Question: "At the beginning of Psalm 33 (in the
Septuagint), which we hear often in the liturgical services, is the line
"In the Lord shall my soul be praised." This seems a strange way of
putting things. What do you think this means? Are there other similar verses in
the Scriptures?"
In the
Boston Psalter (the translation we use liturgically), this verse is translated:
"In the Lord shall my soul be praised;
let the meek hear and be glad."
This is a
very literal translation of the Greek Septuagint, which is a very literal
translation of the Hebrew. The King James version translates this verse as:
"My soul shall make her boast in the
Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad" (Psalm 34:2).
Which
translates the Hebrew idiom in a way that more clearly conveys the sense of the
Hebrew. A more literal translation of the Hebrew would read:
"In the LORD doth my soul boast herself,
the humble hear and rejoice."
By
comparing different translations, you can often get a better idea of the range
of meaning of the words in a text, and this is a good example of that.
The
inscription of Psalm 33 [34], links this Psalm to David's flight from Saul, and
his deliverance from the Philistine King of Gath in 1 Samuel 21:10-15:
"And David arose and fled that day for
fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish
said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to
another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his
ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid
of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behaviour before them, and
feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and
let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants,
Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I
need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my
presence? shall this fellow come into my house?"
St. Basil
the Great's homily on this Psalm provides a good interpretation of the verse in
question, which explains it in the light of this background:
""In the Lord shall my soul be
praised." "Let no one," David says, "praise my
intelligence, through which I was preserved from dangers." For, not in the
power of man, nor in wisdom, but in the grace of God is salvation. "Let
not," it is said, "the rich man glory in his riches, nor the wise man
in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, but let him that glorieth
glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth" the Lord his God
[Jeremiah 9:23-24]. If, however, someone is praised for beauty of body or
renowned parentage, his soul is not praised in the Lord, but each person of
such a kind is occupied with vanity. The ordinary professions, in fact, those
of governor, doctor, orator, or architect who constructs cities, pyramids,
labyrinths, or any other expensive or ponderous masses of buildings, do not
merit to be truly praised. They who are praised for these things do not keep
their soul in the Lord. It suffices us for every dignity to be called servants
of such a great Lord. Certainly, one who ministers to the King will not be
high-minded because he has been assigned to this particular rank of the
ministry, and having been considered worthy to serve God, he will not contrive
for himself praises from elsewhere, will he, as if the call of the Lord did not
suffice for all pre-eminence of glory and distinction?"
Therefore,
"in the Lord shall my soul be praised: let the meek hear and
rejoice." Since with the help of God, by deceiving my enemies, he says, I
have successfully obtained safety without war, by only the changing of my
countenance, "Let the meek hear" that it is possible even for those
at peace to erect a trophy, and for those not fighting to be named victors.
"And let them rejoice," being strengthened to embrace meekness by my
example. "O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness" (Psalm
131 [132]:1 LXX]. Meekness is indeed the greatest of the virtues; therefore, it
is counted among the beatitudes. "Blessed are the meek," it is said,
"for they shall posses the earth" [Matthew 5:4] (The Fathers of the
Church: St. Basil, Exegetic Homilies,, Homily 16, trans. Sister Agnes Clare
Way, C.D.P. (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press,
1963), p. 251ff).
By Fr. John Whiteford
Source: http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2017/07/stump-priest-in-lord-shall-my-soul-be.html
CONVERSATION