Psalm 57 (1928 BCP)
Psalm 57 (1928 BCP) (Miserere mei, Deus) is appointed with Psalm 56 at Morning Prayer on the eleventh day of the month in the Psalter of the Book of Common Prayer (1928). It moves from a hunted person's plea for mercy to a settled heart and public praise. Danger is neither denied nor given the final word.
Prayer Book text and use
Psalm 57. Miserere mei, Deus.
BE merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in thee; * and under the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge, until this tyranny be overpast.
2 I will call unto the Most High God, * even unto the God that shall perform the cause which I have in hand.
3 He shall send from heaven, * and save me from the reproof of him that would eat me up.
4 God shall send forth his mercy and truth: * my soul is among lions;
5 And I lie even among the children of men, that are set on fire, * whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
6 Set up thyself, O God, above the heavens; * and thy glory above all the earth.
7 They have laid a net for my feet, and pressed down my soul; * they have digged a pit before me, and are fallen into the midst of it themselves.
8 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; * I will sing and give praise.
9 Awake up, my glory; awake, lute and harp: * I myself will awake right early.
10 I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the peoples; * and I will sing unto thee among the nations.
11 For the greatness of thy mercy reacheth unto the heavens, * and thy truth unto the clouds.
12 Set up thyself, O God, above the heavens; * and thy glory above all the earth.
Its monthly appointment gives the Church the whole sequence of refuge, appeal, peril, confidence, thanksgiving, and God's glory. In the Daily Office, a congregation learns to name genuine hostility without becoming preoccupied with it, and to turn the threatened heart toward praise.
Refuge and the Most High
The opening grounds its repeated plea for mercy in trust already given: “under the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge.” It then calls on the Most High, whose height is not remoteness but assurance that menace does not rule the final outcome. Alexander Maclaren explains the psalm's order:
That energy of confidence wins assurance of help, and only after that calming certitude has filled the soul does the psalmist turn his eye directly on his enemies. His faith does not make him oblivious of his danger, but it minimises his dread. An eye that has seen God sees little terror in the most terrible things.
This is not instruction to minimize suffering. The psalm calls its setting “lions,” fiery speech, spears, arrows, and a sharp sword. Rather, prayer locates danger under the mercy and truth God sends forth.
Augustine reads the petition within a Christological and ecclesial rule of prayer. His interpretation is a Christian reading, not a denial of the psalm's historical voice:
You hear the Master praying, learn thou to pray. For to this end He prayed, in order that He might teach how to pray: because to this end He suffered, in order that He might teach how to suffer; to this end He rose again, in order that He might teach how to hope for rising again.
For a Christian congregation, the “shadow” is neither a guarantee of immediate safety nor an escape from costly obedience. It is confidence that the suffering and risen Christ gives his body a faithful way to endure the unfinished passing-over of evil.
A heart made steadfast
Verse 8 turns the psalm: “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; * I will sing and give praise.” The psalmist does not first report that the pit has vanished. Maclaren draws out this transition:
The way to steady a heart is to bind it to God. Built into the Rock, the building partakes of the steadfastness of its foundation. Knit to God, a heart is firm. The psalmist's was steadfast because it had taken refuge in God; and so, even before his rescue from his enemies came to pass, he was emancipated from the fear of them, and could lift this song of praise.
The repeated “fixed” is not numbness. It is affection re-ordered by trust, able to sing before rescue is visible. The New Testament gives a comparable account of endurance bearing fruit in hope:
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Augustine presses the contrast between the enemy's pit and a heart prepared to endure:
He has prepared pit to deceive, shall I not prepare heart to suffer? He has prepared pit to oppress, shall I not prepare heart to endure? Therefore he shall fall into it, but I will sing and play.
This gives no warrant for personal vengeance. It directs the worshipper away from retaliation and toward patient suffering, song, and God's judgment. The pit imagery may be prayed as confidence that evil is self-defeating in God's judgment, not as a license to imitate it.
Praise among the peoples
The closing praise grows beyond the individual: “I will give thanks ... among the peoples” and “sing ... among the nations.” The refrain asks not first for the psalmist's reputation, but for God's glory above all the earth. Maclaren connects this public doxology with God's mercy and truth:
By God's manifestation of these attributes to a man, His glory is exalted above the heavens and all the earth. The same thought is more definitely expressed in Paul's declaration that “to the principalities and powers in heavenly places is known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God.”
That Pauline declaration identifies the Church as the setting in which God's wisdom is made known:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Psalm 57 consequently forms public worshippers in an ordered practice: take refuge in God, tell the truth about peril, receive a heart made steadfast, and give thanks among the peoples. Its eleventh-day Morning Prayer setting makes this formation ordinary rather than a spirituality reserved for exceptional crisis.
See also
References
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: The Church Pension Fund, 1928), The Psalter, “The Eleventh Day. Morning Prayer,” Psalm 57; Society of Archbishop Justus, “The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: The Psalter”. The complete psalm was compared word for word with the local 1928 transcription, sources/justus1928/Psalms2.htm, including “until this tyranny be overpast,” “perform the cause which I have in hand,” and “among the peoples.”
- ↑ Alexander Maclaren, The Expositor’s Bible: The Psalms, vol. II, Psalms XXXIX–LXXXIX (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1893), “Psalm LVII,” pp. 190–191; Christian Classics Ethereal Library, “Psalm LVII”.
- ↑ Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 57, §5, trans. J. E. Tweed, in Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 8 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888), revised by Kevin Knight; New Advent, “Exposition on Psalm 57”. Augustine comments on the Septuagint/Vulgate Psalm 56, corresponding to Hebrew and Prayer Book Psalm 57.
- ↑ Alexander Maclaren, The Expositor’s Bible: The Psalms, vol. II, Psalms XXXIX–LXXXIX (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1893), “Psalm LVII,” pp. 195–196; Christian Classics Ethereal Library, “Psalm LVII”.
- ↑ The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the Original Tongues (London: Robert Barker, 1611), Romans 5:3–5, Authorized Version; Bible Gateway, “Romans 5:3–5 KJV”.
- ↑ Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 57, §13, trans. J. E. Tweed, in Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 8 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888), revised by Kevin Knight; New Advent, “Exposition on Psalm 57”. Augustine comments on the Septuagint/Vulgate Psalm 56, corresponding to Hebrew and Prayer Book Psalm 57.
- ↑ Alexander Maclaren, The Expositor’s Bible: The Psalms, vol. II, Psalms XXXIX–LXXXIX (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1893), “Psalm LVII,” p. 196; Christian Classics Ethereal Library, “Psalm LVII”.
- ↑ The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the Original Tongues (London: Robert Barker, 1611), Ephesians 3:10–11, Authorized Version; Bible Gateway, “Ephesians 3:10–11 KJV”.