Psalm 50:20

the head and the body

Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. (Psalm 50:20 DR)

As humans our pride tends to run along very convenient lines. For while in our self-centeredness we want to imagine that the universe revolves around and and exists to serve our every whim, when it comes to culpability we quickly make ourselves nothing, pretending that our actions should have no impact beyond ourselves, and sometimes not even that. We rarely consider the ripple effects of our sins and are quick to minimize them or to shift the blame if they become apparent. Thus Cain’s first response to concal the guilt of his brother’s murder was: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9)

And while we are responsible for our own actions, those actions have consequences beyond ourselves, and—according to our state in life—sometimes those effects are significant. Thus the head of a household will make decisions that affect his entire family for good or ill, even if the individual members of the family (e.g., the children) have no control of influence on those decisions.

This sheds light on the Psalmist’s seemingly startling shift from speaking of himself to the city of Jerusalem, for the Psalmist in question is David and as king his virtues and vices reflected upon and impacted his capital city and his entire nation. Indeed, as seen in a previous passage, the sin of his census taking led to the deaths of 70,000 of his people. Thus, as he understands the depths of his sin and the even greater depths of God’s mercy, his prayer turns from merely himself to himself as head of his nation, as he realizes that his sin has consequences beyond merely himself. His son was already taken because of his sin, which must have chastened him so as to implore God’s mercy upon the rest of his people since it hit so close to home.

In this manner David stands in for the city and nation as a whole and typologically as a type of the Church, as St. Augustine notes in his exposition on this passage:

See who this is: David as one man was seeming to implore; see ye here our image and the type of the Church. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 50, 22.)

The humility which prompted the Psalmist to repent of his sins and received mercy form the Lord now finds its consummation in his intercession for Sion; just as God has dealt favorably with him, so may He deal favorably with Sion, the mountain of the Lord. In the background here are the promises the Lord made to David after he was coronated king of Israel and Judah:

And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell therein, and shall be disturbed no more: neither shall the children of iniquity afflict them any more as they did before, From the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel: and I will give thee rest from all thy enemies. And the Lord foretelleth to thee, that the Lord will make thee a house. (2 Samuel 7:10-11 DR)

This is why he can confidently request of God to build up the walls of Jerusalem, for he is not asking for himself or his own will but rather according to the will of God. In his sin he sought after his own lusts and prestige and honor, not considering his role as king nor the effects of his sin. But now in God’s mercy and the humility which is concomitant with that he can see beyond himself and his own desires so as to align his will and desires with those of the Lord. He is praying for himself for him and his house to be established, as God promised, but as head of his nation he also prays for the nation as a whole.

St. Augustine takes note of the meanings of the names here and applies them to the Church:

With this Sion deal kindly. What is Sion? A city holy. What is a city holy? That which cannot be hidden, being upon a mountain established. Sion in prospect, because it has prospect of something which it hopes for. For Sion is interpreted “prospect,” and Jerusalem, “vision of peace.” You perceive then yourselves to be in Sion and in Jerusalem, if being sure ye look for hope that is to be, and if you have peace with God. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 50, 22.)

In this vale of tears we are sojourners, and the Church on earth is often called the Church Militant because of this alienation from the world: “For we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14 DR) The more we become strangers to this world, the less we become strangers in the heavenly city to which we are called, which is our true home:

Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God, Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: In whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord. In whom you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22 DR)

As we increase in faith, hope and charity we become those living stones which build up the Church, and as such stones our strengths and our weaknesses and virtues and vices affect the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). Understood in such manner, we must join our prayers with the Psalmist for the grace that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up, that we will increase in virtue and in charity:

For not to herself let Sion ascribe her merits: do Thou with her deal kindly, Be the walls of Jerusalem built: be the battlements of our immortality laid, in faith and hope and charity. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 50, 22.)

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In this animation I was thinking of the Introit for Mass on the 4th Sunday of Lent which is Lætera Jerusalem, taken from Isaiah 66:

Lætáre, Ierúsalem: et convéntum fácite, omnes qui dilígitis eam: gaudéte cum lætítia, qui in tristítia fuístis: ut exsultétis, et satiémini ab ubéribus consolatiónis vestræ.

Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together, all you who love her: rejoice with joy, you who have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.

I found a bunch of medieval antiphonaries with this chant notated in various ways, and since it’s an Introit many of them have an illuminated or otherwise prominent initial “L,” which served my purposes well.

I cut out all the chant scores in Photoshop and cleaned them up with some color correction so I could blend them into the background using various Blending Modes. I then precomped each one and animated some boxes highlighting the word “Jerusalem.” In the main composition I applied a time remap to each precomp, set them to seamlessly loop and then offset them in time to offset the animation of the box highlight. I also applied a bit of wiggle hold motion to the position and rotation for some extra movement.

Enjoy.

View a higher quality version of this gif here: