Chapter 12

118:168. I have kept thy commandments and thy testimonies: because all my ways are in thy sight.

TAU.

118:169. Let my supplication, O Lord, come near in thy sight: give me understanding according to thy word.

118:170. Let my request come in before thee; deliver thou me according to thy word.

118:171. My lips shall utter a hymn, when thou shalt teach me thy justifications.

118:172. My tongue shall pronounce thy word: because all thy commandments are justice.

118:173. Let thy hand be with me to save me; for I have chosen thy precepts.

118:174. I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my meditation.

118:175. My soul shall live and shall praise thee: and thy judgments shall help me.

118:176. I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost: seek thy servant, because I have not forgotten thy commandments.

Psalms Chapter 119

Ad Dominum.

A prayer in tribulation.

A gradual canticle.

A gradual canticle... The following psalms, in number fifteen, are called gradual psalms, or canticles, from the word gradus, signifying steps, ascensions, or degrees: either because they were appointed to be sung on the fifteen steps, by which the people ascended to the temple: or, that in the singing of them the voice was to be raised by certain steps or ascensions: or, that they were to be sung by the people returning from their captivity and ascending to Jerusalem, which was seated amongst mountains. The holy fathers, in a mystical sense, understand these steps, or ascensions, of the degrees by which Christians spiritually ascend to virtue and perfection; and to the true temple of God in the heavenly Jerusalem.

119:1. In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me.

119:2. O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue.

119:3. What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added to thee, to a deceitful tongue?

119:4. The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste.

119:5. Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar:

119:6. My soul hath been long a sojourner.

119:7. With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause.

Psalms Chapter 120

Levavi oculos.

God is the keeper of his servants.

A gradual canticle.

120:1. I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.

120:2. My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

120:3. May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee.

120:4. Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel.

120:5. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection upon thy right hand.

120:6. The sun shall not burn thee by day: nor the moon by night.

120:7. The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul.

120:8. May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; from henceforth now and for ever.

Psalms Chapter 121

Laetatus sum in his.

The desire and hope of the just for the coming of the kingdom of God, and the peace of his church.

121:1. A gradual canticle.

I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord.

121:2. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem.

121:3. Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together.

121:4. For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.

121:5. Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David.

121:6. Pray ye for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love thee.

121:7. Let peace be in thy strength: and abundance in thy towers.

121:8. For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of thee.

121:9. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee.

Psalms Chapter 122

Ad te levavi.

A prayer in affliction, with confidence in God.

A gradual canticle.

122:1. To thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven.

122:2. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.

122:3. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for we are greatly filled with contempt.

122:4. For our soul is greatly filled: we are a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud.

Psalms Chapter 123

Nisi quia Domini.

The church giveth glory to God for her deliverance, from the hands of her enemies.

123:1. A gradual canticle. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say:

123:2. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose up against us,

123:3. Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,

123:4. Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.

123:5. Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.

123:6. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth.

123:7. Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.

123:8. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalms Chapter 124

Qui confidunt.

The just are always under God's protection.

124:1. A gradual canticle. They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever that dwelleth

124:2. In Jerusalem. Mountains are round about it: so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth now and for ever.

124:3. For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the lot of the just: that the just may not stretch forth their hands to iniquity.

124:4. Do good, O Lord, to those that are good, and to the upright of heart.

124:5. But such as turn aside into bonds, the Lord shall lead out with the workers of iniquity: peace upon Israel.

Psalms Chapter 125

In convertendo.

The people of God rejoice at their delivery from captivity.

125:1. A gradual canticle. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Sion, we became like men comforted.

125:2. Then was our mouth filled with gladness; and our tongue with joy. Then shall they say among the Gentiles: The Lord hath done great things for them.

125:3. The Lord hath done great things for us: we are become joyful.

125:4. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as a stream in the south.

125:5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

125:6. Going they went and wept, casting their seeds.

125:7. But coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves.

Psalms Chapter 126

Nisi Dominus.

Nothing can be done without God's grace and blessing.

126:1. A gradual canticle of Solomon. Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.

126:2. It is vain for you to rise before light, rise ye after you have sitten, you that eat the bread of sorrow. When he shall give sleep to his beloved,

It is vain for you to rise before light... That is, your early rising, your labour and worldly solicitude, will be vain, that is, will avail you nothing, without the light, grace, and blessing of God.

126:3. Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb.

126:4. As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken.

126:5. Blessed is the man that hath filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate.

Psalms Chapter 127

Beati omnes.

The fear of God is the way to happiness.

127:1. A gradual canticle. Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.

127:2. For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.

127:3. Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house. Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table.

127:4. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

127:5. May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayst thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

127:6. And mayst thou see thy children's children, peace upon Israel.

Psalms Chapter 128

Saepe expugnaverunt.

The church of God is invincible: her persecutors come to nothing.

128:1. A gradual canticle. Often have they fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say.

128:2. Often have they fought against me from my youth: but they could not prevail over me.

128:3. The wicked have wrought upon my back: they have lengthened their iniquity.

128:4. The Lord who is just will cut the necks of sinners:

128:5. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Sion.

128:6. Let them be as grass upon the tops of houses: which withereth before it be plucked up:

128:7. Who with the mower filleth not his hand: nor he that gathereth sheaves his bosom.

128:8. And they that passed by have not said: The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we have blessed you in the name of the Lord.

Psalms Chapter 129

De profundis.

A prayer of a sinner, trusting in the mercies of God. The sixth penitential psalm.

129:1. A gradual canticle. Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord:

129:2. Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

129:3. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.

129:4. For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word: 129:5. my soul hath hoped in the Lord.

129:6. From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.

129:7. Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.

129:8. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Psalms Chapter 130

Domine, none est.

The prophet's humility.

130:1. A gradual canticle of David. Lord, my heart is not exalted: nor are my eyes lofty. Neither have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me.

130:2. If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul: As a child that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward in my soul. 130:3. Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth now and for ever.

Psalms Chapter 131

Memento, Domine.

A prayer for the fulfilling of the promise made to David.

131:1. A gradual canticle. O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness.

131:2. How he swore to the Lord, he vowed a vow to the God of Jacob:

131:3. If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house: if I shall go up into the bed wherein I lie:

131:4. If I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids,

131:5. Or rest to my temples: until I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

131:6. Behold we have heard of it in Ephrata: we have found it in the fields of the wood.

We have heard of it in Ephrata... When I was young, and lived in Bethlehem, otherwise called Ephrata, I heard of God's tabernacle and ark, and had a devout desire of seeking it; and accordingly I found it at Cariathiarim, the city of the woods: where it was till it was removed to Jerusalem. See 1 Par. 13.

131:7. We will go into his tabernacle: we will adore in the place where his feet stood.

131:8. Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place: thou and the ark, which thou hast sanctified.

131:9. Let thy priests be clothed with justice: and let thy saints rejoice.

131:10. For thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face of thy anointed.

131:11. The Lord hath sworn truth to David, and he will not make it void: of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne.

131:12. If thy children will keep my covenant, and these my testimonies which I shall teach them: Their children also for evermore shall sit upon thy throne.

131:13. For the Lord hath chosen Sion: he hath chosen it for his dwelling.

131:14. This is my rest for ever and ever: here will I dwell, for I have chosen it.

131:15. Blessing I will bless her widow: I will satisfy her poor with bread.

131:16. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall rejoice with exceeding great joy.

131:17. There will I bring forth a horn to David: I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.

131:18. His enemies I will clothe with confusion: but upon him shall my sanctification flourish.

Psalms Chapter 132

Ecce quam bonum.

The happiness of brotherly love and concord.

132:1. A gradual canticle of David. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity:

132:2. Like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, Which ran down to the skirt of his garment:

132:3. As the dew of Hermon, which descendeth upon mount Sion. For there the Lord hath commanded blessing, and life for evermore.

Psalms Chapter 133

Ecce nunc benedicite.

An exhortation to praise God continually.

133:1. A gradual canticle. Behold now bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord: Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

133:2. In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless ye the Lord.

133:3. May the Lord out of Sion bless thee, he that made heaven and earth.

Psalms Chapter 134

Laudate nomen.

An exhortation to praise God: the vanity of idols.

134:1. Alleluia. Praise ye the name of the Lord: O you his servants, praise the Lord:

134:2. You that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

134:3. Praise ye the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing ye to his name, for it is sweet.

134:4. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself: Israel for his own possession.

134:5. For I have known that the Lord is great, and our God is above all gods.

134:6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased he hath done, in heaven, in earth, in the sea, and in all the deeps.

134:7. He bringeth up clouds from the end of the earth: he hath made lightnings for the rain. He bringeth forth winds out of his stores:

134:8. He slew the firstborn of Egypt from man even unto beast.

134:9. He sent forth signs and wonders in the midst of thee, O Egypt: upon Pharao, and upon all his servants.

134:10. He smote many nations, and slew mighty kings:

134:11. Sehon king of the Amorrhites, and Og king of Basan, and all the kingdoms of Chanaan.

134:12. And gave their land for an inheritance, for an inheritance to his people Israel.

134:13. Thy name, O Lord, is for ever: thy memorial, O Lord, unto all generations.

134:14. For the Lord will judge his people, and will be entreated in favour of his servants.

134:15. The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of men's hands.

134:16. They have a mouth, but they speak not: they have eyes, but they see not.

134:17. They have ears, but they hear not: neither is there any breath in their mouths.

134:18. Let them that make them be like to them: and every one that trusteth in them.

134:19. Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron.

134:20. Bless the Lord, O house of Levi: you that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.

134:21. Blessed be the Lord out of Sion, who dwelleth in Jerusalem.

Psalms Chapter 135

Confitemini Domino.

God is to be praised for his wonderful works.

135:1. Alleluia. Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Praise the Lord... By this invitation to praise the Lord, thrice repeated, we profess the Blessed Trinity, One God in three distinct Persons, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

135:2. Praise ye the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:3. Praise ye the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:4. Who alone doth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:5. Who made the heavens in understanding: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:6. Who established the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:7. Who made the great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:8. The sun to rule the day: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:9. The moon and the stars to rule the night: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:10. Who smote Egypt with their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:11. Who brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:12. With a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:13. Who divided the Red Sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:14. And brought out Israel through the midst thereof: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:15. And overthrew Pharao and his host in the Red Sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:16. Who led his people through the desert: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:17. Who smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:18. And slew strong kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:19. Sehon king of the Amorrhites: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:20. And Og king of Basan: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:21. And he gave their land for an inheritance: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:22. For an inheritance to his servant Israel: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:23. For he was mindful of us in our affliction: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:24. And he redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:25. Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:26. Give glory to the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

135:27. Give glory to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalms Chapter 136

Super flumina.

The lamentation of the people of God in their captivity in Babylon.

A psalm of David, for Jeremias.

For Jeremias... For the time of Jeremias, and the captivity of Babylon.

136:1. Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:

136:2. On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.

136:3. For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.

136:4. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?

136:5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.

136:6. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.

136:7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

136:8. O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.

136:9. Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.

Dash thy little ones, etc... In the spiritual sense, we dash the little ones of Babylon against the rock, when we mortify our passions, and stifle the first motions of them, by a speedy recourse to the rock which is Christ.

Psalms Chapter 137

Confitebor tibi.

Thanksgiving to God for his benefits.

137:1. For David himself. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: for thou hast heard the words of my mouth. I will sing praise to thee in the sight of the angels:

137:2. I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to thy name. For thy mercy, and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all.

137:3. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shalt multiply strength in my soul.

137:4. May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.

137:5. And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.

137:6. For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low: and the high he knoweth afar off.

137:7. If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, thou wilt quicken me: and thou hast stretched forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies: and thy right hand hath saved me.

137:8. The Lord will repay for me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: O despise not the works of thy hands.

Psalms Chapter 138

Domine, probasti.

God's special providence over his servants.

138:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:

138:2. Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.

138:3. Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.

138:4. And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.

There is no speech, etc... Viz., unknown to thee: or when there is no speech in my tongue; yet my whole interior and my most secret thoughts are known to thee.

138:5. Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.

138:6. Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.

138:7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?

138:8 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.

138:9. If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:

138:10. Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.

138:11. And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.

138:12. But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.

138:13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother's womb.

138:14. I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.

138:15. My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.

138:16. Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.

138:17. But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.

138:18. I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with thee.

138:19. If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me:

138:20. Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain.

Because you say in thought, etc... Depart from me, you wicked, who plot against the servants of God, and think to cast them out of the cities of their habitation; as if they have received them in vain, and to no purpose.

138:21. Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thy enemies?

138:22. I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.

I have hated them... Not with an hatred of malice, but a zeal for the observance of God's commandments; which he saw were despised by the wicked, who are to be considered enemies to God.

138:23. Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.

138:24. And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.

Psalms Chapter 139

Eripe me, Domine.

A prayer to be delivered from the wicked.

139:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David.

139:2. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: rescue me from the unjust man.

139:3. Who have devised iniquities in their hearts: all the day long they designed battles.

139:4. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: the venom of asps is under their lips.

139:5. Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked: and from unjust men deliver me. Who have proposed to supplant my steps:

139:6. The proud have hidden a net for me. And they have stretched out cords for a snare: they have laid for me a stumblingblock by the wayside.

139:7. I said to the Lord: Thou art my God: hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication.

139:8. O Lord, Lord, the strength of my salvation: thou hast overshadowed my head in the day of battle.

139:9. Give me not up, O Lord, from my desire to the wicked: they have plotted against me; do not thou forsake me, lest they should triumph.

139:10. The head of them compassing me about: the labour of their lips shall overwhelm them.