Introduction to Psalm 124: Gradual Psalms 6/1

Psalm 124 is the sixth of the Gradual psalms, and the first of the second block of five when the psalms are said as a devotion.  

The text of the psalm

Psalm 124 - Gradual Psalm No 6, Tuesday to Saturday Sext

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Qui confídunt in Dómino, sicut mons Sion: * non commovébitur in ætérnum, qui hábitat in Jerúsalem.	They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever that dwells 2 in Jerusalem.
2  Montes in circúitu ejus: * et Dóminus in circúitu pópuli sui, ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.	Mountains are round about it: so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth now and for ever.
3  Quia non relínquet Dóminus virgam peccatórum super sortem justórum: * ut non exténdant justi ad iniquitátem manus suas.	3 For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the lot of the just: that the just may not stretch forth their hands to iniquity.
4  Bénefac, Dómine, bonis, * et rectis corde.	4 Do good, O Lord, to those that are good, and to the upright of heart.
5  Declinántes autem in obligatiónes addúcet Dóminus cum operántibus iniquitátem: * pax super Israël.	5 But such as turn aside into bonds, the Lord shall lead out with the workers of iniquity: peace upon Israel.

Liturgical uses of the psalm

In its devotional use, this block of psalms is traditionally offered for the forgiveness of our own sins.  

In the Benedictine Office, it is the last psalm of Sext on Tuesday to Saturday.

NT references	Mt 28:20 (v2); Gal 6:16 (5)
RB cursus	Sext weekday
Monastic feasts etc	Gradual Psalms; LOOL Sext AN 3904(1); 3904 (1-2); 1735 (4)
Responsories	-
Roman pre 1911	Tuesday Vespers
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Tuesday Vespers 1970: Evening Prayer - Tuesday of Wk3
Mass propers (EF)	Lent 4, TR (1-2)

The hour of the crucifixion

The image the Psalm opens with is of the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, suggesting perhaps that the pilgrims are now nearing the holy city.  

The psalm is above all, though, a reminder of the message of Christ's crucifixion on the cross at this hour: it enjoins us to trust in God, as Pope Benedict XVI noted:

... the Psalm instils deep trust in the soul. This is a powerful help in facing difficult situations when the external crisis of loneliness, irony and contempt of believers is associated with the interior crisis that consists of discouragement, mediocrity and weariness. We know this situation, but the Psalm tells us that if we have trust, we are stronger than these evils…

The need for grace

One of the key messages of this psalm is the need for grace: we cannot reach heaven through our own efforts; rather we need to entrust our efforts and very selves to God.  Cassiodorus, for example commented:

The Lord was aware of the unstable progress of human weakness, so He fashioned this path by the steps, so to say, of the virtues, so that our longing should strive more securely for the heights, since our feet were placed on level terrain. This is how we set foot on the ridges afforded by the steps, so that we do not confront a sloping ascent. But though this saving flight of steps is seen to be constructed with suitable assistance, we do not stand firmly upright unless we are kept there by the Lord's control. 

Cassiodorus also makes a nice contribution, in his commentary on this psalm, to resolving the seeming contradiction between the Christian life as pilgrimage, and the virtue of monastic stability:

The ascent, however, is mental and not physical. We mount these steps more successfully by remaining seated in the one place, withdrawn in the location of our tiny cell, than if we flit before the faces of men. The prophet cries that we must trust in the Lord so that we may not toil in vain....

Focus on eternity

The central theme of this psalm is the need to entrust ourselves to the eternal God's mercy and justice.
It makes a key contrast between God who is eternal and unchangeable; and the sinners who make our life difficult in the short term.

St Augustine, for example, sees it as encouraging us to turn away from the false promises of this world, and focus instead on eternity:

This Psalm, belonging to the number of the Songs of Degrees, teaches us, while we ascend and raise our minds unto the Lord our God in loving charity and piety, not to fix our gaze upon men who are prosperous in this world, with a happiness that is false and unstable, and altogether seductive; where they cherish nothing save pride, and their heart freezes up against God, and is made hard against the shower of His grace, so that it bears not fruit....

The psalm reminds us not to look for prosperity and power in the world now, but to seek to do God, so that God will reward us in kind.

Dealing with difficulties

The psalm tells us that all those who trust in God will be protected by him from falling; all we need to do is place our trust in God, as Pope Benedict XVI commented in a General Audience on the psalm:

Thus, the Psalm instils deep trust in the soul. This is a powerful help in facing difficult situations when the external crisis of loneliness, irony and contempt of believers is associated with the interior crisis that consists of discouragement, mediocrity and weariness. We know this situation, but the Psalm tells us that if we have trust, we are stronger than these evils…

Verse by verse notes

And for verse by verse notes on the psalm, follow the links below:

Psalm 124 v1
Psalm 124 verse 2
Psalm 124 verses 3-4
Psalm 124 verse 5

Our help is in the name of the Lord - Psalm 123 (Gradual Psalm No 5)

Zermatt Church, Zermatt, Switzerland
Photo credit: Andrew Bossi

The last of the first five psalms, the set usually said devotionally for the suffering souls, and second psalm of weekday Sext in the Benedictine office, Psalm 123, makes clear our total dependence on God.

In it the psalmist rejoices because God has heard his plea and intervened to strengthen the souls of the people with faith and patience, and bring them safely through the raging waters and the hunter’s trap.  The psalm contrasts the helplessness of man in the face of his enemies; with God, the Creator of all and saviour of the people under attack.

Psalm 123: Nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum
1  Nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis, dicat nunc Israël: * nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis,	If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say: 2 If it had not been that the Lord was with us,
2  Cum exsúrgerent hómines in nos, * forte vivos deglutíssent nos:	When men rose up against us, 3 perhaps they had swallowed us up alive.
3  Cum irascerétur furor eórum in nos, * fórsitan aqua absorbuísset nos.	When their fury was enkindled against us, perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
4  Torréntem pertransívit ánima nostra: * fórsitan pertransísset ánima nostra aquam intolerábilem.	5 Our soul has passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
5  Benedíctus Dóminus * qui non dedit nos, in captiónem déntibus eórum.	6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
6  Anima nostra sicut passer erépta est * de láqueo venántium.	7 Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers.
7  Láqueus contrítus est, * et nos liberáti sumus.	The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
8  Adjutórium nostrum in nómine Dómini, * qui fecit cælum et terram.	8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth

In the Hebrew Masoretic Text version (but not the Septuagint) this psalm, the fourth of the gradual psalms, is attributed to David.

There are also a number of minor differences in this psalm between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint.

How to face trials

The psalm opens with a a formula that is an exhortation to prayer: ‘dicat nunc Israël’,  or 'let Israel say'.   It then provides two images of the dire straits the pilgrims finds themselves in: first a sea monster intent on swallowing them alive as they struggle, caught up in a raging flood (verses 2-5); and secondly of birds caught in a trap set by hunters (verses 6-7).

In the face of these dangers, the psalms exhorts us, what counts is not our own virtues, planning or resources, but God’s mercy and aid.  As in the previous psalm, the emphasis here is on cultivating patience and self-abandonment to God.

Some of the medieval manuscripts of this psalm include illuminations making a link to the image of a drowning person here, and Noah's saving ark.  And the Fathers also make a link between the wood of the Ark, and the wood of the Cross, making the psalm an appropriate one as we contemplate Christ on the Cross at Sext each day.

That is not to say that we have no role in co-operating with grace though; St John Chrysostom adds another key dimension to this message, stressing the importance of trials in building our character and virtue, and thus helping us progress towards perfection: great troubles bring forth great good for us and from us.

Progress in humility

It is also worth noting that St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus links this psalm back to the ladder of humility:

How splendidly the blessed devotion of confessors has mounted the fifth step, enabling them to rejoice in their advance to this fifth stage after their success in overcoming their bodily feelings with the Lord's help! The humility which is the remedy for the human race ensured that they did not fall or stagger through physical frailty. That humility enabled them to put all their hope in the Lord, and they attributed nothing good to themselves with the presumption that causes downfall.

Song of the martyrs

Above all, the psalm reminds us that, in facing our noonday demons, it is the fate of the soul, not the body that counts: St Augustine portrays this psalm as the song of the martyrs, rejoicing that they have passed through the torrents and traps that afflict the body only, their souls resting safe with the Lord in heaven.  Pope Benedict XVI summarises his view thus:

‘St Augustine comments clearly on this Psalm. He first observes that it is fittingly sung by the "members of Christ who have reached blessedness". In particular, "it has been sung by the holy martyrs who, upon leaving this world are with Christ in joy, ready to take up incorrupt again those same bodies that were previously corruptible. In life they suffered torments in the body, but in eternity these torments will be transformed into ornaments of justice". However, in a second instance the Bishop of Hippo tells us that we too, not only the blessed in Heaven, can sing this Psalm with hope. He declares: "We too are enlivened by unfailing hope and will sing in exaltation. Indeed, the singers of this Psalm are not strangers to us.... Therefore, let us all sing with one heart: both the saints who already possess the crown as well as ourselves, who with affection and hope unite ourselves to their crown. Together we desire the life that we do not have here below, but that we will never obtain if we have not first desired it".’

The psalm contains a threefold profession of faith: faith that the Lord is with us in our trials (verse 1); that he will not abandon us to temptations (verse 6); and above all in that final triumphant statement, that the God who is creator of all things will save us (verse 8).

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of the psalm

NT references	-
RB cursus	Sext during the week v8 - Compline
Monastic feasts etc	Gradual Psalms; LOOL Sext AN 1279(8)
Roman pre 1911	Tuesday Vespers
Responsories	6039 (8)
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Tuesday Vespers . 1970: Evening Prayer - Monday of Week Three
Mass propers (EF)	Holy Innocents GR, (7, 8); OF(7, v 1, 5, 6) Common of several martyrs GR (7,8) final blessing Pontifical mass (8)

Verse by verse notes

You can find more detailed notes on this psalm by following the following links:

• verses 1-2;
• verses 3-4;
• verses 5-8.

Or you can go on to Psalm 124.

Christ ascends the cross - Psalm 122 (Gradual Psalm No 4)

Church of St. Peter in Santander, Spain

In the previous Gradual Psalm, the speaker focused his attention on the holy city.

Now, with the first psalm of Sext, Psalm 122, we are invited to look even higher, lifting our eyes towards God himself.  There may be something programmatic about this, for Sext of course, was traditionally said at (solar) midday when the Sun is at its highest point, and also the hour when Christ ascended the cross.

Psalm 122 - Ad te levavi

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum
1  Ad te levávi óculos meos, * qui hábitas in cælis.	To you have I lifted up my eyes, who dwell in heaven.
2  Ecce sicut óculi servórum, * in mánibus dominórum suórum.	2 Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters,
3  Sicut óculi ancíllæ in mánibus dóminæ suæ: * ita óculi nostri ad Dóminum, Deum nostrum, donec misereátur nostri.	As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.
4  Miserére nostri, Dómine, miserére nostri: * quia multum repléti sumus despectióne:	3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for we are greatly filled with contempt.
5  Quia multum repléta est ánima nostra: * oppróbrium abundántibus, et despéctio supérbis.	4 For our soul is greatly filled: we are a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud

This psalm, I think, takes us to the fundamental orientation we need to cultivate as we undertake this earthly pilgrimage, namely our focus on God.   Beset by the effects of our own sins and the attacks of enemies, we wait anxiously and pray for God to show us the signs of his forgiveness, and wait for the second coming.  Origen, for example, interpreted the psalm as urging those who trust in God to follow the example of Christ in lifting their eyes to heaven in anticipation of receiving God's mercy.  

The opening verses set before us the idea of our total dependence of God for his gifts - and punishments - just as a slave is dependent on his or her master/mistress.  The analogy of the slave or servant’s relationship to their master or mistress, however, is not one that has many resonances to a modern Western reader.  Accordingly, we might, perhaps, better think of the psalm as being firstly about self-abandonment: the slave is totally dependent on his master for food, clothing, instructions on what to do, punishments and rewards; so too should we think of our relationship to God, acknowledging that nothing truly comes from our own efforts, but all requires his grace.  St Ambrose writes, 'Christ is everything for us'.

The second dimension of the slave/servant analogy that is worth considering is the implication of the reverent awe with which we should raise our eyes to God.  Several of the Fathers see this psalm as representing a progression from fear of God based on the threat of punishment (looking to the mountains), to filial fear, based on love of God.  Cassiodorus, for example, comments that:

First he raised his eyes to the mountains, but now he has lifted up the eyes of his heart to the Lord Himself. Thus in his struggle to mount higher by spiritual steps, he has sought happily to draw near to the divine mercy. What a fine sight to see men drawing close to God and raising this sluggish mass of flesh to the rewards of heavenly grace! But this is the doing only of Him who bade Lazarus emerge from the tomb, who stretched out His right hand and saved Peter when he was drowning, who translated Elias and Enoch to heaven while they were still alive,1 and who performed other similar miracles such as the Godhead's power performs every day. It is men who are one in charity on this earth who mount these steps; only those who have deserved to be Christ's members can hasten to their Head. So just as in our hearts we have observed this wonderful ascent, so now with attentive minds let us discuss this lofty psalm. 

The sense of verses 4 and 5 is that we are fed up with being looked down on by the rich and proud - noting that rich and proud doesn't just mean material wealth, but rather evildoers in general who pursue their own pleasure at everyone else's expense (though the two conditions often coincide). The psalm serves as reminder that adherence to the good is somehow affronting to many, and brings forth attempts to humiliate those who pursue truth.  The moral truth pointed to here is that we must bear our sufferings with patience, knowing that God will fill us up with good things.

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of the psalm

NT references	-
RB cursus	Sext Tues-Sat+AN 4473
Monastic feasts etc	Gradual Psalms; LOOL Sext AN 3775 (3);
Roman pre 1911	Tuesday Vespers
Responsories	-
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Tuesday Vespers . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Lent 1 Monday, IN (1-3); Lent 3 Sunday, TR (1-3)

You can find more detailed notes on the individual verses by following the links below:

• verses 1-3; and
• verses 4-5.

Or you can go on to Psalm 123.

Jesus as the temple - Psalm 121 (Gradual Psalm no 3)

St Patrick's Colebrook, Tasmania,
where the house of God is being built once more by the new Prior of Our Lady of Cana
Photo credit: Joshua, Oriens Journal

The third of the Gradual Psalms, and the last of Terce through the week, is Psalm 121, in which the pilgrims have finally decided to set out on their journey, and so look forward to the glories of the heavenly city, the Church Triumphant, to which they are headed.

Yet the psalm also reflects that tension between the promise of heaven, and foretaste of it we experience now in the liturgy, since for the Christian, the Church Militant is our Jerusalem; more, Scripture tells us that Christ himself is the temple.

Psalm 121: Laetatus sum

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1  Lætátus sum in his, quæ dicta sunt mihi: *  In domum Dómini íbimus.	I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord.
2  Stantes erant pedes nostri, * in átriis tuis, Jerúsalem.	2 Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem.
3  Jerúsalem, quæ ædificátur ut cívitas: * cujus participátio ejus in idípsum.	3 Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together.
4  Illuc enim ascendérunt tribus, tribus Dómini: * testimónium Israël ad confiténdum nómini Dómini.	4 For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.
5  Quia illic sedérunt sedes in judício, * sedes super domum David.	5 Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David.
6  Rogáte quæ ad pacem sunt Jerúsalem: * et abundántia diligéntibus te:	6 Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love you.
7  Fiat pax in virtúte tua: * et abundántia in túrribus tuis.	7 Let peace be in your strength: and abundance in your towers
8  Propter fratres meos, et próximos meos, * loquébar pacem de te:	8 For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of you.
9  Propter domum Dómini, Dei nostri, * quæsívi bona tibi.	9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for you.

Liturgical uses of Psalm 121

Psalm 121 is a Vespers psalm in the Roman Office, but in the Benedictine Rite, it closes Terce.

NT references	Eph 2: 19-22 (3)
RB cursus	Terce Tues-Sat
Monastic feasts etc	Gradual psalms; Vespers in Common of female; Circumcision; LOOL Terce, Vespers AN 3229 (1); 1895 (v2)
Roman pre 1911	Tuesday Vespers
Responsories	-
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Tuesday Vespers. 1970: Evening Prayer - Sunday of Wk 4
Mass propers (EF)	Lent 4 (IN V, 1; GR:1,7; CO, 3-4); Post Pentecost 18 In V (1); (GR 1, 7)

It also features in the 'Common' for all of the types of women saints, including feasts of Our Lady.

In the Mass, it is used in both the Gradual and Communio for the fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday), which focuses heavily on the theme of Jerusalem, as well as on the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost.

The pilgrimage sets off

Although some modern commentators seem to read this psalm very literally, suggesting that the pilgrims have now arrived at Jerusalem, the more traditional explanation of it is that the pilgrims are actually only just setting off on their journey, and are here contemplating where they are headed.  In the previous two psalms, we've been getting ready to go: in the first, realising that it is time; and in the second, considering the help we can hope for along the way.  In this psalm, the pilgrims are finally ready to set out, for the first verse of Psalm 121 is a formulaic way of announcing that one is going on a pilgrimage.

Where are they headed?  The courts of Jerusalem (or gates in the Hebrew Masoretic Text) of verse 2 can be seen as a looking forward to our final destination of heaven, with the towers and abundance of verses 6&7 referring to the promise of safe haven and eternal happiness that is enjoyed by the Church Triumphant.

The Church in the here and now

Yet there is a sense in which we are already standing in the courts of heaven, at least when we worship, for the Jerusalem of the psalm can also be read as a reference to Christ's earthly mission, and his establishment of the Church in the here and now, the Church Militant.

From this perspective, the compactness of the city that makes it easily defensible is a reminder that the culture we must embrace is not the secularist one that surrounds us, but rather that which comes from Christ.  Dom Gueranger’s commentary, in his Liturgical Year, on this psalm on the context of its use as an Introit explains this dual meaning:

...celebrate once more the joy felt by the Christian people at hearing the glad tidings, that they are soon to go into the house of the Lord. That house is heaven, into which we are to enter on the last day, our Lord Jesus Christ leading the way. But the house is also the temple in which we are now assembled, and into which we are introduced by the representatives of that same Lord of ours, that is, by His priests.

There is of course a considerable challenge in this for us, in that the human representatives of the Church in this world all too often seem all too intent on leading us away from heaven, leading the People of God to hell instead, and of persecuting those who do remain faithful.  Verse 5, though, reminds us that those who are supposed to be leading the tribes of the true Israel will themselves be held accountable, and that:

...he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.

The peace of Christ

The second half of the psalm is intended to excite our desire for heaven, for it speaks of that very Benedictine virtue, the pursuit of a truly Christian peace.

In a General Audience on this psalm, Pope Benedict XVI drew on Pope St Gregory the Great to explains what this should mean for us:

"Pope St Gregory the Great tells us what the Psalm means for our lives in practice. He tells us that we must be a true Jerusalem in the Church today, that is, a place of peace, "supporting one another" as we are; "supporting one another together" in the joyful certainty that the Lord "supports us all". In this way the Church will grow like a true Jerusalem, a place of peace."

More reading

You can notes on the individual verses of the psalm here:

• Introduction to Psalm 121
• verses 1-3;
• verses 4-6;
• verses 7-9; and
•  in the context for the Mass propers of the 18th Sunday after Pentecost.

Or you can go on to Psalm 122.

I will not fear what man can do to me - Psalm 120 (Gradual Psalm No 2)

Psalter of Lodewijk de Heilige, c1190

The second of the Gradual Psalms, Psalm 120, is also the second psalm of Terce during the week in the Benedictine Office.  It repeatedly stresses the strength of God's protection of us.

Psalm 120: Levávi óculos meos in montes

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1  Levávi óculos meos in montes, * unde véniet auxílium mihi.	I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.
2  Auxílium meum a Dómino, * qui fecit cælum et terram.	2 My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3  Non det in commotiónem pedem tuum: * neque dormítet qui custódit te.	3 May he not suffer your foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keeps you.
4  Ecce, non dormitábit neque dórmiet, * qui custódit Israël.	4 Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keeps Israel.
5  Dóminus custódit te, Dóminus protéctio tua, * super manum déxteram tuam.	5 The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your protection upon your right hand.
6  Per diem sol non uret te: * neque luna per noctem.	6 The sun shall not burn you by day: nor the moon by night.
7  Dóminus custódit te ab omni malo: * custódiat ánimam tuam Dóminus.	7 The Lord keeps you from all evil: may the Lord keep your soul.
8  Dóminus custódiat intróitum tuum, et éxitum tuum: * ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum.	8 May the Lord keep your coming in and your going out; from henceforth now and for ever.

Liturgical uses

As for the previous Gradual Psalm, Psalm 120 features in many forms of the Office, including the Little Office of Our Lady and the Office of the Dead.  In the latter context, the key verse is, I think, the last one: our coming in (to this world) and goings out from it are under God’s loving watch, and he will help us not to stumble at the end.

NT references	Rev 7:16 (v6)
RB cursus	Terce during the week
Monastic feasts etc	Gradual Psalms; Vespers of the Dead LOOL Terce AN5269 (v1), 1536 (v2); 2402 (v7)
Roman pre 1911	Monday Vespers
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Monday Vespers
Mass propers (EF)	-

Ask for grace

In the previous psalm, the speaker had become restless with the realization that he is living in exile, far from God.

In this psalm, the speaker has decided to set out on the journey to Sion, and therefore asks for grace to accompany him on his journey, for as St Benedict instructs in the Prologue to his Rule, whatever good work you undertake, first pray to God asking him to perfect your efforts.

Cassiodorus comments on the pilgrim's progress so far:

Initially the prophet is afflicted, like the tax-collector who beat his breast and did not raise his eyes to heaven. He begs to be delivered from wicked lips and a deceitful tongue. But now he has recovered his breath and advanced to the second step. He has raised his eyes to the mountains, that is, to the holy intercessors by whose support he sought to win heavenly blessings.

Christological reading?

The most obvious way of reading this psalm is as a dialogue between the would be pilgrim and his supporters, or perhaps within the mind of the pilgrim, the person seeking to make the spiritual ascent.  He first asks where does my help come from, and gets the response, it comes from the creator, and so forth.

But we can also read it, I think, as a commentary on Christ's steadfast endurance as he faced his persecutors: fully knowing what was coming he didn't stumble or flinch; the God-man did not sleep, and though own perseverance, we are taught that we may confidently say: The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man shall do to me'. (Hebrews 13:6)

Cultivate a longing for heaven

Verse 1 of Psalm 120 remind us that just as the traveller looks frequently in the direction he is travelling in, straining to catch a glimpse of his destination, so we should turn frequently, in our meditations, to the subject of heaven and the protection God affords those committed to him.

Verse 2 is a reminder that God will help us along the way, and help us to avoid the temptations that might tempt us to stop short of our true goal, and substitute other false gods, such as money, power and pleasure: the only true God is the creator of everything.

Strength of God's protection

The key theme of this psalm, though, is the protection God offers the pilgrim – the verb custodire, meaning to guard or protect, is used six times in the course of eight verses, and combines with other several other synonyms for God’s help.

The psalm emphasizes that this protection is always with us: day and night; in our our comings and our goings.

And it echoes in many ways, the petitions of the Lord’s prayer, asking that we not fall into temptation (our foot not be moved, v3), that we protected from all evil (v7), and that we not be led astray (v5&8).

Further reading

I have previously provided notes on this psalm in the context of the Office of the Dead and in a verse by verse series:

• Introduction to Psalm 120;
• Verses 1-4; and
• Verses 5-8.

Or you can go on to Psalm 121.

The trials of Christ - Psalm 119 (Gradual Psalm No 1)

Coter Mocking of Christ

The first group of five Gradual psalms is offered devotionally for the souls in purgatory.

It invites us to remember that the dwellers in this world - and also those in purgatory - are still living in exile from our true home, and to cultivate a longing for our heavenly home.   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.

The Gradual psalms 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).

Psalm 119: Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
1  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.  In the older forms of the Roman Office it is said on Monday at Vespers.  It is used in the Vespers of the Office of the Dead.  And it is said at Vespers during the Sacred Triduum.

NT references	-
RB cursus	Terce during the week+AN 1824 (v1)
Monastic feasts etc	Gradual Psalms; Vespers of Triduum Vespers of the Office of the Dead; Vespers of female saints LOOL Terce AN 2356 92); 2008 (7)
Responsories	-
Roman pre 1911	Monday Vespers
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Monday Vespers . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Lent 2 Friday, GR (1-2); Post-Pentecost 2, GR (1-2)

In the Benedictine Office it is the first psalm of Terce from Tuesday to Saturday.  Why that hour?  In St John's Gospel, Terce, the third hour, is associated with Christ's appearances before Herod and Pilate; he ascends the cross at around the sixth hour: St Augustine tells us that at the third hour, the crowd crucified Jesus with their tongues, as they called out their condemnations.

There are several Patristic references to these events as the reason for prayer at the third hour, and I think a strong case can be made that St Benedict's psalm selection is intended to give the hour a programmatic focus.

On Sunday after all, the sections of Psalm 118 set for Terce also provide extensive references to 'the snares of sinners' and the 'malice of evil men', and to the humbling of the speaker; in the first stanza of the hour, the speaker says he 'stands unafraid to observe your commandments'.  And the final stanza set for Sunday Terce refers to 'the place of my pilgrimage', making a nice link to this psalm's decision to set out on the journey.

Monday Terce similarly echoes these sentiments: the speaker states that 'the wicked are laying snares for me'; it refers again to those lying tongues, saying, 'All the sinners of the world I regard as liars'.  Above all, it includes the 'Suscipe' verse used in the monastic profession ceremony, where the monk agrees to 'share by patience in the sufferings of Christ' (Prologue to the Rule of St Benedict).

In the world but not of it

In this light, the psalm has an ongoing relevance to us: each time we say it, we are invited to start afresh on our pilgrimage towards our true home.  It also reminds us to keep Christ in front of us as our model of humility in conducting ourselves in the face of our enemies and those who surround us in a world increasingly hostile to the faith.

Patrick Reardon, in Christ in the Psalms (Consiliar Press, 2011), 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)

But my current favourite take on the psalm is that of Josh Moody in his book Journey to Joy The psalms of Ascent (Crossway, 2013).  He is a protestant writer, and his take on it doesn't make much allusion to the tradition.

But I think he captures the sense of the psalm very nicely when he discusses the profound effects on us of that lying tongue: when people say things that are unkind, nasty and untrue about us our wounds can be just as real as a physical wound, particularly when we encounter that funny change in atmosphere when you walk into a room, that subtle change in attitude that results from slander being spread about us.  He sees in the psalm the sense of helplessness we feel when we don't know exactly what has been said, or how to counter it.

Moody's solution to that feeling of being trapped, of not knowing how to get out of the box is to suggest that we pray; tell our pain to God using this psalm and place ourselves in his hands.  He points to the need for us to embark on 'the journey of  forgiveness'.

That is all helpful advice, but I think we should add to this that instead of trying to conform to the world's standards and expect justice and truth to prevail 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.

We should always remember that we are never truly alone on this journey.  We are following in the footsteps of Christ as we make this spiritual ascent, and aided by the grace flowing from his sacred wounds.   And through our prayers we bring with us the souls in purgatory, who in turn will pray for us once they reach the promised land.





I've previously provided notes on this psalm in the context of the Office of the Dead.

You can also find more detailed notes on it through the following links:

Introduction to Psalm 119
Notes on the verses

Or, you can go on to Psalm 120.