Psallam Domino

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Psalm 90 v2 - God our 'susceptor'

God the geometer, circa 1220-1230
Source: Wiki Commons

Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.

He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.

Verse 2 of Psalm 90 reminds us of a key theme in Benedictine spirituality, namely our total dependence on God as the sustainer of both our physical and spiritual life.

Understanding the Latin

Key vocabulary for the verse is:

dico, dixi, dictum, ere 3, to say, speak; to sing; in the sense of to think, plan, desire; to praise.

susceptor, oris, m. upholder, sustainer, a protector, helper, defender, guardian; a stay, support

refugium, ii, n. a refuge, a place of refuge; fortress, high tower, dwelling place, hiding place, etc.

spero, avi, atum, are , to hope or trust in

A possible word by word translation is therefore:

Dicet (he will say) Dómino (to the Lord): suscéptor (upholder) meus (my) es (you are) tu (you), et (and) refúgium (refuge) meum (my): Deus (the God) meus (my) sperábo (I will hope) in (in) eum (him).

It is worth noting that in this verse the Hebrew Masoretic Text reverts back to the more familiar names (and trusting, less mysterious) of God, Yahweh, and Elohim.

God our sustainer and upholder

In verse 2, the psalm uses the word susceptor, or person who lifts up and protects to refer to God. This is the root of the verb suscipe used in the profession ceremony (Psalm 118):

Ps 118:114 : Adjútor et suscéptor meus es tu: * et in verbum tuum supersperávi.	You are my helper and my protector: and in your word I have greatly hoped.
116: Súscipe me secúndum elóquium tuum, et vivam: * et non confúndas me ab exspectatióne mea.	Uphold me according to your word, and I shall live: and let me not be confounded in my expectation.

St Benedict deploys psalms with verses using this word at both the start of each day, in Psalm 3:

Psalm 3:4: Tu autem, Dómine, suscéptor meus es, glória mea, et exáltans caput meum.

But thou, O Lord art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head.

as well as again here at the end of each day:

Psalm 90:2 : Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.

He shall say to the Lord: You are my upholder, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.

The Latin meaning of susceptor (and the associated verb suscipere) is complex, and can imply both a giving and receiving. In the context of Psalm 3, for example, St Augustine interprets it as a reference to Christ taking human flesh; elsewhere he suggests it was used in relation to a lawyer defending a client in court, and in relation to the Roman ceremony for the adoption of a child. While the primary meaning here would seem to be defender or protector, it can also be interpreted as a reference to God’s ongoing work of sustaining our very existence.

Unfortunately, though, both twentieth century attempts at new versions of the Latin, the Pian and the neo-Vulgate, replaced the word, losing these connections:

2	VULGATE	Dicet dómino: suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.
	Neo Vulgate	Dicet Domino: “Refugium meum et fortitudo mea, Deus meus, sperabo in eum ”.
	Pian	Dic Domino: Refugium meum et arx mea, Deus meus, in quo confido.
	Jerome from the Hebrew	Dicens Domino, Spes mea et fortitudo mea, Deus meus, confidam in eo.
	(Septuagint	ἐρεῖ τῷ κυρίῳ ἀντιλήμπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου ὁ θεός μου ἐλπιῶ ἐ{P'} αὐτόν)

God's help: past, present and future

This verse develops just what the protection of God alluded to in the first verse of the psalm mean in practice. St Robert Bellarmine's commentary describes this verse as setting out the three favours God grants to his faithful.

The first is that as the sustainer of our lives, God helps and guides us through the gift of grace, including giving us, as St Benedict suggests in the Prologue to the Rule, time to repent of our mortal sins and thus avoid hell. Bellarmine summarises it thus:

The first favor is that unspeakable mercy of God, through which he supports man after falling into mortal sin, and rushing headlong to hell...

Secondly, God provides a refuge for us. Here I think we need to consider those helps that keep us going from day to day: the Mass, the Office, moments when we can appreciate beauty in nature, or truth. Bellarmine commented:

The second favor is one of the present time, and is contained in the expression, "and my refuge." For, when God protects anyone through the grace of justification, he does not, at once, take him up to heaven, but he places him in the line of his soldiers, who are fighting here below, but if he trust in the Lord, he will prove "a refuge" to him in every temptation and difficulty, and a most safe and secure refuge, as the Hebrew word for refuge implies.

The third 'favour' though, and the most important, is that the verse reminds us that we have the hope of heaven, where we will dwell forever with God. As Bellarmine puts it:

The third favor is a future one, and the greatest of all, and is contained in the words, "my God," for God is the supreme good, and God is always God in himself, and, therefore, the supreme good; and he will be peculiarly so "when we shall see him as he is," for then we shall enjoy the supreme good.

What do we have to do to attain this protection? The answer is to tell God firmly and clearly, in words and deed, of our total trust in his providence.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
*2 Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: Deus meus sperábo in eum.**	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4 Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5 Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6 A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7 Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8 Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9 Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10 Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11 Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12 In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14 Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15 Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16 Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

You can find the next part in this series here.

Friday, March 8, 2019

Psalm 90 v1 - Trust in God, the Most High

Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.

He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.

The first lesson in the spiritual warfare set out in Psalm 90 is that we must put out trust in God: not just momentarily, in times of trouble; but by consistently and actively cultivating a constant awareness of his abiding presence.

Understanding the Latin

The key vocabulary for the verse is:

habito, avi, atum, are to dwell, abide, live.

adjutorium i n – help, aid ,assistance; shield; hiding place, shelter, protection; prop, support;
altissimus i m the Most High

protectio – onis f covering, protection
caelum, i, n., or caeli, orum, m. heaven, the abode of God; the heavens as opposed to the earth; the air;

commoror, atus sum, ari, to dwell, abide.

Taking it word by word then:

Qui (who) hábitat (he lives) in (with, in) adjutório (the help) altíssimi (of the highest, most high), in (with, under) protectióne (the protection) dei (of the God) cæli (of heaven) commorábitur (he will dwell)

It is worth noting that the Latin translators of this verse have taken often quite different approaches to each other, as the table below illustrates:

	VULGATE	Qui hábitat in adjutório altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.
	Neo-Vulgate	Qui habitat in protectione Altissimi, sub umbra Omnipotentis commorabitur.
	Pian	Qui regis in praesidio Altissimi, Qui sub umbra Omnipotentis commoraris,
	Jerome from the Hebrew	Qui habitat in abscondito Excelsi, in umbraculo Domini commorabitur.
	(Septuagint	ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ ὑψίστου ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται)

Our trust is in God, the creator and sustainer of all things

Psalm 90 opens with words that stress just who it is we are being instructed to place our hope in, namely the God who dwells in heaven, Christ enthroned in glory.

The two words for God here (Altissimi and Dei) actually stand for two of the most ancient names of God, עֶלְיוֹן (elyown, Most High) and שַׁדַּי (shadday), adding a sense of extra solemnity to the verse.

The promise of God's aid

It then provides an assurance that God will always protect us the just.

But there is a precondition for his help: for the promise to apply, the verse implies that we must put all our trust in God.

And the trust we place in God cannot be a mere momentary thing, but rather we must ‘dwell’ constantly in his will. St Robert Bellarmine here notes that:

his liberal promise does not apply to those who put only a certain amount of trust in God, but that this trust must be continuous, constant, and firm, so that man may be said to dwell in God, through faith and confidence, and to carry it about with him, like a house…

God helps those who help themselves

As its Scriptural usage in the New Testament attests (see for example in St Matthew 4), this verse is not an invitation to put ourselves needlessly in harm's way in the expectation that God will save us.

Nor is it an invitation to passivity.

Dwelling with the aid of God, the wording of the Vulgate text, implies something of the real effort we must put in to truly do God’s will.

In this it stands in contrast to the neo-Vulgate, which, following the Hebrew Masoretic Text, changed in adjutorio (help or aid) in the first phrase to ‘in protectione’ (covering, protection), and the in protectione of the second phrase into ‘sub umbra’ (under the shadow, in the shelter of), giving it a more passive sense of the text than the Septuagint/Vulgate tradition.

Yet the more active sense of the Vulgate, I think, reflects the tradition better, since as St Robert Bellarmine comments:

…we are not to neglect the ordinary means that man can avail himself of. The husbandman puts his trust in him who gives the rain from heaven, and makes his sun to rise, but in the meantime he will be sure to plough, to sow, and to reap, knowing that God helps those who help themselves.