awake, lyre and
harp! I will wake the dawn.” I will praise you
among the peoples, Lord; I will chant your praise among the nations. Exalt
yourself over the heavens, God;
My heart is
steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast.
Because this is repeated twice, we know that it is important. When things are repeated, they are repeated
for emphasis. Therefore, our hearts must
be steadfast. Just off the cuff, we
would probably interpret this to mean that our hearts are immovable, not
subject to change. It is something that
is easy to say; however, what does that actually look like?
From Strong’s Concise Dictionary, we learn
that the Hebrew that is interpreted “heart” is used “very widely for the
feelings, the will, and even the intellect; likewise, for the center of
anything.”[2] The two things that we should focus on are
the will and the intellect. If we focus
upon those, feelings will follow. In
order to say that our hearts are steadfast upon God, we must be turning our intellects
and wills to God. This is the first step
of having a steadfast heart.
Now, the word that is interpreted “steadfast”
is a Hebrew word that means to “perfect, (make) preparation, prepare (self),
provide, make provision, (be, make) ready, right, set (aright, fast, forth), be
stable, (e-)stablish, stand.”[3] This makes perfect sense because, to become
firmly in place (immovable), not subject to change, it is necessary that an
individual make preparations and strengthen himself to get to the point wherein
he has a steadfast heart.
Everything that occurs in our passage
after this sentence is as a result of having a steadfast heart. Because of what the individual has to do in
order to prepare his heart to becoming steadfast, i.e. Mass, prayers, the
Eucharist, learning who God is and what and who we are as a result of Baptism
and Confirmation, understanding God’s Word, etc., we will learn to love God and
neighbor more and more. Therefore, let’s
gain a better understanding of “My heart
is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast.”
In order to understand this, we need to
look at what is occurring, preceding this exclamation by the psalmist. St. Augustine says this Psalm is singing of
the Passion of the Lord.[4] St. Bellarmine gives this explanation of the
psalm: “David hiding in a cave, prays to God to be delivered from Saul’s
persecution; a type of Christ, who, too, concealed in a cave, as he was, while
in the form of a servant, prays for the delivery of his body, the Church, from
the persecution of Satan and his ministers.”[5] When we read the first seven verses of the
psalm, we understand that the psalmist is facing tremendous persecution. We can see what was going on in our Lord’s
mind as He was enduring His Passion.
As Jesus was being scourged, mocked, carrying
His cross, and being crucified, we can hear Him saying, “My heart is steadfast,
God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing
and chant praise, ‘Awake, my soul; awake, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn.’
I will praise you among the
peoples, Lord; I will chant your praise among the nations. Exalt yourself over
the heavens, God; may your glory appear above all the earth.” He was able to endure His Passion and have
this mindset because His heart was prepared.
Listen to the words of Augustine: “Let your Love see the Lord speaking
to us and exhorting us by His example: ‘A trap they have prepared for My feet
and have bowed down My Soul’ (ver. 7). They
wished to bring it down as if from Heaven and to the lower places, to weigh it
down. ‘They have bowed My Soul; they
have dug before My face a pit, and themselves have fallen into it.’ Me have they hurt, or themselves? Behold, He has been exalted above the Heavens,
God, and behold above all the earth the Glory of the Same. The kingdom of Christ we see; where is the
kingdom of the Jews? Since therefore
they did that which they ought not have done, there has been done in their case
the suffering which they ought to suffer.
Themselves have dug a ditch, and themselves have fallen into it. For their persecuting Christ, to Christ they did
no hurt; but, to themselves, they did hurt. And do not suppose, brethren, that to themselves
alone has this fallen. Everyone that prepares
a pit for his brother, it must needs be that himself fall into it.…”[6]
St. Jerome describes what Augustine
is referring to in a letter to Augustine—although it concerned a different
subject: “…[David] cut off the head of Goliath, using the proud enemy’s own
sword as the fittest instrument of death, smiting the profane boaster on the
forehead and wounding him in the same place in which Uzziah was smitten with
leprosy when he presumed to usurp the priestly office…”[7] Uzziah sinned in his mind, in his thoughts,
when he attempted to usurp the priestly office.
Goliath wanted to kill David with his sword; therefore, he was killed
with his own sword. When we do evil to
others, that evil will be returned to us in some form or fashion. Because Jesus has prepared His heart,
desiring to do the will of His Father, He knows the good that will come about;
therefore, He “will sing and chant praise.”
St. Augustine continues: “The patience
of good men with preparation of heart accepts the will of God and glories in
tribulations, saying that which follows: ‘Prepared is my heart, O God, I will
sing and play’ (ver. 8). What has he
done to me? He has prepared a pit. My heart is prepared. He has prepared a pit to deceive; shall I not
prepare my heart to suffer? He has
prepared a pit to oppress; shall I not prepare heart to endure? Therefore, he
shall fall into it, but I will sing and play.[8]
“Awake,
my soul!” St. Augustine, I believe,
was utilizing the Vulgate. Therefore,
his version probably read something the effect: “Rise up, my glory,” or “Arise,
O my glory.” I say this because he goes
on to say: “He that had fled from the face of Saul into a cavern (David), says,
‘Rise up, my glory”--glorified be Jesus after His Passion.”[9] He can do this because He has prepared His
heart beforehand.
Awake,
my soul; awake, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn.” The Vulgate, I believe, would read
something to the effect of “Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will
arise early,”[10]
because our saint explains, “The flesh … working things divine is the psaltery;
the flesh suffering things human is the harp.”[11] The “I will wake the dawn” or the “I will
arise early” signifies the Resurrection of our Lord and our resurrected
bodies. However, we can only have this
type of hope if our hearts are steadfast, being prepared beforehand. When our hearts are steadfast, then we can rejoice
now. We can rejoice now because we know
that it is God who is putting this hope, desire, and strength in us, not
ourselves. Because God is doing it, we
have hope. It is He who gives us the
desire to go to Mass, partake of the Sacraments, pray, read, study, etc. If we do not have this desire, then we begin
to pray for the desire and start doing these things. God will test us by giving us “dry” times,
but this is to make us persevere. He
will not withdraw His mercy—if we persevere in preparing our hearts. Then we will be able to say with our Lord and
David: My heart is steadfast, God, my
heart is steadfast. I will sing and chant praise, ‘Awake, my soul; awake, lyre
and harp! I will wake the dawn.’ I will praise you among the peoples,
Lord; I will chant your praise among the nations. Exalt yourself over the heavens, God; may your
glory appear above all the earth.”
[1] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Ps 57:8-10, 12.
[2]
James Strong, A Concise
Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible,
2009, 2, 58.
[3] Ibid.,
2009, 2, 54.
[4]
Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin:
Expositions on the Book of Psalms, 1888, 8, 225.
[5] Saint Robert Bellarmine. A Commentary on the Book of
Psalms (Illustrated) (p. 263). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
[6]
Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin:
Expositions on the Book of Psalms, 1888, 8, 228.
[7]
Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions and
Letters of St. Augustin with a Sketch of His Life and Work, 1886, 1, 333.
[8]
Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin:
Expositions on the Book of Psalms, 1888, 8, 228.
[9] Ibid.
[10] The Holy Bible,
Translated from the Latin Vulgate, (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible
Software, 2009), Ps 56:9.
[11]
Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin:
Expositions on the Book of Psalms, 1888, 8, 229.
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