The Latin of St Bruno's Commentary was translated using Gemini, while Claude was used for editing and ChatGPT was used to identify biblical allusions and cross references. I used Chat GPT to also prompt the essay which follows the commentary.
COMMENTARY ON PSALM 3
The title of the third Psalm is: “A Psalm of David, when he fled from the face of Absalom his son” (cf. 2 Samuel 15–18). This title of the third Psalm, according to both the historical meaning and the spiritual interpretation of the word, expresses the intent of the Psalm. For David being persecuted by his son signifies Christ being persecuted by his own disciple, who was his special son (cf. John 13:18; Psalm 41:9; Matthew 26:14–16).
Moreover, Absalom, the son of David, is interpreted as “peace of the father” (or “father is peace”)—not because he had peace toward his father, but because while he was persecuting him, the father always had peace toward him (cf. 2 Samuel 18:5; 18:33). Similarly, when Christ was betrayed by Judas, his son (disciple), having peace toward him, he did not even refuse him a kiss (Matthew 26:49–50; Luke 22:47–48). Just as Absalom perished by hanging for his wickedness (2 Samuel 18:9–14), so too did Judas perish for the crime of selling Christ by hanging himself (Matthew 27:3–5; Acts 1:18).
It is well that this title was placed before the title of the Psalm “Miserere mei Deus” (“Have mercy on me, O God,” Psalm 51), which is: “A Psalm of David, when he went in to Bathsheba” (cf. 2 Samuel 11–12). By this, it is implied that this Psalm is not to be understood solely in a historical context. For if it were to be taken historically, it would surely have to be placed after “Miserere mei Deus” according to the chronological order of the history.
The title, therefore, is expounded thus: “A Psalm of David, when he fled from the face of Absalom his son,” which is to say: this Psalm (that is, this treatise) is to be attributed to David (that is, to Christ), containing that event which happened to Christ himself, “when he fled,” that is, when he withdrew “from the face,” that is, from the presence, of Absalom, that is, Judas his son, that is, his disciple. This occurred when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him (John 13:2; cf. Luke 22:3–6).
And it is the voice of the Head (Christ), acting in wonder at the multiplication of those who persecute him without cause—not that he wonders (since he knows it is to happen by God’s disposition: John 6:64; John 13:11; Acts 2:23), but because anyone could wonder at it. He shows this in order to reveal what he will gain from that persecution, so that no astonishment remains for those who believe in him (cf. John 16:4; 16:33).
And he says this: “O Lord, why are they multiplied that afflict me?” (Psalm 3:1). Which is to say: Since you, Father, are the Lord of all in your kingdom (Psalm 24:1; Daniel 4:35), nothing rash ought to happen. Why did you permit it to occur that my enemies, afflicting me by action, counsel, and will, have been multiplied? They will be multiplied to the extent that my own disciple joins them, as is said elsewhere: “Fat bulls have beset me” (Psalm 22:12–13; cf. Matthew 26:47).
“And many rise up against me” (Psalm 3:1). It follows that many from among those afflicting me rise up, that is, will rise up against me with accusation, as is read in the Gospel: “And they accused him in many things” (Mark 15:3; cf. Matthew 26:59–61; John 18:29–30).
“And many say to my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God.” (Psalm 3:2). And among those afflicting me, many say to my soul (as far as in them lies, seeking to harm it), that is, they will say: Come, let us kill him, for there is no salvation for him in his God. This is to say: He makes God his Creator and Father, but He has forsaken him, as is said elsewhere: “He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him” (Psalm 22:8; Matthew 27:43). And likewise: “He calls himself the Son of God” (Wisdom 2:13–20, especially v. 18–20, which the Fathers regularly apply to Christ).
Having premised the astonishment that someone might have, he moves on to show the fruit of his Passion, saying:
“But thou, O Lord, art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head.” (Psalm 3:3)
They afflict me with death and multi-layered anxiety (cf. Matthew 26:37–38; Luke 22:44), but you, O Lord, who are powerful to succor, since you are the Lord of all (Psalm 115:3), “art,” that is, “will be,” my protector—that is, my physician and patron. You will resurrect me (Acts 2:24; 10:40). For it is the duty of physicians to heal the sick (Mark 2:17), and of patrons to defend the oppressed (Psalm 72:12–14).
And they say: “There is no salvation for him.” But you, in truth, will be not only the salvation of my Resurrection but also “my glory,” that is, making me glorious by the Ascension and by dominion over the whole world (Luke 24:26; Acts 2:33–36; Ephesians 1:20–22; Philippians 2:9–11).
And they rise up accusing, slandering, and oppressing, calling me a seducer (Matthew 27:63; John 7:12). But you, in truth, “art the lifter up of my head,” that is, my mind, with virtues and immunity from sin (Hebrews 4:15 and 1 Peter 2:22). The mind is called “head” because it is the more worthy part of man, like the head of the body (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:3).
“With my voice I have cried to the Lord, and he hath heard me from his holy hill.” (Psalm 3:4)
When he says, “With my voice,” he makes an apostrophe to his listeners, instructing them, when placed in tribulation, to cry out to the Lord following his example, and they will be heard (cf. Psalm 34:4; Hebrews 5:7). And he says this: O listeners, so that He may protect me and be my glory and lift up my head, “I have cried,” that is, I will act with intense crying, “with my voice,” not with a vain voice (cf. Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8), but with my voice proceeding from my good intention. And I cry “to the Lord,” to God who is powerful to succor, for He is Lord of all (Romans 10:12–13).
And “for my good I have cried,” for “he hath heard,” that is, “he will hear me,” that is, He will hear me so that I truly obtain what I seek (John 11:41–42; Psalm 116:1). I say “from his holy hill,” that is, from the eminence of his holy justice, which is called a “mountain” because it is high and supreme, as is said elsewhere: “Thy justice is as the mountains of God” (Psalm 36:6). Or, “from the mountain,” that is, on account of me, who am his holy mountain, exalted in virtues. Or again, “from the mountain,” that is, because I will be his holy mountain, as it is written: “The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains” (Micah 4:1; cf. Isaiah 2:2–3), that is, the fortress of the whole Church, as a mountain is a refuge for those who flee to it (Psalm 18:2).
“I have slept and have taken my rest, and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me.” (Psalm 3:5)
And it is necessary that he hear me, for “I have slept,” that is, I will sleep—the sleep of death (John 11:11–13). “And I have taken my rest,” that is, I will take my rest. And afterward, “I have risen up,” that is, I will rise again. And he rightly says not simply surgam (I will rise), but exsurgam (I will rise up), that is, I will rise beyond the resurrection of others, for I will be more glorious than all others who rise again (1 Corinthians 15:20–23, 42–49).
By saying “I will sleep,” he implies that death will not be long, but only for a time, so that he may be quickly roused as from sleep (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:31). By saying “I have taken my rest,” he implies that it will be with peace and with the security of rising again (Isaiah 53:9–11). Or, because he had said “I will sleep,” lest someone think he would rise immediately, he adds “I will take my rest,” that is, I will remain for a little time in the sleep of death (Matthew 12:40).
Having shown his own benefit from his death, he now shows the benefit of his members:
“I will not fear thousands of the people surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.” (Psalm 3:6–7)
I say this because the Lord will be my protector, that is, he will resurrect me. “I will not fear thousands of the people surrounding me,” by which he denotes the great multitude of persecutors (Luke 23:1; Acts 4:27). As if to say: Since I have conquered, my people will conquer. “I will not fear,” lest my people be conquered, as he says elsewhere: “Have confidence, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33; cf. Romans 8:37).
And so that they may conquer: “Arise, O Lord,” you who seem powerless to persecutors (Matthew 27:42–43), yet are truly powerful; and “save me,” that is, my people, lest they perish by the enemies (John 17:11–15). And it is fitting, for “thou art my God,” that is, the God of my people (Exodus 6:7 and 2 Corinthians 6:16).
And I know this through the contrary: Because you will save my people, you will destroy the adversaries. “For thou hast struck all them who without cause are my enemies” (Psalm 3:7; cf. Psalm 35:19; John 15:25), whether those who opposed me in the Passion or those who oppose my people.
“Thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.” And not only the lesser ones, but also the teeth—that is, the leaders and corrupters among sinners (cf. Psalm 58:6; Proverbs 30:14). These are those who grind others into sin as teeth grind food. Or “teeth” signifies slanderers and devourers by false accusation (Psalm 57:4; James 3:6).
“Salvation is of the Lord, and thy blessing is upon thy people.” (Psalm 3:8)
And because he had prayed for his own people, someone might say: Why do you pray for them? If they live well, can they not save themselves? And so he necessarily adds: “Salvation is of the Lord,” that is, no one can be saved from enemies, sin, and death except through Him who alone is Lord (Jonah 2:9; Isaiah 43:11; John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
Now he makes an apostrophe to Him out of excessive affection: “Salvation is of the Lord”—through you is deliverance in this world; “and thy blessing,” that is, the eternal reward to come (Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3–4), “is upon thy people,” that is, given from above to those who were once sons of perdition but are now your people (1 Peter 2:9–10). And it is given by you alone, as it is written: “No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him” (John 6:44; cf. John 6:65).
CATECHETICAL ESSAY
Christ Betrayed by His Own: The Mystery of Iniquity and Divine Providence
St. Bruno’s identification of David persecuted by Absalom with Christ betrayed by Judas is a direct application of the Church’s doctrine of Christ’s redemptive Passion foreknown and freely embraced. The Catechism teaches that Christ’s death took place according to the definite plan of God, not by blind necessity but by divine providence working through human freedom (Catechism of the Catholic Church 599–600). Judas’s betrayal, like Absalom’s rebellion, manifests what the Catechism calls the mysterious interplay between divine sovereignty and human sin (CCC 312–314).
Bruno’s insistence that Christ preserved peace toward Judas even in betrayal corresponds to the Catechism’s teaching on Christ’s perfect obedience of love: “Jesus freely embraced the Father’s will” even in the face of treachery and abandonment (CCC 609–610). This is also the spiritual logic of the Benedictine and Carthusian tradition, which interprets endurance of betrayal as participation in Christ’s interior obedience. One finds the same ascetical theology in Rule of Saint Benedict, especially in its doctrine of patient endurance of injustice as conformity to Christ (RB #'s 66-86).
“Why Are They Multiplied That Afflict Me?”: The Suffering of the Just and the Trial of the Church
When Bruno places Psalm 3 on the lips of Christ astonished at the multiplication of persecutors, he is articulating what the Catechism calls the mystery of the persecution of the righteous. The suffering of Christ prefigures the suffering of His Body, the Church (CCC 618). What is seen first in the Head becomes the permanent condition of the members.
This interpretation also stands firmly within the ecclesiology of Lumen Gentium, which teaches that the Church follows “the same path of humility and self-denial” as her Lord (LG 8). Bruno’s insistence that Christ allows believers to see the fruit of persecution—resurrection and victory—corresponds exactly to the Catechism’s teaching that Christian suffering is never sterile but always ordered toward glory (CCC 1521; 164).
“Thou, O Lord, Art My Protector”: Resurrection, Ascension, and the Glorification of Christ
Bruno’s affirmation that the Father becomes Christ’s protector, physician, and patron through the Resurrection is an explicit confession of the Church’s dogma on the Resurrection as the Father’s vindication of the Son. The Catechism teaches that the Resurrection is the decisive manifestation of God’s power and the confirmation of Christ’s divine sonship (CCC 648–650).
His statement that Christ becomes “my glory” through Ascension and universal dominion is doctrinally grounded in the Catechism’s teaching that the Ascension inaugurates Christ’s permanent lordship over history and the Church (CCC 665–667). Bruno’s language of universal dominion is also classically echoed in Adversus Haereses by Irenaeus of Lyons, who teaches that the risen Christ recapitulates all things under His headship.
“With My Voice I Have Cried”: Christ’s Prayer and the Prayer of the Church
Bruno’s teaching that Christ’s cry becomes instruction for the faithful directly corresponds to the Catechism’s doctrine that Christ is the primary model and mediator of prayer (CCC 2599–2602). Christ’s prayer during His Passion becomes the interior form of all Christian prayer under trial.
Moreover, Bruno’s “holy mountain” interpretation corresponds exactly to the Catechism’s vision of the Church as both the locus of God’s dwelling and the sacramental mountain from which salvation flows (CCC 756–757). This image is also fundamental to the theology of De Civitate Dei by Augustine of Hippo, where the heavenly city is the true Mount Zion upon which the faithful ascend spiritually through prayer and trial.
“I Have Slept and Have Taken My Rest”: Death as Sleep and the Christian Hope of Resurrection
Bruno’s description of Christ’s death as sleep and His Resurrection as a rising “beyond all others” is a direct exposition of what the Catechism teaches concerning Christian death interpreted through Christ’s Paschal Mystery. For the believer, death is no longer annihilation but falling asleep in the Lord (CCC 1006–1010). The uniqueness of Christ’s Resurrection as the source of all other resurrections is explicitly taught in CCC 648 and 655.
His insistence that Christ “rests” securely in death reflects the ancient patristic doctrine of the descent among the dead, where Christ enters the realm of death in sovereign peace (CCC 631–637). Bruno’s interpretation resonates strongly with the Paschal theology of Cyril of Jerusalem, who teaches that Christ’s rest in the tomb is already victory.
“I Will Not Fear Thousands”: The Victory of the Church Over the World
Bruno’s assurance that Christ’s victory guarantees the victory of His faithful corresponds directly to the Catechism’s doctrine of Christian participation in Christ’s triumph (CCC 786; 1816). The baptized already reign with Christ in hope, even while still engaged in the world’s struggle.
This also reflects the ascetical theology of perseverance found in the Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli, where confidence in Christ’s victory is the central weapon against discouragement in spiritual warfare.
“Salvation Is of the Lord”: Grace Alone as the Source of Deliverance
Bruno’s final insistence that salvation belongs to God alone is a perfect expression of the Church’s doctrine on grace. The Catechism teaches without ambiguity that no one can save himself by his own powers; salvation is always a sheer gift (CCC 1996–2001). His rejection of spiritual self-reliance aligns with the condemnation of Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism (CCC 406; 418).
His affirmation that God’s blessing rests upon His people corresponds to the doctrine of adoptive sonship and divine filiation, by which those once “sons of perdition” become true sons in the Son (CCC 1265–1270). This theme is developed deeply in De Trinitate by Augustine, where the indwelling of the Trinity is the final meaning of divine blessing.
Summary of Doctrinal Alignment
In doctrinal terms, Bruno’s Psalm 3 commentary is firmly rooted in:
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Christology of the Passion and Resurrection (CCC 599–655)
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Ecclesiology of the persecuted Church (CCC 618; LG 8)
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Theology of Christian prayer in suffering (CCC 2599–2602)
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Doctrine of death, descent, and resurrection (CCC 631–1006)
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Soteriology of grace alone (CCC 1996–2001)
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Spiritual combat and perseverance (ascetical tradition)
In ascetical terms, it stands in organic continuity with:
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Benedictine patience
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Augustinian interiorization of Zion
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Patristic Paschal theology
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The classical Catholic doctrine of reliance on grace alone
CONTINUE
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