Explanation please?

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BarbaraTherese

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Can anyone explain to me please the meaning:

Psalm 109:

http://www.drbo.org/chapter/21109.htm
1 The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool. 2 The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thy enemies. 3 With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength: in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot thee. 4 The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech. 5 The Lord at thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of his wrath.
6 He shall judge among nations, he shall fill ruins: he shall crush the heads in the land of the many. 7 He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.
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This Psalm is basically one of victory…but then in verse 7, the tone seems to suddenly change and I am mystified: “He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head”…

The only thing that will occur to me is that in Jesus’s Passion and death, he indeed drinks from the torrent of suffering in his life “torrent in the way”…and through his suffering and death he is ‘lifted’ to great glory?
"The way" occurs a couple of times in the Gospels, and also “The Way” was what the first Christians were known as ‘follows of The Way’ or something similar to that.

Can anyone explain this verse 7 in Psalm 109 to me please? This Psalm occurs a couple of times in the Psalter of The Divine Office.

**Thank you and blessings…Barb:) **
(can’t get the bold print out of the post for some reason, nor the font colour: red)
 
BarbaraTherese said:
Can anyone explain to me please the meaning:

Psalm 109:

http://www.drbo.org/chapter/21109.htm

This Psalm is basically one of victory…but then in verse 7, the tone seems to suddenly change and I am mystified: “He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head”…

The only thing that will occur to me is that in Jesus’s Passion and death, he indeed drinks from the torrent of suffering in his life “torrent in the way”…and through his suffering and death he is ‘lifted’ to great glory?
"The way" occurs a couple of times in the Gospels, and also “The Way” was what the first Christians were known as ‘follows of The Way’ or something similar to that.

Can anyone explain this verse 7 in Psalm 109 to me please? This Psalm occurs a couple of times in the Psalter of The Divine Office.

**Thank you and blessings…Barb:) **
(can’t get the bold print out of the post for some reason, nor the font colour: red)
Click to expand...

According to the commentary of H.-J. Kraus:​

  • The last verse answers the question about how the enthroned king acquires his warring, victorious power…The singer here refers to a (we might say) “sacramental” act that belongs to the ritual of the crowning. [The “torrent”] is very likely the Gihon spring…which flows forth from the base of the old city hill and which in the light of mythical conceptions was thought of as the source of life as such (cf. the Excursus on Psalm 46). From 1 Kings 1.38-40 it is evident that the ceremonial of the anointing took place at the Gihon brook. At this occasion the king probably partook of an invigorating drink…
    The Psalm is one of many kingship psalms; like 2 & 45 & 72, for example. He also discusses its interpretation as a Messianic psalm, but the passage is a bit long to quote. He also refers to a book which is about that one psalm in early Christianity. All in all, this is a first-rate commentary.
For the quotation above, see Kraus, Psalms vol. 2 (60-150) p. 352. The book itself is on sale here

IMNSHO, there’s a great deal to be said for his explanation - it fits the psalm & its context beautifully. Hope that helps 🙂
 
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