Thursday Terce

I am alway by thee; for thou hast holden me by my right hand

Theme:  The Christian is but a step-child in this world; but still it is his blessed good fortune from time to time to be united to his God in his grace, Eucharist, glory.

Goal:  Treasure the happy grace of being God's child; bear all the sufferings of life.

Hours that contain only one Psalm achieve a special sense of unity.  Psalm 72 is a didactic poem.  It starts out with a struggle against temptation (Why do the ungodly prosper in the world and have riches in possession?) but rises above this scandal to a height of submission and final union with God.  Even very religious souls can be troubled by this problem; it is a help for them to consider the advantages of earthly and supernatural goods side by side.

Blessed indeed is our position if we can face the comparison and decide that we are the richest and most fortunate of men.  The final verses of the Psalm are among the most beautiful passages of the Psalter.  They have Eucharistic overtones.

Psalm 72

The apparent fortune of the wicked

This Psalm studies a much mooted problem: "Why do the ungodly prosper in the world?"  The answer, in the verses that follow, is one of the most moving passages in the Psalter.

Psalm 72. i.  Quam bonus Israel!

Státement of the problem

Quam bonus Israël Deus, * his, qui recto sunt corde!
2  Mei autem pene moti sunt pedes: * pene effúsi sunt gressus mei.
3  Quia zelávi super iníquos, * pacem peccatórum videns.

How good is God unto Israel: * even unto such as are of a clean heart.
2  Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone, * my treadings had well-nigh slipt.
3  For I was grieved at the wicked: * seeing the ungodly in such prosperity.

Fortune and arrogance of the wicked

4  Quia non est respéctus morti eórum: * et firmaméntum in plaga eórum.
5  In labóre hóminum non sunt: * et cum homínibus non flagellabúntur :
6  Ideo ténuit eos supérbia, * opérti sunt iniquitáte et impietáte sua.
7  Pródiit quasi ex ádipe iníquitas eórum: * transiérunt in afféctum cordis.
8  Cogitavérunt, et locúti sunt nequítiam: * iniquitátem in excélso locúti sunt.
9  Posuérunt in cælum os suum: * et lingua eórum transívit in terra.

4  For there is no regard to their death; * nor is there strength in their stripes.
5  They are not in the labour of men; * neither shall they be scourged like other men.
6  And this is the cause that they are so holden with pride, * they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness.
7  Their wickedness hath come forth as it were from fatness, * they have passed even into the affection of the heart.
8  They have thought and spoken wickedness : * they have spoken wickedness on high.
9  They have stretched forth their mouth unto the heaven, * and their tongue hath passed through the earth.

Psalm 72. ii.  Ideo convertetur

The masses are deceived

10  Ideo convertétur pópulus meus hic: * et dies pleni inveniéntur in eis.
11  Et dixérunt : Quómodo scit Deus, * et si est sciéntia in excélso?
12  Ecce ipsi peccatóres, et abundántes in sæculo, * obtinuérunt divítias.

10  Therefore shall my people return here : * and full days shall be found in them.
11  And they said : How doth God know? * and is there knowledge in the Most High?
12  Lo, these are the ungodly, and yet abounding in the world, * they have riches in possession:

The psalmist, too, wavers

13  Et dixi: Ergo sine causa justificávi cor meum, * et lavi inter innocéntes manus meas.
14  Et fui flagellátus tota die, * et castigátio mea in matutínis.
15  Si dicébam: Narrábo sic: * ecce natiónem filiórum tuórum reprobávi.
16  Existimábam ut cognóscerem hoc, * labor est ante me.

13  And I said, Then have I in vain justified my heart, * and washed my hands among the innocent.
14  All the day long have I been punished, * and my chastisement hath been in the morning.
15  If I said: I will speak thus : * behold I should condemn the generation of thy children.
16  Then thought I to understand this; * but it was a labour in my sight,

Solution to the puzzle

17  Donec intrem in Sanctuárium Dei: * et intélligam in novíssimis eórum.

17  Until I go into the sanctuary of God: * and understand their last ends.

Psalm 72. iii.  Verumtamen

Short-lived fortune

18  Verúmtamen propter dolos posuísti eis: * dejecísti eos dum allevarentur.
19  Quómodo facti sunt in desolatiónem, súbito defecérunt : * periérunt propter iniquitátem suam.
20  Velut sómnium surgéntium, Dómine, * in civitáte tua imáginem ipsórum ad níhilum rédiges.
21  Quia inflammátum est cor meum, et renes mei commutáti sunt: * et ego ad níhilum redáctus sum, et nescívi.

18  Namely, how thou hast set them up for their deceits, * when they were lifted up, thou hast cast them down.
19  How are they brought to desolation, O how suddenly do they consume, * they have perished by reason of their wickedness.
20  Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh; * so shalt thou make their image to vanish out of thy city.
21  For my heart was grieved, and it went even through my reins : * and I am brought to nothing, and I knew it not.

True blessedness

22  Ut juméntum factus sum apud te: * et ego semper tecum.
23  Tenuísti manum déxteram meam: et in voluntáte tua deduxísti me, * et cum glória suscepísti me.
24  Quid enim mihi est in cælo? * et a te quid vólui super terram?
25  Defécit caro mea, et cor meum: * Deus cordis mei, et pars mea Deus in ætérnum.
26  Quia ecce, qui elóngant se a te, períbunt: * perdidísti omnes, qui fornicántur abs te.
27  Mihi autem adhærére Deo bonum est: * pónere in Dómino Deo spem meam :
28  Ut annúntiem omnes prædicatiónes tuas, * in portis fíliæ Sion.

22  I am become as it were a beast before thee : * and I am alway by thee.
23  Thou hast holden me by my right hand : and by thy will hast thou guided me, * and with thy glory thou hast received me.
24  For what have I in heaven? * and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?
25  My flesh and my heart faileth; * but God is the strength of my heart, yea, God is my portion for ever.
26  For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish; * thou hast destroyed all them that are unfaithful unto thee.
27  But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, * to put my trust in the Lord God:
28  That I may declare all thy praises, * in the gates of the daughter of Sion.