Lent series: Introduction to Psalm 141 - A psalm for the hour of our death

Psalm 141 opens Friday Vespers in the Benedictine Office, and the placement is not random: it is also used at Vespers during the Triduum due to its allusions to the Passion and descent into hell.

It is perhaps most famous for being used by St Francis Assisi at the hour of his death.

The text of the psalm

You can hear the Vulgate version of the psalm read aloud here.  The video above is of the neo-Vulgate, chanted.

Psalm 141 (142): Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Intellectus David, cum esset in spelunca, oratio	Of understanding for David, A prayer when he was in the cave.
1 Voce mea ad Dóminum clamávi: * voce mea ad dóminum deprecátus sum.	2 I cried to the Lord with my voice: with my voice I made supplication to the Lord.
2. Effúndo in conspéctu ejus oratiónem meam, * et tribulatiónem meam ante ipsum pronúntio	3 In his sight I pour out my prayer, and before him I declare my trouble:
3. In deficiéndo ex me spíritum meum: * et tu cognovísti sémitas meas.	4 When my spirit failed me, then you knew my paths.
4  In via hac, qua ambulábam, * abscondérunt láqueum mihi.	In this way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me.
5 Considerábam ad déxteram, et vidébam: * et non erat qui cognósceret me.	5 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, and there was no one that would know me.
6. Périit fuga a me: * et non est qui requírat ánimam meam.	Flight has failed me: and there is no one that has regard to my soul.
7. Clamávi ad te, Dómine, * dixi: Tu es spes mea, pórtio mea in terra vivéntium.	6 I cried to you, O Lord: I said: You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living.
8.  Inténde ad deprecatiónem meam: * quia humiliátus sum nimis.	7 Attend to my supplication: for I am brought very low.
9.  Líbera me a persequéntibus me: * quia confortáti sunt super me.	Deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.
10 Educ de custódia ánimam meam ad confiténdum nómini tuo: me exspéctant justi, donec retríbuas mihi.	8 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise your name: the just wait for me, until you reward me.

The title of the psalm: A time to hide; a time to confront persecutors

The title of the psalm given in the Vulgate is Intellectus David, cum esset in spelunca, oratio, or 'Of understanding for David. A prayer when he was in the cave', thus pointing us to the story set out in 1 Kings 24: David was being hunted by King Saul, who on learning intelligence of where he was took out 3,000 men to find him, leaving virtually no place to hide.

David and his men found themselves forced to retreat to the inner part of a cave.  Fortunately for David, Saul entered it by himself, making him vulnerable to him, and David even managed to cut off a piece of his clothing to prove it.  

Rather than taking advantage of the situation and killing him though, he threw himself at the mercy of Saul, making it clear that he didn't attack Saul because he was the anointed king.

Cassiodorus explains the significance of this in relation to the meaning of the psalm as referring to Christ's avoidance of his persecutors until he had fulfilled his teaching mission:

David, the son of Jesse, fled from the prince Saul, and when he lay hidden in a cave he uttered a prayer which he revealed that the Lord Christ would make in the flesh before His passion. When understanding prefaces this prayer, the comparison is shown to refer to Him who avoided His persecutors as He prayed and hid himself by moving to various places. This was so that the Son of God could fulfil the promise which He had made about Himself through the prophets, and reveal the truth of the incarnation which He had assumed; for this psalm includes the words of the Lord Saviour when He sought to avoid the most wicked madness of the Jews. So the flight of David was rightly placed in the heading to point to the persecution by the Jews, for David, as we have often said, denotes both that earthly king and the King of heaven. 

Psalm 141 and the Passion

Pope John Paul II summarised the traditional interpretation of this psalm as follows:

Christian tradition has applied Psalm 141 to the persecuted and suffering Christ. In this perspective, the luminous goal of the Psalm's plea is transfigured into a paschal sign on the basis of the glorious outcome of the life of Christ and of our destiny of resurrection with him. 

The entire psalm is a passionate prayer, which can be interpreted as the prayer of Our Lord on the cross, with extensive references to his path to the cross; his abandonment by the disciples; and suffering.

Two particularly key verses are Verse 5, where the speaker finds himself alone and abandoned, is generally seen as a reference to the denial by St Peter and the Apostles who fled; and verse 8, as a plea to be freed from the prison of flesh, or alternatively from Hades, so that he might come to the Resurrection.

Cassiodorus explains that:

In the first section, the Lord Christ cries to the Father, recounting the wicked tricks of the persecution by the Jews. In the second, He prays to be delivered from the prison of hell, for the trust of all the faithful hung on His resurrection. 

A treatise on prayer

St Augustine, in his commentary on Psalm 141, also treated this psalm as a treatise on prayer, and the key points of his exposition were nicely summarised and amplified by Cassiodorus, who, drawing also on Cassian, provides a commentary that echoes St Benedict's own instructions on prayer:

...We must especially follow the commandments, and signing our lips with the seal of the cross we must pray to the Lord that He may cleanse our mouths which are disfigured with human foulness; in Isaiah's words: I have unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people that have unclean lips. 

Next we must pray in words not such as human longings prompt, but those which the Godhead Himself has granted as a remedy for our wickedness. Prayer itself must come from a humble, meek, pure heart; it must confess its sins without making excuses, and in the course of bitter tears show trust in the most sweet pity of the Lord. It must not seek earthly aims, but desire heavenly ones. It must be sequestered from desires of the body, and attach itself solely to the divine. In short, it must be wholly spiritual, bestowing nothing but tears on the flesh. 

In so far as it is lawful, seek to behold in mental contemplation Him whom you entreat, and then you realise what sort of person you should be in offering yourself prostrate before Him. He is, as Paul says: the Blessed and only Mighty, King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and inhabits light inaccessible, whom no man has seen nor can see.  So such is the mighty Lord whom we should approach with all fear or love, directing our mental sight on Him in such a way as to realise that such splendour, brightness, brilliance and majesty as is conceivable to the human mind is all inferior to God, who with goodness beyond compare controls all His creatures. 

We must not with false presumption within ourselves form some mental picture of Him, for the hidden substance of God who made all things cannot be grasped in its essence by the knowledge which creatures possess. God has no shape, no outline; His nature cannot be assessed, nor His power grasped, and His devotion is unique. As has been most aptly remarked of Him, we can say what God is not, but we cannot grasp what He is. So we are to pray to Him who is almighty and without beginning or end, who traverses and fills all parts of the universe and every creature, but in such a way that He is wholly within Himself everywhere. 

He forsakes evil men not by His presence but by the power of His grace. Father Augustine when writing to Dardanus explained this at greater length. The words of the prophet warn us in salutary fashion to make haste: Come, let us adore and fall down before the Lord: let us lament before God (then he added, so that we should not be left wholly floundering and trembling) who made us; so that once we recognise that we have been created by Him, we may pray with confidence to our Maker. 

Then the humble plea which we are to utter in divine praise we virtually realise as we pray, for we gain a merciful hearing from the Lord, provided that what we ask for is in our interest. No-one is rebuffed coldly from heaven's generosity if grace is lent him to entreat with a simple and a committed heart, for a person feels that he has gained pardon to the degree that he knows that he has shed devoted tears. 

There is this further mark of our progress: the more a person realises that he loves and fears God, the more necessary he finds it to crawl near to divine help. Thus by the Lord's kindness all the devil's guile is defeated, and by His pity our sins are overcome.  

We have said as much about prayer as our mean intelligence and the nature of the occasion have demanded.  If anyone desires to gain the fullest abundance of satisfaction on this subject, he must read the most eloquent Cassian, who in his ninth and tenth conference has discussed the types of prayer with such power and quality that the holy spirit seems clearly to have spoken through his mouth.

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of the psalm

NT references	-
RB cursus	Friday Vespers+AN 4316 (6)
Monastic feasts etc	Triduum Vespers AN 1891 (5), 3724 (8)
Roman pre 1911	Friday Vespers
Responsories	6622 (5, 8)
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Friday Vespers  . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	-

Notes on the notes

The verse by verse notes that follow are also intended to assist those who wish to learn to pray the Office in Latin, particularly since there is no officially approved English version of the traditional Benedictine Office, and the translations that are included for study purposes in editions such as the Farnborough Monastic Diurnal do not always mirror the Latin Vulgate.

In general, the English translations of the psalms themselves (unless otherwise indicated) are from an updated version of the Douay-Rheims (previously on the New Advent site), since this is generally the most literal translation from the Latin Vulgate.  Text comments will often focus on the reasons for variations in the translations most commonly used for reference purposes for those saying the Office, viz Coverdale and the early twentieth century Collegeville translation used in the Farnborough edition of the Monastic Diurnal, as well as variations adopted by the 1979 Neo-Vulgate (used in the Novus Ordo Divine Office).

The vocabulary lists are generally derived from Dom Matthew Britt, A Dictionary of the Psalter (Preserving Christian Publications 2007 reprint of Benziger Brothers, 1928), supplemented by others sources such as Cassell's Latin Dictionary and Lewis and Short.

Where other translations are provided (note that the selection is limited by copyright considerations), the abbreviations used are as follows:

V            =Vulgate (available on the New Advent website)
NV         =Neo-Vulgate (available on the Vatican website)
JH          =St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew

R            =Psalterium Romanum 
Sept       =Septuagint (available on the New Advent website)
DR         =Douay-Rheims (generally the version previously on the New Advent website)
MD        =Monastic Diurnal published by Farnborough Abbey (Collegeville translation)
Brenton  =Sir Lancelot Brenton's translation from the Septuagint
NETS    =New English Translation from the Septuagint, available here
RSV       =Revised Standard Edition
Cover    =Coverdale
Knox      =Ronald Knox's translation available from the New Advent site
Grail      =Grail Psalter

The Hebrew, with links to Strong's Concordance, can be found (along with numerous other translations) at Blue Letter Bible.

The word by word translations, text notes and commentary are my own, but draw heavily on the commentaries of the Fathers and Theologians (on whom overview notes can be found elsewhere on this blog), Magisterial teaching, and other psalm commentaries.  

Quotes from the Fathers and Theologians are taken from their commentaries on the psalms using the translations recommended in my separate posts on these here and here, unless otherwise specified.

As well as these, the text notes draw mainly on the following sources:

TE Bird, A Commentary on the Psalms 2 vols, (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1927)
Msgr Patrick Boylan, A Study of the Vulgate Psalter in the Light of the Hebrew Text, 2 vols (Dublin: M H Gill and Son, 2nd ed 1921)
David  J Ladouceur, The Latin Psalter Introduction, Selected Text and Commentary (London: Bristol Classical Press, 2005),

Psalm 147 and the design of Vespers, Pt 1

By way of conclusion to my notes on Psalm 147, and before we move onto consideration of Psalm 141,  I thought I would say a little more about the place of Psalm 147 in the design of Benedictine Vespers.

St Benedict's Office and the Roman

First, a bit of a recapitulation of some of my previous posts on this topic.

It is often claimed that St Benedict's Office is just a fairly mechanistic adaptation of a pre-existing Roman monastic Office, which already had the psalms said over the course of a week, and a division of the psalms between the night and morning offices (Ps 1 - 108)  and Vespers (Psalm 109 - 147).

There is however no hard evidence for this proposition at all, and quite a lot that contradicts it.

First, the earliest actual evidence for the Roman Office's psalm cursus as we know it dates from the eighth century, and sources from that period generally credit the authorship of the Roman Office to the great monasticizing Pope and champion of St Benedict, St Gregory the Great.

Secondly, the proposition that the Roman Office already had a fixed weekly cursus by the early sixth century is directly contradicted by the description of the Roman secular office in the Liber Diurnus, as well as the only Roman-region monastic office of that period for which we have details, viz that set out in the Rule of the Master. 

Thirdly, St Benedict himself acknowledged his debt to the Roman Office specifically in relation to the hour of Lauds, not the other hours, and while the liturgists, as is their wont, reject this (as they do any that contradicts their theories), there seems no obvious reason to doubt his statements on the subject.

The Office as Scriptural interpretation and spiritual instruction

The most important evidence for St Benedict's intentionality in the design of his Office though, is, I think, internal.

Medieval liturgical writers such as Amalarius, Smaragdus, Honorius Augustodunensis, Durandus and many others provide extensive analysis, in their various works, as to the intentionality behind decisions about the design of the Office: on things like the importance of the number of psalms said; the particular elements in an hour; and above all, the reasons why particular psalms are said on particular days and at particular hours.

There has, in academia of late, been a resurgence of interest in this mode of thinking, and acknowledgement that it is a valid method of analysis, with recent studies covering things such as the interpretation of the chants and texts of the Office and Mass, and use of the liturgy for various social and community binding purposes.

Benedictine Vespers

In the context of  the Benedictine hour of Vespers, I've previously pointed out that, even if we accept the proposition that St Benedict started from the Roman Office as his template, he went to considerable effort to ensure that particular psalms were said on particular days.

The Benedictine Office has four psalms at Vespers instead of the Roman five, for example.

St Benedict divided psalms instead of insisting on saying them in full, as the pre-1911 Roman Office did.

Rather dividing the two longest psalms, he divided the third, fourth and seventh longest psalms of the hour instead.   

And he combined two psalms, Psalms 115 and 116, treating them as one.

I have previously drawn attention to some of the possible reasons for these choices, in the form of particular themes I think St Benedict has built into the hour, including:

• the days of creation;
  
• the life of Christ encapsulated in a symbolic seven days; and
• humility, keying off references each day echoing the introduction to chapter 7 of the Rule to the effect that the proud will ultimately be humbled, and the humble exalted;

Saturday Vespers

When it comes to Saturday Vespers, it is notable that the hymn of the hour, unlike those of the rest of the week, does not actually allude to the days of creation, but instead focuses on the praise of the Trinity.

Consistent with this, the most obvious interpretation of the hour as a whole, including Psalm 147, is as first Vespers of the Resurrection and the Kingship of Christ over the whole world.

Indeed, the fact that the antiphon of psalms used at Vespers in the early Jerusalem Office's weekly Resurrection Vigil seems to have started at the same point as the Benedictine hour suggests that Saturday Vespers as a whole, rather than 'falling out' from the use of pre-existing sequence of Vespers psalms, may have been the driving force for it.

All the same, there are, I think, at least some references in Psalm 147 to the creation theme: the coming peace described in the first verses can certainly be seen as a reference to the day God rested after creation, foreshadowing the eternal rest to come of rest.  

The hard winter and the sending out of the word could be interpreted, perhaps, as allusions to the descent of Christ into Hades.   

And the overall theme of God's revelation both through nature and Christ certainly fits with this.

Psalm 147, though, unlike the other three psalms of the hour, contains few overt references to humility.

Coming up next

Where it does particularly fit though, I think, is into a theme running through the last psalms of each day at Vespers, on the nature of the monastic vocation, and in this case, flagging its pursuit of the peace essential for contemplation.

But I plan to come back to this point later in Lent, after we look at the first psalm of Friday Vespers, Psalm 141, which we will start on after the Feast of the Annunciation.

Psalm 147: verse 9 - All the nations shall come to see God

The final verse of Psalm 147 is essentially a continuation of the thought of the previous verse, on the privilege granted to us of Divine revelation, through which we can come to see God in peace.

Text notes

9	V	Non fecit taliter omni nationi: * et judicia sua non manifestavit eis.
		οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὕτως παντὶ ἔθνει καὶ τὰ κρίματα αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐδήλωσεν αὐτοῖς

 Word by word

Non (not) fecit (he has made/done) táliter (thus/in this manner) omni (to all) natióni (nations):  et (and) judícia (justice/judgments) sua (his) non (not) manifestávit (he has made known) eis (his) = and his righteousness he has not manifested to them

Key vocabulary:

manifesto, avi, atum, are to make known, reveal, make manifest.

talliter, adv. , so, thus, in such wise or manner. 

 Selected translations:

DR	He has not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he has not made manifest to them.
Brenton	He has not done so to any other nation; and he has not shewn them his judgments.
MD	Not so hath He done to every nation, nor make known to them His judgments
RSV	He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!
Cover	He hath not dealt so with any nation; neither have the heathen knowledge of his laws.

 The paradox of the Jews

This verse completes the thought set out in the previous one on the distinction between the natural law, discernible through reason, and the privilege of Divine revelation.

St John Chrysostom pointed out that everyone can achieve virtue purely through reason:

all had the natural law within them sounding clear signals as to what is good and what is not. At the same time as he formed human beings, you see, God placed this incorruptible court within them, the verdict of conscience in each person.

To the Jewish people, though, he gave  more certain path to salvation: 

With the Jews, however, he took this special trouble, indi­cating prescription also in writing. Hence the psalmist did not ac­tually say, "He did not deal with every nation," but He did not deal in this way, that is, he did not send them tablets, or writings, or a Mosaic lawgiver, or the other things on Mount Sinai. Instead, the Jews alone enjoyed all these things from their privileged state, whereas the whole of humankind had a sufficient law in conscience. 

But now. as St Augustine explained, all nations have been joined to Israel, able to access Divine Revelation through the teaching of the apostles:

The wild olive is cut off from its stock, to be grafted into the olive: now they belong to the olive, no longer ought they to be called nations, but one nation in Christ, the nation of Jacob, the nation of Israel...

What then is Israel for us, he asks?  The answer is seeing God in peace, for we are bound together through our worship of God: 

What is Israel? Seeing God. Where shall he see God? In peace. What peace? The peace of Jerusalem; for, says he, He has set peace for your borders. There shall we praise: there shall we all be one, in One, unto One: for then, though many, we shall not be scattered. 

   

Psalm 147 – Lauda Jerusalem 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Lauda, Jerúsalem, Dóminum: * lauda Deum tuum, Sion.	Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise your God, O Sion.
2  Quóniam confortávit seras portárum tuárum: * benedíxit fíliis tuis in te.	Because he has strengthened the bolts of your gates, he has blessed your children within you
3  Qui pósuit fines tuos pacem: * et ádipe fruménti sátiat te.	Who has placed peace in your borders: and fills you with the fat of corn.
4  Qui emíttit elóquium suum terræ: * velóciter currit sermo ejus.	Who sends forth his speech to the earth: his word runs swiftly.
5  Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: * nébulam sicut cínerem spargit.	Who gives snow like wool: scatters mists like ashes.
6  Mittit crystállum suam sicut buccéllas: * ante fáciem frígoris ejus quis sustinébit?	He sends his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?
7  Emíttet verbum suum, et liquefáciet ea: * flabit spíritus ejus, et fluent aquæ.	He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run.
8  Qui annúntiat verbum suum Jacob: * justítias, et judícia sua Israël.	Who declares his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel
9  Non fecit táliter omni natióni: * et judícia sua non manifestávit eis.	He has not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he has not made manifest to them. Alleluia.

Psalm 147: verses 8 - The gift of Christ's coming

c 840 

In the previous verse, the psalm announce that God will send out his Word to melt the hardened pellets of ice' this verse explains that the word is precepts and judgments, revealed to his people.

Text notes

Latin and Greek text: 

8	V	Qui annuntiat verbum suum jacob: * justitias, et judicia sua israël.
		ἀπαγγέλλων τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ τῷ Ιακωβ δικαιώματα καὶ κρίματα αὐτοῦ τῷ Ισραηλ

Word by word:

Qui (who) annúntiat (announces/declares) verbum (the word) suum (his) [to] Jacob: justítias (precepts/statutes/laws/commands), et (and) judícia (judgments) sua (his) Israël.

Key vocabulary: 

annuntio, avi, atum, are  to announce, proclaim, publish, make known

justitia, ae, f justice, righteousness, innocence, piety, moral integrity; plur., judgments, precepts, ordinances:

judicium, i, n.  judgment, decrees; law, commandment; the power, or faculty of judging wisely; justice.

Selected translations: 

DR	Who declares his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel.
Brenton	He sends his word to Jacob, his ordinances and judgments to Israel.
MD	He declareth his word to Jacob, His precepts and judgments to Israel
RSV	He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
Cover	He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and ordinances unto Israel.

The mission of the Church

In the previous verses, the image of the changing seasons was used to remind us that our knowledge of God and what he wishes for us does not depend on revelation through the church, can be learnt through reason, for the natural law is engraved on our hearts.

This verse, though, reminds us of the special privilege we have been granted in receiving direct knowledge of God's requirements of us.

Cassiodorus explains that 'Jacob and Israel' stand for the Church:

for these two survived as the names of one person, just as from two peoples one has been formed, which on the one hand is well called Israel, and on the other is correctly termed Jacob. For now any faithful individual is an Israelite, and earlier anyone who pleased the Lord by pure devotion was a Jacob; we know that the Lord declared His word and His justices to him.

 St Robert Bellarmine commented: 

He concludes by showing how differently God, in his providence, deals with his own people, and with other nations, because he instructed other nations, merely by natural causes and effects, so as to know their Creator through the things created by him; but he taught his own people through the prophets.

And this special privilege is given not just for ourselves, but so that we can carry out God's mission of converting the world; it is a call to action, as Pope John Paul II noted:

In this way, the election of Israel and her sole mission among the peoples is celebrated: to proclaim to the world the Word of God. It is a prophetic and priestly mission, because "what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?" (Dt 4: 8). It is through Israel and, therefore, also through the Christian community, namely the Church, that the Word of God resounds in the world and becomes instruction and light for all peoples.

More after the feast of St Benedict!

Psalm 147 – Lauda Jerusalem 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Lauda, Jerúsalem, Dóminum: * lauda Deum tuum, Sion.	Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise your God, O Sion.
2  Quóniam confortávit seras portárum tuárum: * benedíxit fíliis tuis in te.	Because he has strengthened the bolts of your gates, he has blessed your children within you
3  Qui pósuit fines tuos pacem: * et ádipe fruménti sátiat te.	Who has placed peace in your borders: and fills you with the fat of corn.
4  Qui emíttit elóquium suum terræ: * velóciter currit sermo ejus.	Who sends forth his speech to the earth: his word runs swiftly.
5  Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: * nébulam sicut cínerem spargit.	Who gives snow like wool: scatters mists like ashes.
6  Mittit crystállum suam sicut buccéllas: * ante fáciem frígoris ejus quis sustinébit?	He sends his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?
7  Emíttet verbum suum, et liquefáciet ea: * flabit spíritus ejus, et fluent aquæ.	He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run.
8  Qui annúntiat verbum suum Jacob: * justítias, et judícia sua Israël.	Who declares his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel
9  Non fecit táliter omni natióni: * et judícia sua non manifestávit eis.	He has not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he has not made manifest to them. Alleluia.

 

Psalm 147: verse 7 - The thawing of our hearts through God's grace

Les Très Riches Heures
du duc de Berry: March

The previous verse we talked about the hard, crystallized ice and hail of winter; today's takes us to spring, as the Word of God is sent out, and his spirit melts hard hearts, and makes the waters of baptism flow within us.

The Greek and Latin:

 

7	V	Emittet verbum suum, et liquefaciet ea: * flabit spiritus ejus, et fluent aquæ.
		ἀποστελεῖ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ τήξει αὐτά πνεύσει τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ῥυήσεται ὕδατα

Text notes:

Word by word:

Emíttet (he sends forth) verbum (the word) suum (his) et (and) liquefáciet (he/it will melt) ea (them) flabit (it will blow) spíritus (the spirit/wind) ejus (his) et (and) fluent (they will flow) aquæ (the waters).

Key vocabulary: 

liquefacio, feci, factum, ere 3 to melt, dissolve.

flo, flavi, flatum, flare, to blow.

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

fluo, fluxi, fluxum, ere 3, Of water, to flow; Of wax, to melt.

Selected translations: 

DR	He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run
Brenton	He shall send out his word, and melt them: he shall blow with his wind, and the waters shall flow.
MD	He sendeth forth His word and it melteth them, He maketh His wind to blow and the waters run
RSV	He sends forth his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
Cover	He sendeth out his word, and melteth them; he bloweth with his wind, and the waters flow.

 The seasons as a message from God

Although we have the benefit of Scripture and the Tradition entrusted to the Church to instruct us. several of the Fathers see this verse as a reminder that God's revelations are also embedded in nature as we experience it, and can be deduced from it.

We should meditate then, on the changing seasons and their meaning, rather than just taking them for granted.

St John Chrysostom for example said:

So when it happens each year and comes before your gaze, do not regard the marvel as of little significance: think how wonderful it is, at one time snow coming into view, at another time water, such changes happening in a short space of time. You see, in case any stupid person should think they happen by the natural operation of the elements, and simply regard these things responsible for them in­stead of knowing who is the one giving the commands, he directs his attention to God's ordinance about all these things...It was not the nature of the winds taking the initiative and causing this, you see, but the God who made the winds. 

So what is the key take out message?  It is that we should never despair of God's grace and mercy, for he can melt even the hardest heart, and turn it to repentance.  St Jerome says:  

If anyone, then, should grow cold and die, God will send His Word and melt him. May the Lord grant that our frigidity, too, may thaw, that this crystal of ice be dissolved and melt. Give me any sinner who has no regard for God, who has no heat, but is thoroughly frozen and dead; if at the word of God he is roused to compunction and begins to repent and the hardness of his heart is softened, at that moment are the words fulfilled: 'He sends his word and melts them.'  The Father sends; the Word is sent; the Holy Spirit is given. 

Psalm 147 – Lauda Jerusalem 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Lauda, Jerúsalem, Dóminum: * lauda Deum tuum, Sion.	Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise your God, O Sion.
2  Quóniam confortávit seras portárum tuárum: * benedíxit fíliis tuis in te.	Because he has strengthened the bolts of your gates, he has blessed your children within you
3  Qui pósuit fines tuos pacem: * et ádipe fruménti sátiat te.	Who has placed peace in your borders: and fills you with the fat of corn.
4  Qui emíttit elóquium suum terræ: * velóciter currit sermo ejus.	Who sends forth his speech to the earth: his word runs swiftly.
5  Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: * nébulam sicut cínerem spargit.	Who gives snow like wool: scatters mists like ashes.
6  Mittit crystállum suam sicut buccéllas: * ante fáciem frígoris ejus quis sustinébit?	He sends his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?
7  Emíttet verbum suum, et liquefáciet ea: * flabit spíritus ejus, et fluent aquæ.	He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run.
8  Qui annúntiat verbum suum Jacob: * justítias, et judícia sua Israël.	Who declares his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel
9  Non fecit táliter omni natióni: * et judícia sua non manifestávit eis.	He has not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he has not made manifest to them. Alleluia.