Chapter LI: Front Matter (51)

43:2. We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us, The work thou hast wrought in their days, and in the days of old.

43:3. Thy hand destroyed the Gentiles, and thou plantedst them: thou didst afflict the people and cast them out.

43:4. For they got not the possession of the land by their own sword: neither did their own arm save them. But thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance: because thou wast pleased with them.

43:5. Thou art thyself my king and my God, who commandest the saving of Jacob.

43:6. Through thee we will push down our enemies with the horn: and through thy name we will despise them that rise up against us.

43:7. For I will not trust in my bow: neither shall my sword save me.

43:8. But thou hast saved us from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us.

43:9. In God shall we glory all the day long: and in thy name we will give praise for ever.

43:10. But now thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame: and thou, O God, wilt not go out with our armies.

43:11. Thou hast made us turn our back to our enemies: and they that hated us plundered for themselves.

43:12. Thou hast given us up like sheep to be eaten: thou hast scattered us among the nations.

43:13. Thou hast sold thy people for no price: and there was no reckoning in the exchange of them.

43:14. Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scoff and derision to them that are round about us.

43:15. Thou hast made us a byword among the Gentiles: a shaking of the head among the people.

43:16. All the day long my shame is before me: and the confusion of my face hath covered me,

43:17. At the voice of him that reproacheth and detracteth me: at the face of the enemy and persecutor.

43:18. All these things have come upon us, yet we have not forgotten thee: and we have not done wickedly in thy covenant.

43:19. And our heart hath not turned back: neither hast thou turned aside our steps from thy way.

43:20. For thou hast humbled us in the place of affliction: and the shadow of death hath covered us.

43:21. If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread forth our hands to a strange god:

43:22. Shall not God search out these things: for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Because for thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

43:23. Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end.

43:24. Why turnest thou thy face away? and forgettest our want and our trouble?

43:25. For our soul is humbled down to the dust: our belly cleaveth to the earth.

43:26. Arise, O Lord, help us and redeem us for thy name’s sake.

Psalms Chapter 44

Eructavit cor meum.

The excellence of Christ’s kingdom, and the endowments of his church.

44:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved.

For them that shall be changed.... i.e., for souls happily changed, by being converted to God.—Ibid. The Beloved.... Viz., Our Lord Jesus Christ.

44:2. My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king: My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.

44:3. Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever.

44:4. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty.

44:5. With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.

44:6. Thy arrows are sharp: under thee shall people fall, into the hearts of the king’s enemies.

44:7. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.

44:8. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

44:9. Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses: out of which

44:10. The daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory. The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.

44:11. Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father’s house.

44:12. And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is the Lord thy God, and him they shall adore.

44:13. And the daughters of Tyre with gifts, yea, all the rich among the people, shall entreat thy countenance.

44:14. All the glory of the king’s daughter is within in golden borders,

44:15. Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee.

44:16. They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: they shall be brought into the temple of the king.

44:17. Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.

44:18. They shall remember thy name throughout all generations. Therefore shall people praise thee for ever; yea, for ever and ever.

Psalms Chapter 45

Deus noster refugium.

The church in persecution trusteth in the protection of God.

45:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core, for the hidden.

45:2. Our God is our refuge and strength: a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly.

45:3. Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled; and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea.

45:4. Their waters roared and were troubled: the mountains were troubled with his strength.

45:5. The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: the most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle.

45:6. God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved: God will help it in the morning early.

45:7. Nations were troubled, and kingdoms were bowed down: he uttered his voice, the earth trembled.

45:8. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector.

45:9. Come and behold ye the works of the Lord: what wonders he hath done upon earth,

45:10. Making wars to cease even to the end of the earth. He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons: and the shield he shall burn in the fire.

45:11. Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.

45:12. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector.

Psalms Chapter 46

Omnes gentes, plaudite.

The Gentiles are invited to praise God for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ.

46:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core.

46:2. O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy,

46:3. For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.

46:4. He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under our feet.

46:5. He hath chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob which he hath loved.

46:6. God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet.

46:7. Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye.

46:8. For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely.

46:9. God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne.

46:10. The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God of Abraham: for the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted.

Psalms Chapter 47

Magnus Dominus.

God is greatly to be praised for the establishment of his church.

47:1. A psalm of a canticle, for the sons of Core, on the second day of the week.

47:2. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.

47:3. With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.

47:4. In her houses shall God be known, when he shall protect her.

47:5. For behold the kings of the earth assembled themselves: they gathered together.

47:6. So they saw, and they wondered, they were troubled, they were moved:

47:7. Trembling took hold of them. There were pains as of a woman in labour.

47:8. With a vehement wind thou shalt break in pieces the ships of Tharsis.

47:9. As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God hath founded it for ever.

47:10. We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple.

47:11. According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice.

47:12. Let mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Juda be glad; because of thy judgments, O Lord.

47:13. Surround Sion, and encompass her: tell lye in her towers.

47:14. Set your hearts on her strength; and distribute her houses, that ye may relate it in another generation.

47:15. For this is God, our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever: he shall rule us for evermore.

Psalms Chapter 48

Audite haec, omnes gentes.

The folly of worldlings, who live on in sin, without thinking of death or hell.

48:1. Unto the end, a psalm for the sons of Core.

48:2. Hear these things, all ye nations: give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world.

48:3. All you that are earthborn, and you sons of men: both rich and poor together.

48:4. My mouth shall speak wisdom: and the meditation of my heart understanding.

48:5. I will incline my ear to a parable; I will open my proposition on the psaltery.

48:6. Why shall I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me.

The iniquity of my heel.... That is, the iniquity of my steps or ways: or the iniquity of my pride, with which as with the heel, I have spurned and kicked at my neighbours: or the iniquity of my heel, that is, the iniquity in which I shall be found in death. The meaning of this verse is, Why should I now indulge those passions and sinful affections, or commit now those sins, which will cause me so much fear and anguish in the evil day; when the sorrows of death shall compass me, and the perils of hell shall find me?

48:7. They that trust in their own strength, and glory in the multitude of their riches,

They that trust, etc.... As much as to say, let them fear that trust in their strength or riches: for they have great reason to fear: seeing no brother or other man, how much a friend soever, can by any price or labour rescue them from death.

48:8. No brother can redeem, nor shall man redeem: he shall not give to God his ransom,

48:9. Nor the price of the redemption of his soul: and shall labour for ever,

And shall labour for ever, etc.... This seems to be a continuation of the foregoing sentence: as much as to say no man can by any price or ransom prolong his life, that so he may still continue to labour here, and live to the end of the world. Others understand it of the eternal sorrows, and dying life of hell, which is the dreadful consequence of dying in sin.

48:10. And shall still live unto the end.

48:11. He shall not see destruction, when he shall see the wise dying: the senseless and the fool shall perish together: And they shall leave their riches to strangers:

He shall not see destruction, etc.... Or, shall he not see destruction? As much as to say, however thoughtless he may be of his death, he must not expect to escape; when even the wise and the good are not exempt from dying.

48:12. And their sepulchres shall be their houses for ever. Their dwelling places to all generations: they have called their lands by their names.

They have called, etc.... That is, they have left their names on their graves, which alone remain of their lands.

48:13. And man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them.

48:14. This way of theirs is a stumblingblock to them: and afterwards they shall delight in their mouth.

They shall delight in their mouth.... Notwithstanding the wretched way in which they walk, they shall applaud themselves with their mouths, and glory in their doings.

48:15. They are laid in hell like sheep: death shall feed upon them. And the just shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their help shall decay in hell from their glory.

In the morning.... That is, in the resurrection to a new life; when the just shall judge and condemn the wicked. Ibid. From their glory.... That is, when their short-lived glory in this world shall be past, and be no more.

48:16. But God will redeem my soul from the hand of hell, when he shall receive me.

48:17. Be not thou afraid, when a man shall be made rich, and when the glory of his house shall be increased.

48:18. For when he shall die he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him.

48:19. For in his lifetime his soul will be blessed: and he will praise thee when thou shalt do well to him.

48:20. He shall go in to the generations of his fathers: and he shall never see light.

48:21. Man when he was in honour did not understand: he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them.

Psalms Chapter 49

Deus deorum.

The coming of Christ: who prefers virtue and inward purity before the blood of victims.

49:1. A psalm for Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken: and he hath called the earth. From the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof:

49:2. Out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty.

49:3. God shall come manifestly: our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn before him: and a mighty tempest shall be round about him.

49:4. He shall call heaven from above, and the earth, to judge his people.

49:5. Gather ye together his saints to him: who set his covenant before sacrifices.

49:6. And the heavens shall declare his justice: for God is judge.

49:7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak: O Israel, and I will testify to thee: I am God, thy God.

49:8. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices: and thy burnt offerings are always in my sight.

49:9. I will not take calves out of thy house: nor he goats out of thy flocks.

49:10. For all the beasts of the woods are mine: the cattle on the hills, and the oxen.

49:11. I know all the fowls of the air: and with me is the beauty of the field.

49:12. If I should be hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

49:13. Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks? or shall I drink the blood of goats?

49:14. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise: and pay thy vows to the most High.

49:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

49:16. But to the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth?

49:17. Seeing thou hast hated discipline: and hast cast my words behind thee.

49:18. If thou didst see a thief thou didst run with him: and with adulterers thou hast been a partaker.

49:19. Thy mouth hath abounded with evil, and thy tongue framed deceits.

49:20. Sitting thou didst speak against thy brother, and didst lay a scandal against thy mother’s son:

49:21. These things hast thou done, and I was silent. Thou thoughtest unjustly that I should be like to thee: but I will reprove thee, and set before thy face.

49:22. Understand these things, you that forget God; lest he snatch you away, and there be none to deliver you.

49:23. The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me: and there is the way by which I will shew him the salvation of God.

Psalms Chapter 50

Miserere.

The repentance and confession of David after his sin. The fourth penitential psalm.

50:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David,

50:2. When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had sinned with Bethsabee. [2 Kings 12.]

50:3. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.

50:4. Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

50:5. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.

50:6. To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art judged.

50:7. For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me.

50:8. For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.

50:9. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.

50:10. To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.

50:11. Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

50:12. Create a clean heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels.

50:13. Cast me not away from thy face; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

50:14. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.

50:15. I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted to thee.

50:16. Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice.

50:17. O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise.

50:18. For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.

50:19. A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

50:20. Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

50:21. Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.

Psalms Chapter 51

Quid gloriaris.

David condemneth the wickedness of Doeg, and foretelleth his destruction.

51:1. Unto the end, understanding for David,

51:2. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul: David went to the house of Achimelech.

51:3. Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity?

51:4. All the day long thy tongue hath devised injustice: as a sharp razor, thou hast wrought deceit.

51:5. Thou hast loved malice more than goodness: and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness.

51:6. Thou hast loved all the words of ruin, O deceitful tongue.

51:7. Therefore will God destroy thee for ever: he will pluck thee out, and remove thee from thy dwelling place: and thy root out of the land of the living.

51:8. The just shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say:

51:9. Behold the man that made not God his helper: But trusted in the abundance of his riches: and prevailed in his vanity.

51:10. But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, yea for ever and ever.

51:11. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name, for it is good in the sight of thy saints.

Psalms Chapter 52

Dixit insipiens.

The general corruption of man before the coming of Christ.

52:1. Unto the end, for Maeleth, understandings to David. The fool said in his heart: There is no God.

Maeleth.... Or Machalath. A musical instrument, or a chorus of musicians, for St. Jerome renders it, per chorum.

52:2. They are corrupted, and become abominable in iniquities: there is none that doth good.

52:3. God looked down from heaven on the children of men: to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God.

52:4. All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together, there is none that doth good, no not one.

52:5. Shall not all the workers of iniquity know, who eat up my people as they eat bread?

52:6. They have not called upon God: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men: they have been confounded, because God hath despised them.

God hath scattered the bones, etc.... That is, God has brought to nothing the strength of all those that seek to please men, to the prejudice of their duty to their Maker.

52:7. Who will give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when God shall bring back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Psalms Chapter 53

Deus, in nomine tuo.

A prayer for help in distress.

53:1. Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David.

53:2. When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us? [1 Kings 23.19]

53:3. Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me in thy strength.

53:4. O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.

53:5. For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.

53:6. For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.

53:7. Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in thy truth.

53:8. I will freely sacrifice to thee, and will give praise, O God, to thy name: because it is good:

53:9. For thou hast delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye hath looked down upon my enemies.

Psalms Chapter 54

Exaudi, Deus.

A prayer of a just man under persecution from the wicked. It agrees to Christ persecuted by the Jews, and betrayed by Judas.

54:1. Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David.

54:2. Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication:

54:3. Be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled,

54:4. At the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were troublesome to me.

54:5. My heart is troubled within me: and the fear of death is fallen upon me.

54:6. Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered me.

54:7. And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?

54:8. Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness.

54:9. I waited for him that hath saved me from pusillanimity of spirit, and a storm.

54:10. Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city.

54:11. Day and night shall iniquity surround it upon its walls: and in the midst thereof are labour,

54:12. And injustice. And usury and deceit have not departed from its streets.

54:13. For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden my self from him.

54:14. But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar,

54:15. Who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of God we walked with consent.

54:16. Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell. For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them.

Let death, etc.... This, and such like imprecations which occur in the psalms, are delivered prophetically; that is, by way of foretelling the punishments which shall fall upon the wicked from divine justice, and approving the righteous ways of God: but not by way of ill will, or uncharitable curses, which the law of God disallows.

54:17. But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me.

54:18. Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and he shall hear my voice.

54:19. He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near to me: for among many they were with me.

Among many, etc.... That is, they that drew near to attack me were many in company all combined to fight against me.

54:20. God shall hear, and the Eternal shall humble them. For there is no change with them, and they have not feared God:

54:21. He hath stretched forth his hand to repay. They have defiled his covenant,

54:22. They are divided by the wrath of his countenance, and his heart hath drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts.

They are divided, etc.... Dispersed, scattered, and brought to nothing, by the wrath of God; who looks with indignation on their wicked and deceitful ways.

54:23. Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall not suffer the just to waver for ever.

54:24. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee, O Lord.

Psalms Chapter 55

Miserere mei, Deus.

A prayer of David in danger and distress.

55:1. Unto the end, for a people that is removed at a distance form the sanctuary: for David, for an inscription of a title (or pillar) when the Philistines held him in Geth.

55:2. Have mercy on me, O God, for man hath trodden me under foot; all the day long he hath afflicted me fighting against me.

55:3. My enemies have trodden on me all the day long; for they are many that make war against me.

55:4. From the height of the day I shall fear: but I will trust in thee.

The height of the day.... That is, even at noonday, when the sun is the highest, I am still in danger.

55:5. In God I will praise my words, in God I have put my trust: I will not fear what flesh can do against me.

My words.... The words or promises God has made in my favour.

55:6. All the day long they detested my words: all their thoughts were against me unto evil.

55:7. They will dwell and hide themselves: they will watch my heel. As they have waited for my soul,

55:8. For nothing shalt thou save them: in thy anger thou shalt break the people in pieces. O God,

For nothing shalt thou save them.... That is, since they lie in wait to ruin my soul, thou shalt for no consideration favour or assist them, but execute thy justice upon them.

55:9. I have declared to thee my life: thou hast set my tears in thy sight, As also in thy promise.

55:10. Then shall my enemies be turned back. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, behold I know thou art my God.

55:11. In God will I praise the word, in the Lord will I praise his speech. In God have I hoped, I will not fear what man can do to me.

55:12. In me, O God, are vows to thee, which I will pay, praises to thee:

55:13. Because thou hast delivered my soul from death, my feet from falling: that I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living.

Psalms Chapter 56

Miserere mei, Deus. The prophet prays in his affliction, and praises God for his delivery.

56:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title, when he fled from Saul into the cave. [1 Kings 24.]

Destroy not.... Suffer me not to be destroyed.

56:2. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me: for my soul trusteth in thee. And in the shadow of thy wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away.

56:3. I will cry to God the most high; to God who hath done good to me.

56:4. He hath sent from heaven and delivered me: he hath made them a reproach that trod upon me. God hath sent his mercy and his truth,

56:5. And he hath delivered my soul from the midst of the young lions. I slept troubled. The sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

56:6. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth.

56:7. They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my soul. They dug a pit before my face, and they are fallen into it.

56:8. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and rehearse a psalm.

56:9. Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will arise early.

56:10. I will give praise to thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing a psalm to thee among the nations.

56:11. For thy mercy is magnified even to the heavens: and thy truth unto the clouds.

56:12. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.

Psalms Chapter 57

Si vere utique.

David reproveth the wicked, and foretelleth their punishment.

57:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title.

57:2. If in very deed ye speak justice: judge right things, ye sons of men.

57:3. For in your heart you work iniquity: your hands forge injustice in the earth.

57:4. The wicked are alienated from the womb; they have gone astray from the womb: they have spoken false things.

57:5. Their madness is according to the likeness of a serpent: like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ears:

57:6. Which will not hear the voice of the charmers; nor of the wizard that charmeth wisely.

57:7. God shall break in pieces their teeth in their mouth: the Lord shall break the grinders of the lions.

57:8. They shall come to nothing, like water running down; he hath bent his bow till they be weakened.

57:9. Like wax that melteth they shall be taken away: fire hath fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun.

57:10. Before your thorns could know the brier; he swalloweth them up, as alive, in his wrath.

Before your thorns, etc.... That is, before your thorns grow up, so as to become strong briers, they shall be overtaken and consumed by divine justice, swallowing them up, as it were, alive in his wrath.

57:11. The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge: he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.

Shall wash his hands, etc.... Shall applaud the justice of God, and take occasion from the consideration of the punishment of the wicked to wash and cleanse his hands from sin.

57:12. And man shall say: If indeed there be fruit to the just: there is indeed a God that judgeth them on the earth.

Psalms Chapter 58

Eripe me.

A prayer to be delivered from the wicked, with confidence in God’s help and protection. It agrees to Christ and his enemies the Jews.

58:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David for an inscription of a title, when Saul sent and watched his house to kill him. [1 Kings 19.]

58:2. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me from them that rise up against me.

58:3. Deliver me from them that work iniquity, and save me from bloody men.

58:4. For behold they have caught my soul: the mighty have rushed in upon me:

58:5. Neither is it my iniquity, nor my sin, O Lord: without iniquity have I run, and directed my steps.

58:6. Rise up thou to meet me, and behold: even thou, O Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel. Attend to visit all the nations: have no mercy on all them that work iniquity.

58:7. They shall return at evening, and shall suffer hunger like dogs: and shall go round about the city.

58:8. Behold they shall speak with their mouth, and a sword is in their lips: for who, say they, hath heard us?

58:9. But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them: thou shalt bring all the nations to nothing.

58:10. I will keep my strength to thee: for thou art my protector:

58:11. My God, his mercy shall prevent me.

58:12. God shall let me see over my enemies: slay them not, lest at any time my people forget. Scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord, my protector:

58:13. For the sin of their mouth, and the word of their lips: and let them be taken in their pride. And for their cursing and lying they shall be talked of,

58:14. When they are consumed: when they are consumed by thy wrath, and they shall be no more. And they shall know that God will rule Jacob, and all the ends of the earth.

58:15. They shall return at evening and shall suffer hunger like dogs: and shall go round about the city.

58:16. They shall be scattered abroad to eat, and shall murmur if they be not filled.

58:17. But I will sing thy strength: and will extol thy mercy in the morning. For thou art become my support, and my refuge, in the day of my trouble.

58:18. Unto thee, O my helper, will I sing, for thou art God my defence: my God my mercy.

Psalms Chapter 59

Deus, repulisti nos.

After many afflictions, the church of Christ shall prevail.

59:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the inscription of a title, to David himself, for doctrine,

59:2. When he set fire to Mesopotamia of Syria and Sobal: and Joab returned and slew of Edom, in the vale of the saltpits, twelve thousand men.

59:3. O God, thou hast cast us off, and hast destroyed us; thou hast been angry, and hast had mercy on us.

59:4. Thou hast moved the earth, and hast troubled it: heal thou the breaches thereof, for it has been moved.

59:5. Thou hast shewn thy people hard things; thou hast made us drink the wine of sorrow.

59:6. Thou hast given a warning to them that fear thee: that they may flee from before the bow: That thy beloved may be delivered.

59:7. Save me with thy right hand, and hear me.

59:8. God hath spoken in his holy place: I will rejoice, and I will divide Sichem; and will mete out the vale of tabernacles.

59:9. Galaad is mine, and Manasses is mine: and Ephraim is the strength of my head. Juda is my king:

59:10. Moab is the pot of my hope. Into Edom will I stretch out my shoe: to me the foreigners are made subject.

The pot of my hope.... Or my watering pot. That is, a vessel for meaner uses, by being reduced to serve me, even in the meanest employments.—Ibid. Foreigners.... So the Philistines are called, who had no kindred with the Israelites; whereas the Edomites, Moabites, etc., were originally of the same family.

59:11. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

59:12. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go out with our armies?

59:13. Give us help from trouble: for vain is the salvation of man.

59:14. Through God we shall do mightily: and he shall bring to nothing them that afflict us.

Psalms Chapter 60

Exaudi, Deus.

A prayer for the coming of the kingdom of Christ, which shall have no end.

60:1. Unto the end, in hymns, for David.

60:2. Hear, O God, my supplication: be attentive to my prayer.

60:3. To thee have I cried from the ends of the earth: when my heart was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock. Thou hast conducted me;

60:4. For thou hast been my hope; a tower of strength against the face of the enemy.

60:5. In thy tabernacle I shall dwell for ever: I shall be protected under the covert of thy wings.

60:6. For thou, my God, hast heard my prayer: thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear thy name.

60:7. Thou wilt add days to the days of the king: his years even to generation and generation.

60:8. He abideth for ever in the sight of God: his mercy and truth who shall search?

60:9. So will I sing a psalm to thy name for ever and ever: that I may pay my vows from day to day.

Psalms Chapter 61

Nonne Deo.

The prophet encourageth himself and all others to trust in God, and serve him.

61:1. Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of David.

61:2. Shall not my soul be subject to God? for from him is my salvation.

61:3. For he is my God and my saviour: he is my protector, I shall be moved no more.

61:4. How long do you rush in upon a man? you all kill, as if you were thrusting down a leaning wall, and a tottering fence.

61:5. But they have thought to cast away my price; I ran in thirst: they blessed with their mouth, but cursed with their heart.

61:6. But be thou, O my soul, subject to God: for from him is my patience.

61:7. For he is my God and my saviour: he is my helper, I shall not be moved.

61:8. In God is my salvation and my glory: he is the God of my help, and my hope is in God.

61:9. Trust in him, all ye congregation of people: pour out your hearts before him. God is our helper for ever.

61:10. But vain are the sons of men, the sons of men are liars in the balances: that by vanity they may together deceive.

Are liars in the balances, etc.... They are so vain and light, that if they are put into the scales, they will be found to be of no weight; and to be mere lies, deceit, and vanity. Or, They are liars in their balances, by weighing things by false weights, and preferring the temporal before the eternal.

61:11. Trust not in iniquity, and cover not robberies: if riches abound, set not your heart upon them.

61:12. God hath spoken once, these two things have I heard, that power belongeth to God,

61:13. And mercy to thee, O Lord; for thou wilt render to every man according to his works.

Psalms Chapter 62

Deus Deus meus, ad te.

The prophet aspireth after God.

62:1. A psalm of David while he was in the desert of Edom.

62:2. O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!

62:3. In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.

62:4. For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips will praise.

62:5. Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands.

62:6. Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness: and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.

62:7. If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning:

62:8. Because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings:

62:9. My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.

62:10. But they have sought my soul in vain, they shall go into the lower parts of the earth:

62:11. They shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes.

62:12. But the king shall rejoice in God, all they shall be praised that swear by him: because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things.

Psalms Chapter 63

Exaudi Deus orationem.

A prayer in affliction, with confidence in God that he will bring to nought the machinations of persecutors.

63:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David.

63:2. Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.

63:3. Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.

63:4. For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing,

63:5. To shoot in secret the undefiled.

63:6. They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness. They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them?

63:7. They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall come to a deep heart:

A deep heart.... That is, crafty, subtle, deep projects and designs; which nevertheless shall not succeed; for God shall be exalted in bringing them to nought by his wisdom and power.

63:8. And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds:

The arrows of children are their wounds.... That is, the wounds, stripes, or blows, they seek to inflict upon the just, are but like the weak efforts of children’s arrows, which can do no execution: and their tongues, that is, their speeches against them come to nothing.

63:9. And their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw them were troubled;

63:10. And every man was afraid. And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings.

63:11. The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.

Psalms Chapter 64

Te decet.

God is to be praised in his church, to which all nations shall be called.

64:1. To the end, a psalm of David. The canticle of Jeremias and Ezechiel to the people of the captivity, when they began to go out.

Of the captivity.... That is, the people of the captivity of Babylon. This is not in the Hebrew, but is found in the ancient translation of the Septuagint.

64:2. A hymn, O God, becometh thee in Sion: and a vow shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem.

64:3. O hear my prayer: all flesh shall come to thee.

64:4. The words of the wicked have prevailed over us: and thou wilt pardon our transgressions.

64:5. Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee: he shall dwell in thy courts. We shall be filled with the good things of thy house; holy is thy temple,

64:6. Wonderful in justice. Hear us, O God our saviour, who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar off.

64:7. Thou who preparest the mountains by thy strength, being girded with power:

64:8. Who troublest the depth of the sea, the noise of its waves. The Gentiles shall be troubled,

64:9. And they that dwell in the uttermost borders shall be afraid at thy signs: thou shalt make the outgoings of the morning and of the evening to be joyful.

64:10. Thou hast visited the earth, and hast plentifully watered it; thou hast many ways enriched it. The river of God is filled with water, thou hast prepared their food: for so is its preparation.

64:11. Fill up plentifully the streams thereof, multiply its fruits; it shall spring up and rejoice in its showers.

64:12. Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy goodness: and thy fields shall be filled with plenty.

64:13. The beautiful places of the wilderness shall grow fat: and the hills shall be girded about with joy,

64:14. The rams of the flock are clothed, and the vales shall abound with corn: they shall shout, yea they shall sing a hymn.

Psalms Chapter 65

Jubilate Deo.

An invitation to praise God.

65:1. Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout with joy to God, all the earth,

65:2. Sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise.

65:3. Say unto God, How terrible are thy works, O Lord! in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee.

65:4. Let all the earth adore thee, and sing to thee: let it sing a psalm to thy name.

65:5. Come and see the works of God; who is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men.

65:6. Who turneth the sea into dry land, in the river they shall pass on foot: there shall we rejoice in him.

65:7. Who by his power ruleth for ever: his eyes behold the nations; let not them that provoke him be exalted in themselves.

65:8. O bless our God, ye Gentiles: and make the voice of his praise to be heard.

65:9. Who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered my feet to be moved:

65:10. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried.

65:11. Thou hast brought us into a net, thou hast laid afflictions on our back:

65:12. Thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment.

65:13. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,

65:14. Which my lips have uttered, And my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.

65:15. I will offer up to thee holocausts full of marrow, with burnt offerings of rams: I will offer to thee bullocks with goats.

65:16. Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul.

65:17. I cried to him with my mouth: and I extolled him with my tongue.

65:18. If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

65:19. Therefore hath God heard me, and hath attended to the voice of my supplication.

65:20. Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

Psalms Chapter 66

Deus misereatur.

A prayer for the propagation of the church.

66:1. Unto the end, in hymns, a psalm of a canticle for David.

66:2. May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us.

66:3. That we may know thy way upon earth: thy salvation in all nations.

66:4. Let people confess to thee, O God: let all people give praise to thee.

66:5. Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for thou judgest the people with justice, and directest the nations upon earth.

66:6. Let the people, O God, confess to thee: let all the people give praise to thee:

66:7. The earth hath yielded her fruit. May God, our God bless us,

66:8. May God bless us: and all the ends of the earth fear him.

Psalms Chapter 67

Exurgat Deus.

The glorious establishment of the church of the New Testament, prefigured by the benefits bestowed on the people of Israel.

67:1. Unto the end, a psalm of a canticle for David himself.

67:2. Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: and let them that hate him flee from before his face.

67:3. As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

67:4. And let the just feast, and rejoice before God: and be delighted with gladness.

67:5. Sing ye to God, sing a psalm to his name, make a way for him who ascendeth upon the west: the Lord is his name. Rejoice ye before him: but the wicked shall be troubled at his presence,

Who ascendeth upon the west.... Super occasum. St. Gregory understands it of Christ, who after his going down, like the sun, in the west, by his passion and death, ascended more glorious, and carried all before him. St. Jerome renders it, who ascendeth, or cometh up, through the deserts.

67:6. Who is the father of orphans, and the judge of widows. God in his holy place:

67:7. God who maketh men of one manner to dwell in a house: Who bringeth out them that were bound in strength; in like manner them that provoke, that dwell in sepulchres.

Of one manner.... That is, agreeing in faith, unanimous in love, and following the same manner of discipline. It is verified in the servants of God, living together in his house, which is the church. 1 Tim. 3.15.—Ibid. Them that were bound, etc.... The power and mercy of God appears in his bringing out of their captivity those that were strongly bound in their sins: and in restoring to his grace those whose behaviour had been most provoking; and who by their evil habits were not only dead, but buried in their sepulchres.

67:8. O God, when thou didst go forth in the sight of thy people, when thou didst pass through the desert:

67:9. The earth was moved, and the heavens dropped at the presence of the God of Sina, at the presence of the God of Israel.

67:10. Thou shalt set aside for thy inheritance a free rain, O God: and it was weakened, but thou hast made it perfect.

A free rain.... the manna, which rained plentifully from heaven, in favour of God’s inheritance, that is, of his people Israel: which was weakened indeed under a variety of afflictions, but was made perfect by God; that is, was still supported by divine providence, and brought on to the promised land. It agrees particularly to the church of Christ his true inheritance, which is plentifully watered with the free rain of heavenly grace; and through many infirmities, that is, crosses and tribulations, is made perfect, and fitted for eternal glory.

67:11. In it shall thy animals dwell; in thy sweetness, O God, thou hast provided for the poor.

In it, etc.... That is, in this church, which is thy fold and thy inheritance, shall thy animals, thy sheep, dwell: where thou hast plentifully provided for them.

67:12. The Lord shall give the word to them that preach good tidings with great power.

To them that preach good tidings.... Evangelizantibus. That is, to the preachers of the gospel; who receiving the word from the Lord, shall with great power and efficacy preach throughout the world the glad tidings of a Saviour, and of eternal salvation through him.

67:13. The king of powers is of the beloved, of the beloved; and the beauty of the house shall divide spoils.

The king of powers.... That is, the mighty King, the Lord of hosts, is of the beloved, of the beloved; that is, is on the side of Christ, his most beloved son: and his beautiful house, viz., the church, in which God dwells forever, shall by her spiritual conquests divide the spoils of many nations. The Hebrew (as it now stands pointed) is thus rendered, The kings of armies have fled, they have fled, and she that dwells at home (or the beauty of the house) shall divide the spoils.

67:14. If you sleep among the midst of lots, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of her back with the paleness of gold.

If you sleep among the midst of lots (intermedios cleros, etc.)... Viz., in such dangers and persecutions, as if your enemies were casting lots for your goods and persons: or in the midst of the lots, (intermedios terminos, as St. Jerome renders it,) that is, upon the very bounds or borders of the dominions of your enemies: you shall be secure nevertheless under the divine protection; and shall be enabled to fly away, like a dove, with glittering wings and feathers shining like the palest and most precious gold; that is, with great increase of virtue, and glowing with the fervour of charity.

67:15. When he that is in heaven appointeth kings over her, they shall be whited with snow in Selmon.

Kings over her.... That is, pastors and rulers over his church, viz., the apostles and their successors. Then by their ministry shall men be made whiter than the snow which lies on the top of the high mountain Selmon.

67:16. The mountain of God is a fat mountain. A curdled mountain, a fat mountain.