Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Psalm 119/2: Notes on the verses


Stations of the Cross Collected enamel set, Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Avranches

In the previous post on Psalm 119 I gave a general introduction to it; here I want to take a closer look at the individual verses.  

Verse by verse notes

Key to the abbreviations:

V=Vulgate; NV=Neo-Vulgate; JH= St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew; final row of the first block is the Septuagint Greek

DR= Douay-Rheims-Challoner; BR =Brenton's translation  from the Septuagint; MD=Monastic Diurnal; K= Knox; CO=Coverdale; G=Grail Psalter; RSV=Revised Standard Version; NETS=New English Translation from the Septuagint

For further details of translations and sources see the Notes on the Notes post.

1
V/NV
Ad Dóminum cum tribulárer clamávi: * et exaudívit me.
JH
Ad Dominum in tribulatione mea clamaui, et exaudiuit me. 


πρὸς κύριον ἐν τῷ θλίβεσθαί με ἐκέκραξα καὶ εἰσήκουσέν μου

Text notes: ‘Ad Dominum’ is emphatic by virtue of its position, ie ‘to the Lord alone'.  St Jerome’s from the Hebrew translation changes the subjunctive verb (tribularer) into a noun, an interpretation followed by both the Douay-Rheims and Diurnal, but rejected by the neo-Vulgate.  Thus a more literal translation of the first phrase would be’ I cried to the Lord when I was harassed/oppressed/afflicted’

Dominus, i, m. a master, lord, ruler, owner, possessor
tribulo, avi, atum, are lit., to press. Fig.:  to oppress, afflict, harass
clamo, avi, atum, are  to call, cry out; to call to or upon for aid.
exaudio, ivi, Itum, ire, to hear, hearken to, listen to, give heed to; to regard, answer

DR
In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me.
MD
To the Lord I cry in my distress, and he heareth me.
BR
In mine affliction I cried to the Lord, and he hearkened to me.
CO
When I was in trouble, I called upon the Lord, and he heard me.
K
Not unheeded I cry to the Lord in the hour of my distress.
G
To the Lord in the hour of my distress I call and he answers me.

Commentary: St John Chrysostom's commentary on this verse suggests that it is a reminder of the value to suffering in calling us back to fidelity to God, and spurring us to start the ascent of the ladder to heaven, which we can only do with God’s aid.  Natural disasters, accidents, illness, the attacks of enemies and temptations should all serve to remind us of our absolute dependence on God, and so when trouble strikes us we call out to God, who is always ready to listen when we truly pray.

2
V
Dómine, líbera ánimam meam a lábiis iníquis, * et a lingua dolósa.
NV
Domine, libera animam meam a labiis mendacii, a lingua dolosa.
JH
Domine, libera animam meam a labio mendacii, a lingua dolosa. 


κύριε ῥῦσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπὸ χειλέων ἀδίκων καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης δολίας

Text notes:  The two descriptors here ‘labiis iniquis’ (literally ‘from evil lips’, which the neo-Vulgate turns into ‘lying lips’), and ‘lingua dolosa’ (a deceitful tongue) are a case of the part standing for the whole: the psalmist is asking for deliverance from liars and deceivers; from falsehood and treachery.

libero, avi, atum, are  to free, set free, deliver
anima, ae, life, soul, and heart
labium, li, n., a lip. By metonymy lips frequently stands for language, speech, thought, plan, design.
iniquus, a, um, unjust, godless, wicked; labia iniqua, deceitful lips,
lingua, ae,f.,  the tongue;  language, speech, tongue; plan, council.
dolosus, a, um  full of craft or guile, deceitful, treacherous; deceiving, lying; lingua dolosa, a deceitful tongue

DR
O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue.
MD
O Lord deliver me from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
BR
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from unjust lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
CO
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
K
Lord, have pity and deliver me from the treacherous lips, the perjured tongue.
G
"O Lord, save my soul from lying lips, from the tongue of the deceitful."


Commentary: The commentaries of the Fathers and Theologians see this verse as warning us of various dangers: the insidious lure of flattery and promise of earthly honours; the twisting of doctrine in heresy propagated by wolves in sheep’s clothing; and the attacks of enemies upon us through calumny and detraction.  We need to be alert to these dangers, and take what measures we can to counteract them, such as ensuring that we are well instructed in sound doctrine.

3
V
Quid detur tibi, aut quid apponátur tibi * ad linguam dolósam?
NV
Quid detur tibi aut quid apponatur tibi, lingua dolosa?
JH
Quid detur tibi, aut quid adponatur tibi  ad linguam dolosam? 


τί δοθείη σοι καὶ τί προστεθείη σοι πρὸς γλῶσσαν δολίαν

Text notes:   The meaning of this and the next verse is highly contested. Detur is the third person present subjunctive passive of do, dare, to give; apponere in this context is to do further/added. So, ‘what may be given to you, and what more done, to the deceitful tongue (deceiver)?  The form of this verse and the next echoes the oath formula of Ruth 1:17:” where you die, I will die…may the Lord do so to me and more if even death parts me from you”.   Accordingly, one interpretation is that the psalmist's enemy has just sworn to give reins to his fury against the psalmist, and has invoked on himself the same destruction (in a more intense form) which he has threatened against the psalmist.  Others argue that the most obvious meaning is that no punishment is too great for a deceitful tongue, while St Augustine suggests that this is a rhetorical question, with the answer coming in the next verse.

Quid…aut – signals a double question.
do, dedi, datum, are, to give,
appono, posiii, positum, ere 3 to add to, put to, put in addition; to care for, apply one's self to;  to do further.

DR
What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, to a deceitful tongue?
MD
What shall be done to thee or meted out to thee, thou treacherous tongue?
BR
What should be given to thee, and what should be added to thee, for thy crafty tongue?
CO
What reward shall be given or done unto thee, thou false tongue?
K
Perjurer, he will give thee all thy deserts and more; 
G
What shall he repay you in return, O treacherous tongue?

4
V
Sagíttæ poténtis acútæ, * cum carbónibus desolatóriis.
NV/JH
Sagittae potentis acutae cum carbonibus iuniperorum.


τὰ βέλη τοῦ δυνατοῦ ἠκονημένα σὺν τοῖς ἄνθραξιν τοῖς ἐρημικοῖς

Text notes: Britt translates this as ‘Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste’.  Desolatoriis literally means desert trees – the Hebrew Maseoretic Text is more specific, saying broom, a wild shrub found in the desert.  Bird suggests that St Jerome’s translation of juniper is wrong; the neo-Vulgate translators beg to differ! 

Depending on your interpretation of the previous verse, there are three possible ways of reading this one.  

The simplest explanation is that this is a metaphorical description of the deceitful tongue, shooting out wounding words that destroy.  

Boylan suggests that this is about the punishments deceivers bring down upon themselves – since bitter words are likened to swords and arrows, sharp piercing arrows is what they get.  Similarly, burning coals are the punishment for slander.  

Or it could refer to the punishments that God visits on those who deceive - Ladouceur notes that St Augustine turns this into a positive interpretation: coals destroy carnal thought and worldly attachments in order to prepare a place for Christ.

sagitta, ae, f., an arrow.
potens, entis, p. adj.  powerful, mighty, strong.
acutus, a, um  sharp, pointed.
carbo, onis, m., coal, charcoal; burning or glowing coals.

DR
The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste.
MD
Sharp arrows be thy portion, together with the coals of destruction.
BR
Sharpened weapons of the mighty, with coals of the desert.
RSV
A warrior's sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!
NETS
The arrows of the powerful ne are sharp, together with desolating coals!
CO
Even mighty and sharp arrows, with hot burning coals.
K
sharp arrows from a warrior’s bow, blazing faggots of broom.
G
The warriors arrows sharpened and coals, red-hot, blazing.

Commentary: How terrible a sin it is to lead others astray through false teaching; to destroy their reputation through calumny and detraction; or to seduce them from the correct path through the lure of power and status.  Yet we know that justice will in the end prevail!


5

V
Heu mihi, quia incolátus meus prolongátus est: habitávi cum habitántibus cedar: * multum íncola fuit ánima mea.

NV
Heu mihi, quia peregrinatus sum in Mosoch, habitavi ad tabernacula Cedar! Multum incola fuit anima mea

JH
Heu mihi quia peregrinatio mea prolongata est ; babitaui cum tabernaculis Caedar !
Multum peregrinata est anima mea

οἴμμοι ὅτι ἡ παροικία μου ἐμακρύνθη κατεσκήνωσα μετὰ τῶν σκηνωμάτων Κηδαρ 6 πολλὰ παρῴκησεν ἡ ψυχή μου

Text notes: At the literal level, the psalmist here laments his exile (‘incola’ means sojourn or stay as a stranger) amongst strangers - the inhabitants of Cedar (Arabs descended from Ishmael).  The Hebrew (and neo-Vulgate), followed here by the Diurnal also mention Mosoch/Mesek, another hostile barbarous tribe.  The neo-Vulgate notwithstanding, the verse readily lends itself to a more generic interpretation, of someone who has long lived as a foreigner in a far distant land. 

hue woe
incolatus, us, m.  a sojourn or sojourning, a stay or residence as that of a stranger or traveler.
incola, ae, m. (incolo), a stranger, sojourner, one who has but a temporary residence in a place, foreigner
prolongo, avi, atum, are  to prolong, lengthen, draw out.
habito, avi, atum, are  to dwell, abide, live.
Cedar, or Kedar (Heb. tanned, sun-burnt), indecl., the second son of Ismael, who gave his name to the nomadic tribe of which he was the founder, as well as to the place where they dwelt. Their home was in Arabia, south of Palestine. Can simply mean remote barbarians.
multus, a, um, much; many, numerous; much, great

DR
Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar: My soul has been long a sojourner.
MD
Woe to me that I abide in Mesek, that I must dwell in Kedar’s tents.  Too long already have I dwelt.
BR
Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged; I have tabernacled among the tents of Kedar. 6 My soul has long been a sojourner;
CO
Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Meshech, and to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar! My soul hath long dwelt among them that are enemies unto peace.
K
Unhappy I, that live an exile in Mosoch, or dwell among the tents of Cedar!  Long banished here among the enemies of peace,
G
(Alas, that I abide a stranger in Meshech, dwell among the tents of Kedar!) Long enough have I been dwelling with those who hate peace.


Commentary:  It is this verse in particular which justifies the psalms use in relation to the Office of the Dead, for it points to the idea that all Christians are called upon to be strangers to the world, until called to our heavenly home.  We too have to resolve in our minds that we have been away from our heavenly home too long, and have to fasten our eyes firmly on heaven, seeking to detach ourselves from the things of this world.


6
V
Cum his, qui odérunt pacem, eram pacíficus: * cum loquébar illis, impugnábant me gratis.
NV
cum his, qui oderunt pacem. Ego eram pacificus; cum loquebar, illi impugnabant me.
JH
cum odientibus pacem. Ego pacifica loquebar, et illi bellantia.
μετὰ τῶν μισούντων τὴν εἰρήνην ἤμην εἰρηνικός ὅταν ἐλάλουν αὐτοῖς ἐπολέμουν με δωρεάν


Text notes:  The sense is, when I greeted them peacefully (ie saying peace be with you), they answered by murderously attacking him.  Boylan notes that the wild tribesman and Ishmaelites were characteristically described by the psalmist as ‘haters of peace’ (qui oderunt pacem) – a continuing legacy perhaps?

odi and odivi, odisse; other forms, odirem, odiens; to hate.
pax, pacis,  peace, and that which accompanies peace, friendship; blessings, prosperity, etc.
pacificus, a, um  peaceable, pacific, disposed to peace.
loquor, locutus sum, loqui, to speak, utter, tell
impugno, avi, atum, are to fight against, attack, assail.
gratis – without cause, unjustly

DR
With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause.
MD
With them that hate peace I am peace-loving, but when I speak they war without cause.
BR
I was peaceable among them that hated peace; when I spoke to them, they warred against me without a cause.
RSV
Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace;
but when I speak, they are for war!
NETS
Among those who hate peace, I was for peace, when I would speak to them, they would fight me without reason.
CO
I labour for peace; but when I speak unto them thereof, they make them ready to battle.
K
for peace I plead, and their cry is still for battle.
G
I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for fighting.

Commentary:  The world’s response to the peace of Christ!  The verse points to our proper response to the world, namely to seek after peace, and return good for evil.

The next part in this series can be found here.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Introduction to Psalm 119

Coter Mocking of Christ

The first of the Gradual Psalms, Psalm 119 is a plea for help from someone surrounded by savage enemies who constantly attack the speaker, who has come to the realisation that he has been living too long as an exile in a strange land.  The psalm invites us to realise that the time has come to set out on our pilgrimage towards our true home.

Psalm 119: Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi
Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
 Ad Dóminum cum tribulárer clamávi: * et exaudívit me.
In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me.
2  Dómine, líbera ánimam meam a lábiis iníquis, * et a lingua dolósa.
2 O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue.
3  Quid detur tibi, aut quid apponátur tibi * ad linguam dolósam?
3 What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, to a deceitful tongue?
4  Sagíttæ poténtis acútæ, * cum carbónibus desolatóriis
4 The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste.
5  Heu mihi, quia incolátus meus prolongátus est: habitávi cum habitántibus Cedar: * multum íncola fuit ánima mea.
5 Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar: 6 My soul has been long a sojourner.
6  Cum his, qui odérunt pacem, eram pacíficus: * cum loquébar illis, impugnábant me gratis.
7 With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause.

Liturgical context

The first of the Gradual psalms, Psalm 119 features in many different liturgical contexts: it is said at Vespers during the Sacred Triduum, as well as in Vespers in the Office of the Dead.

In the older forms of the Roman Office it is said on Monday at Vespers.

In the context of the Office of the Dead, and as part of the first group of the Gradual psalms offered devotionally for the souls in purgatory, the realization that the exile has been living too long far from his true home takes on a more immediate application. In this context, it teaches us that a key step for our spiritual progress is to detach ourselves from earthly things and remember that our true hope is not the extension of this life, but to dwell in heaven.

In the Benedictine Office it is the first psalm of Terce from Tuesday to Saturday, serving as a reminder that each and every day we must seek to grow in perfection, make the holy ascent, with the aid of grace.

Psalm 119 in the Office

Anyone who prays the Benedictine Office regularly could easily come to the conclusion that pleas for God to intervene and help were often at the forefront of the St Benedict's mind.

He prescribed the saying of Psalm 3, a plea for help from someone surrounded by enemies, every day.

And five days he starts the little hours with this plea for help (v1) in the face of lies and defamation, attempts to lure us away from the right path through flattery and promise of earthly honours, and the twisting of doctrine in heresy (vv2-4).

If you read the life of St Benedict by St Gregory the Great and one can quickly see why this might be a key preoccupation for the saint: as a young man he fled a debauched Rome; the monks of his first monastery attempted to murder him; a jealous priest's efforts to discredit him led to the move from Subiaco to Monte Cassino; and even at Monte Cassino the wiles of the devil continued to plague the monastery.

The hostility of the world

Still, while this psalm is always relevant, it seems particularly pertinent to our situation today as Christians living in a society that is deeply at odds to so many of our core beliefs.

There is a certain cyclical feel to the current antagonism to Christianity.

When we read the Gospels, one of the things that surely should always strike us is that far from embracing our God Incarnate, so many fought perfect good even from the beginning.  Far from converting all hearts and minds, God himself ended up on the cross.

For a good many centuries, the culture of Christendom meant that most Christians enjoyed a rather more sympathetic environment in which to practice their faith.  No time, it is true, has ever been entirely free of error and distortion, of wolves in sheep's clothing, of attacks on the good of the kind alluded to by this psalm.  Still, until recently at least, you wouldn't generally find Arts Festivals staging events that invite patrons to 'Come Heckle Christ'.  This psalm reminds us that such attacks are more to be expected than not.

In the world but not of it

Accordingly, the psalm offers lessons in how we must conduct ourselves in the face of our enemies.

In fact Patrick Reardon, in Christ in the Psalms, suggests that 1 Peter is essentially a commentary on this psalm.

Addressed to the dispersed 'exile' Christians, St Peter calls the members of the Church 'sojourners'  - strangers and pilgrims - in this world (1:1; 1:6; 2:11) who must endure the reproaches of outsiders, silencing them with our good deeds (2:15).

St Peter urges us to return peace for enmity (verse 6), following the model of Christ:

"For unto this are you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps.  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly." (2:21-23)

The Gradual psalms, though,are often conceptualised as representing each of the steps of the temple, steps on the staircase to the heavenly temple.  Cassiodorus summarises this first step as teaching us the "loathing of the world, after which there is haste to attain zeal for all the virtues".  A more positive way of putting it lies in the Gospel injunction to be in the world but not of it, to cultivate the realisation that our true home is heaven, and we must actively set out on the journey towards it (verse 5).

Instead of trying to conform to the world's standards and expect a reward in this life, we have to accept the way of the Cross.  In the end, this life is but a short interval in the face of eternity, and the only journey that really counts is the journey towards the heavenly Jerusalem.

You can find notes on the individual verses of the psalm here.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Introduction to the Gradual Psalms/4 - The Gradual Psalms in the Benedictine Office

Murthly hours

So far in this introductory set of notes, we've looked at the position of the Gradual Psalms in Scripture, and from a devotional point of view.  But before we move on to looking at the individual psalms, I think there is something to be gained by considering their placement in the Office.

The Roman versus the Benedictine psalter

St Benedict’s use of these psalms at the Little Hours is a unique feature of the Benedictine Office, so it is worthwhile I think, to consider just why he allocates them to this time.

In the old Roman Office (which more or less aligns with the pre-1911 version of the Roman Office) which may have been St Benedict’s starting point for his adaption of the psalter, the little hours worked though Psalm 118 each day.  There is an inherent logic to this: the implicit message, according to Professor Dobszay, is that all human activity is placed permanently under the dominance of
God’s law,

St Benedict’s psalm schema, though, changed this by spreading Psalm 118 over Sunday and Monday, and taking the first nine of the gradual psalms out of their numerical sequence at Vespers, and placing them instead at the Little Hours.

The Little Hours thus mirror the order of the psalms in Scripture: on Sunday and Monday we prepare ourselves for the journey by meditating on the law, then we put our meditations into practice as we embark on our lifelong journey towards heaven.  

It also, I suspect, serves to remind us that our daily work directed at obtaining the material things needed for our survival and comfort is a means to an end only, and not our final objective.

Why only the first nine?

St Benedict doesn’t, however use the full set at these hours.  Why not?  There are several reasons I think.

The first is that he clearly wants to keep the Little Horus very short, so that they can readily be memorized and said in the workplace if necessary, as the Rule suggests (RB 50).  Terce, Sext and None are around half the length of the old Roman Office and much much shorter again than the revamped version of Pope St Pius X that forms the basis of the 1962 Roman Office.

But the other far more fundamental and interesting reason goes, I think to St Benedict’s spiritual program underpinning the Office.

The last of the gradual psalms, Psalm 133 traditionally fits into Compline, and as representing the heights of the Temple, our heavenly goal, is appropriately the last psalm of the day, so he was probably disinclined to move it.

The Gradual psalms or ‘songs of ascent’ as a whole are clearly meant to suggest to us images such as Jacob’s Ladder, tracing our spiritual climb towards heaven, or our earthly pilgrimage towards our heavenly home, the new Jerusalem.

But the group St Benedict allocates to Terce to None are also a distinct sub-group: according to St Benedict’s contemporary Cassiodorus, this first set of the gradual psalms represent the journey as far as the Temple, or on earth.

Reaching to heaven

The remaining psalms are set within or about the Temple, or the heavenly Jerusalem, so there is a distinct break between those set for the Little Hours and those for Vespers.

How appropriate then that Psalms 119 to 127 should intersperse the workday, and remind us each day of the pilgrimage we are on in this life, starting out as strangers living alienated from God, and far away from our heavenly objective (Ps 119), and gradually, through grace and their own efforts, building up treasures awaiting us in heaven (Psalm 127).

It is not enough to meditate on the law, St Benedict seems to me to be saying, we must also progress in the way of salvation by undertaking good works, as he emphasizes in Chapter 4 of the Rule.

Tuesday Vespers in the Office then completes the set, on a day which is filled with the imagery of the Temple: is the message that Christ the true Temple shows us how to make that final ascent to heaven?

The next post in this series provides an introduction to Psalm 119.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Introduction to the Gradual Psalms/3 - The Gradual Psalms as a devotion



                                            
The Gradual Psalms became part of the daily monastic prayer schedule around the tenth century, and from their made their way into the most popular book of the middle ages, the Book of Hours.

They were one of the core components of the Books of Hours, along with the Penitential Psalms and Office of Our Lady, and the way the books are organised suggest that most lay people could be assumed to know them by heart.

But the reasons for their popularity go back, I think, to the Fathers' enthusiastic endorsement of them.  Accordingly, today I want to provide some Patristic texts that help explain why this occurred for us to meditate on.

St Augustine and Jacob's Ladder

 St Augustine, for example, explains their significance as follows:

"For it is, according to the title prefixed to it, A song of degrees. Degrees are either of ascent or of descent. But degrees, as they are used in this Psalm, are of ascending...There are therefore both those who ascend and those who descend on that ladder. Who are they that ascend? They who progress towards the understanding of things spiritual. Who are they that descend? They who, although, as far as men may, they enjoy the comprehension of things spiritual: nevertheless, descend unto the infants, to say to them such things as they can receive, so that, after being nourished with milk, they may become fitted and strong enough to take spiritual meat...When therefore a man has commenced thus to order his ascent; to speak more plainly, when a Christian has begun to think of spiritual amendment, he begins to suffer the tongues of adversaries. Whoever has not yet suffered from them, has not yet made progress; whoever suffers them not, does not even endeavour to improve. Does he wish to know what we mean? Let him at the same time experience what is reported of us. Let him begin to improve, let him begin to wish to ascend, to wish to despise earthly, fragile, temporal objects, to hold worldly happiness for nothing, to think of God alone, not to rejoice in gain, not to pine at losses, to wish even to sell all his substance, and distribute it among the poor, and to follow Christ; let us see how he suffers the tongues of detractors and of constant opponents, and— a still greater peril— of pretended counsellors, who lead him astray from salvation..."

Number symbolism

Early Christian writers found much to reflect on in the symbolism of the number of psalms.  Cassiodorus, for example, explains that:

"Their purpose is to unfold in fifteen ordered steps the blessedness of the faithful people, celebrated in that previous song in which their wide-ranging merits are assembled, to elucidate the mystery of the New and Old Testaments. The number seven, as has often been said, denotes the week occasioned by the sabbath of the Old Testament; the number eight signifies the Lord's day, on which He clearly rose again, and this is relevant to the New. When joined together, they are seen to make up the number fifteen. The psalmist begins with renunciation of the world, for he shudders at the worldly ways which constitute the burden of his ills. From this base he mounts by the steps, so to say, of merits, and reaches the perfect and eternal love of the Lord, which as we know is set at the very summit of the virtues.

We explain this progression more clearly in its due place. But I think that I should advise you that through the bounty of divine grace, fifteen steps are laid in these psalms to denote in various ways the saints' merits, just as there was the same number in the temple at Jerusalem, which we know was completed by Solomon. This was so that the present order of the psalms, prefigured in that building, should be seen to be foretold, for that earthly construction seemed to bear the likeness of the heavenly temple. So when we hear the word steps in the psalms, we are not to think of anything material to be mounted by physical movement, but we should interpret it as the mind's ascent.

The word canticle has been placed first so that we may apply it rather to the progress of the soul. Step here is the ascent of humility, confession of sins, as was stated in Psalm 83: In his heart he has disposed to ascend by steps, in the vale of tears. We shall deserve to mount these steps only if we prostrate ourselves for our sins. So let us continually entreat the Lord....

Some commentators think that the fifteen additional years accorded to king Ezechias are related to this parallel, so that the number fifteen is shown to have signified also the course of his perfect life.  The prophet speaks throughout the psalm. In the first part, he cries to the Lord, asking to be delivered from wicked lips and a deceitful tongue. In the second, he is fiercely afflicted because in lingering too long in this life and enduring the vices of others he is weighed down by an assortment of ills…"

You can find the next part in this series here.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Introduction to the Gradual Psalms/2 - The Gradual Psalms in Scripture



The use of the Gradual Psalms is truly ancient: Psalms 119-133 are clearly identified as a group in the Old Testament, and labelled as such, and the Church's tradition is that Our Lady recited them.

The law and the ascent of grace

In Scripture, they are immediately preceded by Psalm 118’s extended meditation on the law of the Lord.

The implicit message, I think, is that first we must build the foundations for grace, which are the law, on which the happy man meditates day and night, for only after we have a sound grounding in the law can we set of the spiritual ascent to which the psalms invite us.

Pilgrim songs or liturgical hymns?

These psalms are thought to have been sung liturgically as the pilgrims ascended the fifteen steps of the Temple in Jerusalem on major feasts.

These psalms can also be viewed as pilgrim songs, appropriate perhaps for Christ's wanderings around the region as he preached.

But above all, the Fathers saw them as tracing the mystical ascent of the Christian in the spiritual life in imitation of Christ, who shows us how to climb Jacob’s ladder to heaven and grow in virtue.

St John Chrysostom for examples opens his discussion on the set by saying:

"While to each of the other psalms belongs its own title, in this case a collection of a number of them took one name A Song of the Steps, which a different translator called "the Ascents" as opposed to some who call them "Steps." Why, do you ask, are they so called? In a historical sense, because they tell of the return from Babylon and mention the captivity there; in a spiritual sense, because they give guidance to the way of virtue, as some interpret them. The way that leads there, you see, is like steps, gradually guiding the man of virtue and sound values, and placing him in heaven itself. Others, on the contrary, claim there is reference in this to the ladder of Jacob, which was revealed to him reaching up to heaven."

In the New Testament

The first of the group, Psalm 119, presents us with the image of an exile, a stranger living amongst antagonistic peoples, who has ‘lived too long in exile’.  Hebrews 11 nicely summarises the storyline that then develops:

“These all died in faith…having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Hebrews contrasts the story of the Old Testament figures who set out on this journey, but were not able to arrive at the destination because heaven was closed to them by Original Sin, with our situation, whereby the gates to heaven have been reopened by our Lord. But it also points to the key orientation of the Christian: living in the world, but not being of it; and focusing on laying up treasure in heaven, not in the here and now:

"Why then, since we are watched from above by such a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of all that weighs us down, of the sinful habit that clings so closely, and run, with all endurance, the race for which we are entered. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the origin and the crown of all faith, who, to win his prize of blessedness, endured the cross and made light of its shame, Jesus, who now sits on the right of God’s throne." (Hebrews 12)

Indeed, Christ is the 'third temple', as St John's Gospel asserts in a text that many of the Fathers regarded as the key to the interpretation to the Gradual psalms:

"Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. At which the Jews said, This temple took forty-six years to build; wilt thou raise it up in three days? But the temple he was speaking of was his own body; and when he had risen from the dead his disciples remembered his saying this, and learned to believe in the scriptures, and in the words Jesus had spoken." (John 2: 19-22).

You can find the next part in this series here.