of St Paul attests. 
 
The early Christians fasted and did penance on Wednesday because they knew that we are all Judas' at heart, yet through the offer of grace won for us the cross; we too can reject the path of evil and rejoice in the Resurrection of Our Lord (v11).
 
Psalm 63
 

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.

A psalm for Tuesday: Psalm 56

David foresees the coming of Christ,
Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
folio 26v

Tuesday in the Benedictine Office centres around the temple, the heavenly city of God, and our ascent to it.

The day opens with the first of the ‘Songs of Zion’, Ps 45, and continues with a sequence focusing on love of the temple. At Lauds, Psalm 42, used in the prayers at the foot of the altar in the Mass, is said. Terce to Vespers features the Gradual psalms, or songs of Ascent, the pilgrim songs that were sung on the approach to the Temple on the major Jewish feasts.

The key to understanding this focus, I would propose, is the earthly mission of Our Lord, where he came to teach us what we must to do to make the ascent to heaven ourselves: for we must above all imitate Christ.  Psalm 56, the second variable psalm of Lauds, is certainly consistent with this.

Historical context of Psalm 56 (57)

The historical context of Psalm 56 is 1 Samuel 22:1, 24: 4-8, when David was hiding from Saul in a cave. Cassiodorus (a contemporary of St Benedict) follows St Augustine in seeing the cave as a figure of Christ’s hidden divinity during his time on earth:

“Just as David in fleeing from Saul hid in a cave, so the Lord Saviour's divinity is known to have been hidden within the temple of His body from the unfaithful Jews.”

Accordingly, the psalm can be read as Our Lord contemplating and praying on his coming Passion, and thus providing a model of how we must approach our own cross; how we should approach sharing in his sufferings.

God sends forth his mercy and truth

The modern commentary by Antiochian Orthodox theologian Patrick Henry Reardon in his interesting book Christ in the Psalms (I’ll provide a review of this shortly), however, gives this an extra layer of meaning by suggesting that the repetition of the phrase ‘he sent forth’ in the psalm refers to the two ‘missions’ of the Son and Holy Ghost respectively:

“Twice in this half of the psalm we speak of God’s redemption as a “sending forth” (exsapesteilen the verb in each instance): He sent forth from heaven and saved me…God sent forth His mercy and His truth.” Does this double “sending forth” of God refer to the sending forth of the Son and the Holy Spirit into the world? Well, maybe so. Compare the wording here with that in Galatians 4:4-6, where the identical verb, exapesteilen, is used twice – “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son…And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son…” (p111).

The psalm, then, becomes one of great hope and trust in God’s mercy and help as we focus on preparing our hearts (verse 10) as his was prepared, through prayer and mortification as we proclaim his message through our words and deeds ‘among the nations’ (verse 12).

You can find some further notes on this psalm in the context of Benedictine Lauds here.

Psalm 56

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, ne disperdas. David in tituli inscriptionem, cum fugeret a facie Saul in speluncam.	Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title, when he fled from Saul into the cave.
1 Miserére mei, Deus, miserére mei: * quóniam in te confídit ánima mea.	Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me: for my soul trusts in you.
2 Et in umbra alárum tuárum sperábo: * donec tránseat iníquitas.	And in the shadow of your wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away.
3 Clamábo ad Deum altíssimum: * Deum, qui benefécit mihi.	I will cry to God the most high; to God who has done good to me.
4 Misit de cælo, et liberávit me: * dedit in oppróbrium conculcántes me.	He has sent from heaven and delivered me: he has made them a reproach that trod upon me.
5 Misit Deus misericórdiam suam, et veritátem suam, * et erípuit ánimam meam de médio catulórum leónum: dormívi conturbátus.	God has sent his mercy and his truth, and he has delivered my soul from the midst of the young lions. I slept troubled
6 Fílii hóminum dentes eórum arma et sagíttæ: * et lingua eórum gládius acútus.	The sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
7 Exaltáre super cælos, Deus: * et in omnem terram glória tua.	Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and your glory above all the earth.
8 Láqueum paravérunt pédibus meis: * et incurvavérunt ánimam meam.	They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my soul.
9 Fodérunt ante fáciem meam fóveam: * et incidérunt in eam.	They dug a pit before my face, and they are fallen into it.
10 Parátum cor meum, Deus, parátum cor meum: * cantábo, et psalmum dicam.	My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and rehearse a psalm.
11 Exsúrge, glória mea, exsúrge psaltérium et cíthara: * exsúrgam dilúculo.	Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will arise early.
12 Confitébor tibi in pópulis, Dómine: * et psalmum dicam tibi in Géntibus :	I will give praise to you, O Lord, among the people: I will sing a psalm to you among the nations
13 Quóniam magnificáta est usque ad cælos misericórdia tua, * et usque ad nubes véritas tua.	For your mercy is magnified even to the heavens: and your truth unto the clouds.
14 Exaltáre super cælos, Deus: * et super omnem terram glória tua.	Be exalted, O God, above the heavens: and your glory above all the earth.