Tenebrae psalms/7 - Psalm 73: Judas' in the Church today

Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 147v
- Judas Hangs Himself the Musée Condé, Chantilly.

Today's psalm deals with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, as evildoers and those who hate God plot to eliminate true worship of God.

The destruction of the Temple

Opinions are split on just which particular destruction of the Temple this psalm refers to, but its role in this Nocturn is nicely explained by Cassiodorus' note on the three psalms of this second Nocturn of Maundy Thursday:

"Psalm 71 promised that the Lord's incarnation would come. In 72 Asaph [the psalms' author] put his transgressions behind him, and chose the course to follow. In this psalm there is lamentation for the destruction of the city, so that the Jews' extreme hardness of heart should at least feel fear at the disasters to their city. The good Physician has done all he could, if the sick man wished to recover his health. Let us remember, however, that the authority of the Church relates that Jerusalem was ravaged in the days when the most cruel people of the Jews crucified Christ the Lord, so that there can be no doubt what temporal evil that obstinate transgression sustained."

In the context of Maundy Thursday, the psalm is a plea to God to preserve the faithful remnant of his people in the face of pride and persecution.

The evil within the Church

More generally, as Fr Pius Pasch explains in words so very pertinent to the state of the Church today, it is an instruction not to lose hope, even in the fgace of those Judas' who pretend to be priests and bishops:

"The destruction of the temple was one of the saddest phases of Jewish history, and pre-figured both the death of Christ on the Cross, and in these latter days the destruction of our churches by the enemy within. In the midst of the Church's apparent destruction, its humiliation by enemies who pretend to be our shepherds, we cry out in our impatience that God will put a stop to this madness.  But we never lose our trust in God.  These verses remind us not to lose faith―God is our powerful Saviour."

Psalm 73 (74)

1 Ut quid, Deus, repulisti in finem, iratus est furor tuus super oves pascuæ tuæ? 

2 Memor esto congregationis tuæ, quam possedisti ab initio. 

3 Redemisti virgam hæreditatis tuæ, mons Sion, in quo habitasti in eo. 

4 Leva manus tuas in superbias eorum in finem : quanta malignatus est inimicus in sancto!

5 Et gloriati sunt qui oderunt te in medio solemnitatis tuæ; 

6 posuerunt signa sua, signa: et non cognoverunt sicut in exitu super summum. 

7 Quasi in silva lignorum securibus exciderunt januas ejus in idipsum; in securi et ascia dejecerunt eam. 

8 Incenderunt igni sanctuarium tuum; in terra polluerunt tabernaculum nominis tui. 

9 Dixerunt in corde suo cognatio eorum simul: Quiescere faciamus omnes dies festos Dei a terra. 10 Signa nostra non vidimus; jam non est propheta; et nos non cognoscet amplius. 

11  Usquequo, Deus, improperábit inimícus: * irrítat adversárius nomen tuum in finem?

12  Ut quid avértis manum tuam, et déxteram tuam, * de médio sinu tuo in finem?

13  Deus autem Rex noster ante sæcula: * operátus est salútem in médio terræ.

14  Tu confirmásti in virtúte tua mare: * contribulásti cápita dracónum in aquis.

15  Tu confregísti cápita dracónis: * dedísti eum escam pópulis Æthíopum.

16  Tu dirupísti fontes, et torréntes * tu siccásti flúvios Ethan.

17  Tuus est dies, et tua est nox: * tu fabricátus es auróram et solem.

18  Tu fecísti omnes términos terræ: * æstátem et ver tu plasmásti ea.

19  Memor esto hujus, inimícus improperávit Dómino: * et pópulus insípiens incitávit nomen tuum.

20  Ne tradas béstiis ánimas confiténtes tibi, * et ánimas páuperum tuórum ne obliviscáris in finem.

21  Réspice in testaméntum tuum: * quia repléti sunt, qui obscuráti sunt terræ dómibus iniquitátum.

22  Ne avertátur húmilis factus confúsus: * pauper et inops laudábunt nomen tuum.

23  Exsúrge, Deus, júdica causam tuam: * memor esto improperiórum tuórum, eórum quæ ab insipiénte sunt tota die.

24  Ne obliviscáris voces inimicórum tuórum: * supérbia eórum, qui te odérunt, ascéndit semper.

The translation:

God, why have you cast us off unto the end: why is your wrath enkindled against the sheep of your pasture? 

2 Remember your congregation, which you have possessed from the beginning. 

The sceptre of your inheritance which you have redeemed: mount Sion in which you have dwelt. 

3 Lift up your hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy has done wickedly in the sanctuary. 

4 And they that hate you have made their boasts, in the midst of your solemnity. 

They have set up their ensigns for signs, 5 and they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. 

As with axes in a wood of trees, 6 they have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down. 

7 They have set fire to your sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of your name on the earth. 8 They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land. 

9 Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more. 

10 How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke your name for ever?

11 Why do you turn away your hand: and your right hand out of the midst of your bosom for ever? 12 But God is our king before ages: he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. 

13 You by your strength made the sea firm: you crushed the heads of the dragons in the waters. 

14 You have broken the heads of the dragon: you have given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians. 

15 You have broken up the fountains and the torrents: you have dried up the Ethan rivers. 

16 Yours is the day, and yours is the night: you have made the morning light and the sun. 

17 You have made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by you. 18 Remember this, the enemy has reproached the Lord: and a foolish people has provoked your name. 19 Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to you: and forget not to the end the souls of your poor. 

20 Have regard to your covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity. 

21 Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise your name. 22 Arise, O God, judge your own cause: remember your reproaches with which the foolish man has reproached you all the day. 

23 Forget not the voices of your enemies: the pride of them that hate you ascends continually.

Tenebrae of Holy Thursday

Nocturn I: Psalms 68, 69, 70

Nocturn II: Psalms 71, 72, 73

Nocturn III: Psalms 74, 75, 76

Lauds: 50, 89, 35, [Ex 15], 146

Other Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Acts 17:26 (v18)
RB cursus	Thursday Matins I, 1
Monastic feasts etc	Maundy Thurs Tenebrae, II, 3
Roman pre 1911	Thursday Matins
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Thursday Sext . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Lent 4 Thurs GR 20, 21, 23; PP13: IN, Grad: 19, 20, 22

And for the next part in this series, go here.

Tenebrae psalms/6 - Psalm 72: The grace of salvation

Today's psalm, Psalm 72, is generally interpreted as an attempt to answer the age-old problem of why the good so often suffer, and why those who do evil flourish.

The temptations of the world

Yet in the context of Maundy Thursday it takes on another level of meaning, and can first and foremost be seen as another prayer of the Garden.  It deals with the struggle of a man who sees evildoers flourishing, and is accordingly tempted to desert, rather than subject himself to redemptive suffering:

"But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well near slipped.
Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners...
They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue has passed through the earth...Behold these are sinners; and yet, abounding in the world they have obtained riches..."

The moment of temptation passes, as the speaker moves beyond mere human knowledge, to that inner sanctum of God, where God directs the heart and mind:

"I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my sight:
Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends...For my heart has been inflamed, and my reins have been changed...
You have held me by my right hand; and by your will you have conducted me, and with your glory you have received me."

Thirty pieces of silver

The answer to the problem of why Christ had to suffer and endure the Cross, and why we too must embrace it, is not fully given in this psalm, but it does point out that those thirty pieces of silver are not redeemable in hell:

"But indeed for deceits you have put it to them: when they were lifted up you have cast them down.
How are they brought to desolation? They have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.
As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in your city you shall bring their image to nothing."

Could Judas have yet repented?

It is a teaching of our faith that repentance is always possible, short of death.  Yet there are some people whose crimes are so extreme that their minds are so hardened as to fail to do so.  In the Old Testament we are told that God hardened Pharoah's mind; in the New we have the terrible fate of Judas set before us.  And no I don't subscribe to the modern - and modernist - view that Judas may have made it to heaven, or that hell may be empty; it runs counter to centuries of teaching and tradition!

We must hope and pray then, for the grace of repentance and final endurance that only God can grant, as the early monastic writer Pachomius comments:

"If someone speaks like this: "If ever someone is deceived or snatched away in one of these abysses, is he already lost and has he no longer repentance," I will tell him that a person who has repentance and a true understanding regarding the faith and God's commandments, with a zeal for this, even if he comes close to falling through negligence, yet the Lord will not let him be lost altogether. As it is written, "My feet were on the point of stumbling."

He shows him his grace through the scourge of a sickness or a grief or the shame of his offense that becoming conscious of his negligence he may walk in the middle of the narrow path until he arrives and may not wander a single foot because the path is four cubits wide.

He who wanders off is like Judas, who after receiving benevolence from the Lord and seeing great signs—even the resurrection of the dead— having the purse, was not aware of grace. Because of this he was completely lost through love of money and betrayal.

But the good, although as people with free will they may somehow have neglected what is fitting, are still "refined through fire like silver" casting away rust. This why blessed David says, "I, in the abundance of your mercy, will enter your house." If he says this, how much more we wretches!"

Psalm 72

Quam bonus Israël Deus, his qui recto sunt corde!
Mei autem pene moti sunt pedes, pene effusi sunt gressus mei:
quia zelavi super iniquos, pacem peccatorum videns.
Quia non est respectus morti eorum, et firmamentum in plaga eorum.
In labore hominum non sunt, et cum hominibus non flagellabuntur.
Ideo tenuit eos superbia; operti sunt iniquitate et impietate sua.
Prodiit quasi ex adipe iniquitas eorum; transierunt in affectum cordis.
Cogitaverunt et locuti sunt nequitiam; iniquitatem in excelso locuti sunt.
Posuerunt in cælum os suum, et lingua eorum transivit in terra.
Ideo convertetur populus meus hic, et dies pleni invenientur in eis.
Et dixerunt : Quomodo scit Deus, et si est scientia in excelso?
Ecce ipsi peccatores, et abundantes in sæculoobtinuerunt divitias.
Et dixi : Ergo sine causa justificavi cor meum, et lavi inter innocentes manus meas,
et fui flagellatus tota die, et castigatio mea in matutinis.
Si dicebam : Narrabo sic; ecce nationem filiorum tuorum reprobavi.
Existimabam ut cognoscerem hoc; labor est ante me:
donec intrem in sanctuarium Dei, et intelligam in novissimis eorum.
Verumtamen propter dolos posuisti eis; dejecisti eos dum allevarentur.
Quomodo facti sunt in desolationem? subito defecerunt : perierunt propter iniquitatem suam.
Velut somnium surgentium, Domine, in civitate tua imaginem ipsorum ad nihilum rediges.
Quia inflammatum est cor meum, et renes mei commutati sunt; et ego ad nihilum redactus sum, et nescivi:
ut jumentum factus sum apud te, et ego semper tecum.
Tenuisti manum dexteram meam, et in voluntate tua deduxisti me, et cum gloria suscepisti me.
Quid enim mihi est in cælo? et a te quid volui super terram?
Defecit caro mea et cor meum; Deus cordis mei, et pars mea, Deus in æternum.
Quia ecce qui elongant se a te peribunt; perdidisti omnes qui fornicantur abs te.
Mihi autem adhærere Deo bonum est; ponere in Domino Deo spem meam :
ut annuntiem omnes prædicationes tuas in portis filiæ Sion.

And the English:

How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!
But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well near slipped.
Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners.
For there is no regard to their death, nor is there strength in their stripes.
They are not in the labour of men: neither shall they be scourged like other men.
Therefore pride has held them fast: they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness.
Their iniquity has come forth, as it were from fatness: they have passed into the affection of the heart. They have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken iniquity on high.
They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue has passed through the earth. Therefore will my people return here and full days shall be found in them.
And they said: How does God know? And is there knowledge in the most High?
Behold these are sinners; and yet, abounding in the world they have obtained riches.
And I said: Then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent. And I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement has been in the mornings.
If I said: I will speak thus; behold I should condemn the generation of your children.
I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my sight:
Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends.
But indeed for deceits you have put it to them: when they were lifted up you have cast them down.
How are they brought to desolation? They have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.
As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in your city you shall bring their image to nothing.
For my heart has been inflamed, and my reins have been changed:
And I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.
I have become as a beast before you: and I am always with you.
You have held me by my right hand; and by your will you have conducted me, and with your glory you have received me.
For what have I in heaven? And besides you what do I desire upon earth?
For you my flesh and my heart has fainted away: you are the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.
For behold they that go far from you shall perish: you have destroyed all them that are disloyal to you.
But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: That I may declare all your praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion

And for the next part in the series, go here.

Tenebrae of Holy Thursday

Nocturn I: Psalms 68, 69, 70
Nocturn II: Psalms 71, 72, 73
Nocturn III: Psalms 74, 75, 76
Lauds: 50, 89, 35, [Ex 15], 146

Other Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Mt 5:8 (1); 2 Peter 2:18 (8-9); Phil 3:8 (24); 1 Cor 6:17 (27)
RB cursus	Wednesday matins II 6
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc	Maundy Thurs Tenebrae,
Roman pre 1911	Thursday Matins
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Thursday Terce . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Palm Sunday, GR, 1-3, 23

Tenebrae Psalms/5: Psalm 71 and the kingship of Christ

The responsories for the second Nocturn of Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday, which we start on today with a look at Psalm 71 (72), focus on Judas' betrayal and subsequent horrible fate.

Today's psalm, though, first invites us to reflect on just how terrible a crime that betrayal was by reminding us just who Christ is, and why he came as man to us.

Who is Christ?

The sixth century commentator Cassiodorus provides a nice summary of the progression of the psalm in the light of the New Testament:

"The prophet speaks throughout the psalm, pointing to the coming of the Lord Saviour, and clearly manifesting alternately His humanity and His divinity in one and the same person. In the first section he addresses the Father, begging for His Son the role of judging the nations which is known to have been predestined before time began. In the second part he says that at the Lord's judgment the sons of the poor will be saved, and the pride of the devil undoubtedly brought low. He is also seen to indicate in marvellous fashion the birth from the Virgin, by means of certain parallels. In the third part he recounts what blessings have accrued from the holy Spirit and from the Lord Christ born of the virgin Mary. In the fourth section he says that He is to be adored by all kings because He has freed the human race from the power of the devil. In the fifth he proclaims that once seen by human eyes He was the mainstay of believers and an undoubted Source of progress for the just. In the sixth he relates that praises are to be delivered to the eternal Lord with the unanimity of the whole world. In the seventh he delivers with the sweetest devotion a hymn to the Lord Christ.  It is thus obvious that a clear and manifest beginning to the New Testament has been fashioned in the course of this psalm."

Meditation on the kingship of Christ should surely help us to put our own actions in perspective, and help dissuade us from those small betrayals of his we make each day.

Psalm 71

Deus, iudícium tuum regi da: * et iustítiam tuam fílio regis.	Give to the king your judgment, O God, and to the king's son your justice:
Iudicáre pópulum tuum in iustítia, * et páuperes tuos in iudício.	To judge your people with justice, and your poor with judgment.
Suscípiant montes pacem pópulo: * et colles iustítiam.	Let the mountains receive peace for the people: and the hills justice.
Iudicábit páuperes pópuli, et salvos fáciet fílios páuperum: * et humiliábit calumniatórem.	He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the children of the poor: and he shall humble the oppressor
Et permanébit cum sole, et ante lunam, * in generatióne et generatiónem.	And he shall continue with the sun and before the moon, throughout all generations.
Descendet sicut plúvia in vellus: * et sicut stillicidia stillántia super terram.	He shall come down like rain upon the fleece; and as showers falling gently upon the earth.
Oriétur in diébus eius iustítia, et abundántia pacis: * donec auferátur luna.	In his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away.
Et dominábitur a mari usque ad mare: * et a flúmine usque ad términos orbis terrárum.	And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
Coram illo prócident Æthíopes: * et inimíci eius terram lingent.	Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down: and his enemies shall lick the ground.
Reges Tharsis, et ínsulæ múnera ófferent: * reges Arabum et Saba dona addúcent.	The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts:
Et adorábunt eum omnes reges terræ: * omnes gentes sérvient ei:	And all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him.
Quia liberábit páuperem a poténte: * et páuperem, cui non erat adiútor.	For he shall deliver the poor from the mighty: and the needy that had no helper.
Parcet páuperi et ínopi: * et ánimas páuperum salvas fáciet.	He shall spare the poor and needy: and he shall save the souls of the poor.
Ex usúris et iniquitáte rédimet ánimas eórum: * et honorábile nomen eórum coram illo.	He shall redeem their souls from usuries and iniquity: and their names shall be honourable in his sight.
Et vivet, et dábitur ei de auro Arábiæ, † et adorábunt de ipso semper: * tota die benedícent ei.	And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Arabia, for him they shall always adore: they shall bless him all the day.
Et erit firmaméntum in terra in summis móntium, † superextollétur super Líbanum fructus eius: * et florébunt de civitáte sicut fœnum terræ.	And there shall be a firmament on the earth on the tops of mountains, above Libanus shall the fruit thereof be exalted: and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.
Sit nomen eius benedíctum in sæcula: * ante solem pérmanet nomen eius.	Let his name be blessed for evermore: his name continues before the sun.
Et benedicéntur in ipso omnes tribus terræ: * omnes Gentes magnificábunt eum.	And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed: all nations shall magnify him.
Benedíctus Dóminus, Deus Israël, * qui facit mirabília solus.	Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonderful things.
Et benedíctum nomen maiestátis eius in ætérnum: † et replébitur maiestáte eius omnis terra: fiat, fiat.	And blessed be the name of his majesty for ever: and the whole earth shall be filled with his majesty. So be it. So be it.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

And for the next part in this series, go here.

Tenebrae of Holy Thursday

Nocturn I: Psalms 68, 69, 70
Nocturn II: Psalms 71, 72, 73
Nocturn III: Psalms 74, 75, 76
Lauds: 50, 89, 35, [Ex 15], 146

And for the antiphon and a few verses of the psalm to listen to (note that it goes on with a setting of the responsories).

Other Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Lk 1:48 (17); Lk 1:68 (19)
RB cursus	Wednesday Matins
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc	Nativity; Epiphany; Maundy Thurs Tenebrae, II, 1; Trinity
Roman pre 1911	Thursday Matins
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Thursday Prime 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Christ the King, 8, 11

Psalms of Tenebrae/4 - Psalm 70

Today's psalm concludes the first Nocturn of Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday.

Like its two predecessors it is a plea for help at a time when our strength threatens to fail us, and thus clearly belongs with this set of psalms representing the prayer in the Garden.

The call to obedience

But the other key to its inclusion in the psalms selected for Maundy Thursday surely lies in the title of the psalm given in the Septuagint, which lauds the pure obedience of a good son, as St Augustine's commentary on it explains:

"The title then of this Psalm is, as usual, a title intimating on the threshold what is being done in the house: To David himself for the sons of Jonadab, and for those that were first led captive.

Jonadab (he is commended to us in the prophecy of Jeremiah) was a certain man, who had enjoined his sons not to drink wine, and not to dwell in houses, but in tents. But the commandment of the father the sons kept and observed, and by this earned a blessing from the Lord. Now the Lord had not commanded this, but their own father. But they so received it as though it were a commandment from the Lord their God; for even though the Lord had not commanded that they should drink no wine and should dwell in tents; yet the Lord had commanded that sons should obey their father... God then blessed the sons of Jonadab because of their obedience, and thrust them in the teeth of His disobedient people, reproaching them, because while the sons of Jonadab were obedient to their father, they obeyed not their God..."

The call to mission

It is this perfect obedience to the will of God that we must strive to imitate.

Yet obedience is surely the hardest of the evangelical counsels for us to follow.

Pope Benedict XVI commented a few days ago we are not the authors of our own vocation.  It is an important point: God ordains where and when we were born; and into what family and circumstances.  He also calls each of us individually, firstly to a state of life, and secondly to particular missions within that life.

We can of course choose not to listen to those calls in the first place, not to discern what we are meant to be doing with our lives, what we are meant to be doing here and now.  Indeed, few today are taught to properly discern their vocation in life, or to listen to the breath of the Holy Spirit as it blows in our hearts and minds.

And even if we do listen, we are left free to reject those calls - and most of us do many times a day, through sin or failure to act.

Yet the psalmist reminds us that it is never too late, that we must over and over again ask for God's aid to persevere, for God wants to save us: 'for turning you have brought me to life, and have brought me back again from the depths of the earth".

The text of the psalm

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David, filiorum Jonadab, et priorum captivorum.	A psalm for David. Of the sons of Jonadab, and the former captives.
1 In te, Dómine, sperávi, non confúndar in ætérnum : in justítia tua líbera me, et éripe me.	In you, O Lord, I have hoped, let me never be put to confusion:
2  Inclína ad me aurem tuam, et salva me.	2 Deliver me in your justice, and rescue me. Incline your ear unto me, and save me.
3  Esto mihi in Deum protectórem, et in locum munítum : ut salvum me fácias.	3 Be unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength: that you may make me safe.
4  Quóniam firmaméntum meum, * et refúgium meum es tu.	For you are my firmament and my refuge.
5  Deus meus, éripe me de manu peccatóris, * et de manu contra legem agéntis et iníqui :	4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner, and out of the hand of the transgressor of the law and of the unjust.
6  Quóniam tu es patiéntia mea, Dómine : * Dómine, spes mea a juventúte mea.	5 For you are my patience, O Lord: my hope, O Lord, from my youth.
7  In te confirmátus sum ex útero : * de ventre matris meæ tu es protéctor meus.	6 By you have I been confirmed from the womb: from my mother's womb you are my protector.
8  In te cantátio mea semper : * tamquam prodígium factus sum multis : et tu adjútor fortis.	Of you I shall continually sing: 7 I have become unto many as a wonder, but you are a strong helper.
9  Repleátur os meum laude, ut cántem glóriam tuam : * tota die magnitúdinem tuam.	8 Let my mouth be filled with praise, that I may sing your glory; your greatness all the day long
10  Ne projícias me in témpore senectútis : * cum defécerit virtus mea, ne derelínquas me.	9 Cast me not off in the time of old age: when my strength shall fail, do not forsake me.
11 Quia dixérunt inimíci mei mihi : * et qui custodiébant ánimam meam, consílium fecérunt in unum.	10 For my enemies have spoken against me; and they that watched my soul have consulted together,
12  Dicéntes : Deus derelíquit eum, persequímini, et comprehéndite eum : * quia non est qui erípiat.	11 saying: God has forsaken him: pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.
13  Deus ne elongéris a me : * Deus meus, in auxílium meum réspice.	12 O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste to my help.
14  Confundántur, et defíciant detrahéntes ánimæ meæ : * operiántur confusióne, et pudóre qui quærunt mala mihi.	13 Let them be confounded and come to nothing that detract my soul; let them be covered with confusion and blame that seek my hurt.
15  Ego autem semper sperábo : * et adjíciam super omnem laudem tuam.	14 But I will always hope; and will add to all your praise.
16  Os meum annuntiábit justítiam tuam : * tota die salutáre tuum.	15 My mouth shall show forth your justice; your salvation all the day long.
17  Quóniam non cognóvi litteratúram, introíbo in poténtias Dómini : * Dómine, memorábor justítiæ tuæ solíus.	Because I have not known learning, 16 I will enter into the powers of the Lord: O Lord, I will be mindful of your justice alone.
18  Deus, docuísti me a juventúte mea : * et usque nunc pronuntiábo mirabília tua.	17 You have taught me, O God, from my youth: and till now I will declare your wonderful works.
19  Et usque in senéctam et sénium : * Deus, ne derelínquas me,	18 And unto old age and grey hairs: O God, forsake me not,
20  Donec annúntiem bráchium tuum * generatióni omni, quæ ventúra est	Until I show forth your arm to all the generation that is to come:
21  Poténtiam tuam, et justítiam tuam, Deus, usque in altíssima, quæ fecísti magnália : *  Deus, quis símilis tibi?	Your power, 19 and your justice, O God, even to the highest great things you have done: O God, who is like to you?
22 Quantas ostendísti mihi tribulatiónes multas et malas : et convérsus vivificásti me : * et de abyssis terræ íterum reduxísti me:	20 How great troubles have you shown me, many and grievous: and turning you have brought me to life, and have brought me back again from the depths of the earth:
23  Multiplicásti magnificéntiam tuam : * et convérsus consolátus es me.	21 You have multiplied your magnificence; and turning to me you have comforted me.
24  Nam et ego confitébor tibi in vasis psalmi veritátem tuam : * Deus, psallam tibi in cíthara, Sanctus Israël.	22 For I will also confess to you your truth with the instruments of psaltery: O God, I will sing to you with the harp, you holy one of Israel.
25  Exsultábunt lábia mea cum cantávero tibi : * et ánima mea, quam redemísti.	23 My lips shall greatly rejoice, when I shall sing to you; and my soul which you have redeemed.
26  Sed et lingua mea tota die meditábitur justítiam tuam : * cum confúsi et revériti fúerint, qui quærunt mala mihi.	24 Yea and my tongue shall meditate on your justice all the day; when they shall be confounded and put to shame that seek evils to me.

Tenebrae of Holy Thursday

Nocturn I: Psalms 68, 69, 70
Nocturn II: Psalms 71, 72, 73
Nocturn III: Psalms 74, 75, 76
Lauds: 50, 89, 35, [Ex 15], 146

And you can find the next part in this series here.

Other Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Gal 1:15 (7); Lk 1:49 (18); Rom 10:7 (22)
RB cursus	Wednesday Matins II, 4
Monastic feasts etc	Christ the King; Maundy Thurs Tenebrae, I,3 AN 2174 (4) AN 5283 (18) AN 208 (19, 20)
Responsories	6423 (1-3) Epiphanytide Thurs 7529 (8, 9, 23) – Epjnaytide thurs 6762 (23, 24, 28) Epiphanytide Thurs 6422 (1) 6899 (Psalm Sunday alt verse, 4) 7687 (5, 6) – H, day hours in Septuagesima 6325 (10-12) 7475 (10-12) Passion Sunday no 8
Roman pre 1911	Thursday Matins
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Thursday Compline
Mass propers (EF)	Quinquagesima Sun IN 1-3 Lent 4 Thursday, CO (17-19); Pentecost Ember Friday, IN (1-2, 8, 23); PP 8, GR (1, 3) PP 16, IN (1-2), CO (17-19)

Psalms of Tenebrae/3 - Psalm 69

Today's psalm, the second of the First Nocturn of Matins for Maundy Thursday, is very short, and the first verse at least will be very familiar, as the prayer 'O God come to my aid, O Lord make haste to help me' is frequently used in the liturgy.  In fact it is one of those verses that can be usefully said all through the day!

Psalm 69 is actually more or less a repeat of the second half of Psalm 39 (the main difference is in the Hebrew word used for God, here Adonai instead of Elohim).

In the Benedictine Office, it is normally said at Matins on Wednesday; in the pre-1911 Roman Office, it was said at Matins on Thursday, the 1962 Roman Office has it at Compline on the same day.

In the context of Maundy Thursday

In the context of Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday, it is first an intensification of that prayer for deliverance from what must come.  More importantly though, it is a prayer for what is to come: for in the Resurrection, Our Lord's enemies were indeed confounded, as the verse used for the antiphon (v 3) reminds us.

In the Septuagint and Vulgate, the psalm is given the title 'Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that the Lord saved him'.  Cassiodorus suggests that this is to differentiate the context for the two versions of the psalm:

"So in Psalm 39 where these words occur there is fear of future judgment and recollection of sins; but in the present passage hope of liberation and the promised trust in our future reward are maintained. To demonstrate that he remembered this, he added: That the Lord saved me, so that it could be shown that this recollection was born not of fear but of the kindness which had been received. It was fitting that, since in the previous psalm the Lord Christ had recounted His passion, and had added the hope of resurrection, so here His members should speak in similar vein after their Head, so that they might proclaim their faithful sufferings, and entertain hope of the resurrection for which they prayed."

Lent as spiritual warfare

For us today, the plea for help in the face of our enemies should serve as a reminder that Lent is a period when the spiritual warfare waged against us will tend to intensify.  We should make our own, then, the plea 'But I am needy and poor; O God, help me'.



Psalm 69

Deus, in adjutórium meum inténde : * Dómine ad adjuvándum me festína.
2  Confundántur et revereántur, * qui quærunt ánimam meam.
3  Avertántur retrórsum, et erubéscant, * qui volunt mihi mala.
4  Avertántur statim erubescéntes, * qui dicunt mihi : Euge, euge.
5  Exsúltent et læténtur in te omnes qui quærunt te, * et dicant semper : Magnificétur Dóminus : qui díligunt salutáre tuum.
6  Ego vero egénus, et pauper sum : * Deus, ádjuva me.
7  Adjútor meus, et liberátor meus es tu : * Dómine, ne moreris.

O God come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:
Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils to me:
Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me: 'Tis well, 'tis well.
Let all that seek you rejoice and be glad in you; and let such as love your salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.
But I am needy and poor; O God, help me.
You are my helper and my deliverer: O lord, make no delay.

And here is a lovely polyphonic setting of the psalm by the Mexican Jan de Padilla



Tenebrae of Holy Thursday

Nocturn I: Psalms 68, 69, 70
Nocturn II: Psalms 71, 72, 73
Nocturn III: Psalms 74, 75, 76
Lauds: 50, 89, 35, [Ex 15], 146

And you can find the next post in this series here.