Psalm 130 (after Bellarmine)

David introduces the Psalms. Master Jean de Mandeville,
(French, active 1350 - 1370) [Getty Museum]

We are continuing to build the pages of the Little Office website. Below is Psalm 130, from Compline, with notes based on St Robert Bellarmine's explanations.

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

[ ]  Footnotes are not hyperlinked but refer to the notes after the Psalm.

Psalmus 130

Domine, non est. The prophet's humility.
 
[1] Canticum graduum David. 
Dómine, non est exaltátum cor meum, neque eláti sunt óculi mei,
Lord, my heart is not exalted: nor are my eyes lofty.

neque ambulávi in magnis, neque in mirabílibus super me.
Neither have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me.

[2] Si non humíliter sentiébam, sed exaltávi ánimam meam;
If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul:

sicut ablactátus est super matre sua, ita retribútio in ánima mea.
As a child that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward in my soul. 
 
[3] Speret Israël in Dómino, ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum. 
Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth now and for ever.
 

Notes

[1] Canticum graduum David. 
Dómine, non est exaltátum cor meum, neque eláti sunt óculi mei,
Lord, my heart is not exalted: nor are my eyes lofty.
neque ambulávi in magnis, neque in mirabílibus super me.
Neither have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me.

The prophet, being quite certain of saying nothing but the truth, directly addresses God, whom no one can deceive, and asserts that he was never subject to pride, either in his interior or his bearing. Many, with a semblance of humility, are full of interior pride and self importance; and many look down upon their neighbours without the slightest effort at concealing their pride and impudence; while David’s “heart was not exalted, nor were his eyes lofty;” he was humble in his heart, and he expressed it in his looks. “Neither have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me.” Having thus disposed of interior and exterior pride, he now comes to the pride arising from our words and our actions. Some are fond of boasting of being able to do, or of having done, or of being about to do greater or more wonderful things than they could possibly do; and thus, “they walk in things above them,” as to their speech; and others undertake to do what they are quite unequal to, and “they walk in things above them,” in their actions or in their works; but David, grounded in true humility, knew his own place; neither in word nor deed “walked above himself in great and wonderful things;” that is to say, never boasted of having done great and wonderful things beyond his strength, nor attempted to do what he felt himself unequal to.

[2] Si non humíliter sentiébam, sed exaltávi ánimam meam;
If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul:
sicut ablactátus est super matre sua, ita retribútio in ánima mea.
As a child that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward in my soul.

Not satisfied with having declared to God, the searcher of hearts, that he always had the greatest abhorrence of all manner of pride, he confirms it by an oath or imprecation, in order to make it more thoroughly believed by all; and therefore, says, “If I was not humbly minded” about myself, “but exalted in my soul;” and thus, looking down upon others; “as a child that is weaned is towards his mother;” as a child recently weaned, lies crying and moaning on its mother’s lap or breast, by reason of being deprived of that usual nourishment that was so sweet and agreeable to it; “so reward in my soul;” so may my soul be deprived of the sweetness of divine consolation, my especial, and nearly my only delight.
They alone who have been filled with the same spirit, and have tasted how sweet God is, can form an idea of the amount of punishment the holy prophet thus imprecates on himself; for the Psalms that were composed, like so many amatory ditties, testify to his disregard for the wealth of this world or the glory of a throne, as compared with his love for God. Take a few of the numberless proofs of it. “O! how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee.” “O taste and see, that the Lord is sweet.” “My heart hath said to thee, my face hath sought thee; thy face, O Lord, will I still seek. Turn not away thy face from me.” “My soul refused to be comforted, I remembered God, and was delighted.” “Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul, for thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild.” “But I will take delight in the Lord.” “And I will rejoice under the cover of thy wings; my soul hath stuck close to thee.” “For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth? Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever; but it is good for me to adhere to my God;” as much as to say, let others run after ideal happiness, whether in air or on earth, “My good is to adhere to my God;” he is my supreme happiness, he is “the God of my heart;” my share, my inheritance, my portion, my all; with him alone I am, and ever will be, content. When David, then, in his humility and his simplicity, like a child just weaned, placed all his happiness in the milk of divine love, he could not have wished himself a greater evil than to be in the position of a child prematurely weaned, who refuses all manner of consolation on being debarred from its mother’s breast.

[3] Speret Israël in Dómino, ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum. 
Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth now and for ever.

The conclusion of the Psalm explains the object of the great praise so conferred on humility; for the holy soul did not mean or intend to hold himself up as an example of it, but he wanted to admonish the people how little they ought to confide in themselves, and how much in God; and he, therefore, says, “Let Israel hope in the Lord.” If I, a king and a prophet, dare not take a shine out of myself by reason of my power and my wisdom, and, instead of relying on myself, cast all my hope on God, it certainly is only right that Israel, my people, and who are also God’s people, should not “imagine that they are something when they are nothing,” nor confide in their own strength, but hope in the Lord—they will hope in him, not only today and tomorrow, but forever and ever.