Third Monday in Great Lent
Kathisma 7 (Psalms 46-54)
“It is for this reason that we often read and chant this Psalm in the Church: that they that have not fallen might take heed, lest they fall, and that they that have fallen might take heed, that they may rise.” – St. Augustine of Hippo on Psalm 50
What is the value of Psalm 50? It is easily the most recognizable Psalm of repentance. We say or hear the words frequently enough. St. Augustine of Hippo says that there are two good reasons to saturate our lives with this Psalm.
The Psalm was written, as the superscription says, to express David’s repentance when the prophet Nathan was sent to him. David, you see, had been a very bad boy, indeed. He had seen a woman bathing who was not his wife, and he had desired her. She was the wife of one of his generals. David went to her, and soon she was with child. David tried to cover up his sin by tricking her husband into taking a vacation from war. He figured that if she and her husband lay together early enough, nobody might be able to do the math. When that didn’t work, he arranged for her husband to be killed in battle, then he married her.
Well, God wasn’t very happy with David. He sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. Now here is the watershed moment that St. Augustine speaks about: what do you do when you are confronted with your sin? David had already tried covering it up. Now it was out in the open. He could have been angry and defensive and had the prophet killed (he wouldn’t have been the first to kill the messenger). Instead, David admitted his sin. He wept bitterly and acknowledged that God was right to judge him.
That is why St. Augustine says we use this Psalm so much. It teaches us the proper response of one of God’s people when He catches us in our sin. We acknowledge our sin, confess it before the Lord, and declare Him just and right in His condemnation. We throw ourselves on His mercy and, though there may be consequences, we move forward with Him in a continuing relationship. That’s what David did. The baby born of his sinful union died. That was a consequence, and it hurt David deeply, but God had not abandoned David. He had not taken from David his Holy Spirit (as He had with Saul before David). Life would go on. Having fallen, David rose again.
In temptation, you may also meditate on this Psalm. Hear the anguish in the words and think of the consequences, and “take heed, lest you fall.”
