Psalm 45:1 My heart overfloweth with a good matter; I speak the things which I have made concerning the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
What a wonderful metaphor! My tongue is the pen of a ready writer! In Psalm 45 David’s divinely-inspired heart overflows with a good matter. Such was the abundance of his heart that his tongue was as the pen of a ready writer — that is, a pen quick to perform, willingly disposed to write. As the hand guides and directs the pen, so David’s heart readily guides and directs his tongue.
Whenever I read Zechariah’s Song, Benedictus (St. Luke 1:68ff, BCP p. 14) in Morning Prayer I am reminded of Psalm 45:1. Zechariah, whose name also is the name of one of the last of the OT prophets, is a priest in the Jerusalem Temple. According to the custom of the priesthood, Zechariah, now an old man, is burning incense in the Temple when the angel Gabriel appears to him and tells him that his aged wife will bear a son. Zechariah is skeptical: “I am an old man, and my wife is well stricken in years.” As a reward for his skepticism, Zechariah is struck dumb. His silence continues until his son is born and he consents to name his son, John, a wholly unexpected and unprecedented family name. Suddenly, Zechariah’s heart full to overflowing, his tongue becomes the pen of a ready writer.
In St Luke 1 we read:
60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called 63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. 64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
BLESSED be the Lord God of Israel; * for he hath visited and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us, * in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets, * which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies, * and from the hand of all that hate us.
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers, * and to remember his holy covenant;
To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham, * that he would give us;
That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies * might serve him without fear;
In holiness and righteousness before him, * all the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: * for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people * for the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God; * whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
The Benedictus begins with blessing God Who has “visited and redeemed his people.” In Holy Scripture to “visit” does not mean merely to look in on; it means to relieve, to deliver from distress. God “visited” Israel to deliver Israel from Egypt. In James 1:27 we are admonished - in a timely fashion - that “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress …” God has visited his people by “raising up a mighty salvation” In Jesus Christ. The rest of the Benedictus praises God Who keeps his promises and gives “light to those who sit in darkness.”
Morning Prayer nurtures in us a heart overflowing with praise and thanksgiving to God, gives us the tongue of a ready writer when we often feel at a loss for words. MP is an ever present reminder that God has visited us in our distress; God has redeemed his Church. MP is an ancient and seminal part of the cure of our souls.
For Guidance.
O GOD, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light riseth up in darkness for the godly; Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what thou wouldest have us to do, that the Spirit of Wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in thy light we may see light, and in thy straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
JSH+