The Prayer Book Explained Part 13

Cantate Domino.

Pa.s.sing now to the corresponding Canticle at Evensong, we find _Cantate Domino_, the 98th Psalm, which, though much briefer, and nearly free from elaborate detail, makes the same acknowledgement of the Almighty Maker, and calls upon His creatures to praise Him in their various orders in very similar fashion. Here however the climax is reversed.

Beginning with human beings and G.o.d's mercy to them, and notably to Israel, we pa.s.s on to the sea, the world, the floods, the hills and all the inhabitants, returning at the end to the people and G.o.d's justice and judgment.

In both these Canticles, the thought is present that those, who do what G.o.d designs that they should do, are thereby praising Him. Hills, and valleys, and seas, are thought of as if they were human beings: they rejoice, and sing, and clap their hands, when ungrudgingly and with all the beauty and generosity of their best nature they carry out the Will of G.o.d. When man does the like, of his own will and in his {82} own place, he also sings, and makes great the praise of G.o.d.

_v._ 2. _With his own right hand, and with his holy arm_. Several pa.s.sages in Isaiah (li. 9, lii. 10, lix. 16, lxiii. 5) use this figure to represent G.o.d's invincible might.

Other phrases of Isaiah (lii. 7-10) are to be traced in this Psalm.

_The Lord the King_, "Thy G.o.d reigneth": _declared his salvation_, "publisheth salvation": _all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our G.o.d, "all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our G.o.d_." _O sing unto the Lord ... let the hills be joyful_, "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places."

CANTICLES WHICH FOLLOW THE SECOND LESSON.

We have seen that the Gospel is frequently hidden[1] in the Old Testament Lessons. The unfolding of this hidden thought comes by natural sequence in the Second Lessons. They are chosen from the Gospels, which tell the History of our Lord's Earthly Life, or from the other parts of the New Testament, which carry on the History from His Ascension. The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume of the Gospel History, and the Epistles form a book of correspondence commenting on the first, or ill.u.s.trating the second, volume. Lessons from the Gospels are records of the Gospel Spring-time, Lessons from the {83} Epistles and the Acts are records of the Summer; the Revelation of S.

John carries us on to the Autumn, or Harvest time. To adopt a different metaphor, one kind of Second Lessons are chapters from the Wars of our Leader, another kind are chapters from the Wars of His lieutenants. There is in the one kind the Gospel thought, pure and simple; in the other kind there is the Missionary thought.

Since the Lessons have place in the Services as parts of an Act of Praise, we must always consider each Lesson in combination with its attendant Canticle. We saw that the First Lesson, when combined with the Respond of the Congregation in _Te Deum_, is an Act of Praise to G.o.d, for His Promise of Salvation by His Son. In like manner the Second Lesson, when combined with its Responding Canticle, may be an Act of Praise to G.o.d, for the Coming of the Saviour, or for the Spread of the Gospel. We must therefore now discuss the connection between the Second Lessons and their attendant Canticles.

_Benedictus_ and _Nunc dimittis_ praise G.o.d for the Coming of His Son--_Jubilate Deo_ and _Deus misereatur_ praise Him for the Spread of the Gospel.

Benedictus.

_Benedictus_ is the Hymn of Zacharias upon the first beginning of the actual Coming of Messiah. "The horn of salvation was virtually raised up when the Incarnation became an accomplished fact" (G.o.det). The birth of S. John the Baptist was foretold to his father Zacharias, and the name by which he was to be {84} called. Zacharias showed his faith in the Angel's message by giving him this name--John--which means _G.o.d's mercy_. _Benedictus_ is a Hymn upon that name. There is a Psalm, well-known, we are to suppose, to Zacharias, upon the same theme. It is number cvi. in our Bible. From it a very large proportion of the leading words of this Hymn are taken. _Blessed be the Lord G.o.d of Israel_ (_v._ 48), _visited_ (_v._ 4), _redeemed_ (_v._ 10), _salvation_ (_v._ 4), _spake_ (_v._ 2), _since the world began_ (_v._ 48), _from our enemies--from the hands of all that hate us_ (_vv._ 10, 41), mercy (_vv._ 1, 7), remember, remember the covenant (_vv._ 4, 7, 45), _being delivered_ (_v._ 43), _righteousness_ (_v._ 3), _all the days of our life_ (=at all times, _v._ 3). Some of these come twice in the Hymn, or in the Psalm, and leave comparatively few leading words unaccounted for.

There are, however, two verses in the Hymn which require further notice. The word _anatole_ is translated _dayspring_ in the last couplet, because it is treated here as giving light to those who sit in darkness. But in Zech. iii. and vi. it is used of Joshua the son of Zerubbabel and translated _Branch_. The thought of Joshua the High Priest as prefiguring Jesus our High Priest suggested the idea of the Branch, but its other meaning suggested the star of the East ushering in the day.

Distinguish between the Zacharias who speaks and the Zechariah of the Old Testament, the prophet whose words he uses. Note that Joshua and Jesus are the same word, and that the prophet's words about Joshua are used by John's father about Jesus. {85} Also there are references to Psalm cx.x.xii., where _vv._ 1 and 11 mention G.o.d's remembrance and G.o.d's oath, and _v._ 17 has the _horn_ of David and _I will make to flourish_, using a word akin to the word for _dayspring_ (_exanatelo_, _anatole_).

_v._ 2. _A mighty salvation_. In S. Luke (A.V.) horn of salvation: see Psalm xviii. 2. The horn is used as the symbol of strength.

_v._ 6. The oath is in Gen. xxii. 16, 17, 18, _By myself have I sworn--that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven--and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed_. It is explained (Gal. iii. 16) that Abraham's seed is Christ: in Him all nations are blessed. _And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise_ (Gal. iii. 29). Thus the oath to multiply Abraham's seed is fulfilled in the increase of the Christian Family.

_v._ 9. _Thou, child_,=John the Baptist.

_The Highest_=G.o.d Almighty.

_v._ 10. St John Baptist was to give people knowledge of Jesus--the Saviour.

_v._ 11. The Dayspring is Jesus. The word for dayspring in Greek means "springing up," and is translated _Branch_ in Zech. iii. 8 and vi. 12, and Jer. xxiii. 5.

_v._ 12. Read Isaiah ix. 2 (_to give light_, &c.) and Isaiah xlix.

9-11 (_to guide_, &c.). Also 2 Pet. i. 19 and Rev. xxi. 23 and xxii.

16.

It will be noticed that although the occasion was the Birth of John, yet his father's Hymn is directed to the Coming of Jesus. Jesus is the Dayspring or {86} Branch--John is to be the herald of the Saviour. Not till the 9th verse does the father address his infant son: his mind is turning upon the greater Birth which was to come six months later.

In verses 5, 6 and 7 there is a complex reference to the birth of Christ's forerunner. By a play on the names Zacharias, Elizabeth and John he sings that _G.o.d's remembrance_ was wedded to _G.o.d's oath_, and thence was born _G.o.d's mercy_: for as we said above the 'text' of the Hymn is John--G.o.d's mercy.

This Hymn may be called a Hymn of the Advent; whatever is read in the Gospels as the Second Lesson will be sure to excite, in those who listen, Praise to G.o.d for the Advent of His Son.

Nunc Dimittis.

The Evening Service is supplied with a different Hymn of the Advent for its Second Lesson--that of the aged Simeon, when, having waited through his long life for it, he was blessed at last with the sight of the Infant Jesus. Holding Him in his arms when He was brought to the Temple, he used these words of praise. G.o.d was letting him depart in peace: notice the words _Thou lettest_: it is not the imperative, praying for release; but the indicative, praising G.o.d for His mercy.

The other chief thoughts of this short Hymn are that Jesus is G.o.d's _Salvation--before the face of all people--a Light to Gentiles--and the glory of Israel_. Comparing these with the Hymn of Zacharias, we shall be struck with the correspondence of two very different compositions.

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_Lighten_: not as in Te Deum 'to come upon,' but as in 3rd Collect at Evening Service, 'to give light.'

_Gentiles--Israel_: making up together the whole human race.

Jubilate Deo.

It is scarcely necessary at this time to show that the 100th Psalm is suitable as a Canticle after a Missionary Lesson; for it seems to be a.s.sumed that the Old Hundredth, in its metrical form, is an integral and necessary part of a Missionary meeting. "In its breadth and simplicity it is fit for all occasions of access of the redeemed to G.o.d, and naturally it has become (both in its original form and its metrical rendering) the regular hymn of unmixed thanksgiving in the Church of Christ. It is in _vv._ 1, 2 an invitation to joy, because we know that we are G.o.d's people[2]."

This Psalm was formerly used at Lauds on Sundays.

1. We claim the whole earth for G.o.d,

2. Because He is G.o.d, because He made us, and because He protects us.

4. The wide extent of His mercy is made the ground of praise and thanksgiving at this place in the Service, because the spread of the Gospel has been called to mind by the Second Lesson.

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Deus Misereatur.

Ps. lxvii., styled by Dr Kay The Spiritual Harvest-Home Song of Israel, is to be applied by us to the Harvesting of Missionaries, when set before our minds in the Second Lesson. It especially refers to the gathering-in of the Gentiles ('all nations'), and extends the threefold blessing of Num. vi. 24-26 to them; see _vv._ 1, 6, 7. Cf. the description which is placed at the head of this Psalm in the Bible, _A prayer for the enlargement of G.o.d's kingdom--to the joy of the people--and the increase of G.o.d's blessings_.

In the Sarum Use it was a special Sunday Psalm at Lauds (see p. 44); together with Psalm 63, it followed _Jubilate Deo_ and preceded _Benedicite_.

[1] Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet, Vetus Testamentum in Novo patet.

[2] Bishop Barry.

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CHAPTER X.