Psalm 138 verses 8-9

The concluding verses of the first half of Psalm 138 bring us back to the mystery of Christ's Passion.

 

8	V	Si súmpsero pennas meas dilúculo, * et habitávero in extrémis maris.
	NV	Si sumpsero pennas aurorae et habitavero in extremis maris,
	JH	Si sumpsero pinnas diluculo, habitauero in nouissimo maris ;
	Sept	ἐὰν ἀναλάβοιμι τὰς πτέρυγάς μου κατ' ὄρθρον καὶ κατασκηνώσω εἰς τὰ ἔσχατα τῆς θαλάσσης

 [Key: V=Vulgate; NV=Neo-vulgate; JH=St Jerome from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint]

Si (if) sumpsero (I will take up) pennas (wings) meas (my) diluculo (in the early morning) et (and) habitavero (I will live/dwell) in (in) extremis (furthest part/uttermost part/extremes) maris (of the sea)

sumo sumere sumpsi sumptum 3 to take, take up, lay hold of, assume

penna, ae, f feather,  wing.

diluculum, i, n. the dawn, daybreak, the early morning,  morning twilight,.

extremus i n (substantive of extremus a um) the end, that which is outermost

mare, is, n., the sea, the ocean.

DR	If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
Brenton	If I should spread my wings to fly straight forward, and sojourn at the extremity of the sea,
MD	If I should take to wing at dawn, and settle at the farthest sea
Cover	If I take the wings of the morning, and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Knox	If I could wing my way eastwards, or find a dwelling beyond the western sea
Grail	If I take the wings of the dawn and dwell at the sea's furthest end,

[Key: DR=Douay-Rheims Challoner; MD=Monastic Diurnal; Cover=Coverdale]

Cassiodorus sees this verse as continuing the reference to the coming events of the Easter Triduum:

His wings represent the most effective speed of the divine Majesty, which raised His holy body to the realms above by the power of His divinity.  When you hear the word my, you must comprehend the glory of His own power.  So the sense is: when He has taken these wings of His before daylight, that is, at the time of the resurrection, and has dwelt in the furthest part of the sea, that is, beyond the furthest limits of this world, there His Father's hand will guide Him.  

9	V	Etenim illuc manus tua dedúcet me: * et tenébit me déxtera tua.
	NV	etiam illuc manus tua deducet me, et tenebit me dextera tua.
	JH	etiam ibi manus tua deducet me, et tenebit me dextera tua.
		καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἡ χείρ σου ὁδηγήσει με καὶ καθέξει με ἡ δεξιά σου

etenim (indeed/even) illuc (there/in that place) manus (the hand) tua (your) deducet (it will lead/guide) me (me) et (and)  tenebit (it will hold) me (me) dextera (the right hand) tua (your)

etenim, conj., a strong et; and, yea, indeed, truly;  as an adversative.

illuc, adv.  thither, to that place; there, in that place.

manus, us, f, the hand

deduco, duxi ductum, ere 3, to lead or bring down;  guide, lead, conduct

teneo, ui, tentum, ere 2, to hold, hold fast, seize.

dexter, tera, terum; the right hand

DR	Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.
Brenton	it would be vain, for even there thy hand would guide me, and thy right hand would hold me.
MD	Even there Thy hand would seize me and Thy right hand take hold of me
Cover	even there also shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Knox	still would I find thee beckoning to me, thy right hand upholding me.
Grail	even there your hand would lead me, your right hand would hold me fast.

For Cassiodorus, this verse completes the thought on the meaning of Christ's Passion and Resurrection:

Then, to reveal their joint action, there follows..for the Father's right hand is the almighty Word, which will embrace for ages without end the humanity which was taken up and united with it....

Above all though, it can be read as reassurance for us that God is always there to guide and protect us, even at the darkest times in our life, as Chrysostom point out:

"So after mentioning the things of which Your knowledge astonished me, and celebrating his being's foreknowledge, creative power, providence, incomprehensibility, unsearchability, in turn he describes a further faculty of his, likewise full of baffling power if he were to seek it by human reason...that is, it is possible for people who encounter disasters not to be allowed to be ensnared by the disasters through right in the midst of them...Having mentioned the things I enumerated, and along with them not only the fact that he is present everywhere but that he guides and secures and protects..."

Psalm 138/1 – Domine probasti me

Vulgate (Numbering follows psalmody)	Douay-Rheims (numbering follows DR)
In finem, psalmus David.	Unto the end, a psalm of David.
Dómine, probásti me, et cognovísti me: * tu cognovísti sessiónem meam, et resurrectiónem meam.	1 Lord, you have proved me, and known me: 2 You have known my sitting down, and my rising up.
2  Intellexísti cogitatiónes meas de longe: * sémitam meam, et funículum meum investigásti.	You have understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line you have searched out.
3  Et omnes vias meas prævidísti: * quia non est sermo in lingua mea.	4 And you have foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
4  Ecce, Dómine, tu cognovísti ómnia novíssima, et antíqua: * tu formásti me, et posuísti super me manum tuam.	5 Behold, O Lord, you have known all things, the last and those of old: you have formed me, and have laid your hand upon me.
5  Mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua ex me: * confortáta est, et non pótero ad eam.	6 Your knowledge has become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it
6  Quo ibo a spíritu tuo? * et quo a fácie tua fúgiam?	7 Whither shall I go from your spirit? Or whither shall I flee from your face?
7  Si ascéndero in cælum, tu illic es: * si descéndero in inférnum, ades.	8 If I ascend into heaven, you are there: if I descend into hell, you are present.
8  Si súmpsero pennas meas dilúculo, * et habitávero in extrémis maris.	9 If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
9  Etenim illuc manus tua dedúcet me: * et tenébit me déxtera tua.	10 Even there also shall your hand lead me: and your right hand shall hold me.

And you can find notes on the second half of this psalm starting here.

Psalm 138 verses 6-7

Verses 6&7 of Psalm 138 points us to the Holy Ghost.

 

6	Vulgate/ NeoVulgate/ Jerome’s from the Hebrew	Quo ibo a spíritu tuo? * et quo a fácie tua fúgiam?
	Septuagint	ποῦ πορευθῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός σου καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου σου ποῦ φύγω

 

Quo (so that) ibo (there) a spiritu (from the spirit) tuo (your)?  et (and) quo (in order that) a facie (from the face) tua (your) fugiam (I will flee)?

quo that, so that, in the end that, in order that

ibi, adv.  there, in that place. then

spiritus, us, m.  breath;  wind;  breath of life, vital spirit; the soul; spirit, disposition; Divine assistance, grace

facies, ei, f. face, countenance, appearance;  presence.

fugio, fugi, fugitum, ere 3  to flee, take to flight, run away; With  a facie,  from, from before, from the presence of.

DR	Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?
Brenton	Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither shall I flee from my presence?
MD	Whither could I go before Thy spirit, or whither flee before Thy face?
Cover	Whither shall I go then from thy Spirit? or whither shall I go then from thy presence?
Knox	Where can I go, then, to take refuge from thy spirit, to hide from thy view?
Grail	O where can I go from your spirit, or where can I flee from your face?

Verses 6&7 take us back to the attributes of God, and particularly point to the person of the Holy Ghost.  They assert that he is infinite, present everywhere and in everything.  As Chrysostom puts it, they tell us that:

You fill everything, you are present to everyone - not in part, bit wholly to everyone.  By mentioning what is above and what below, length and breadth, height and depth, he indicates he is present everywhere...

The result, as Cassiodorus explains, is that we can never hope to evade God:

...in which He reveals in mystical sequence that no creature can escape God's presence.  Since He is most fully and entirely present everywhere, where can a person hide himself if he thinks he can evade Him?...But since we realise through such preaching that the Holy Spirit is everywhere, there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is seen to be coeternal and coequal with the Father and the Son; only the Trinity can be everywhere in its entirety....Let us return to that saving remedy; Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the almighty Creator, the one God beyond understanding. We speak of His face by metaphor for His presence, for just as our human face possesses mere vision, so the whole of the Lord's substance knows all things with an acuteness of vision beyond description, embracing, penetrating, observing everything.

That presence is necessary of course, for God is not only the creator but also the sustainer of the universe, as Bellarmine points out:

He now adduces another argument to prove that no one can escape God's ken, inasmuch as God is everywhere, penetrating everything...without God's help we cannot stir, nor can we go along but as he carries us, for "in him we live, move, and have our being."

7	V/NV	Si ascéndero in cælum, tu illic es: * si descéndero in inférnum, ades.
	JH	Si ascendero in caelum, ibi es tu ; si iacuero in inferno, ades.
		ἐὰν ἀναβῶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν σὺ εἶ ἐκεῖ ἐὰν καταβῶ εἰς τὸν ᾅδην πάρει

Si (if) ascendero (I will ascend/go up) in cælum (into heaven), tu (you) illic (there) es (you are) si (if) descendero (I will descend/go down) in infernum (into hell), ades (you are present)

ascendo, scendi, scensum, ere 3  to go up, ascend. to mount a horse, chariot, etc., to ride.

caelum, i, n., or caeli, orum, m.  heaven, the abode of God; the heavens as opposed to the earth; the air;

illic, adv.  Of place: there, in that place; Of time: then

descendo, scendi, scensum, ere 3  to descend, to come or go down.

infernus, i, m. Sheol; the nether world, the underworld, the grave, the kingdom of the dead, hell 

adsum adesse affui to be present

DR	If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.
Brenton	If I should go up to heaven, thou art there: if I should go down to hell, thou art present.
MD	If I ascend into heaven Thou art there; if I descend into hell, Thou art present
Cover	If I climb up into heaven, thou art there; if I go down to hell, thou art there also.

Verse 7 takes us back to the Christological meaning of this psalm, for as Cassiodorus point out, it can be seen as pointing to the descent into hell and Christ's ascension into heaven:

...In his capacity as Man He says...that is, the place where He was to be set at the Father's right hand....(descent to hell) This was what happened by the law of His humanity, that when His body was crucified He descended to break the bonds of those in hell, and as the most devoted Redeemer to aid the human race in its toils.  He added: Thou art present, for He rose speedily on the third day.

It is important to note that hell in this context means 'the limbo of the fathers', where the souls waited to be allowed to enter heaven before the coming of Christ.

Psalm 138/1 – Domine probasti me

Vulgate (Numbering follows psalmody)	Douay-Rheims (numbering follows DR)
In finem, psalmus David.	Unto the end, a psalm of David.
Dómine, probásti me, et cognovísti me: * tu cognovísti sessiónem meam, et resurrectiónem meam.	1 Lord, you have proved me, and known me: 2 You have known my sitting down, and my rising up.
2  Intellexísti cogitatiónes meas de longe: * sémitam meam, et funículum meum investigásti.	You have understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line you have searched out.
3  Et omnes vias meas prævidísti: * quia non est sermo in lingua mea.	4 And you have foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
4  Ecce, Dómine, tu cognovísti ómnia novíssima, et antíqua: * tu formásti me, et posuísti super me manum tuam.	5 Behold, O Lord, you have known all things, the last and those of old: you have formed me, and have laid your hand upon me.
5  Mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua ex me: * confortáta est, et non pótero ad eam.	6 Your knowledge has become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it
6  Quo ibo a spíritu tuo? * et quo a fácie tua fúgiam?	7 Whither shall I go from your spirit? Or whither shall I flee from your face?
7  Si ascéndero in cælum, tu illic es: * si descéndero in inférnum, ades.	8 If I ascend into heaven, you are there: if I descend into hell, you are present.
8  Si súmpsero pennas meas dilúculo, * et habitávero in extrémis maris.	9 If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
9  Etenim illuc manus tua dedúcet me: * et tenébit me déxtera tua.	10 Even there also shall your hand lead me: and your right hand shall hold me.

And you can find the next set of notes on this psalm here.

Psalm 138 verse 5

Verse 5 marks the mid-point in this half of Psalm 138, and in it the speaker acknowledges that although God knows everything about him, he cannot know everything about God.

5	V	Mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua ex me: * confortáta est, et non pótero ad eam.
	NV	Mirabilis nimis facta est scientia tua super me, sublimis, et non attingam eam.
	JH	Super me est scientia,et excelsior est : non potero ad eam.
		ἐθαυμαστώθη ἡ γνῶσίς σου ἐξ ἐμοῦ ἐκραταιώθη οὐ μὴ δύνωμαι πρὸς αὐτήν

[Key: V=Vulgate; NV=Neo-vulgate; JH=St Jerome from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint].

Mirabilis (wonderful/marvellous) facta est (it is made/become) scientia (the knowledge) tua (your) ex (from/for) me (me): confortata est (it is powerful/great) et (and) non (not) potero (I will be able) ad (to/towards) eam (it)

mirabilis, e wonderful, marvelous;  subst., mirabilia, mm, wonders, wonderful works, marvellous things.

scientia, ae, f  knowledge.

conforto, avi, atum, are to strengthen, make strong; to prevail; , to be strengthened, to be powerful, great, mighty.

possum, potui, posse   to be able, to have power

DR	Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.
Brenton	The knowledge of thee is too wonderful for me; it is very difficult, I cannot attain to it.
MD	Thy knowledge is become to wonderful for me, too high and I cannot reach it
Cover	Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me; I cannot attain unto it.
Knox	Such wisdom as thine is far beyond my reach, no thought of mine can attain it.
Grail	Too wonderful for me this knowledge, too high, beyond my reach.

[Key: DR=Douay-Rheims Challoner; MD=Monastic Diurnal; Cover=Coverdale]

This verse goes to the limitations of human nature.  The previous verses tell us that God knows everything about us, including all that we have done and thought, and all we will do.  We on the other hand, can only see God as if in a glass darkly.  In our mouth the verse is an acknowledgment of our respective positions in the universe, a counsel against false pride, for, as Bellarmine puts it:

"...lest anyone should suppose that we have, in consequence, come to complete and just notions of God's knowledge, he adds the prevent verse, that we may understand that, however satisfied we may be of God's knowledge being supreme, and extending to all things, still, that we are quite in the dark - that, in fact, we know nothing at all about it in detail; that is to say, that it is perfectly incomprehensible how God can foresee what is to happen...The same applies to the essence and attributes of God.  We know that he exists, that he is powerful, wise, good, just, and merciful; but who knows or who can explain his essence, or how, with so many attributes, he can be essentially one?...

In the mouth of Christ, the verse can be interpreted as a reflection on Christ's mission and two natures, as Cassiodorus explains:

"He speaks of the Father's knowledge which has been proclaimed through Him all over the world.  It was strengthened in human hearts whereas previously men doubted it in the uncertainty of their belief.  This meaning He declares in the gospel: Father, I have manifested thy name to men.  For it was by His revelation that the venerable unity of the holy Trinity could be made plain, and knowledge of the Father became wonderful through Jesus Christ when the mysteries of the sacred law were recounted to those born of earth.  Then, so that the truth of the human condition could be made plain, He added: And I shall not be able to attain it, for the human nature which he deigned to assume could not attain equality with the divine substance.    This what the gospel makes clear with the works: The Father is greater than I, and again: The Son cannot do anything but what he sees the Father doing..."

Psalm 138/1 – Domine probasti me

Vulgate (Numbering follows psalmody)	Douay-Rheims (numbering follows DR)
In finem, psalmus David.	Unto the end, a psalm of David.
Dómine, probásti me, et cognovísti me: * tu cognovísti sessiónem meam, et resurrectiónem meam.	1 Lord, you have proved me, and known me: 2 You have known my sitting down, and my rising up.
2  Intellexísti cogitatiónes meas de longe: * sémitam meam, et funículum meum investigásti.	You have understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line you have searched out.
3  Et omnes vias meas prævidísti: * quia non est sermo in lingua mea.	4 And you have foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
4  Ecce, Dómine, tu cognovísti ómnia novíssima, et antíqua: * tu formásti me, et posuísti super me manum tuam.	5 Behold, O Lord, you have known all things, the last and those of old: you have formed me, and have laid your hand upon me.
5  Mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua ex me: * confortáta est, et non pótero ad eam.	6 Your knowledge has become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it
6  Quo ibo a spíritu tuo? * et quo a fácie tua fúgiam?	7 Whither shall I go from your spirit? Or whither shall I flee from your face?
7  Si ascéndero in cælum, tu illic es: * si descéndero in inférnum, ades.	8 If I ascend into heaven, you are there: if I descend into hell, you are present.
8  Si súmpsero pennas meas dilúculo, * et habitávero in extrémis maris.	9 If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
9  Etenim illuc manus tua dedúcet me: * et tenébit me déxtera tua.	10 Even there also shall your hand lead me: and your right hand shall hold me.

And you can find the next set of notes on this psalm here.