Psalm 50:14
the perfect principal
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit. (Psalm 50:14 DR)
In any human endeavor failure can be an impetus towards improvement. But if the correct disposition is not present, it can just as easily presage further failure, creating a vicious cycle in which each consequent failing gives birth to the next. Psychologically we can become accustomed to it and lose hope in ever rising above it or knowing anything different which can breed mediocrity, timidity, and despair.
As the Psalmist looks back at his state of having sinned, he recognizes that he has lost something, the “joy” of salvation in God. However, it is only now that he realizes it. It will be remembered that David went possibly over a year without dealing with his sin, allowing the wound to become calloused so that he didn’t even ‘feel’ the absence of God in his heart. It was only after the grace of the prophet Nathan’s confrontation that he was shaken out of stupor and realized the reality of his situation, that he was far from God and needed to repent.
It is in retrospect that he now ‘feels’ that loss of joy at “Thy salvation” and has come back to God, presaging the words of our Lord in the Apocalypse:
But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity. Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen: and do penance, and do the first works. (Apocalypse 2:3-4 DR)
David perhaps paradigmatically captures this, as he is referred to as a man “after God’s heart,” and even he fell from such heights. However, he made good on God’s appraisal of him as he eventually did return to whence he had fallen and did “penance” and “the first works.” It is in this renewed state following his penance that he prays for the restoration of this joy.
There is a splendid parallel between this and the previous passage: there he asks that “Thy holy spirit” not be taken from him; here he asks for the restoration of the joy of “Thy salvation.” We might see this as the same action seen from different perspectives, the former of God and the latter of the Psalmist. For having the Holy Ghost dwelling within one is to be in the state of grace, from whence flows forth all joy and blessings. It is a foretaste of the Beatific Vision and the promises of God made good.
The “perfect spirit” has also been rendered in English as “principal spirit,” following the Vulgate which has “spiritu principali.” Principalis, as its English cognate suggests, means first, principal, original, and is formed from princeps (first, foremost) and -alis which creates an adjectival relationship. The parallelism in this passage this uses the strengthening of this “perfect” or “principal” spirit to expand upon the restoration of joy, meaning that perfect spirit is the cause (hence principal) of the joy. This also illumines the alternate use of “perfect,” which is not being used in the modern colloquial sense of “without error” but rather in the sense of “that which perfects.”
Either way this alludes to and completes the thought of the previous verse, and thus the “perfect spirit” is the Holy Ghost who confirms and strengthens the spirit of the penitent on to final perseverance:
Through sin I have lost grace, and the joy consequent on it; and as I asked for the restoration of grace, I now, consequently, ask for the “joy of thy salvation;” the joy that arises from the salvation you bestow on me; and for fear he should be over joyful, and thereby lulled into a dangerous security, he adds, “And strengthen me with a perfect spirit.” I ask you to strengthen and confirm me in my good purposes by an inspiration of your perfect Spirit. (St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, 50, 12.)
Thus the great confidence of the Psalmist following his confession is not based upon himself or his own efforts—which he spent the first half of the Psalm proving woefully inadequate—but rather in the grace and indwelling of the Holy Ghost who strengthens us to live in godliness, as St. Peter concludes:
Grace to you and peace be accomplished in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord: As all things of his divine power which appertain to life and godliness, are given us, through the knowledge of him who hath called us by his own proper glory and virtue. (2 Peter 2:2-3 DR)
For this animation I just wanted something bright and interesting, and I found this fascinating texture which is both colorful and texture-y. I more or less wanted to focus on the text “joy” and so for the background I just added in some simple Turbulent Displace to not get overwhelming. I precomped that, duplicated the precomp and used the text as a matte. I then shifted around its position and rotation to separate it from the background. I added in some animated boxes to serves as mattes for more duplicates of the background precomp and finally added in some color correction to finalize it.
Enjoy.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
(Psalm 50:14 DR)
View a higher quality version of this gif here: