Peace and All Good
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Psalm 111 Ps. 56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me; for my soul trusteth in Thee. Ps. 56: 2. And in the shadow of Thy wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away. Ps. 56: 3.I will cry to my most holy Father, the Most High: to God, who hath done good to me; Ps. 56: 4. He hath sent from heaven and delivered me; He hath made them a reproach that trod upon me. God hath sent His power and His truth. Ps. 17: 18. He delivered me from my strongest enemies and from them that hated me; for they were too strong for me. Ps. 56: 7. They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my soul; they dug a pit before my face; and they are fallen into it. Ps. 56: 8. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; I will sing, and rehearse a psalm. Ps. 56: 9. Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp; I will arise early. Ps. 56: 10.I will give praise to Thee, O Lord, among the people; I will sing a psalm to Thee among the nations; Ps. 56: 11. For Thy mercy is magnified even to the heavens; and Thy truth unto the clouds. Ps. 56: 12 Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; and Thy glory above all the earth
Psalm 111 – translated by Pia Fugaccia – Classics Sydney University Have mercy on me, God, have mercy. Because my soul trusts in you. I shall trust in the shadow of your wings Until iniquity passes me by. I shall cry out to my Father, the Lord most high Who has been ever gracious to me. He has sent from heaven and set me free. He has put to shame those who have crushed me. The Lord has sent down his mercy and his truth, And he has snatched me away from my powerful foes, And from those who hate me, Who have banded together against me. They have prepared a snare for my feet, And have oppressed my soul. They have dug a pit for me And have fallen in it themselves! My heart is ready. O Lord, My heart is ready. I will sing and proclaim a psalm. Rise up, O my Glory! Rise up. Cithara and harp- I will awake the Dawn! I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord, And I will sing a psalm among the nations, For your mercy reaches to the Heavens And your truth to the skies. O God. You are exalted above the Heavens, And your Glory is above the earth.
Comment Shades and depths of meaning.
The Holman Christian Study Bible (E-Sword) has this at the commencement of the psalm; "For the choir director: ‘Do Not Destroy.’ A Davidic Miktam. When he fled before Saul into the cave."
In his commentary Matthew Henry says this: "The title of this psalm has one word new in it, Al-taschith - Destroy not. Some make it to be only some known tune to which this psalm was set; others apply it to the occasion and matter of the psalm. Destroy not; that is, David would not let Saul be destroyed, when now in the cave there was a fair opportunity of killing him, and his servants would fain have done so. No, says David, destroy him not" (E-Sword)
God’s Meaning God suffered David to be persecuted by Saul but did not allow Saul to kill David, here in the cave; David appropriates the will of the Lord and says "No! Destroy him not," when David’s servants thought to take this prime opportunity to kill the King.
Doubtlessly, when Francis reads this psalm he is reminded of time he spent in prison at Perugia, again in Pietro’s cellar and those times Francis spent in a cavern praying. Francis knows the darkness of the pit where fear and madness lurk to carry one away out of mind.
Thus his Saviour and Lord cries out from the depth of the cavern "Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.Because my soul trusts in you." Francis trusted in his heavenly Father and claimed God’s mercy as he moved among the other prisoners giving ease to them, how much more than was the Trust of Christ which came even before David had mercy on Saul?
These are the shades and the layers of meaning I speak of; God encompasses all meaning for he is Meaning and his Son, Jesus, the proclaimer of his sense and reference. So the words of the psalmist, David, were spoken forth before the beginning of creation and sent on their way to David’s tongue. Then to Francis’ tongue, and so those words which Francis places upon the lips of his Lord and Saviour had been spoken already by that same Lord and are returned home once more.
Our Lord Jesus cries out from the cavern of fear and desolation and gives thanks because above him his Father’s wings hover to cast a shadow of safety over the mouth of the cavern. Through all that has happened, the persecution, the scorn and the shame the Lord Most high has been ever near to deliver his son from destruction.
Jesus finds himself on the brink of other pits as he draws near to his ending. His enemies have tried to snare his feet and to trap him in a pit, yet God delivers Jesus by trapping his enemies in their own trap. My heart is ready. O Lord, My heart is ready. I will sing and proclaim a psalm. Rise up, O my Glory! Rise up. Cithara and harp- I will awake the Dawn! From the depth of the cavern, under the shade of his father’s wings Jesus finds heart and makes himself ready for what today will bring. Jesus takes up his Cithara and harp and awakens the dawn with his song; for his heart is ready to be broken for us!
I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord, And I will sing a psalm among the nations, For your mercy reaches to the Heavens And your truth to the skies. O God. You are exalted above the Heavens, And your Glory is above the earth.
Jesus is the saviour of all people, of nature of those who go down into the silence of the grave from where he will arise. With the coming of the morning Jesus has embraced his end for God’s mercy reaches to the Heavens and God’s truth to the skies for Jesus shall be exalted and raised far above the earth.
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