Today's Scripture Reading (September 1, 2025): Psalm 70
Denys
the Carthusian was a monk who lived in the 15th Century (1402-1471).
He is said to have had the body and make-up of an athlete, which is interesting
because Denys was a monk for most of his life and seemed to have led a life
void of physical activity. He believed that the day should consist of times for
both contemplation and making a positive change in the world around him. And so,
he portioned his days accordingly. The first part of the day he spent in prayer,
and the rest of the day he devoted to his writing and study. This division of
thought was the monk's practice for almost the last fifty years of his life.
Psalm
70 is actually a rewrite of a portion of Psalm 40 and was probably used for
liturgical purposes. But this last verse seems to have been a Psalm that fit
the life of Denys the Carthusian. I am not sure how he would read the first
portion of the verse, but I suspect that this was very much the reality that he
knew in the midst of his contemplation. This is not a statement about bank
accounts; it is about the reality of our spiritual existence. We are all poor
and in need of God. During his contemplative times, Denys would have understood
this. There is a reason why Denys started his day with contemplation; he knew
that he needed the strength that he would find there to relieve his spiritual poverty
and need, allowing him to function through the second part or the change portion
of his day.
The
second half of the verse Denys did write about. He said that God was his helper
in all of the good works that could be accomplished through him, he was his
deliverer from all of the evil ones, and that the cry of "Do not delay"
was the cry of every individual sinner. Denys understood that we desperately
need God's presence throughout our lives, and we depend on him to deliver us
from ourselves. He taught that "Lord Jesus, come quickly" is a prayer
that lives on the lips of all Christian believers.
Denys
was a prolific writer. He was buried upon his death in 1471, but 137 years
later, for some reason, his body was exhumed. Witnesses of the disinterment of
Denys reported that while most of the body had decayed and returned to dust,
the fingers he used in his writing, the thumb and forefinger on his right hand,
were perfectly preserved. It seemed that time had not yet caught up with the monk's
active fingers, or maybe there was just still so much left to write.
After seeing one of his commentaries, it is said that Pope Eugene IV
(1383-1447) declared, "Let Mother Church rejoice to have such a son."
Denys might have replied that his writings were only the result of a God who
had come to him, who helped him to do good and delivered him from the evil that
lurked all around him.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 86
Originally Published on May
2, 2016
