Verses 1 & 2
O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!
Deus, Deus meus, ad te de luce vigilo. Sitivit in te anima mea; quam multipliciter tibi caro mea!
A just man describes his first actions at the break of day: and he says it is to seek God, to desire God and to confess his wretchedness to God. “O God, my God,” that is, Thou, God, art my fortitude and my strength, for without Thee I am nothing, and I can do nothing; in Hebrew there are two words (used here): one means
God and the other
strong, but usually translated as
God. And so the Greek and Latin editions, which have
God, God, cannot be criticised; but the meaning is what we have said, because the Hebrew word
El means
God as strong. “To thee do I watch at break of day,” that is, when I see first light with my bodily eyes, I also open my eyes to Thee as light spiritual and uncreated, and thus I begin to keep watch, seeking Thee, not the works of this world. I do this because “For thee my soul hath thirsted,” that is, because it desires Thee, as its food and drink, as its light and source of joy. My very flesh thirsts in many ways for Thee, the fountain-head of all good things : for although flesh cannot properly be said to thirst for God, it can however be said to thirst, for it needs His mercy
on account of its multiple miseries : just as parched earth may thirst for rain, without which it can produce nothing good. How many are the needs and miseries of (our) corruptible flesh, from which He alone can cure, and no-one, it says in
Psalm cii: “Who healeth all thy diseases,”
[1] has not experienced this. In the Hebrew codex, after the words:
O God, my God, is the pronoun
Thou, which the Septuagint translators left out, but its presence must be understood, so that the sense is: Thou art God, and therefore I fly to Thee with confidence, and I make so bold as to address Thee. The sentence
to thee do I watch at break of day, in Hebrew is one expression,
ashacareca, which means
before dawn I seek Thee, or in the twilight of morning, when the light of dawn begins to blend into the night time shadows, I am watchful, so that I may seek Thee: from this we understand David’s desire for God was continuous and intense, and rightly, for He is all our good and all men are unappreciative who are forgetful of God, as it says in
Luke vi. : “(Who) he is kind to the unthankful, and to the evil.”
[2] Finally, the phrase O how many ways is in Hebrew
camah, but this word is not found except in this place where St. Jerome translates it as
has desired; but in vain do we struggle with the meaning of this word which is found nowhere else and so no-one can be critical of the first translators.
[1] Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases. qui propitiatur omnibus iniquitatibus tuis, qui sanat omnes infirmitates tuas; [Psalm cii. 3]
[2] But love ye your enemies: do good, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby: and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest; for he is kind to the unthankful, and to the evil. Verumtamen diligite inimicos vestros : benefacite, et mutuum date, nihil inde sperantes : et erit merces vestra multa, et eritis filii Altissimi, quia ipse benignus est super ingratos et malos. [Luke vi. 35]
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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