Introduction to Psalm 1

The Bamberg Apocalypse, The River of Life, c. 1000

This week I'm going to provide a detailed series on Psalm 1 in the context of the Benedictine Office.

Background on Psalm 1

I have previously provided a more general introduction to it, which you can find here: Introduction to Psalm 1.

I've also provided some short summaries of the psalm by the Fathers, Theologians and a few modern commentators.

Many of the Fathers wrote extended introductions to the psalms in the context of Psalm 1, and easily the greatest of these, in my view, is that by St Basil the Great.  Worth reading also are the comments of St Augustine.  But I have to admit my favourite is not strictly a commentary on it, but a story of its power, viz the conversion story of Fr Mutius from the History of the Monks in Egypt.

Psalm is an introduction to and foundation for the whole of the book of Psalms

Psalm 1 is one of the most important in the psalter.  St Basil the Great for example commented that the foundations and structures around things have to proportionate to their purpose, hence the psalms, so important to the spiritual life, also required a great starting point to inspire us to action:

When architects raise up immensely high structures, they put under them foundations proportionate to the height; and when shipbuilders are constructing a merchantman that carries 10,000 measures, they fix the ship's keel to correspond with the weight of the wares it is capable of carrying. Even in the generation of living animals, since the heart is the first organ formed by nature, it receives a structure from nature proportionate to the animal destined to be brought into existence. 

Therefore, since the body is built around in proportion to its own beginnings, the differences in the sizes of animals are produced. Like the foundation in a house, the keel in a ship, and the heart in the body of an animal, this brief introduction seems to me to possess that same force in regard to the whole structure of the psalms. 

When David intended to propose in the course of his speech to the combatants of true religion many painful tasks involving unmeasured sweats and toils, he showed first the happy end, that in the hope of the blessings reserved for us we might endure without grief the sufferings of this life. 

In the same way, too, the expectation of suitable lodging for them lightens the toil for travelers on a rough and difficult road, and the desire for wares makes mendicants dare the sea, while the promise of the crop steals away the drudgery from the labors of the farmers. Therefore, the common Director of our lives, the great Teacher, the Spirit of truth, wisely and cleverly set forth the rewards, in order that, rising above the present labors, we might press on in spirit to the enjoyment of eternal blessings.

The most abiding image in it though, is that of the second half of the psalm: a tree standing evergreen beside the river.  Most of the Fathers saw this as a reference to the image described in Revelation 22:1-5:

He shewed me, too, a river, whose waters give life; it flows, clear as crystal, from the throne of God, from the throne of the Lamb.  On either side of the river, mid-way along the city street, grows the tree that gives life, bearing its fruit twelvefold, one yield for each month. And the leaves of this tree bring health to all the nations. No longer can there be any profanation in that city; God’s throne (which is the Lamb’s throne) will be there, with his servants to worship him, and to see his face, his name written on their foreheads. There will be no more night, no more need of light from lamp or sun; the Lord God will shed his light on them, and they will reign for ever and ever.

St Jerome, for example, interprets the throne as referring to the Incarnation of Christ; the river as the graces flowing from him through baptism; the banks of the river as the Old and New Testaments, and Christ as the tree, standing on both sides of the river, its wood the wood of the cross.  The fruits of the tree then, are salvation and eternal life, as Theodoret of Cyrus explains:

You see, every practice in life looks toward its goal: athletics looks towards olive wreaths, martial arts towards victories and spoils, medicine certainly towards good health and cure of disease, commerce towards amassing wealth and abundance of riches.  Likewise the practice of virtue has as its fruit and goal the beatitude from God….

Psalm 1 in the Benedictine office

In the light of the importance of this psalm, it is surprising that in the Benedictine Office, Psalm 1 is placed not on Sunday at Matins, at the beginning of the Office each week, as in virtually every other traditional form of the Office, but rather Monday at Prime.  Why is that?

Number symbolism

Part of it, I suspect, is that St Benedict, like many of the Fathers, loved number symbolism.

First, Psalm 1, the Fathers mostly agreed, is above all a description of the Second Person of the Trinity, Christ.  Accordingly, St Benedict places it on the second day of the week (feria II), just as he places the chapter on the abbot, who he explicitly says stands in the place of Christ in the monastery, in chapter two of his Rule.

Secondly, Prime in the Benedictine Office is above all about the triumph of Christ the King (as has long been recognised through the chapter Immortal and eternal king... and versicle  'Arise Christ, and save us' assigned to it), the alpha and omega.

The psalm is labelled one, to he places it at the first hour.  He also gives it 22 psalms each day, the same number as the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the first of which each Sunday is a stanza of Psalm 118 in which each line begins with the Hebrew letter aleph.  That all seems to me to suggest the symbolism of Christ first and last (aleph and tau; alpha and omega).

It is worth noting too, that Psalm 1 echoes many of the themes of those stanzas of Psalm 118 said on Sunday (with the other two psalms of Monday picking up most of the remainder).  Indeed, while Psalm 1 starts with the singular 'blessed the man', Psalm 118's plural blessed can be interpreted as the progression that occurs over the symbolic week, from the Incarnation of the single blessed man, Christ, to Christ leading the many into heaven.

The Incarnation

A important reason though may be the association of day II of creation with both the coming of Christ and baptism.  Genesis 1, you will recall, describes the second day of creation as dividing heaven from the earth:

And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.  And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day.  

The Incarnation is associated with this, because Christ bridges the divide, and draws us after him into heaven through baptism.  St Ambrose's Hexameron, for example, points to the division of the Red Sea (referred to Psalm 113 at Vespers on Monday) as linked to the division of the heavens and the earth on day two of creation.

Certainly, St Benedict's Office is full of both Incarnation and baptismal allusions on Monday, not least in Psalm 1, as St Augustine has pointed out in relation to the verse: and he shall be like a tree planted hard by the running streams of waters:

that is either Very Wisdom, which vouchsafed to assume man's nature for our salvation; that as man He might be the tree planted hard by the running streams of waters; for in this sense can that too be taken which is said in another Psalm, the river of God is full of water. 

The importance of Prime and Psalm 1

In the modern Roman Office, and many Benedictine monasteries today, Prime has been abolished altogether.  And in the new psalm schemas the themes of Psalm 1 are not given much prominence: Psalm 1 itself only appears in the Office of Readings once, to start week one (of four).

In the Benedictine Office, though, the hour includes several very key psalms indeed, including Psalm 1.focuses on several key themes reflected in the Rule, arguably  the essential foundations of how we should live as good Christians.

In the traditional form of the Benedictine Office though, it is one of the four hours with psalms that change for each day of the week.

Prime is very important in the structure of the Benedictine Office!

The text of the psalm

Psalm 1: Monday Prime No 1

Vulgate	Douay Rheims translation
Beátus vir, qui non ábiit in consílio impiórum, et in via peccatórum non stetit, * et in cáthedra pestiléntiæ non sedit	Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
2  Sed in lege Dómini volúntas ejus, * et in lege ejus meditábitur die ac nocte.	But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.
3  Et erit tamquam lignum, quod plantátum est secus decúrsus aquárum, * quod fructum suum dabit in témpore suo:	And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season.
4  Et fólium ejus non défluet: * et ómnia quæcúmque fáciet, prosperabúntur.	And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.
5  Non sic ímpii, non sic: * sed tamquam pulvis, quem prójicit ventus a fácie terræ.	Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind drives from the face of the earth.
6  Ideo non resúrgent ímpii in judício: * neque peccatóres in concílio justórum.	Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.
7  Quóniam novit Dóminus viam justórum: * et iter impiórum períbit.	For the Lord knows the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

 Scriptural and liturgical uses

NT References		Mt 7: 13-14 (v1); Rev 22:2 (v3); Mt 13:40 (v6)
RB cursus		Monday Prime
Monastic feasts etc		(whole psalm): Matins for All Saints,  Easter Sunday, Pentecost,  Corpus Christi,  Common of Martyrs;  Good Friday Tenebrae Easter Sunday Matins AN (v1-2, id 2599) Common of confessor bishop M - AN (v1-3, id 1674) All Saints M AN (v1,6; 3965) Common several martyrs M AN 1.1 v2-3, 4847 [other AN: 4383, 3966,]
Roman pre 1911		Sunday Matins
Matins responsories		3249,7004
Ambrosian		Monday Matins wk 1
Brigittine		Sunday Matins
Maurist		Sunday Matins
Thesauris schemas		A: Sunday Matins wk 1; B: Monday Matins; C: Sunday None; D: Saturday Matins
Roman post 1911		1911-62:Sunday Matins. 1970: Sunday Readings
Byzantine		Kathisma 1 /stasis  1
Mass propers (EF)		Ash Wednesday Communio (vs 2-3)

You can the first set of notes on the verses here

Psalm 20 - Our king will reign forever

Psalm 20: Sunday Matins I, 1 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David.	Unto the end. A psalm for David.
1 Dómine, in virtúte tua lætábitur rex: * et super salutáre tuum exsultábit veheménter.	In your strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in your salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.
2  Desidérium cordis ejus tribuísti ei: * et voluntáte labiórum ejus non fraudásti eum.	3 You have given him his heart's desire: and have not withholden from him the will of his lips.
3  Quóniam prævenísti eum in benedictiónibus dulcédinis: * posuísti in cápite ejus corónam de lápide pretióso.	4 For you have prevented him with blessings of sweetness: you have set on his head a crown of precious stones.
4  Vitam pétiit a te: * et tribuísti ei longitúdinem diérum in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi.	5 He asked life of you: and you have given him length of days for ever and ever.
5  Magna est glória ejus in salutári tuo: * glóriam et magnum decórem impónes super eum.	6 His glory is great in your salvation: glory and great beauty shall you lay upon him.
6  Quóniam dabis eum in benedictiónem in sæculum sæculi: * lætificábis eum in gáudio cum vultu tuo.	7 For you shall give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: you shall make him joyful in gladness with your countenance.
7  Quóniam rex sperat in Dómino: * et in misericórdia Altíssimi non commovébitur.	8 For the king hopes in the Lord: and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved
8  Inveniátur manus tua ómnibus inimícis tuis: * déxtera tua invéniat omnes, qui te odérunt.	9 Let your hand be found by all your enemies: let your right hand find out all them that hate you.
9  Pones eos ut clíbanum ignis in témpore vultus tui: * Dóminus in ira sua conturbábit eos, et devorábit eos ignis.	10 You shall make them as an oven of fire, in the time of your anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and fire shall devour them.
10  Fructum eórum de terra perdes: * et semen eórum a fíliis hóminum.	11 Their fruit shall you destroy from the earth: and their seed from among the children of men.
11  Quóniam declinavérunt in te mala: * cogitavérunt consília, quæ non potuérunt stabilíre.	12 For they have intended evils against you: they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish.
12  Quóniam pones eos dorsum: * in relíquiis tuis præparábis vultum eórum.	13 For you shall make them turn their back: in your remnants you shall prepare their face.
13  Exaltáre, Dómine, in virtúte tua: * cantábimus et psallémus virtútes tuas.	14 Be exalted, O Lord, in your own strength: we will sing and praise your power.

St Benedict's selection of Psalm 20 to open Matins each Sunday was a radical one: starting at Psalm 1 was the norm for all of the traditional forms of the Office, monastic or otherwise.  So why did he do it?

In the Rule, St Benedict explicitly makes a link between this starting point and Prime.  After explaining how the psalms of Prime are to be divided and allocated to each day of the week, he says St Benedict's Rule says:

'Thus it comes about that the Night Office on Sundays will always begin with the twentieth psalm.' (RB18).  

 The Resurrection

The most obvious reason for the linkage is the Resurrection, a fitting opening prayer for the 'Lord's Day' when we celebrate that event afresh each week.

The variable psalmody of Saturday in the Office's mini-Triduum ends with Psalm 19, which, you will recall, is a prediction of the Resurrection and sings the praises of the triumphant king.  Cassiodorus explains its concluding verse, O Lord save the king...' as meaning, 'Let Christ the Lord rise from the dead, ascend into heaven, and intercede for us'.

As St Liguori reminds us, Psalm 20 is a song of the Resurrection:

Hymn of thanksgiving which the people address to God for the victories granted to the arms of David. According to Bellarmine, this psalm is understood in the spiritual sense of the victory which Jesus Christ gained through the merits of his Passion over sin and over hell.

Verse 4 is the key to this interpretation as St Augustine makes clear:

He asked life; and You gave Him: He asked a resurrection, saying, Father, glorify Your Son; and You gave it Him, Length of days for ever and ever. The prolonged ages of this world which the Church was to have, and after them an eternity, world without end.

Life of Christ in a week

The link between Psalm 19 and Psalm 20 also provides a link between that theme and the weekly program around the life of Christ that St Benedict sets out in Matins above all.

St Benedict makes Prime about Christ the King, the first and last, who fulfils the law and leads us into heaven.  But the psalms of that hour also link to the schema that I think is traces out each week the life of Christ from the Incarnation on Monday to the Resurrection on Sunday.

Against the denial of the divinity of Christ

The third reason for St Benedict's approach may have been to make a strong statement against the Arian heresy which was widespread in Italy in his time, and denied the true divinity of Christ.

Cassiodorus saw Psalms 18, 19 and 20 as setting out Christ's two natures, human and divine, and his discussion of Psalm 20 provides a strong exposition of its applicability in countering the Arian heresy (reborn in our time, above all in those who claim Christ was unaware of his divine nature and mission, acted in ways conditioned by the times, and so forth).  He comments:

Here a kind of panegyric is recited about His incarnation, and later the deeds of His divinity are recounted so that all may understand that the Son of Mary ever a virgin is identical with the Word of the Father. Our belief which is conducive to salvation is that there are two natures, divine and human, in Jesus Christ, and they continue in one Person unchangeably for ages without end. This statement should be repeated frequently, because regularly hearing and believing it brings life...

Accordingly, starting with Psalm 20 each week may have been interpreted as a bulwark against that heresy, consistent with the many other anti-Arian features of the Benedictine Office (the addition of the Gloria to each psalm, for example, and the closing 'litany', Kyrie eleison, Christie eleison, Kyrie eleison', which were all adopted in Gaul in the early sixth century specifically to address the heresy).

The eighth day

Above all though, the choice of the psalm surely reflects the eschatological character St Benedict gives Matins.  He sets out his instructions for Matins in the eighth chapter of the Rule; says it should be started at the eighth hour on what was in early Christian parlance the 'eighth day', the dawn of the first day of the new creation ushered in by the Resurrection. And St Athanasius summarises the psalm as revealing:

Christ’s kingdom, and the power of his judgment, and his coming again in the flesh to us and the summoning of the nations.

The Scriptural and liturgical uses of Psalm 20

The psalm arranged for liturgical use:

Psalm 20

Dómine, in virtúte tua lætábitur rex: * et super salutáre tuum exsultábit veheménter.	In your strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in your salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.
Desidérium cordis eius tribuísti ei: * et voluntáte labiórum eius non fraudásti eum.	You have given him his heart's desire: and have not withholden from him the will of his lips.
Quóniam prævenísti eum in benedictiónibus dulcédinis: * posuísti in cápite eius corónam de lápide pretióso.	For you have prevented him with blessings of sweetness: you have set on his head a crown of precious stones.
Vitam pétiit a te: * et tribuísti ei longitúdinem diérum in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi.	He asked life of you: and you have given him length of days for ever and ever.
Magna est glória eius in salutári tuo: * glóriam et magnum decórem impónes super eum.	His glory is great in your salvation: glory and great beauty shall you lay upon him.
Quóniam dabis eum in benedictiónem in sæculum sæculi: * lætificábis eum in gáudio cum vultu tuo.	For you shall give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: you shall make him joyful in gladness with your countenance.
Quóniam rex sperat in Dómino: * et in misericórdia Altíssimi non commovébitur.	For the king hopes in the Lord: and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved
Inveniátur manus tua ómnibus inimícis tuis: * déxtera tua invéniat omnes, qui te odérunt.	Let your hand be found by all your enemies: let your right hand find out all them that hate you.
Pones eos ut clíbanum ignis in témpore vultus tui: † Dóminus in ira sua conturbábit eos, * et devorábit eos ignis.	You shall make them as an oven of fire, in the time of your anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and fire shall devour them.
Fructum eórum de terra perdes: * et semen eórum a fíliis hóminum.	Their fruit shall you destroy from the earth: and their seed from among the children of men.
Quóniam declinavérunt in te mala: * cogitavérunt consília, quæ non potuérunt stabilíre.	For they have intended evils against you: they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish.
Quóniam pones eos dorsum: * in relíquiis tuis præparábis vultum eórum.	For you shall make them turn their back: in your remnants you shall prepare their face.
Exaltáre, Dómine, in virtúte tua: * cantábimus et psallémus virtútes tuas.	Be exalted, O Lord, in your own strength: we will sing and praise your power.

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

 

NT references	-
RB cursus	Sunday matins
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc	Ascension; Exaltation of Holy Cross; Common of confessors AN 5478 (4-6); 2963 (6); 1760, 2758, 2759,  (14);
Roman pre 1911	Sunday Matins+AN 2349 (1),
Responsories	7412 (4), 7114 (6), 6682 (14) Ascension no 3, 6681 (14) Common of a martyr: no 6, 6412, v4; no 9, 6341 (3-4); no 11, 6776 (4-6) St Scholastica no 7 (3)
Ambrosian	Tues M wk 1
Brigittine	Monday Sext
Maurist	Sunday M
Thesauris schemas	A: ; B: ; C: ; D:
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Monday Matins. 1970: Vespers (verses 2-8, 14), Tuesday wk 1
Mass propers (EF)	Easter Thurs OF V (cf 3) PP5: AL (2) Vigil of JB, IN (2), CO (5) St Thomas of Canterbury OF (3-6) St Matthew CO (6) Martyr not a bishop IN (2-4), OF (3-6) Martyr bishop TR (3-4)

 

Psalm 101 - That Christ might release those in fetters

Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry,
Folio 34r - the Musée Condé

Psalm 101: Penitential psalm no 5/ Saturday Matins I, 1

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Oratio pauperis, cum anxius fuerit, et in conspectu Domini effuderit precem suam.	The prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and poured out his supplication before   the Lord.
1 Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam: * et clamor meus ad te véniat.	Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to you.
2  Non avértas fáciem tuam a me: * in quacúmque die tríbulor, inclína ad me aurem tuam.	Turn not away your face from me: in the day when I am in trouble, incline your ear to me.
3  In quacúmque die invocávero te: * velóciter exáudi me.	In what day soever I shall call upon you, hear me speedily.
4  Quia defecérunt sicut fumus dies mei: * et ossa mea sicut crémium aruérunt.	4 For my days are vanished like smoke, and my bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire.
5  Percússus sum ut fœnum, et áruit cor meum: * quia oblítus sum comédere panem meum.	5 I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I forgot to eat my bread.
6  A voce gémitus mei: * adhæsit os meum carni meæ.	6 Through the voice of my groaning, my bone has cleaved to my flesh.
7  Símilis factus sum pellicáno solitúdinis: * factus sum sicut nyctícorax in domicílio.	7 I have become like to a pelican of the wilderness: I am like a night raven in the house.
8  Vigilávi, * et factus sum sicut passer solitárius in tecto.	8 I have watched, and have become as a sparrow all alone on the housetop.
9  Tota die exprobrábant mihi inimíci mei: * et qui laudábant me, advérsum me jurábant.	9 All the day long my enemies reproached me: and they that praised me did swear against me.
10  Quia cínerem tamquam panem manducábam, * et potum meum cum fletu miscébam.	10 For I ate ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.
11  A fácie iræ et indignatiónis tuæ: * quia élevans allisísti me.	11 Because of your anger and indignation: for having lifted me up you have thrown me down.
12  Dies mei sicut umbra declinavérunt: * et ego sicut fœnum árui.	12 My days have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like grass.
13  Tu autem, Dómine, in ætérnum pérmanes: * et memoriále tuum in generatiónem et generatiónem.	13 But you, O Lord, endure for ever: and your memorial to all generations.
14  Tu exsúrgens miseréberis Sion: * quia tempus miseréndi ejus, quia venit tempus.	14 You shall arise and have mercy on Sion: for it is time to have mercy on it, for the time has come.
15  Quóniam placuérunt servis tuis lápides ejus: * et terræ ejus miserebúntur.	15 For the stones thereof have pleased your servants: and they shall have pity on the earth thereof.
16  Et timébunt gentes nomen tuum, Dómine: * et omnes reges terræ glóriam tuam.	16 All the Gentiles shall fear your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory.
17  Quia ædificávit Dóminus Sion: * et vidébitur in glória sua.	17 For the Lord has built up Sion: and he shall be seen in his glory.
18  Respéxit in oratiónem humílium: * et non sprevit precem eórum.	18 He has had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he has not despised their petition.
19  Scribántur hæc in generatióne áltera: * et pópulus qui creábitur, laudábit Dóminum.	19 Let these things be written unto another generation: and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord:
20  Quia prospéxit de excélso sancto suo: * Dóminus de cælo in terram aspéxit:	20 Because he has looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the Lord has looked upon the earth.
21  Ut audíret gémitus compeditórum: * ut sólveret fílios interemptórum.	21 That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain:
22  Ut annúntient in Sion nomen Dómini: * et laudem ejus in Jerúsalem.	22 That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion: and his praise in Jerusalem;
23  In conveniéndo pópulos in unum: * et reges ut sérviant Dómino.	23 when the people assemble together, and kings, to serve the Lord.
24  Respóndit ei in via virtútis suæ: * Paucitátem diérum meórum núntia mihi.	24 He answered him in the way of his strength: Declare unto me the fewness of my days.
25  Ne révoces me in dimídio diérum meórum: * in generatiónem et generatiónem anni tui.	25 Call me not away in the midst of my days: your years are unto generation and generation.
26  Inítio tu, Dómine, terram fundásti: * et ópera mánuum tuárum sunt cæli.	26 In the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth: and the heavens are the works of your hands.
27  Ipsi peribunt, tu autem pérmanes: * et omnes sicut vestiméntum veteráscent.	27 They shall perish but you remain: and all of them shall grow old like a garment:
28  Et sicut opertórium mutábis eos, et mutabúntur: * tu autem idem ipse es, et anni tui non defícient.	And as a vesture you shall change them, and they shall be changed. 28 But you are always the selfsame, and your years shall not fail.
29  Fílii servórum tuórum habitábunt: * et semen eórum in sæculum dirigétur.	29 The children of your servants shall continue and their seed shall be directed for ever.

Psalm 101 as a Penitential psalm

The first psalm of Matins each week is Psalm 101, probably best known as the fifth of the penitential psalms. As St Liguori says:

In this psalm, which is one of the seven penitential psalms, we see one humbling himself before God, praying for himself and for all the people.

The first half of the psalm (verses 1-18) in particular paints a picture of the penitent person who fasts and prays, shedding tears of penitence while hoping for God's mercy.

The second half reminds us that Christ calls us to penitence that we might live with him forever.

Christ as the poor man

There is another interpretation to the psalm though, as St Liguori goes on to point out:

According to St. Augustine, it is Jesus Christ who prays for us; in fact, it cannot be denied that in certain verses the Messias and his coming are spoken of. The very title of the psalm in the Hebrew as well as in the Greek and the Latin clearly indicates its subject: Prayer of the poor man when he is in anxiety, and when he pours out his prayer in the presence of the Lord.

Indeed, St Augustine develops the Christological dimension of the psalm at length:

Behold, one poor man prays, and prays not in silence. We may therefore hear him, and see who he is: whether it be not perchance He, of whom the Apostle says, Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich. 

If it is He, then, how is He poor? For in what sense He is rich, who sees not? What then is richer than He, by whom riches were made, even those which are not true riches? For through Him we have even these riches, ability, memory, character, health of body, the senses, and the conformation of our limbs: for when these are safe, even the poor are rich. Through Him also are those greater riches, faith, piety, justice, charity, chastity, good conduct: for no man has these, except through Him who justifies the ungodly... 

Reflect also upon these words: I am Your servant, and the Son of Your handmaid. Observe, this handmaid, chaste, a virgin, and a mother: for there He received our poverty, when He was clothed in the form of a servant, emptying Himself; lest you should dread His riches, and in your beggarly state should not dare approach Him. There, I say, He put on the form of a servant, there He was clothed with our poverty; there He made Himself poor, and us rich....

Read in this light, the contrast between earthly mortality and God's unchanging state drawn out in the psalm becomes a commentary on the two natures of Christ.

Christ and the harrowing of hell

In the context of the weekly mini-Triduum of the Office, the key focus St Benedict is perhaps pointing us to is surely the contrast between the mortality of sinful man, and the promise of eternal life.  

In verse 14 we hear that the time for the Resurrection has come:

14  Tu exsúrgens miseréberis Sion: * quia tempus miseréndi ejus, quia venit tempus.

14 You shall arise and have mercy on Sion: for it is time to have mercy on it, for the time has come.

The climax of the psalm, though, is verse 21, which in the context of Holy Saturday can perhaps be seen as referring to the harrowing of hell: 

21  Ut audíret gémitus compeditórum: * ut sólveret fílios interemptórum.

21 That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain:

In the verses that follow, psalm looks forward to the new creation that will replace the old, an age whose first light is seen with the Resurrection.

Psalm 85 Inclina Domine - Say nothing without Christ

Psalm 85: Friday matins I, 1

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Oratio ipsi David.	A prayer for David himself.
Inclína, Dómine, aurem tuam, et exáudi me : * quóniam inops, et pauper sum ego.	Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor.
2  Custódi ánimam meam, quóniam sanctus sum : * salvum fac servum tuum, Deus meus, sperántem in te.	2 Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save your servant, O my God, that trusts in you.
3  Miserére mei, Dómine, quóniam ad te clamávi tota die : * lætífica ánimam servi tui, quóniam ad te, Dómine, ánimam meam levávi.	3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to you all the day. 4 Give joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul.
4  Quóniam tu, Dómine, suávis et mitis : * et multæ misericórdiæ ómnibus invocántibus te.	5 For you, O Lord, are sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon you.
5  Auribus pércipe, Dómine, oratiónem meam : * et inténde voci deprecatiónis meæ.	6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer: and attend to the voice of my petition
6  In die tribulatiónis meæ clamávi ad te : * quia exaudísti me.	7 I have called upon you in the day of my trouble: because you have heard me.
7  Non est símilis tui in diis, Dómine : * et non est secúndum ópera tua.	8 There is none among the gods like unto you, O Lord: and there is none according to your works.
8  Omnes gentes quascúmque fecísti, vénient, et adorábunt coram te, Dómine : * et glorificábunt nomen tuum.	9 All the nations you have made shall come and adore before you, O Lord: and they shall glorify your name.
9  Quóniam magnus es tu, et fáciens mirabília : * tu es Deus solus.	10 For you are great and do wonderful things: you are God alone.
10  Deduc me, Dómine, in via tua, et ingrédiar in veritáte tua : * lætétur cor meum ut tímeat nomen tuum.	11 Conduct me, O Lord, in your way, and I will walk in your truth: let my heart rejoice that it may fear your name.
11  Confitébor tibi, Dómine, Deus meus, in toto corde meo, * et glorificábo nomen tuum in ætérnum.	12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name for ever:
12  Quia misericórdia tua magna est super me : * et eruísti ánimam meam ex inférno inferióri.	13 For your mercy is great towards me: and you have delivered my soul out of the lower hell.
13  Deus iníqui insurrexérunt super me, et synagóga poténtium quæsiérunt ánimam meam : * et non proposuérunt te in conspéctu suo.	14 O God, the wicked are risen up against me, and the assembly of the mighty have sought my soul: and they have not set you before their eyes.
14  Et tu, Dómine, Deus miserátor et miséricors, * pátiens, et multæ misericórdiæ, et verax.	15 And you, O Lord, are a God of compassion, and merciful, patient, and of much mercy, and true.
15  Réspice in me, et miserére mei, * da impérium tuum púero tuo : et salvum fac fílium ancíllæ tuæ.	16 O look upon me, and have mercy on me: give your command to your servant, and save the son of your handmaid.
16  Fac mecum signum in bonum, ut vídeant qui odérunt me, et confundántur : * quóniam tu, Dómine, adjuvísti me, et consolátus es me.	17 Show me a token for good: that they who hate me may see, and be confounded, because you, O Lord, have helped me and have comforted me.

In Jewish tradition this psalm is said as part of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) ceremonies; in Christian tradition it has long been interpreted as a psalm of the Passion hence its particular appropriateness to start off Friday in the Office.  

Cassidorus, for example suggests it as a source for meditation on the sacrifice of the cross: 

Let us ponder the humility of the prayer poured out to the Father by the Lord Saviour in His passion. He was wholly without sin, but in representing our weakness He asked to be delivered from the dangers of this world. So men's rashness should blush to be arrogant, for they have no doubt of their guilt. Christ prayed for His enemies, and patiently accepted death, whereas we wish to avenge our injuries if attacked by the comments of detractors. May He who afforded an example grant the gift of patience, so that by following His footsteps we may be able to avoid the errors which bring death.

Similarly, St Alphonsus Liguori suggests that we use this prayer ourselves in times of trouble:

We have in this psalm one of those fervent prayers that the royal prophet addressed to God in the midst of his tribulations. For, according to the common opinion, David is the author of this psalm.

Moreover, he initiates us into the sentiments that filled the soul of Jesus Christ during his Passion, and he prophesies the conversion of the Gentiles. Afflicted souls may use it during their trials to implore the help of God.

St Augustine's introduction to the psalm, though, I think is the most powerful, providing a mini-treatise on the relationship between the priesthood of Christ and our prayer:

No greater gift could God have given to men than in making His Word, by which He created all things, their Head, and joining them to Him as His members: that the Son of God might become also the Son of man, one God with the Father, one Man with men; so that when we speak to God in prayer for mercy, we do not separate the Son from Him; and when the Body of the Son prays, it separates not its Head from itself: and it is one Saviour of His Body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who both prays for us, and prays in us, and is prayed to by us.  He prays for us, as our Priest; He prays in us, as our Head; He is prayed to by us, as our God. 

Let us therefore recognise in Him our words, and His words in us. Nor when anything is said of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially in prophecy, implying a degree of humility below the dignity of God, let us hesitate to ascribe it to Him who did not hesitate to join Himself unto us....He is prayed to in the form of God, in the form of a servant He prays; there the Creator, here created; assuming unchanged the creature, that it might be changed, and making us with Himself one Man, Head and Body. Therefore we pray to Him, through Him, in Him; and we speak with Him, and He speaks with us; we speak in Him, He speaks in us the prayer of this Psalm, which is entitled, A Prayer of David. 

For our Lord was, according to the flesh, the son of David; but according to His divine nature, the Lord of David, and his Maker....Let no one then, when he hears these words, say, Christ speaks not; nor again say, I speak not; nay rather, if he own himself to be in the Body of Christ, let him say both, Christ speaks, and I speak. Be thou unwilling to say anything without Him, and He says nothing without you....

 Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Mk 9:27 (3); Rev 15:4 (8); 1 Cor 8:4 (9)
RB cursus	Friday Matins I, 1
Monastic feasts etc	Epiphany, Sacred Heart
Roman pre 1911	Friday Matins
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Friday Compline  . 1970: Lauds Wk 3 Wednesday;
Mass propers (EF)	Holy Name OF (4, 11), CO 8-9; Lent Ember Friday, GR (2, 5); Lent 3 Friday, IN (1, 16); PP 15, IN (1-3); NO: Ordinary Time 19A, Ps 85:9a+10, 11-12, 13-14