Old English Psalms Edited and translated by Patrick P. O’Neill Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 42 The Latin psalms figured prominently in the lives of the Anglo-Saxons, whether sung in the Divine Office by clerics, studied as a textbook for language learning by students, or recited in private devotion by lay people. They were also translated into Old English, first in prose and later in verse.…
(Apologies for the lateness of this reflection, brothers and sisters. Please find the reflection after the jump.)
1A song of ascents.
I
Out of the depths I call to you, LORD;
2Lord, hear my cry!
May your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3If you, LORD, keep account of sins,
Lord, who can stand?
4But with you is forgiveness
and so you are revered.
II
5I wait for the LORD,
my soul waits
and I hope for his word.
6My soul looks for the Lord
more than sentinels for daybreak.
More than sentinels for daybreak,
7let Israel hope in the LORD,
For with the LORD is mercy,
with him is plenteous redemption,
8And he will redeem Israel
from all its sins.
Psalm 130 is known as the “De Profundis”, i.e. “Out of the Depths”. Short and bittersweet, the Psalmist cries out from the depths of his sorrow and dejection. This is a prayer that begins in sadness and misery, acknowledging plainly the sin of the one who prays it: “If you, LORD, keep account of sins, Lord, who can stand?”
Yet however deep in pain and sorrow, the Psalmist may be, he throws himself on the Lord’s mercy. He acknowledges that even now, his soul hopes in the Lord. Even now, his soul seeks God, “more than sentinels for daybreak”. And so though the front of the Psalm may be bitter, yet it ends with the sweetness of God’s mercy.
As you pray this Psalm, out of the depths of our hearts, brothers and sisters, may God bless you richly with his mercy and forgiveness.
4There is no wholesomeness in my flesh because of your anger;
there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
5My iniquities overwhelm me,
a burden too heavy for me.
6Foul and festering are my sores
because of my folly.
7I am stooped and deeply bowed;
every day I go about mourning.
8My loins burn with fever;
there is no wholesomeness in my flesh.
9I am numb and utterly crushed;
I wail with anguish of heart.
10My Lord, my deepest yearning is before you;
my groaning is not hidden from you.
11My heart shudders, my strength forsakes me;
the very light of my eyes has failed.
12Friends and companions shun my disease;
my neighbors stand far off.
13Those who seek my life lay snares for me;
they seek my misfortune, they speak of ruin;
they plot treachery every day.
14But I am like the deaf, hearing nothing,
like the mute, I do not open my mouth,
15I am even like someone who does not hear,
who has no answer ready.
16LORD, it is for you that I wait;
O Lord, my God, you respond.
17For I have said that they would gloat over me,
exult over me if I stumble.
18I am very near to falling;
my wounds are with me always.
19I acknowledge my guilt
and grieve over my sin.
20My enemies live and grow strong,
those who hate me grow numerous fraudulently,
21Repaying me evil for good,
accusing me for pursuing good.
22Do not forsake me, O LORD;
my God, be not far from me!
23Come quickly to help me,
my Lord and my salvation!
Psalm 38 is a litany of the horrifying effects of sin. Effects that touch a person on multiple levels, physically, mentally, and even socially.
First and foremost of these effects is God’s wrath. The Lord’s arrows sink deep into the sinner. The Lord’s hand is heavy upon the psalmist and the wholesomeness of in his flesh withers away due to the Lord’s anger.
Remember, brothers and sisters, that the Lord chastises those whom he loves (see Proverbs 3:12), and thus his anger is not purposeless. It is always meant to bring you back home. Turn back to him with all your heart and accept his correction humbly. Cry out with the Psalmist, “… my God, be not far from me! Come quickly to help me…” and know that he is already beside you.
2Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no deceit.
II
3Because I kept silent, my bones wasted away;
I groaned all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength withered as in dry summer heat.
Selah
5Then I declared my sin to you;
my guilt I did not hide.
I said, “I confess my transgression to the Lord,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
Selah
6Therefore every loyal person should pray to you
in time of distress.
Though flood waters threaten,
they will never reach him.
7You are my shelter; you guard me from distress;
with joyful shouts of deliverance you surround me.
Selah
III
8I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk,
give you counsel with my eye upon you.
9Do not be like a horse or mule, without understanding;
with bit and bridle their temper is curbed,
else they will not come to you.
IV
10Many are the sorrows of the wicked one,
but mercy surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
exult, all you upright of heart.
The wounds of sin are like wounds on the body.
When untended and kept from the doctor, wounds on a body fester, causing far more problems than if they were treated promptly. Similarly, sins, when kept from God, putrefy the soul. As the Psalmist puts it, “Because I kept silent, my bones wasted away; I groaned all day long… my strength withered as in dry summer heat.”
Sins and their consequences grow in the darkness, and the longer we are content to letting them stay there, the more likely we will begin to think it’s normal to hold onto them. We begin to identify ourselves with those wounds in our souls.
Brothers and sisters, we are more than our sins. Though we are sinners, we are God’s beloved children. So bring these sins into the light of Christ. Take them into the confessional and let the good God wash them away in his mercy. In the words of Pope Francis, “God waits and also God forgives. He is the God of mercy: he does not tire of forgiving us. It is we who are tired of asking for forgiveness…”
As we pray this psalm, may God grant us the grace of a contrite heart, that we may be willing to bear our wounds to our Lord in prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so he may heal us. And inspired by the mercy we receive, may we cry out with the Psalmist to our loving Lord, “You are my shelter; you guard me from distress; with joyful shouts of deliverance you surround me.”
As part of the Lenten triple threat of Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving, we here at Be the Straw are showcasing a particular treasure from our Catholic tradition, praying the Penitential Psalms (PPP).
The Book of Psalms is an inspired collection of prayers from Sacred Scripture that were once used as hymns in the Jewish Temple. The Psalms span the range of human emotions. Our Lord Jesus Christ would have prayed the Psalms.
Seven Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143) have been prescribed by the Church as particularly suitable to pray during Lent. Every Friday in this season of Lent, we will post a penitential Psalm with a small reflection after the jump. Consider these Psalms and reflections as a resource to help with your prayer during your Lenten journey.
“But the Lord looks after those who fear Him, those who put their trust in His LOVE.” Psalms 33:18 #art #artasworship #bible #caligrafia #calligraphy #Christianity #caligrafiamoderna #crayola #colorful #handlettering #godfirst #inspirational #letricas #practicemakesperfect #psalms #scripture #worship
“Behold, Lord, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain:
He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee.”
Lord, help me to always pray And not give up on Thee, To know that You are listening Although I cannot see… Thy face nor hear Thy voice With neither eye nor ear, And yet Thy Word has promised Thy sheep Thy voice can hear…
Thy sheep You hold always Firmly in Thy hands, Eternal life You give them, None shall ever pluck them… From out of Thy hands For there are none so…
The topic of joy is immensely broad. So many articles and books have been written, not to mention countless sermons preached about it. Yet, I meet and know of many Christians who struggle with keeping their joy. It is an elusive concept, easy to visualize in the head but at times hard to grasp in the heart.
Interestingly, some of the most eye-opening perspectives I have had about joy have been from non-Christians. One episode was gleaned from a conversation with a Sikh man in his sixties. Tall and skinny, he possessed an observant glint coupled with a turban wrapped neatly around his head. From initially giving me some running advice, the topic of conversation turned to religion. I told him I was a Christian, and I got the most heart-warming response.
“So you’re a Christian! That’s good! Remember to pray more. Thank God for everything. Wake up early to pray! I tell you, don’t worry about anything. Trust God and be happy!”
His words stuck with me for a long while, as I had been feeling at that period like I was losing my joy and didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t a nice feeling as I was a generally optimistic person. I knew the theology regarding joy and understood it. But at that point in time, it seemed that my heart had gotten so callous and reserved. I was struggling with depressive phases that seemed to have no proper explanation. But upon hearing his words, something sparked inside of me.
The other incident that taught me about joy was from a conversation with a security guard who patrols the residential area where I go for evening runs. He earns an average of $300 USD per month. He hasn’t been back to his home country for at least five years because he is unable to afford the air fare. However, he said something that has remained with me too for all this while.
“I see so many rich people drive past here and they are all frowning and down… I don’t want to be like that. I thank God for what I have and remember Him. Money can’t make you happy… I don’t have much, but I look to God and am happy.”
It seems that what both men were referring to had more to do with the notion of joy rather than happiness. Something that goes beyond a temporary emotion, a state of mind that speaks of resting in God despite circumstances. As Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18*, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Logically speaking, it is impossible to be happy all the time. With the setbacks and pitfalls that will happen in life, we cannot be perpetually upbeat and carefree. It is hard to be jovial as we hear the news that a loved one has cancer. It is difficult to remain cheerful as we face the prospect of retrenchment, the hurt of failed relationships, personal struggles with fears and worries… Going back to Paul’s words, we are not asked to be “happy” always but to “rejoice” always. A deep, steadfast and real joy is cultivated as we look continuously to the hope that we have in God, who is bigger than anything that life throws at us. It is an attitude of assurance that our heavenly Father truly cares for us as well as believing that nothing else matters as long as we have God. And in doing so, we can sincerely rejoice, pray and give thanks in everything, from the best to the worst of things.
A deep, steadfast and real joy is cultivated as we look continuously to the hope that we have in God, who is bigger than anything that life throws at us.
Psalm 23 is probably the most well-known psalm that David penned. Most of us know it well, if not by heart. The fourth verse of the psalm depicts David’s absolute trust in God and one could say, a constant joy.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
He never asked to be brought out of the valley. Instead, he declared confidently that he would not fear, because God was with him.
A few psalms later he writes, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.” (Psalm 28:7)
Historical research points to the fact that both psalms were most likely written during the period when Absalom, David’s own son rebelled and caused a civil war. The then King David was compelled to wage war against his own son. In such broken circumstances, David’s joy was found because his heart trusted in God. He had a solid assurance that God loved him along with the knowledge that God would walk beside him in the valley and come through for him in trying circumstances. And that is the reason for having joy. Joy can be found in the mountaintop experiences of our lives, but more often it is in the valleys that our joy is nurtured and flourishes accordingly. Why? Because God walks with us.
In the words of a Sikh man, trust God – have joy.
In the words of a security guard who would not amount to much by society’s standards, look to God - have joy.
In the words of a troubled king, trust in God and be helped – have joy.
One of my favorite moments in Loki is in Episode 3, when Loki sings “Jeg Saler Min Ganger,” an Asgardianfolk song, on the train on Lamentis-1. If you’ve looked up the lyrics and their translation(s), you know it’s full of metaphor and foreshadowing. But while thinking about Sylvie’s reaction to hearing the song, I realized this might also be an “On the Willows” moment.
“On the Willows” is a song in Godspell whose lyrics come from the first four verses of Psalm 137, a lament (yes, as in Lamentis) about the Israelites’ exile in Babylon. Their captors urge them to sing a song from their homeland, but the exiles rhetorically ask how they can sing one of their home’s songs in a foreign land, where no one will understand or appreciate them.
Like the exiled people of Israel, Loki and Sylvie both lost their home, Asgard. Sylvie’s timeline was pruned, and Loki knows Asgard was destroyed in Ragnarok in his timeline. All they have are memories of the culture, like language and music.
After talking about their pasts, what they can and cannot remember about their home and their families, Sylvie wakes up to find Loki singing an Asgardian folk song, to the great enjoyment of everyone else. Aside from her dismay at finding him drunk and attracting attention, she looks uncomfortable and unhappy as he directs the more melancholy part of the song to her. She might recognize the song from her own childhood. She might be the only person in the room who understands Asgardian and knows what the song is actually about.
Assuming this, she might be upset that Loki would sing it to people who do not understand it, who cannot relate to it the way they do. Or, it might be more meaningful personally, since he is addressing her with a song only she can understand, like a secret message between them. So she may feel uncomfortable because it’s a kind of intimacy that, at that point, she is not ready to welcome between them, and she may be unhappy because it reminds her of how lonely she has been and how much she misses her home.
This post was written by Emma-Leigh Jones, an intern from the Classics Department.
Continuing with my Latin internship at the Archives and Special Collections Department online, another work I have chosen to analyse is the Psalmodia Vespertina by Philippus Baronus Aconitanus. The Psalmodia Vespertina, or a collection of religious evening Psalms, is a musical work that was collected by Aconitanus and published in 1710. Not much is known about Philippus Baronus, or Filippo Baroni, other than that he was a composer of religious music in the 1700s. As I am myself a musician, analysing music from the 16th century has been challenging but intriguing; the way music is composed and written today is very different.
Translation: First Singer Part. Psalmodia Vespertina. For the whole year, to be sung together briefly by a twofold chorus. For the most illustrious and most reverend patron, John the Baptist, and Bussio. The second work by Filippo Baroni Aconitus.
As a 21st century violinist, I am used to reading music composed in treble clef:
However, the music I have analysed in the Psalmodia is written in a C-clef that I have never seen before. And the notes looked different from what I am used to seeing:
This clef can attach to any position on the staff, which makes it difficult to read because it can often change throughout the piece and does not stay consistent, unlike the modern treble clef. The middle line in the ladder chain represents the note middle C, so whichever staff line it is on or between would represent that note. In this picture, the middle staff line would represent C.
The first piece in the Psalmodia is a good demonstration of the function of this C-clef.
Translation: Lord hurry toward me who is to be assisted, Lord hurry toward me who is to be assisted, hurry toward me who is to be assisted. Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, and now, and always, and in ages of ages, amen amen amen amen.
As shown in the first piece in the Canto Primo part, or first singer (soprano) part, the clef jumps up on the last line of music. Having the clef so low on the staff in the first three lines would make it easier to notate the higher notes that the soprano part would use. I was curious to hear what this piece would sound like, so I transposed it into treble clef to make it more readable for modern musicians.
(Yes, it took several tries.)
Overall, I had a lot of fun analysing and transposing this 16th-century music, and I am glad I have more works from this time period to look at!
▪️Salmo 30 ▪️O Salmo de Davi fala sobre nossa confiança estar sempre em Deus, crendo que a restauração também vem Dele. Em meio a tudo que passamos na nossa vida, Ele é aquele que transforma nosso pranto, nosso desespero, nossa aflição, nossos temores em dança, em alegria. Independente do que façamos, Ele nos transforma, pq sua misericórdia prolonga-se através da vida. Com Ele temos a certeza, de quê não importam os problemas, todo nosso ser cantará louvores ao nosso Senhor para todo sempre! . . . #biblejournaling #devocional #devocionalcriativo #salmos #psalms #palavra #god #minhasguerras #sementes #bible #biblejournaling #instapic #psalms #lovebible #tododianapalavra #insta #instagood #instapic #devocional #filtros #instagram #sorriso #smile #behappy #bible #quarentena #ohana #maio #palavra https://www.instagram.com/p/CAvZigUDiPc/?igshid=1romz5ye70uqk
Salmos 131"Ó Senhor, o meu coração não é orgulhoso, nem os meus olhos sai arrogantes, não me envolvo com coisas grandiosas, nem maravilhosas de mais para mim. De fato acalmei e tranquilizei a minha alma/sentimentos, sou como uma criança recém amamentada por sua mãe. A minha alma é como essa criança.“ ▪️Davi era rei e mesmo assim, decidiu não colocar seus olhos nas grandezas, não deixou seu coração se enveredar com desejos, não colocou os olhos nas glórias do seu reino, nas batalhas vencidas ou no seu grande exército. Pelo contrário, o texto afirma que ele acalmou e tranquilizou a sua alma. ▪️Pra nós hj: não coloque seus olhos naquilo que pode ser de mais, naquilo que pode ser excesso. Deixe de lado a ansiedade desse momento que estamos vivendo, não se cobre tanto, não queira tanto, não se desespere por coisas grandiosas de mais. Tire seus olhos da notoriedade alheia. Seja como uma criança recém amamentada, que está no colo da sua mãe, o que mais ela precisa? Ela está ali de barriga cheia e nos braços de quem a protege, e ela está SATISFEITA. Ela goza de um contentamento de satisfação e é essa condição de contentamento que Davi atribuí sua decisão de não colocar seus olhos em coisas grandiosas, pelo contrário, ele tranquiliza sua alma e então encontra um lugar de satisfação em Deus. Uma satisfação não em coisas grandes, mas uma satisfação de estar envolvido nos braços de quem o protege, de quem supre, de quem o sustenta. Ele não precisa de mais, pq com Deus ele já tem o suficiente. Que nestes tempos, o seu lugar de contentamento seja este, estar envolvido nos braços do nosso Pai, nosso amigo. . . #biblejournaling #instapic #psalms #lovebible #tododianapalavra #insta #instagood #instapic #devocional #filtros #instagram #sorriso #smile #behappy #bible #quarentena #ohana #maio #palavra https://www.instagram.com/p/CAfXpXEjwDo/?igshid=1aiv0da5ful6y
