Psalm 129: verses 3-5a

Image: Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry, folio 71v*

www.metmuseum.org 

The middle verses of Psalm 129 focus on God's saving mercy: no sin is too great to be forgiven, for through Christ the law of God is the law of love.

Notes on the verses

3	V/NV/JH	Si iniquitátes observáveris, Dómine: * Dómine, quis sustinébit?
		ἐὰν ἀνομίας παρατηρήσῃ κύριε κύριε τίς ὑποστήσεται

Si (if) iniquitátes (iniquities) observáveris (you will observe/take note) Dómine (O Lord) Dómine (O Lord), quis (who/what) sustinébit  (he/she/it will endure/stand)?

The sense of observaveris here is not just passive watching, but critically observing and clocking up our sins for punishment.

iniquitas, atis, f (iniquus), iniquity, injustice, sin.

observo, avi, atum, are, to watch, observe, regard

sustineo, tinui, tentum, ere 2  to bear, bear with, endure, stand

DR	If you, O Lord, will mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.
Brenton	If thou, O Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
Coverdale	If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it?
KJV	If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

The psalm now turns to a plea for mercy and forgiveness over justice.  The point is that no human deserves heaven, for we are all tainted by original sin, that evil compounded by our own thoughts and actions: we are all of us sinners. 

Yet this verse also, as Chrysostom points out, a demolition of the excuse offered by many, that there sins are too great to approach God:

"In other words, in case anyone were to say, "I am a sinner, I am full of sins beyond counting, I cannot approach and pray and call on God," he strips away this pretext by saying, If you were to take note of crimes, Lord, Lord, who would stand? Who here means "no one," you see. It is impossible, after all, it is impossible for anyone to under a meticulous account of one's affairs and ever attain mercy and loving kindness. We say this, not to drive souls to indifference, but to comfort those who have fallen into despair." 

Indeed, Pope St Leo the Great used this psalm to instruct a bishop that absolution should not be withheld from those who express penitence, no matter what the circumstance, or what doubts there may be around the case.

4	V	Quia apud te propitiátio est: * et propter legem tuam sustínui te, Dómine.
	NV	Quia apud te propitiatio est, ut timeamus te. Sustinui te, Domine
	JH	Quia tecum est propitiatio, cum terribilis sis. Sustinui Dominum
		ὅτι παρὰ σοὶ ὁ ἱλασμός ἐστιν  ἕνεκεν τοῦ νόμου σου ὑπέμεινά σε κύριε

5A	V/NV	Sustinuit ánima mea in verbo ejus:
	JH	sustinuit anima mea, et uerbum eius expectaui.
		ὑπέμεινεν ἡ ψυχή μου εἰς τὸν λόγον σου

Quia (for) apud (with) te (you) propitiátio (forgiveness/atonement) est (there is) et (and) propter (by reason of) legem (the law) tuam (your) sustínui (I have endured/waited for) te (you), Dómine (O Lord) Sustinuit (it has waited/endured) ánima (soul) mea (my) in verbo (on the word) ejus (his) 

This is one of those verses that differs substantially in the two main surviving text traditions, namely the Septuagint/Vulgate and the (medieval) Hebrew Masoretic Text.  Because the official Vatican Neo-Vulgate text was prepared before contemporary scholarship had fully assimilated the Dead Seas Scrolls, and thus come to a full appreciation of the integrity of Septuagint tradition, it deletes the reference to the law, and 'that thou mayest be feared' (ut timeamus te).  

More recent scholarship suggests that this may well be a first century Jewish revision to the text made in direct reaction to Christian uses of the verse, for the propitiation referred to here is clearly Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, the true fulfillment of the law.

It is worth noting too that the Knox translation (echoed by the NAB) renders this verse as: 'Ah, but with thee there is forgiveness; be thy name ever revered'.

quia, for, because, that. truly, surely, indeed;  nisi quia, unless, if not. 

apud +acc: at, near , by, with, in the presence of

propitiatio forgiveness, atonement, ie Christ’s sacrifice

propter,  with ace. In stating a cause: on account of, by reason of, because of, from, for, for the sake of.

lex, legis,  a law; the Law of God. the will of Go
anima, ae, soul
verbum, i, n.,word, command, edict, also a promise; saying, speech; Law, the Eternal Son. 

DR	For with you there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of your law, I have waited for you, O Lord.
Brenton	For with thee is forgiveness: for thy name’s sake have I waited for thee
Cover	For there is mercy with thee; therefore shalt thou be feared
KJV	But [there is] forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

DR	My soul has relied on his word
Brenton	O Lord, my soul has waited for thy word.
MD	My soul trusteth in His word, my soul hopeth in the Lord.
Cover	I look for the Lord; my soul doth wait for him.
KJV	I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait,

St Augustine's commentary on the verse points to St Paul's analysis of the law given to the Jews not as a source of salvation, but rather of condemnation since none could live up to it without the help of grace.  The point of the law, he argues was not to give life but to 'show his sins to the sinner'.   Christ changes this, for he teaches us the law of love that blots out fear:

"There is therefore a law of the mercy of God, a law of the propitiation of God. The one was a law of fear, the other is a law of love. The law of love gives forgiveness to sins, blots out the past, warns concerning the future; forsakes not its companion by the way, becomes a companion to him whom it leads on the way...Therefore, For the sake of Your law I have waited for You, O Lord, because you have condescended to bring in a law of mercy, to forgive me all my sins, to give me for the future warnings that I may not offend."

God's should in turn invoke in us a sense of reverent awe, as Pope Benedict XVI has pointed out:

“It is significant that reverent awe, a sentiment in which respect and love are mingled, is not born from punishment but from forgiveness. Rather than sparking his anger, God's generous and disarming magnanimity must kindle in us a holy reverence. Indeed, God is not an inexorable sovereign who condemns the guilty but a loving father whom we must love, not for fear of punishment, but for his kindness, quick to forgive.”

Note

*For a key to the abbreviations and links to full texts see the Notes on the psalm notes post.  Those used here are: V=Vulgate; NV=Neo-Vulgate; JH=St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint; DR=Douay-Rheims; Brenton=Brenton's translation from the Septuagint; Cover=Coverdale; KJV=King James Bible

Psalm 129: De Profundis

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.	Canticum graduum.
De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine: * Dómine, exáudi vocem meam :	Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord:
2  Fiant aures tuæ intendéntes: * in vocem deprecatiónis meæ.	2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
3  Si iniquitátes observáveris, Dómine: * Dómine, quis sustinébit?	3 If you, O Lord, will mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.
4  Quia apud te propitiátio est: * et propter legem tuam sustínui te, Dómine.	4 For with you there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of your law, I have waited for you, O Lord.
5  Sustinuit ánima mea in verbo ejus: * sperávit ánima mea in Dómino.	My soul has relied on his word: 5 My soul has hoped in the Lord.
6  A custódia matutína usque ad noctem: * speret Israël in Dómino.	6 From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.
7  Quia apud Dóminum misericórdia: * et copiósa apud eum redémptio.	7 Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.
8  Et ipse rédimet Israël: * ex ómnibus iniquitátibus ejus.	8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities

And for the next set of notes on this psalm, go here.

Psalm 129: Verses 1-2

El Greco The Repentance of St Peter

The first two verses of Psalm 129 above all justify its inclusion as one of the Seven Penitential Psalms.  But they also have other lessons to offer us on the nature of prayer in general.

Notes on the verses

1	V/NV/JH*	De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine: * Dómine, exáudi vocem meam :
	Sept	ἐκ βαθέων ἐκέκραξά σε κύριε κύριε εἰσάκουσον τῆς φωνῆς μου

De (from/out of) profúndis (the deeps) clamávi (I have called) ad (to) te (you) Dómine (O Lord) Dómine (O Lord) exáudi (hear) vocem (the voice) meam (my)

The depths (profundis) can mean literally the depths of the sea, or the depths of misfortune and sin. The Monastic Diurnal's translation, along the RSV, makes this verse present tense to reflect the Hebrew perfect (action occurring simultaneously).   

profundum, i, n., the depth, the sea, any deep water;  the depths, deep

clamo, avi, atum, are  to call, cry out; to call to or upon for aid.

exaudio, ivi, Itum, ire, to hear, hearken to, listen to, give heed to; to regard, answer

vox, vocis, f., the voice of a person, or, the sound of an instrument, thunder. 

DR	Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord: I have cried to you, Lord, hear my voice.
Brenton	Out of the depths have I cried to thee, O Lord. 2 O Lord, hearken to my voice
Cover	Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
KJV 1769	Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.

To obtain God's mercy, according to this verse, requires two things: intensity in prayer (a cry) and a recognition of the depths of our sin.  the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2559) notes that:

"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer, Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God."

The Fathers' commentaries on this verse point us to examples of great sinners who repented deeply, such as Jonah in the whale, St Peter, and the tax-collector.

2	V/NV	Fiant aures tuæ intendéntes: * in vocem deprecatiónis meæ.
	JH	fiant aures tuae intendentes ad uocem deprecationis meae.
	Sept	γενηθήτω τὰ ὦτά σου προσέχοντα εἰς τὴν φωνὴν τῆς δεήσεώς μου

Fiant (let them be) aures (the ears) tuae (your) intendéntes (being attentive = be attentive) in vocem (to the voice) deprecatiónis (supplications) meæ (my supplications)

The Coverdale translation renders the last phrase as 'the voice of my complaint', but 'complaint' here is really meant in the Old English sense of a petition or request for mercy or pardon.

fio, factus sum, fieri , to be made or done, to become, happen

auris, is, f the ear.

intendo, tendi, tentum, ere 3 to give heed to, pay attention to.

vox, vocis, f., the voice of a person, or, the sound of an instrument, thunder. 

deprecatio, onis, prayer, supplication, entreaty.

DR	Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
Brenton	let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
Cover	O let thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint.
KJV	Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications

Prayer is communication between two people.  The opening verse demands that we say 'I', that we acknowledge our sin individually.  This verse turns to the other side of the conversation, namely God, and  asks that he listens to us.  Yet since God sees and hears everything anyway, why do we need to do that?  First we need to be clear that we are not just talking to ourselves but seeking to engage directly with our creator and redeemer!  Secondly, we do need to be insistent when we really want something.  St Robert Bellarmine comments:

"However loud one may cry, he will not be heard, unless the person to whom he cries attend to him. People are often so absorbed in other mat­ters, that they pay no heed to one talking to them, and then one talks to them in vain. Now, God always sees and hears every­thing, but when he does not grant what we ask, he is like one that does not attend to us, as if he were thinking of something else, and, therefore, David, being most anxious for a hearing, and not content with having called out with a loud voice, asks, furthermore, that God may deign to attend to him; that is, to receive his prayer, and grant what it asked."

*For a key to the abbreviations and links to full texts see the Notes on the psalm notes post.  

Those used here are: V=Vulgate; NV=Neo-Vulgate; JH=St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint; DR=Douay-Rheims; Brenton=Brenton's translation from the Septuagint; Cover=Coverdale; KJV=King James Bible

Psalm 129: De Profundis

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.	Canticum graduum.
De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine: Dómine, exáudi vocem meam	Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord:
2  Fiant aures tuæ intendéntes: * in vocem deprecatiónis meæ.	2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
3  Si iniquitátes observáveris, Dómine: * Dómine, quis sustinébit?	3 If you, O Lord, will mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.
4  Quia apud te propitiátio est: * et propter legem tuam sustínui te, Dómine.	4 For with you there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of your law, I have waited for you, O Lord.
5  Sustinuit ánima mea in verbo ejus: * sperávit ánima mea in Dómino.	My soul has relied on his word: 5 My soul has hoped in the Lord.
6  A custódia matutína usque ad noctem: * speret Israël in Dómino.	6 From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.
7  Quia apud Dóminum misericórdia: * et copiósa apud eum redémptio.	7 Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.
8  Et ipse rédimet Israël: * ex ómnibus iniquitátibus ejus.	8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities

And for notes on the next set of verses of this psalm, continue on here.

Psalm 129: De Profundis - Introduction

The first psalm of Tuesday Vespers, Psalm 129, is a psalm that is used in many different contexts: it is one of the seven penitential psalms; it is used in the Office of the Dead at Vespers; it is a traditional preparatory prayer for Mass; and it carries an indulgence if said for those in purgatory.

Psalm 129: De Profundis

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.	Canticum graduum.
De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine: * Dómine, exáudi vocem meam :	Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord:
2  Fiant aures tuæ intendéntes: * in vocem deprecatiónis meæ.	2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
3  Si iniquitátes observáveris, Dómine: * Dómine, quis sustinébit?	3 If you, O Lord, will mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.
4  Quia apud te propitiátio est: * et propter legem tuam sustínui te, Dómine.	4 For with you there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of your law, I have waited for you, O Lord.
5  Sustinuit ánima mea in verbo ejus: * sperávit ánima mea in Dómino.	My soul has relied on his word: 5 My soul has hoped in the Lord.
6  A custódia matutína usque ad noctem: * speret Israël in Dómino.	6 From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.
7  Quia apud Dóminum misericórdia: * et copiósa apud eum redémptio.	7 Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.
8  Et ipse rédimet Israël: * ex ómnibus iniquitátibus ejus.	8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities

Historical context

The psalm is almost certainly Davidic in origin, as 2 Chronicles 6:36-42, which is part of a prayer of King Solomon, alludes to and explains this psalm, and explicitly mentions Solomon's father, King David in this context.

Here are the verses in question from Chronicles:

"And if they sin against you (for there is no man that sins not) and you be angry with them, and deliver them up to their enemies, and they lead them away captive to a land either afar off, or near at hand, and if they be converted in their heart in the land to which they were led captive, and do penance, and pray to you in the land of their captivity saying: We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have dealt unjustly: And return to you with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to which they were led away, and adore you towards the way of their own land which you gave their fathers, and of the city, which you have chosen, and the house which I have built to your name: Then hear from heaven, that is, from your firm dwelling place, their prayers, and do judgment, and forgive your people, although they have sinned: For you are my God: let your eyes, I beseech you, be open, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer, that is made in this place. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into your resting place, you and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O Lord God, put on salvation, and your saints rejoice in good things. O Lord God, turn not away the face of your anointed: remember the mercies of David your servant."

In the Benedictine Office

Above all though, it is one of the Gradual psalms, the pilgrim songs sung as the pilgrims climbed the steps to the Temple on the occasion of the great feasts each year.  The slow ascent of the steps is meant to symbolize the pilgrim's journey, firstly towards the earthly Temple, but also the spiritual ascent to heaven.

Christ's earthly life, and particularly his public ministry which we can particularly meditate today on, in the context of the Office, is meant to teach us how to make that spiritual ascent: following the steps of the Apostles as they learnt from the Master, we too can gradually grow in the grace represented by each of these steps.

In this light, Pope Benedict XVI suggested that:

"the text is first and foremost a hymn to divine mercy and to the reconciliation between the sinner and the Lord, a God who is just but always prepared to show himself "a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin" (Ex 34: 6-7)."

One can perhaps use it to meditate on incidents in the Gospel such as Jesus' repeated forgiveness of sins of those he healed through his miracles; the tearful repentance of Mary Magdalene; the story of the woman caught in adultery and more.

Competing textual traditions?

It is worth noting that this is one of those psalms where the Septuagint Greek (and thus Vulgate) and the (late medieval) Hebrew Masoretic Text are in places very different, in ways impossible to reconcile by looking for alternative readings of the Hebrew.  

In particular, from verse 4 onwards, the Hebrew puts much more emphasis on fear of God, and omits two references to the hope of the Christ’s redemption.  This may well be the result of early rabbinical reaction to Christianity, and in fact the text is so corrupt that in places even protestant bibles that usually prefer the Hebrew have adopted the Vulgate tradition.

You can find notes on the individual verses of the psalm starting here. and an updated introduction to it here.

Tuesday in the Benedictine Office

St Mary's Church, Lewisham, UK

I'm currently running a series on the psalms of Vespers, and we have now reached Tuesday at that hour. Before looking at the individual psalms of Tuesday Vespers, though, I thought it might be helpful first to consider the context of the Office of Tuesday as a whole.

The public ministry of Christ, the true Temple

Monday in the Benedictine Office, I've previously suggested, can be seen as a meditation on the life of Christ from his birth to baptism and temptation in the desert.

Tuesday, I want to suggest, is an appropriate time to meditate on the public ministry of Christ, and particularly the growth in the spiritual life and holiness that comes from the imitation of Christ, as we stand in the footsteps of the disciples, hearing his preaching.  In fact, the first very first psalm of Matins, Psalm 45, supports that idea quite nicely, asserting that 'God is in the midst of us',  'doing wonders on the earth' (Deus in médio ejus… Veníte, et vidéte ópera Dómini, quæ pósuit prodígia super terram).

Above all though, the day's key theme is, I think, Christ as the true Temple.

The psalms of Matins and Lauds are full of references to the city of God, the heavenly temple, psalms which Christians have long interpreted as being about the desire for Christ himself.  Indeed, Psalm 42, which is said at Lauds, forms the basis of the prayers at the foot of the altar in the traditional Mass.

Gradual Day

One of the most distinctive features of the Benedictine Office, though, is the use of nine of the Gradual Psalms at Terce to None from Tuesday to Saturday (the older form of the Roman Office used Psalm 118 at these hours).

And on Tuesday, St Benedict goes further, arranging it so that all of the 'psalms of ascent' (Psalms 119-133), save for Psalm 128 (said on Monday) are said in order.

These psalms are thought to have been sung liturgically as the pilgrims ascended the fifteen steps of the Temple in Jerusalem on major feasts.  

These psalms can also be viewed as pilgrim songs, appropriate perhaps for Christ's wanderings around the region as he preached.  

But above all, the Fathers saw them as tracing the mystical ascent of the Christian in the spiritual life in imitation of Christ, who shows us how to climb Jacob’s ladder to heaven and grow in virtue.

The first of the group, Psalm 119, presents us with the image of an exile, a stranger living amongst antagonistic peoples, who has ‘lived too long in exile’.  Hebrews 11 nicely summarises the story line that then develops:

“These all died in faith…having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Hebrews contrasts the story of the Old Testament figures who set out on this journey, but were not able to arrive at the destination because heaven was closed to them by Original Sin, with our situation, whereby the gates to heaven have been reopened by our Lord. But it also points to the key orientation of the Christian: living in the world, but not being of it; and focusing on laying up treasure in heaven, not in the here and now:

"Why then, since we are watched from above by such a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of all that weighs us down, of the sinful habit that clings so closely, and run, with all endurance, the race for which we are entered. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the origin and the crown of all faith, who, to win his prize of blessedness, endured the cross and made light of its shame, Jesus, who now sits on the right of God’s throne." (Hebrews 12)


Indeed, Christ is the 'third temple', as St John's Gospel asserts in a text that many of the Fathers regarded as the key to the interpretation to the Gradual psalms:

"Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. At which the Jews said, This temple took forty-six years to build; wilt thou raise it up in three days? But the temple he was speaking of was his own body; and when he had risen from the dead his disciples remembered his saying this, and learned to believe in the scriptures, and in the words Jesus had spoken." (John 2: 19-22).

Vespers on Tuesday

Vespers on Tuesday features four of the gradual psalms, Psalms 129-132.  Two of these (Psalms 130 and 132) are very short indeed - only three verses as they appear in Scripture, though lengthened somewhat in their liturgical presentation.   

There is, arguably, a particular logic to the split between the gradual psalms used at the little hours and those at Vespers: Cassiodorus, St Benedict’s contemporary, suggests that the first nine of the group refer to our life on earth, while the next group look to heaven.

But there is perhaps a deeper logic to them in terms of their specific content and Christ's message to us:

• Psalm 129, De Profundis, is a hymn to God's saving mercy, for God looks not at our sins and merits but instead redeems us through his mercy;
• Psalm 130, Domine non est exaltatum cor meum, urges us to meditate on the necessity of humility, which Christ taught us by his willingness to take human form and die a dreadful death;
• Psalm 131, Memento Domine David, can be interpreted as an ode to the Real Presence and the importance of worship; and 
• Psalm 132, Ecce quam bonum praises the unity of community life, urging us to love and serve one another.

The psalms of Tuesday, masterlist with links to posts

Matins

(Psalm 3 &Psalm 94 said daily)

Psalm 45
Psalm 46
Psalm 47 (In Mass propers: Pt 1& Pt 2)
Psalm 48
Psalm 49 (In Mass propers)
Psalm 51

Psalm 52
Psalm 53 (in context of Tenebrae, as Mass propers)
Psalm 54
Psalm 55
Psalm 57
Psalm 58 (in context of Tenebrae)

Lauds

(Psalms 66, 50 and 148-150 are said daily)
Psalm 42 (Judica me)
Psalm 56 (Miserere mei)

Canticle of Ezekiel (Is 38)
or
Canticle of Tobit (Tobit 13:1-10)

Prime

Introduction to Psalm 7
Introduction to Psalm 8
Introduction to Psalm 9 (Pt 1)

Terce 

Ps 119 (Psalm 119 in the context of Vespers of the Dead)
Ps 120 (in Vespers for the Dead)
Ps 121 (Introit for 18th Sunday PP)

Sext

Psalm 122
Psalm 123
Psalm 124

None

Psalm 125
Psalm 126
Psalm 127

Vespers

Psalm 129 (De Profundis) (as a penitential psalm/1, Penitential/2, Alleluia and Offertory for last Sunday after Pentecost)
Psalm 130
Psalm 131 (Chrysostom on verse 1)
Psalm 132

Compline (same psalms said daily)

Psalm 4 (in the context of Tenebrae)
Psalm 90
Psalm 133