Psalm 4: verse 3 - Restoring flesh to our hearts of stone

Verse 3 of Psalm 4 can be interpreted in two ways: firstly as a personal call to repentance for our sins of the day just past, and secondly as  general reproach to those who reject the way of Christ.

Understanding the Latin

The Vulgate of the third verse of Psalm 4 reads:

Fílii hóminum, úsquequo gravi corde? ut quid dilígitis vanitátem et quæritis mendácium?

Key vocabulary:

gravis, e,  heavy; said of the heart, dull, hard. 

ut quid, adv., why? wherefore? for what reason 

diligo, lexi, lectum, ere 3  to love

vanitas, atis, emptiness, nothingness, vanity, unreality, falsehood

quaero, sivi, sltum, ere 3, to seek, seek after; to will, desire, think upon. Of seeking God

mendacium, ii, n.  a lie, lying, falsehood

A word by word translation is:

Fílii (sons) hóminum (of men), úsquequo (how long) gravi (hard) corde (with heart)? * ut quid (why) dilígitis (you do love) vanitátem (vanity) et (and) quæritis (you do seek/desire) mendácium (falsehood)?

You can get a better sense of the literal meaning of the verse though, from the selection of English translations below:

 

Douay-Rheims	O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?
Monastic Diurnal	Ye sons of men, how long will you be hard of heart?  Why love vanities and have recourse to lying?
RSV	O men, how long shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?
Brenton	O ye sons on men, how long will ye be slow of heart? Wherefore do ye love vanity, and seek falsehood?
Coverdale	O ye sons of men, how long will ye blaspheme mine honour, and have such pleasure in vanity, and seek after leasing?
Knox	Great ones of the world, will your hearts always be hardened. Will you never cease setting your heart on shadows, following a lie?
Grail	O men, how long will your hearts be closed, will you love what is futile and seek what is false?

 

A call to reflect on our sins of the day and repent of them

Each day, St Augustine reminds us, we invariably fall many times; the test of a true Christian is whether, having fallen, we repent and resolve once again to take the correct path.  This verse, particularly in the context of Compline, can be interpreted as a reminder of that reality, and a call to repentance.

St Gregory Nazianzen suggested that it is first and foremost a call to examine our consciences:

But now, laying aside lamentation, I will look at myself, and examine my feelings, that I may not unconsciously have in myself anything to be lamented. O ye sons of men, for the words apply to you, how long will ye be hard-hearted and gross in mind? Why do ye love vanity and seek after leasing, supposing life here to be a great thing and these few days many, and shrinking from this separation, welcome and pleasant as it is, as if it were really grievous and awful? Are we not to know ourselves? Are we not to cast away visible things? Are we not to look to the things unseen? Oration 7

Similarly, St Robert Bellarmine interprets the verse as asking us to reflect on why we have not yet amended our ways and rejected the lure of earthly riches and pleasures:

That is to say, how long will you have a heart of stone, a hard one, inclined to the earth, thinking of nothing but the goods of this world? For, according to the Lord, "The hearts are weighed down by excess, drunkenness, and the cares of this world;" and because hardened hearts are not susceptible of celestial thoughts, but only of terrestrial and transitory, they only love what is terrestrial and transitory; and as we take trou­ble only in seeking for the things we ardently love, the Prophet adds, "Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?" The goods of this world are called vain and fallacious, because they are neither stable nor solid, though they may seem to be so; and are therefore, with justice, designated as false and fallacious, especially when compared to those of eternity.

A prayer for the conversion of the world

The verse though can equally be seen as a reproach to all those who neglect to put Christ first.

St John Chrysostom, for example contrasts the phrase sons of men, referring to those who reject God or lack the gift of grace, with sons of God: 

Whom does he call "children of men?" Those living in sin, those inclined to evil. Why on earth? I mean, are not we children of men? While we are chil­dren of men by nature, yet no longer so by grace - rather, children of God. At least, if we maintain his image in virtue, the gift in our possession will be unsullied; those, after all, who have become children of God through grace must manifest this image also in their way of life.  Commentary on the Psalms.

And St Cassiodorus views it as a prayer for the conversion of sinners:

Whereas in the previous verse she prayed for us, here she vehemently bids the human race not to continue with the most grievous sin of worshipping demons, so that the prayer which she has poured out for us may be heard. 

St Thomas Aquinas similarly adopted this interpretation saying:

Here Psalm 4 addresses itself to an exhortation towards others. So, around this idea two points are made. First, there is the accusation of sinners that is replied to. Second, this Psalm 4 exhorts to reform.... 

Psalm 4: Cum invocarem

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Psalmus David.	Unto the end, in verses. A psalm for David.
1 Cum invocárem exaudívit me deus justítiæ meæ: * in tribulatióne dilatásti mihi.	When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, you have enlarged me.
2 Miserére mei, * et exáudi oratiónem meam.	Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.
3 Filii hóminum, úsquequo gravi corde? *  ut quid dilígitis vanitátem et quæritis mendácium?	O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?
4 Et scitóte quóniam mirificávit dóminus sanctum suum: * dóminus exáudiet me cum clamávero ad eum.	Know also that the Lord has made his holy one wonderful: the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him.
5 Irascímini, et nolíte peccáre: * quæ dícitis in córdibus vestris, in cubílibus vestris compungímini.	Be angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.
6 Sacrificáte sacrifícium justítiæ, et speráte in dómino, * multi dicunt quis osténdit nobis bona?	Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord: many say, Who shows us good things?
7 Signátum est super nos lumen vultus tui, dómine: * dedísti lætítiam in corde meo.	The light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: you have given gladness in my heart.
8 A fructu fruménti, vini et ólei sui * multiplicáti sunt.	By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they rest
9 In pace in idípsum * dórmiam et requiéscam;	In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest
10 Quóniam tu, dómine, singuláriter in spe * constituísti me.	For you, O Lord, singularly have settled me in hope.

You can find the next post in this series here.

Psalm 4 Verse 2 - Approaching God

Continuing on in this series on Psalm 4, today a look at verse 2 of the psalm.

The first verse of Psalm 4 asserted confidence that God would hear and help the psalmist.  The second though, is a plea for him to do so, a call to God for help and mercy.

One possible interpretation of this is that Christ is the speaker of the first verse, but the Church, still seeking to be perfected, is the speaker in the second.

But equally it can be seen as the alternating moods of the psalmist.  In his Confessions St Augustine, for example, commented on the by-play as follows: 'I alternately quaked with fear, and warmed with hope, and with rejoicing in Your mercy, O Father'.

The Latin

The second verse of Psalm 4 in the Vulgate reads:

Miserére mei, * et exáudi oratiónem meam.

misereor, sertus sum, eri 2  to pity, have mercy on

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

oratio, onis, prayer, supplication

Word for word:

Miserere (Have mercy/pity) mei (of me) et (and) exaudi (hear) orationem (the prayer) meam (my).

A selection of English translations for the verse can be found below:

 

DR/MD	Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.
RSV	Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
Brenton	pity me, and hearken to my prayer.
Cover	have mercy upon me, and hearken unto my prayer.
Knox	have pity on me now, and hear my prayer.
Grail	have mercy and hear me!

Asking God for what we need

These days there is a view around that while it is acceptable to ask things for others in prayer, asking for things for ourselves is somehow selfish.

This is nonsense!

The psalms repeatedly remind us that we must pray and ask God for the things we need.

Asking God for things expresses our sense of dependence on him, our acknowledgement that everything we have, including life itself, comes from him.

 God freely bestows many things on us, but others he reserves, makes conditional on our asking for them, and it is to this category of graces that the psalmist points us here.

Not unrelated to this though, St Benedict's Rule reminds us that when we ask for things from God, we should dos so reverently, conscious of the immense chasm between us and him (see especially chapters 19 and 20).  His comments echo St John Chrysostom’s commentary on this verse:

Typically, when we con­verse with people of a class above us, we make sure that our appearance and gait and attire are as they should be and dialogue with them ac­cordingly. When we approach God, by contrast we yawn, scratch ourselves, look this way and that, pay little attention...If on the contrary we were to approach him with due reverence and prepare ourselves to converse with him as God, then we would know even before receiving what we asked how much benefit we gain…

The point is not the formality, but that our outer demeanour reflects and expresses our inner conviction, as St John Chrysostom goes on to say:

God, after all, looks not for beauty of utterance or turn of phrase but for freshness of spirit; even if we say what just comes into our mind, we go away with our entreaties successful. . . . he is not the one to say, now is not a good time to make your approach, come back later." …there is no obstacle to his heeding to your entreaty as long as you call on him as you should . . . being of sober mind and contrite spirit, approaching him in a flood of tears, seeking nothing of this life, longing for things to come, making petition for spiritual goods...

Psalm 4: Cum invocarem

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Psalmus David.	Unto the end, in verses. A psalm for David.
1 Cum invocárem exaudívit me deus justítiæ meæ: * in tribulatióne dilatásti mihi.	When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, you have enlarged me.
2 Miserére mei, * et exáudi oratiónem meam.	Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.
3 Filii hóminum, úsquequo gravi corde? *  ut quid dilígitis vanitátem et quæritis mendácium?	O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?
4 Et scitóte quóniam mirificávit dóminus sanctum suum: * dóminus exáudiet me cum clamávero ad eum.	Know also that the Lord has made his holy one wonderful: the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him.
5 Irascímini, et nolíte peccáre: * quæ dícitis in córdibus vestris, in cubílibus vestris compungímini.	Be angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.
6 Sacrificáte sacrifícium justítiæ, et speráte in dómino, * multi dicunt quis osténdit nobis bona?	Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord: many say, Who shows us good things?
7 Signátum est super nos lumen vultus tui, dómine: * dedísti lætítiam in corde meo.	The light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: you have given gladness in my heart.
8 A fructu fruménti, vini et ólei sui * multiplicáti sunt.	By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they rest
9 In pace in idípsum * dórmiam et requiéscam;	In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest
10 Quóniam tu, dómine, singuláriter in spe * constituísti me.	For you, O Lord, singularly have settled me in hope.

You can find the next part in the series here.

Psalm 4: verse 1: The God who expands our hearts

In my last post, I provided a bit of an  overview of Psalm 4.  I now want to provide verse by verse notes, starting with crib notes for those who want to say the Office in Latin, but haven't studied the language much or at all (or who have forgotten what they did know!).

The first verse of Psalm 4 is a reminder to place our trust in God, and pray to him without ceasing.

The Latin

The Vulgate translates the first verse of Psalm 4 as follows:

Cum invocárem exaudívit me Deus justítiæ meæ: * in tribulatióne dilatásti mihi.

Key vocab

invoco, avi, atum, are, (1) to invoke, call upon (God). (2) to put trust in

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

justitia, ae, justice, righteousness, innocence, piety, moral integrity

tribulatio, onis,  trouble, distress, anguish, affliction, tribulation

dilato, avi, atum, are to enlarge, set at large, set at liberty, be open wide, grow thick or fat.

In English

A very literal word by word translation goes as follows:

Cum (when = cum+subj) invocárem (I called) exaudívit (he heard) me (me) Deus (the God) justítiæ (of justice) meæ (of me): in (in+abl=in) tribulatióne (distress/anguish) dilatásti (you have enlarged) mihi (to me).

A selection of translations of the verse from various sources is provided below to help give a better flavour of it.

 

Douay Rheims	When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, you have enlarged me.
Monastic Diurnal	When I cried for help, the God of my justice heard me; when I was straightened Thou didst set me at large.
Revised Standard Version	Answer me when I call, O God of my right! Thou hast given me room when I was in distress.
New Jerusalem	When I call answer me God, upholder of my right
Brenton (from the Septuagint)	When I called upon him, the God of my righteousness heard me: thou hast made room for me in tribulation;
Coverdale	Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Thou hast set me at liberty when I was in trouble;
Knox	When I call on thy name, listen to me, O God, and grant redress; still, in time of trouble, thou hast brought me relief;
Grail	When I call, answer me, O God of justice; from anguish you released me,

 A call to pray without ceasing

St Robert Bellarmine places this verse in the context of the history of King David:

David, in the person of the Church, or any faithful soul advising sinners to follow its example, exhorts them to be con­verted, to put their confidence in God, to abandon evil, and do good, giving himself as an example—for when he was in trou­ble, he invoked the Almighty, and was heard.  

The verse is therefore, first and foremost, a call to constant prayer, for when do we not need God's help?

The sixth century commentator St Cassiodorus similarly saw it as an injunction to keep asking God for what we need:

Mother Church in the one verse says that she has been heard, yet begs to be heard again. She shows that this is the way of perfect prayer; though the requests we sought are granted, we should continually ask to be heard, for our solicitation is always commendable. As Paul says: Pray without ceasing; in all things give thanks.' 

Why is then that it doesn't always seem that God answers our prayers?

The first problem, St John Chrysostom explained, is that we don't always apply ourselves properly to the task:

Prayer is no small bond of love for God, developing in us the habit of converse with him and encouraging the pursuit of wisdom. ... We are, however, not as aware as we should be of the benefit of prayer, for the reason that we neither apply ourselves to it with assiduity nor have recourse to it in accord with God's laws. 

Typically, when we con­verse with people of a class above us, we make sure that our appearance and gait and attire are as they should be and dialogue with them ac­cordingly. When we approach God, by contrast we yawn, scratch ourselves, look this way and that, pay little attention...If on the contrary we were to approach him with due reverence and prepare ourselves to converse with him as God, then we would know even before receiving what we asked how much benefit we gain…

If we do this, he argues, we will be successful, for God is always ready to help:

God, after all, looks not for beauty of utterance or turn of phrase but for freshness of spirit; even if we say what just comes into our mind, we go away with our entreaties successful...he is not the one to say, now is not a good time to make your approach, come back later." …there is no obstacle to his heeding to your entreaty as long as you call on him as you should . . . being of sober mind and contrite spirit, approaching him in a flood of tears, seeking nothing of this life, longing for things to come, making petition for spiritual goods…

God of justice

The next phrase of the verse, ‘Deus justitiae meae’ literally means ‘the God of my justice’, but reflects a Hebrew construction that could mean either ‘my just God’ or ‘the God who vindicates my (just) cause’.

St Thomas Aquinas interprets this as a requirement that our cause be just:

A second idea is that a person is required to be just. Because, if the Lord God does not hear sinners, this is so through divine mercy, and not through his divine justice. Hence is said: "O God of my right." (Verse 1). The "Gloss" states: "A bestower of justice," or of my justification. For: "The eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous and his ears towards their cry." (Psalm 34) 

It is not that we have to be perfect ourselves to invoke God's justice, St Cassiodorus noted, but rather that 'there are certain actions in which the faithful appear clearly innocent'. 

Indeed, the key point, as St Robert Bellarmine pointed out in his commentary on the psalm, is that we become just through grace, and the consequent 'enlargement of heart':

The God of my justice heard me, that is to say, the God from whom all my jus­tice proceeds, whose grace makes me just.

You have enlarged me

The verb 'dilatare' (to enlarge) is a key concept, but hard to translate into modern English in a meaningful way.  The psalms often use the concept of narrowness of space restricting movement to symbolize pain and sorrow, and enlargement to suggest strength and gladness.

This concept is particularly important for Benedictines, since St Benedict uses the idea of ‘enlargement of heart’ (quoting Psalm 118) in his Rule to explain the process by which we grow in virtue, so that doing good becomes easy, done out of love rather than fear, and presents enlargement of heart as the goal of the monastic life, a metaphor for reaching that state where out of perfect love of God, practicing virtue becomes automatic and easy.

In this, St Benedict was surely building on St Augustine's several expositions of the topic in his commentaries on the psalms.  St Augustine, in common with St John Chrysostom and others, started from the proposition that trials and tribulations are designed to provide occasion for us to be infused with the gift of patience:

You have enlarged me. You have led me from the straits of sadness into the broad ways of joy. For, tribulation and straitness is on every soul of man that does evil. But he who says, We rejoice in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience; up to that where he says, Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us; he has no straits of heart, they be heaped on him outwardly by them that persecute him.

As St Robert Bellarmine noted, when God answers us by enlarging our hearts, he can employ several different mechanisms:

God sometimes hears us by removing the tribulation; some­times by giving patience to bear it, which is a greater favor; sometimes by not only giving the patience to bear it, but even to be glad of it, which is the greatest favor of all, and it is that of which the Prophet speaks here. Tribulation hems us in; joy enlarges our hearts; but when one glories in tribulation, his sad­ness is changed into joy, and tribulations bring to such persons not hemming in, but enlargement.

This purpose of all this, St Augustine argues, is to enhance our interior conversation with God:

Now the change of person, for that from the third person, where he says, He heard, he passes at once to the second, where he says, You have enlarged me; if it be not done for the sake of variety and grace...in this very enlargement of heart he preferred to speak with God; that he might even in this way show what it is to be enlarged in heart, that is, to have God already shed abroad in the heart, with whom he might hold converse interiorly. Which is rightly understood as spoken in the person of him who, believing on Christ, has been enlightened... 

And enlargement of heart is shown also in our ability to carry out good works:

But as His very prayer against trouble is a sign rather of our infirmity, so also of that sudden enlargement of heart the same Lord may speak for His faithful ones, whom He has personated also when He said, I was an hungered, and you gave Me no meat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink, and so forth. Wherefore here also He can say, You have enlarged me, for one of the least of His, holding converse with God, whose love he has shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.

Trials and persecutions occur, of course, not just at the individual level, but to the Church as a whole, and lead to its growth, for the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, as Cassiodorus reminds us:

Distress al­ways enlarges the Church, since simultaneously confessors emerge and martyrs are crowned. The whole crowd of the just is ever in­creased by tribulations.

 Psalm 4: Cum invocarem

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Psalmus David.	Unto the end, in verses. A psalm for David.
1 Cum invocárem exaudívit me deus justítiæ meæ: * in tribulatióne dilatásti mihi.	When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, you have enlarged me.
2 Miserére mei, * et exáudi oratiónem meam.	Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.
3 Filii hóminum, úsquequo gravi corde? *  ut quid dilígitis vanitátem et quæritis mendácium?	O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?
4 Et scitóte quóniam mirificávit dóminus sanctum suum: * dóminus exáudiet me cum clamávero ad eum.	Know also that the Lord has made his holy one wonderful: the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him.
5 Irascímini, et nolíte peccáre: * quæ dícitis in córdibus vestris, in cubílibus vestris compungímini.	Be angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.
6 Sacrificáte sacrifícium justítiæ, et speráte in dómino, * multi dicunt quis osténdit nobis bona?	Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord: many say, Who shows us good things?
7 Signátum est super nos lumen vultus tui, dómine: * dedísti lætítiam in corde meo.	The light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: you have given gladness in my heart.
8 A fructu fruménti, vini et ólei sui * multiplicáti sunt.	By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they rest
9 In pace in idípsum * dórmiam et requiéscam;	In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest
10 Quóniam tu, Dómine, singuláriter in spe * constituísti me.	For you, O Lord, singularly have settled me in hope.

And continue on to the next part in the series.

Towards judgment - An introduction to Psalm 4

Ms. Codex 1058 Glossed psalter
University of Pennsylvania Library

As I flagged on my post on the repeated psalms of the Office, I plan to provide some notes on Psalm 4, the first psalm of Compline in the Benedictine Office, here over the next few weeks.

November is the month when we particularly remember the dead, and so a particularly appropriate time to consider the psalms of Compline, since this hour treats sleep as a 'type' of death, inviting us to prepare for it by repenting of our sins and placing our trust in God.

Today, I will provide a general introduction to Psalm 4; subsequent posts will provide notes on each of the verses.

The psalm as a whole

The Latin of the psalm, along with the Douay-Rheims (Challoner) translation, is set out below.  The two recordings that follow allow you to hear it as used in Compline first at a normal pace, and then sung quite slowly, in the context of Tenebrae (Matins and Lauds) of Holy Saturday.

Psalm 4: Cum invocarem

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Psalmus David.	Unto the end, in verses. A psalm for David.
1 Cum invocárem exaudívit me deus justítiæ meæ: * in tribulatióne dilatásti mihi.	When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, you have enlarged me.
2 Miserére mei, * et exáudi oratiónem meam.	Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.
3 Filii hóminum, úsquequo gravi corde? *  ut quid dilígitis vanitátem et quæritis mendácium?	O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?
4 Et scitóte quóniam mirificávit dóminus sanctum suum: * dóminus exáudiet me cum clamávero ad eum.	Know also that the Lord has made his holy one wonderful: the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him.
5 Irascímini, et nolíte peccáre: * quæ dícitis in córdibus vestris, in cubílibus vestris compungímini.	Be angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.
6 Sacrificáte sacrifícium justítiæ, et speráte in dómino, * multi dicunt quis osténdit nobis bona?	Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord: many say, Who shows us good things?
7 Signátum est super nos lumen vultus tui, dómine: * dedísti lætítiam in corde meo.	The light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: you have given gladness in my heart.
8 A fructu fruménti, vini et ólei sui * multiplicáti sunt.	By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they rest
9 In pace in idípsum * dórmiam et requiéscam;	In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest
10 Quóniam tu, dómine, singuláriter in spe * constituísti me.	For you, O Lord, singularly have settled me in hope.

The title of the psalm

It is useful, I think, to start with a look at the title of the psalm, In finem, in carminibus. Psalmus David.

Most modern commentators reject the idea that either the numbers or titles of the psalms have any particular significance.  Few view them as part of canonical Scripture, seeing them instead as rather prosaic performance notes, or (a)historical claims for their context.

The Fathers, however, took a very different view, often providing extended commentaries on both their literal and spiritual their meanings: indeed St Gregory of Nyssa composed an entire treatise devoted to the titles of the psalms.

These spiritual meanings are, I think, often quite important for us to consider if we wish to understand the way the psalms are used liturgically, since they can sometimes help explain why a particular psalm was allocated to a particular day of the week or hour.

In the case of Psalm 4, for example, the Fathers generally interpreted 'To the end' (in finem) as referring to the world to come after the last judgment, and linked this to the psalm's references to peaceful rest, and thus to sleep as a foreshadowing of death.

The sixth century commentator St Cassiodorus, for example, suggested:

End does not mean here the decline of some object but the perfection of rungs of the spirit; as Paul says: The end of the law is Christ, unto justice to everyone that believeth? Christ is the glorious perfection of all good things. So the words, Unto the end, remind us that they are to be related to the Lord Christ, or as some prefer, we are to believe that they refer to us: Among whom the end of the world is come, as Paul further says… 

The second part of the title, In carminibus can be translated as "with instruments," which some interpreted as  symbolizing harmony of thought and action.  Cassiodorus continued:

A psalm, as we said earlier, is a musical instrument whose sound issues from its top and by which the divine praises were sung. A canticle sounded forth heaven's praise through human voices. The two are seen to be joined here because at the sacred sacrifices they were sounded with harmonious notes both on musical instruments and with choruses of singers.  So all these words remind us that this canticle will tell of the Lord Christ.

The reference to it being a psalm of David can be interpreted both a claim as to authorship, but also as pointing to its Christological content, since David is a 'type' of Christ.

Psalm 4 in the Office

The psalm is almost certainly one of the 'customary' psalms referred to in the Rule of St Augustine as used before bed, by virtue of verse 5's call for repentance before sleep.

St Basil, for example, attested to its use in the context of preparation for sleep (along with Psalm 90, the second psalm of the hour), commenting:

When the day’s work is ended, thanksgiving should be offered for what has been granted us or for what we have done rightly therein and confession made of our omissions whether voluntary or involuntary, or of a secret fault, if we chance to have committed any in words or deeds, or in the heart itself; for by prayer we propitiate God for all our misdemeanors. The examination of our past actions is a great help toward not falling into like faults again; wherefore the Psalmist says: ‘the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.’ (Ps 4:5) Again, at nightfall, we must ask that our rest be sinless and untroubled by dreams....(The Long Rule)

St Benedict's decision to use it daily surely reflects the psalm's role in his own formation as part of the customary psalms before bed, and from thence, to the way it nicely reinforces some key themes of his Rule.

It is important, I think, to appreciate that this psalm (along with Psalm 90 that follows it) is, in many respects, a partner to Psalm 3, the psalm that opens the day in the Benedictine Office each day.

In Psalm 4 we go to bed, and hope for the rest granted by God; in Psalm 3 we rise again each day with Christ.

In both, sleep is presented as a type of death; with the hope of rising to eternal life.

This tension between the call to rise now, and fight the good fight in the here and now, and our hope of eventual peace and rest plays out throughout the Rule, but is set up in the Prologue.  The psalm also alludes to several other concepts which St Benedict particularly emphasizes in the Prologue to the Rule, such as enlargement of heart, the call to repentance, and our spiritual growth through perseverance in the face of difficulties.

Other liturgical uses of the psalm

Monastic: Compline, Holy Sat Tenebrae I, All Saints, Corpus Christi; Rom pre-1911: Compline; Roman 1911-62: Sunday Compline
Mass:  Lent I Tues, CO (1)

THE STRUCTURE OF THE PSALM

Before we look at the individual verses in detail, it is worth getting a bit of an overview of the content of the psalm.

Our dependence on God (verses 1-2)

The opening verses of the psalm are a reminder of our total dependence on God's help and forgiveness, and of the need to cultivate the right dispositions in approaching him.  It is deeply consonant with St Benedict's chapter on prayer in the Rule (RB 20), which reminds us of the chasm between us and God.

But this section of the psalm also points to the work God does within us as we progress in the spiritual life, 'enlarging [our hearts]' (v1) with grace so that we can 'run with unspeakable sweetness of love in the way of God's commandments'.

The call to repentance (verses 3-6a)

What do we have to do to achieve this?  The answer, according to the next set of verses, is to respond to the call to repentance.

How long, the psalmist asks, will we persist in sin?  In the Rule, St Benedict tells us that our lives have been extended specifically so that we can amend our ways, but we cannot afford to put off our repentance, since none of us know how long we have.

The psalm follows a logical progression in this section: first we hear God's reproach to his people, calling on us to repent (v3); then we are reminded that God will hear us when we call for his help, because through Christ we have the gift of grace (v4); we are then told to examine our consciences each night, repent our sins, and offer up to God our penances for them (verses 5-6).

The psalm also reminds us that righteous anger, directed at our own sins and those of others, has a proper role to play in the process of conversion.

God's gifts to those who serve him (verses 6a-8)

The next section of the psalm can be read two ways, both of which are valid interpretations,

One interpretation of this section sees the verses as contrasting the good things God offers us as our future reward over mere earthly pleasures.

The second, and better in my view, interpretation views it as exploring the rewards, the 'good things', God offers to those who serve him, those who repent from their sins and seek to offer him the sacrifice of justice.

The first reward, according to the Fathers, is the light of Christ saving us from the darkness, above all represented by the gift of baptism imprinted on our souls (v7).

The second is his grace through the sacraments: Verse 8's multiplication of grain, wine and oil can be interpreted as references to the Eucharist and Holy Unction.

Peace and our hope of heaven (verses 9-10)

The final verses of the psalm treat of what this process of repentance and the gift of grace wins us, namely an inner peace and joy (Verse 9) that allows us to sleep now, and face our death with equanimity, confident in our hope of heaven (verse 10).

The next post in the series provides notes on the Latin and meaning of verse 1 of Psalm 4.

Scriptural referneces and liturgical uses

NT References: Eph 4: 26;

Liturgical uses:

RB: Monastic:	Compline All Saints, Corpus Christi
Maurist	Sunday Compline
Thesauris schemas	A: Compline; B: Sunday Compline; C: Monday Compline wk 2 ; D: Compline
Brigittine	Sunday Matins
Ambrosian	Monday Matins wk 1
Roman	Pre-1911: Compline. Post 1911: Sunday Compline; Holy Sat Tenebrae 1970: Monday Lauds wk 1.
Mass propers (EF)	Lent I Tues, CO (1)

SOURCES FOR THE NOTES

Notes on the Latin

Matthew Britt, Dictionary of the Psalter,  originally printed 1928, Preserving Christian Publications 2007.

Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, accessed via Perseus Digital Library

David Ladouceur, The Latin Psalter Introduction, Selected Text and Commentary, Bristol Classical Press, 2005.

Commentaries of the Fathers, theologians and saints

St Aloysius Liguori, The Divine Office: Explanation of the Psalms and Canticles, 1882.

Arnobius junr, Commentary on the Psalms, Patrologia Latina,  53:327-568.

St Augustine, Enarrations on the Psalms, J.E. Tweed (trans), Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 8. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.

St Augustine, Confessions (Bk IX), J.G. Pilkington (trans), Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.

St Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms volume 1, P G Walsh (trans),Ancient Christian Writers vol 51,  Paulist Press, 1990.

Gregory of Nyssa's Commentary on the Inscriptions of the Psalms. Introduction, Translation and Notes, Ronald E Heine (trans), Clarendon Press, 1995.

St Jerome, The Homilies of St Jerome, volume 1 (1-59 on the psalter), Sister Marie Liguori Ewald (trans), Fathers of the Church vol 18, Catholic University of America Press, 1964.

St John Chrysostom, Commentary on the Psalms vol 1, Robert Charles Hill (trans), Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1998.

St Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the book of psalms, John O'Sullivan (trans), Loreto Publications, 1999.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms, Robert C Hill (trans), Fathers of the Church vol 101, Catholic University of America Press, 2000.

St Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 4 trans by Stephen Loughlin, Aquinas Translation Project.

Anthologies

Ancient Christina Commentaries on Scripture, Psalms 1-50, Craig A Blaising and Carmen S Hardin (eds), OT vol 7, 2008.

J. M. Neale, A Commentary on the Psalms from Primitive and Medieval Writers, Vol 1, 1869.


Modern commentaries

John Brook, The School of Prayer An Introduction to the Divine Office for all Christians, Liturgical Press, 1992.

The Navarre Bible, The Psalms and the Song of Solomon, Texts and Commentaries, Four Courts Press, 2003.

Patrick Henry Reardon, Christ in the Psalms, Conciliar Press, 2000.

Bruce K Waltke and James M Houston with Erika Moore, The Psalms as Christian Worship A Historical Commentary, William B Erdmans Publishing Company, 2010.

In praise of repetition - the daily psalms of the Benedictine Office

We live in the midst of a dementia epidemic: a disease characterised by forgetfulness, of the loss of memory.

We tend to think of this as primarily an affliction of the elderly.

But the more insidious form of dementia is that which afflicts our society as a whole: the great forgetting of traditions; the rejection of history and our past; and the insistence on a simplistic, half-baked and childish version of what it means to be a Christian rather than the authentic faith.

The great forgetting

For those afflicted by the physical disease - a disease which becomes terminal when the body ultimately forgets how to carry out basic functions such as swallowing - memory loss and its replacement by a half-real, half-confected past is not a choice, but a symptom of the disease.

The more serious form of this epidemic, though, is a dementia deliberately chosen: we live in a society that is deliberately trying to forget a past which it rejects as incompatible with modern 'rights' and 'values'; we live in a church where many, particularly in high places, seem hell-bent (and I use those words deliberately) on rejecting the churches traditions and even its fundamental teachings.

At one level there is nothing new in this: so many of the psalms lament the fact that so many attempt to forget about God, living as if he doesn't exist, or isn't watching and judging what they are doing: forgetfulness is, of course, inherent in the human condition.

At another level though, it is entirely new: are there any periods in history where religious sensibility of any kind has been so thoroughly rejected by the mainstream of society and its institutions?  And though the Church has had periods in the past when heresy has been widespread, and many of its popes, bishops and priests have been corrupt and depraved, has there ever been a time when they have tried to pretend that these things are perfectly normal and acceptable, even holy?

The antidote is repetition

Fortunately there is an antidote to this provided by St Benedict's arrangement of the psalter as set out in his Rule for the Divine Office.

For much of history, monks and nuns did not use Office books for the psalms, other than as a prompt to memory; instead they were required to learn the entire psalter by heart.  Despite this, pretty much every form of the Office that we know of, even those that mostly used the psalter in its numerical order, included at least a few psalms, such as Psalm 50 (the Miserere, Have mercy on me...) and Psalm 148-150 (the Laudate, or praising, psalms) that were repeated every day at particular hours.

The tradition has always held, in other words, that even things we know thoroughly still need to be brought to the front of our minds and repeated, their message reinforced regularly to be effective.

St Benedict's key messages

In the case of the Benedictine Office, ten psalms are said daily - a quarter of those said each day in the full version of his Office - and another nine are said five days a week.  That means that nearly half of the daily service, or 'pensum', is devoted to certain key themes and messages that St Benedict thought so important that we needed to be constantly reminded of them.

The psalms repeated daily in the Benedictine Office teach us to take to heart, amongst other propositions, that:

• God is our creator (Ps 94, 133, 148-150) and the one who sustains us and all life (Ps 3, 4, 90), and as such we owe a debt of praise to him (Psalms 50, 66, 133, 148-150);
• we are sinners, and must constantly repent our sins, and turn back to God (Ps 4, 50, 94);
• we are called to the spiritual battle, in which God will aid our fight (Ps 3, 90); and 
• if we are faithful to him, God will bless us with the good things we need (Ps 4, 66, 133).

Many modern arrangements of the psalter seek to eliminate the repetitions so treasured by our Holy Father.  And it is true that St Benedict does provide for other arrangements of the psalter in his Rule.  At various points of Benedictine history this permission has been utilised, for example to use the Roman arrangement of the psalter instead of the Benedictine.

But it does seem to me that to do is a rejection of a key source of St Benedict's implicit teaching, for the specifics of St Benedict's Office are, I believe, integrally linked to the teachings of the Rule.  It is also, I would suggest, deeply at odds with tradition, and the decision of most modern Benedictines  to abandon the Office prescribed by St Benedict altogether has had dire consequences for the health of the charism and of individual monasteries in my view.

Connecting to tradition

Some of the repeated psalms seem to reflect St Benedict's own crafting of the Office.  The clearest case is the use of the Gradual psalms at Terce to None on Tuesday to Friday, which both trace our ascent through humility, and end each hour with a reference to the peace and good things God offers to those who make this ascent.  Similarly, Psalm 94, said as the invitatory at Matins each day, contains a reference to  the Israelites' forty years in the desert.  It is probably not an accident then, that St Benedict sets forty psalms to be said each day, a number suggestive of penance, and the path to our own potential entrance to the promised land of heaven in the little sleep of death each night.

But many of the psalms St Benedict mandates to be said daily reflect traditions ancient even in his time.  The tradition of saying the Laudate psalms (Ps 148-150) each day, for example, is so universal that it is now thought to date back at least to the time of Jesus's earthly mission.  Similarly, the abolition of the daily use of Psalm 50, the Miserere, another ancient tradition, has surely helped feed the heresy of universal salvation so prevalent in our time.

I have previously provided notes on eight of the ten psalms said each day in the Benedictine Office (as well as the further nine said five days a week), and you can find links to them here.

I thought though that it was past time that I came back and completed this set though, so over the next few weeks, I plan to post notes on the first psalm of Compline, Psalm 4, and hopefully in due course Psalm 90.

The psalms of Compline

In both the Benedictine and pre-1911 form of the Roman Office, the psalms of Compline are the same every day of the week, making them easy to memorize and so an excellent starting point for those starting out on the Office.  And their use at this hour seems to be ancient indeed.

The first two psalms of Compline, Psalms 4 and 90, are both mentioned as the psalms to be said before bed by St Basil the Great, who was born around a century and a half before St Benedict.  And the last psalm of the hour, Psalm 133, has clearly established roots in the Temple liturgy for the ancient great feasts.

The notes provided here are intended both to help those learning the Office with the Latin of the psalms; to provide some insights into why St Benedict assigned the psalm to a particular place in the Office and what he might have wanted us to take from it by reference to the Patristic tradition of their interpretation that he would have been familiar with; as well as to draw on the best of the tradition after him to provide fodder for our meditation.

I'm trying out a new format in the notes which follow, and so would very much appreciate feedback on it, as well as on the content of the commentary, or your own insights into these psalms.

And the first post in the series is an introduction to Psalm 4.