UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

READ PSALM 31-35

SUGGESTED PATTERN Read Psalm 31-35 with your spouse or household  then re-read Psalm 31 again with spouse or household, then spend 2 mins in silence focussing on  Psalm 31:5 asking the Lord, the question “What does this text mean?” then 2 mins in silence asking the Lord what He is saying to you personally through Psalm 31:5 and then share together with your spouse or household what the Lord has been saying. Finally one person reads out loud the devotional below and then pray for one another.  

PSALM 31:5 “ Into your hands I commit my spirit redeem me, O Lord the God of truth

“Saint Augustine, bishop of Hippo is one of the central figures in the history of Christianity, and ‘City of God’, is one of his greatest theological works. Written as an eloquent defence of the faith at a time when the Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse, it examines the ancient pagan religions of Rome, the arguments of the Greek philosophers and the revelations of the Bible. Pointing the way forward to a citizenship that transcends worldy politics and will last for eternity, City of God is one of the most influential documents in the development of Christianity.” (1) “But, Augustine is probably less well-known for his  huge exposition on the Psalms. ‘When Augustine read the Psalms in the light of Paul’s insights about Christ’s crucified human humility, Scripture opened up to him. One way this happened was that he now saw Christ using the Psalms to explain himself. The Psalms do not merely speak of Christ; rather, in the Psalms, Christ actually speaks. Many of the early church fathers saw that Christ and the church speak through the psalms, in this way in the second and third century writers like Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus continued this Christological reading; so did Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen in the third century.”’ (2)

“Augustine identifies seven Psalms as “The psalms of the crucified.” Those are Psalms 16, 17, 18, 22, 28, 30 and 31.  We have now read all seven of these Psalms. In these seven psalms Christ speaks from the cross. Psalm 22 is the central psalm in this group and could be viewed as the centre or Holy of Holies of the group.” (3)

Commenting on Psalm 31 Augustine says, “ Let us listen out for something our Lord said on the cross: “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46), When we hear those words of his in the gospel, and recognise them as part of this psalm, we should not doubt that here in this psalm it is Christ himself who is speaking. The gospel makes it clear… he had good reasons for making the words of the psalm his own, for he wanted to teach you that in the psalm he is speaking. Look for him in it.” (4)

Craig Carter says, (5)“Christ exegetes scripture by fulfilling it. He also gives us verbal clues to its meaning to help us understand it clearly. What can we learn from Augustine’s exposition of “the psalms of the crucified” about this type of exegesis and the way in which the early church interpreted the Old Testament?  ( Craig Carter) suggests three points which are of the greatest significance:

First Augustine views the validity of this type of exegesis has been grounded in reality of biblical inspiration and in the unity the Bible which is centred on Jesus Christ.

Second The literal sense is the controlling sense  in that the fundamental and crucial meaning of the psalms in Augustine’s view is the historical action of God in Christ on the cross of Calvary.

Third The self-interpreting character of the Bible is on display here since Christ indwells the text, it is Christ himself who by the spirit speaks in the text.”

Returning again to Psalm 31:5 “Into your hands I commit my spirit redeem me, O, Lord God the God of truth.” Carters says (6) “As far as Augustine is concerned Christ quotes the verse Luke 23:46 because these are his own words spoken beforehand prophetically and then spoken appropriately in the fulfilment of the prophecy. Tom Wright translates Luke 23:46 (7)“then Jesus shouted at the top of his voice, Here is my Spirit Father, you can take care of it now, and with that he died.”

Prayer

Lord, unblock the well of the Living word. Where we have failed to see and hear you speaking personally to us through your sacred scripture, speak your servant is listening. 

References

(1) Augustine, City of God, Penguin Dustcover.

(2) Cameron, M.” Christ meets me everywhere”, 168, referenced in Carter, C.A. “ Interpreting Scripture and the Great Tradition.”

(3) Carter, C.A. Interpreting Scripture and the Great Tradition,  209.

(4) Augustine, Exposition of the Psalms, 1-32,330-31, referenced in Carter, C.A. Interpreting Scripture and the Great Tradition, 191.

(5) Carter, C.A. Interpreting Scripture and the Great Tradition, 214.

(6) Carter, C.A. Interpreting Scripture and the Great Tradition, 213.

(7) Wright, T. Luke for everyone, 285.