Psalm 53:3

Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me in thy strength. (Psalm 53:3 DR)

In his hiddenness the Psalmist now begins the prayer of this Psalm. This hiddenness from the title is shown to have great bearing upon the rest of the Psalm, for he locates the salvation of God in His name, which could otherwise seem a strange way to frame salvation from his enemies. After all, wouldn’t he desire the Lord to save him by strength or power, so as to overcome his enemies?

Instead, he asks that God save him by Thy name. Immediately this invokes the virtue and quality of that Name, which points beyond just the bare manifestation of salvation and rather to the Psalmist giving voice prophetically to our Lord Who in His very nature bears that self-same Name. In His humility and hiddenness our Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself our nature so as to redeem us:

For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 DR)

It is thus this Name which the Psalmist pleads to be saved by and gives prophetic voice to both Christ and His mystical body the Church:

You have come, O Christ, humble You have appeared, despised You have been, scourged hast been, crucified hast been, slain hast been; but, on the third day hast risen, on the fortieth day into Heaven hast ascended: You sit at the right hand of the Father, and no one sees: Your Spirit thence You have sent, which men that were worthy have received; fulfilled with Your love, the praise of that very humility of Yours throughout the world and nations they have preached: Your name I see to excel among mankind, but nevertheless as weak to us have You been preached. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 53, 4.)

It is this weakness of Christ in the hiddenness of the Incarnation that—contrary to the way men think—is the means of salvation that the Psalmist prays for. This David sees prophetically, which is why he speaks of the name of God as the conduit—so to speak—of his salvation. He is not speaking merely of virtue or of invoking God, but rather speaking specifically of Christ Who is that Name as the Word made flesh:

For he says: Save me O God, by Your name. Thus prays in bodily humiliation, using the words of His own Prophet, the Only-begotten Son of God, Who at the same time was claiming again the glory which He had possessed before the ages. He asks to be saved by the Name of God whereby He was called and wherein He was begotten, in order that the Name of God—which rightly belonged to His former nature and kind—might avail to save Him in that body wherein He had been born. (St. Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Psalm 53, 4.)

With such a prophetic confidence in his salvation by means of God’s name, the Psalmist then moves on to make a bold request, that God might judge me in Thy strength. This parallels the first part of the passage in its seeming oddity. For if it seemed strange to ask to be saved by a name rather than by strength, it seems equally strange—if not rash—to ask to be judged by strength rather than by something like mercy. St. Augustine notes this seeming perplexity:

For who so rash as to have desired this, as to say to God, for instance—Judge me? Is it not wont to be said to men for a curse, God judge you? (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 53, 4.)

St. Hilary notes the same thing:

Again, if the Prophet had begun this utterance in the way men generally speak, he would have asked to be judged by mercy or kindness, not by power. (St. Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Psalm 53, 5.)

If the Psalmist were only speaking for himself, it would be utterly rash and presumptuous, for no man can stand before God and be judged righteous on his own merits. The title of the Psalm once again unlocks the meaning of this, for the Psalmist is speaking in his hiddenness, and thus in the prophetic voice of Christ:

For by the power of the Judgment human weakness is rescued to bear God’s name and nature; and thus as the reward for His obedience He is exalted by the power of this judgment unto the saving protection of God’s name; whence He possesses both the Name and the Power of God... But judgment by power was a necessity in the case of One Who—being the Son of God—was born of a virgin to be Son of Man, and Who now—being Son of Man—was to have the Name and power of the Son of God restored to Him by the power of judgment. (St. Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Psalm 53, 5.)

Thus, as St. Hilary notes, in Christ the Name of God unto salvation and the Judgment of God in strength are united. And since Christ is the Head of the Body of Christ, the Holy Catholic Church, those who are united to Him through the saving laver of Baptism will share in that salvation and exaltation. The judgment that the Psalmist prays for will come for all—for the wicked unto condemnation but for the righteous unto justification and eternal salvation:

So evidently [the phrase God judge you] is a curse, if He judge you in His virtue; and shall not have saved you in His name: but when in name precedent He shall have saved you, to your health in virtue consequent He shall judge. Be thou without care: that judgment shall not to you be punishment, but dividing. For in a certain Psalm thus is said: Judge me, O God, and divide my cause from the nation unholy.

What is, Judge me? Divide me from the Ziphites, amid whom I lie hid; I have endured their flower, may there now come also my flowering. And their flower indeed hath been temporary, and the grass withering, it hath fallen off: but my flower shall be what? They that are planted in the House of the Lord, in the courts of the House of our God shall flourish. There remaineth therefore to us also a flower, but that which falleth not, like the leaf of that tree planted beside waters, whereof is said, And His leaf shall not fall off. O God, therefore, in Thy name make me safe, and in Thy virtue judge me. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 53, 4.)

In the midst of the troubles of this life salvation can seem far off, and the wicked can seem to prosper, and suffering can seem to be without end and without purpose. The flowering of the unrighteous is often easily seen—so it seems—while the flower of the righteous seems dormant, waiting for a more seasonable time. But virtue is learned in patience and hardship, for the glory of man is like grass that blossoms in the morning and withers in the midday sun. As the Psalmist says elsewhere:

But be thou, O my soul, subject to God: for from him is my patience. For he is my God and my saviour: he is my helper, I shall not be moved. (Psalm 61:6-7 DR)

The prophetic voice of this Psalm ultimately finds itself on the lips of our Lord, Who in His humility suffered for our sakes, the righteous for the unrighteous, leaving us an example to follow as His Body the Holy Catholic Church:

So Christ also did not glorify himself, that he might be made a high priest: but he that said unto him: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place: Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech. Who in the days of his flesh, with a strong cry and tears, offering up prayers and supplications to him that was able to save him from death, was heard for his reverence. And whereas indeed he was the Son of God, he learned obedience by the things which he suffered: And being consummated, he became, to all that obey him, the cause of eternal salvation. (Hebrews 5:5-9 DR)

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I found this excellent image of a crucifix and brought it into After Effects and drew a Matte that followed the contour of the side. I had in mind something from St. Augustine wherein he said something to the effect of “the veil of Christ’s flesh was pierced, and the sacraments flowed forth from His side.”

I found an abstract texture that I used for the flow coming forth from the side, using Stretch to create the flowing animation and the Matte to keep it in the bounds i had set.

I then added in some glitch and halftone effects, as well as some color correction to complete this project.

Enjoy.

View a higher quality version of this gif here: