Chapter 106

Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, etc... That is, wilt thou, O God, who art always just, admit of the seat of iniquity: that is, of injustice, or unjust judges, to have any partnership with thee? Thou who framest, or makest, labour in commandment, that is, thou who obligest us to labour with all diligence to keep thy commandments.

93:21. They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood.

93:22. But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope.

93:23. And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.

Psalms Chapter 94

Venite exultemus.

An invitation to adore and serve God, and to hear his voice.

Praise of a canticle for David himself.

94:1. Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.

94:2. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.

94:3. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

94:4. For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.

94:5. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

94:6. Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.

94:7. For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

94:8. To day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:

94:9. As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.

94:10. Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.

94:11. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.

Psalms Chapter 95

Cantate Domino.

An exhortation to praise God for the coming of Christ and his kingdom.

95:1. A canticle for David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth.

When the house was built, etc... Alluding to that time, and then ordered to be sung: but principally relating to the building of the church of Christ, after our redemption from the captivity of Satan.

95:2. Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day.

95:3. Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people.

95:4. For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

95:5. For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens.

95:6. Praise and beauty are before him: holiness and majesty in his sanctuary.

95:7. Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour:

95:8. Bring to the Lord glory unto his name. Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts:

95:9. Adore ye the Lord in his holy court. Let all the earth be moved at his presence.

95:10. Say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people with justice.

95:11. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, let the sea be moved, and the fulness thereof:

95:12. The fields and all things that are in them shall be joyful. Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoice

95:13. before the face of the Lord, because he cometh: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with his truth.

Psalms Chapter 96

Dominus regnavit.

All are invited to rejoice at the glorious coming and reign of Christ.

96:1. For the same David, when his land was restored again to him. The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad.

96:2. Clouds and darkness are round about him: justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne.

Clouds and darkness... The coming of Christ in the clouds with great terror and majesty to judge the world, is here prophesied.

96:3. A fire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round about.

96:4. His lightnings have shone forth to the world: the earth saw and trembled.

96:5. The mountains melted like wax, at the presence of the Lord: at the presence of the Lord of all the earth.

96:6. The heavens declared his justice: and all people saw his glory.

96:7. Let them be all confounded that adore graven things, and that glory in their idols. Adore him, all you his angels:

96:8. Sion heard, and was glad. And the daughters of Juda rejoiced, because of thy judgments, O Lord.

96:9. For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth: thou art exalted exceedingly above all gods.

96:10. You that love the Lord, hate evil: the Lord preserveth the souls of his saints, he will deliver them out of the hand of the sinner.

96:11. Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart.

96:12. Rejoice, ye just, in the Lord: and give praise to the remembrance of his holiness.

Psalms Chapter 97

Cantate Domino.

All are again invited to praise the Lord, for the victories of Christ.

97:1. A psalm for David himself. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: because he hath done wonderful things. His right hand hath wrought for him salvation, and his arm is holy.

97:2. The Lord hath made known his salvation: he hath revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles.

97:3. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

97:4. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; make melody, rejoice and sing.

97:5. Sing praise to the Lord on the harp, on the harp, and with the voice of a psalm:

97:6. With long trumpets, and sound of cornet. Make a joyful noise before the Lord our king:

97:7. Let the sea be moved and the fullness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein.

97:8. The rivers shall clap their hands, the mountains shall rejoice together

97:9. At the presence of the Lord: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with equity.

Psalms Chapter 98

Dominus regnavit.

The reign of the Lord in Sion: that is, of Christ in his church.

98:1. A psalm for David himself. The Lord hath reigned, let the people be angry: he that sitteth on the cherubims: let the earth be moved.

Let the people be angry... Though many enemies rage, and the whole earth be stirred up to oppose the reign of Christ, he shall still prevail.

98:2. The lord is great in Sion, and high above all people.

98:3. Let them give praise to thy great name: for it is terrible and holy:

98:4. And the king's honour loveth judgment. Thou hast prepared directions: thou hast done judgment and justice in Jacob.

Loveth judgment... Requireth discretion.-Ibid. Directions... Most right and just laws to direct men.

98:5. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore his footstool, for it is holy.

Adore his footstool... The ark of the covenant was called, in the Old Testament, God's footstool: over which he was understood to sit, on his propitiatory, or mercy seat, as on a throne, between the wings of the cherubims, in the sanctuary: to which the children of Israel paid a great veneration. But as this psalm evidently relates to Christ, and the New Testament, where the ark has no place, the holy fathers understand this text, of the worship paid by the church to the body and blood of Christ in the sacred mysteries: inasmuch as the humanity of Christ is, as it were, the footstool of the divinity. So St. Ambrose, L. 3. De Spiritu Sancto, c. 12. And St. Augustine upon this psalm.

98:6. Moses and Aaron among his priests: and Samuel among them that call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he heard them:

Moses and Aaron among his priests... By this it is evident, that Moses also was a priest, and indeed the chief priest, inasmuch as he consecrated Aaron, and offered sacrifice for him. Lev. 8. So that his pre-eminence over Aaron makes nothing for lay church headship.

98:7. He spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud. They kept his testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them.

98:8. Thou didst hear them, O Lord our God: thou wast a merciful God to them, and taking vengeance on all their inventions.

All their inventions... that is, all the enterprises of their enemies against them, as in the case of Core, Dathan, and Abiron.

98:9. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore at his holy mountain: for the Lord our God is holy.

Psalms Chapter 99

Jubilate Deo.

All are invited to rejoice in God the creator of all.

99:1. A psalm of praise.

99:2. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth: serve ye the Lord with gladness. Come in before his presence with exceeding great joy.

99:3. Know ye that the Lord he is God: he made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

99:4. Go ye into his gates with praise, into his courts with hymns: and give glory to him. Praise ye his name:

99:5. For the Lord is sweet, his mercy endureth for ever, and his truth to generation and generation.

Psalms Chapter 100

Misericordiam et judicium.

The prophet exhorteth all by his example, to follow mercy and justice.

100:1. A psalm for David himself. Mercy and judgment I will sing to thee, O Lord: I will sing,

100:2. And I will understand in the unspotted way, when thou shalt come to me. I walked in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house.

I will understand, etc... That is, I will apply my mind, I will do my endeavour, to know and to follow the perfect way of thy commandments: not trusting to my own strength, but relying on thy coming to me by thy grace.

100:3. I will not set before my eyes any unjust thing: I hated the workers of iniquities.

100:4. The perverse heart did not cleave to me: and the malignant, that turned aside from me, I would not know.

100:5. The man that in private detracted his neighbour, him did I persecute. With him that had a proud eye, and an unsatiable heart, I would not eat.

100:6. My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to sit with me: the man that walked in the perfect way, he served me.

100:7. He that worketh pride shall not dwell in the midst of my house: he that speaketh unjust things did not prosper before my eyes.

100:8. In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land: that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.

Psalms Chapter 101

Domine, exaudi.

A prayer for one in affliction: the fifth penitential psalm.

101:1. The prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and poured out his supplication before the Lord.

101:2. Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to thee.

101:3. Turn not away thy face from me: in the day when I am in trouble, incline thy ear to me. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily.

101:4. For my days are vanished like smoke, and my bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire.

101:5. I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I forgot to eat my bread.

101:6. Through the voice of my groaning, my bone hath cleaved to my flesh.

101:7. I am become like to a pelican of the wilderness: I am like a night raven in the house.

A pelican, etc... I am become through grief, like birds that affect solitude and darkness.

101:8. I have watched, and am become as a sparrow all alone on the housetop.

101:9. All the day long my enemies reproached me: and they that praised me did swear against me.

101:10. For I did eat ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.

101:11. Because of thy anger and indignation: for having lifted me up thou hast thrown me down.

101:12. My days have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like grass.

101:13. But thou, O Lord, endurest for ever: and thy memorial to all generations.

101:14. Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion: for it is time to have mercy on it, for the time is come.

101:15. For the stones thereof have pleased thy servants: and they shall have pity on the earth thereof.

101:16. All the Gentiles shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

101:17. For the Lord hath built up Sion: and he shall be seen in his glory.

101:18. He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he hath not despised their petition.

101:19. Let these things be written unto another generation: and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord:

101:20. Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the Lord hath looked upon the earth.

101:21. That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain:

101:22. That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion: and his praise in Jerusalem;

101:23. When the people assemble together, and kings, to serve the Lord.

101:24. He answered him in the way of his strength: Declare unto me the fewness of my days.

He answered him in the way of his strength... That is, the people, mentioned in the foregoing verse, or the penitent, in whose person this psalm is delivered, answered the Lord in the way of his strength: that is, according to the best of his power and strength: or when he was in the flower of his age and strength: inquiring after the fewness of his days: to know if he should live long enough to see the happy restoration of Sion, etc.

101:25. Call me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are unto generation and generation.

101:26. In the beginning, O Lord, thou foundedst the earth: and the heavens are the works of thy hands.

101:27. They shall perish but thou remainest: and all of them shall grow old like a garment: And as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed.

101:28. But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail.

101:29. The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be directed for ever.

Psalms Chapter 102

Benedic, anima.

Thanksgiving to God for his mercies.

102:1. For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless his holy name.

102:2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee.

102:3. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases.

102:4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion.

102:5. Who satisfieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's.

102:6. The Lord doth mercies, and judgment for all that suffer wrong.

102:7. He hath made his ways known to Moses: his wills to the children of Israel.

102:8. The Lord is compassionate and merciful: longsuffering and plenteous in mercy.

102:9. He will not always be angry: nor will he threaten for ever.

102:10. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

102:11. For according to the height of the heaven above the earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him.

102:12. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our iniquities from us.

102:13. As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him:

102:14. For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust:

102:15. Man's days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he flourish.

102:16. For the spirit shall pass in him, and he shall not be: and he shall know his place no more.

102:17. But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him: And his justice unto children's children,

102:18. To such as keep his covenant, And are mindful of his commandments to do them.

102:19. The lord hath prepared his throne in heaven: and his kingdom shall rule over all.

102:20. Bless the Lord, all ye his angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute his word, hearkening to the voice of his orders.

102:21. Bless the Lord, all ye his hosts: you ministers of his that do his will.

102:22. Bless the Lord, all his works: in every place of his dominion, O my soul, bless thou the Lord.

Psalms Chapter 103

Benedic, anima.

God is to be praised for his mighty works, and wonderful providence.

103:1. For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: O Lord my God, thou art exceedingly great. Thou hast put on praise and beauty:

103:2. And art clothed with light as with a garment. Who stretchest out the heaven like a pavilion:

103:3. Who coverest the higher rooms thereof with water. Who makest the clouds thy chariot: who walkest upon the wings of the winds.

103:4. Who makest thy angels spirits: and thy ministers a burning fire.

103:5. Who hast founded the earth upon its own bases: it shall not be moved for ever and ever.

103:6. The deep like a garment is its clothing: above the mountains shall the waters stand.

103:7. At thy rebuke they shall flee: at the voice of thy thunder they shall fear.

103:8. The mountains ascend, and the plains descend into the place which thou hast founded for them.

103:9. Thou hast set a bound which they shall not pass over; neither shall they return to cover the earth.

103:10. Thou sendest forth springs in the vales: between the midst of the hills the waters shall pass.

103:11. All the beasts of the field shall drink: the wild asses shall expect in their thirst.

103:12. Over them the birds of the air shall dwell: from the midst of the rocks they shall give forth their voices.

103:13. Thou waterest the hills from thy upper rooms: the earth shall be filled with the fruit of thy works:

103:14. Bringing forth grass for cattle, and herb for the service of men. That thou mayst bring bread out of the earth:

103:15. And that wine may cheer the heart of man. That he may make the face cheerful with oil: and that bread may strengthen man's heart.

103:16. The trees of the field shall be filled, and the cedars of Libanus which he hath planted:

103:17. There the sparrows shall make their nests. The highest of them is the house of the heron.

103:18. The high hills are a refuge for the harts, the rock for the irchins.

103:19. He hath made the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

103:20. Thou hast appointed darkness, and it is night: in it shall all the beasts of the woods go about:

103:21. The young lions roaring after their prey, and seeking their meat from God.

103:22. The sun ariseth, and they are gathered together: and they shall lie down in their dens.

103:23. Man shall go forth to his work, and to his labour until the evening.

103:24. How great are thy works, O Lord? thou hast made all things in wisdom: the earth is filled with thy riches.

103:25. So is this great sea, which stretcheth wide its arms: there are creeping things without number: Creatures little and great.

103:26. There the ships shall go. This sea dragon which thou hast formed to play therein.

103:27. All expect of thee that thou give them food in season.

103:28. What thou givest to them they shall gather up: when thou openest thy hand, they shall all be filled with good.

103:29. But if thou turnest away thy face, they shall be troubled: thou shalt take away their breath, and they shall fail, and shall return to their dust.

103:30. Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

103:31. May the glory of the Lord endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.

103:32. He looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble: he troubleth the mountains, and they smoke.

103:33. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

103:34. Let my speech be acceptable to him: but I will take delight in the Lord.

103:35. Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the unjust, so that they be no more: O my soul, bless thou the Lord.

Psalms Chapter 104

Confitemini Domino.

A thanksgiving to God for his benefits to his people Israel.

Alleluia.

104:1. Give glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: declare his deeds among the Gentiles.

104:2. Sing to him, yea sing praises to him: relate all his wondrous works.

104:3. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

104:4. Seek ye the lord, and be strengthened: seek his face evermore.

104:5. Remember his marvellous works which he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.

104:6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant; ye sons of Jacob his chosen.

104:7. He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth.

104:8. He hath remembered his covenant for ever: the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

104:9. Which he made to Abraham; and his oath to Isaac:

104:10. And he appointed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting testament:

104:11. Saying: To thee will I give the land of Chanaan, the lot of your inheritance.

104:12. When they were but a small number: yea very few, and sojourners therein:

104:13. And they passed from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people.

104:14. He suffered no man to hurt them: and he reproved kings for their sakes.

104:15. Touch ye not my anointed: and do no evil to my prophets.

104:16. And he called a famine upon the land: and he broke in pieces all the support of bread.

104:17. He sent a man before them: Joseph, who was sold for a slave.

104:18. They humbled his feet in fetters: the iron pierced his soul,

104:19. Until his word came. The word of the Lord inflamed him.

104:20. The king sent, and he released him: the ruler of the people, and he set him at liberty.

104:21. He made him master of his house, and ruler of all his possession.

104:22. That he might instruct his princes as himself, and teach his ancients wisdom.

104:23. And Israel went into Egypt: and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Cham.

104:24. And he increased his people exceedingly: and strengthened them over their enemies.

104:25. He turned their heart to hate his people: and to deal deceitfully with his servants.

He turned their heart, etc... Not that God (who is never the author of sin) moved the Egyptians to hate and persecute his people; but that the Egyptians took occasion of hating and envying them, from the sight of the benefits which God bestowed upon them.

104:26. He sent Moses his servant: Aaron the man whom he had chosen.

104:27. He gave them power to shew them signs, and his wonders in the land of Cham.

104:28. He sent darkness, and made it obscure: and grieved not his words.

Grieved not his words... That is, he was not wanting to fulfil his words: or he did not grieve Moses and Aaron, the carriers of his words: or he did not grieve his words, that is, his sons, the children of Israel, who enjoyed light whilst the Egyptians were oppressed with darkness.

104:29. He turned their waters into blood, and destroyed their fish.

104:30. Their land brought forth frogs, in the inner chambers of their kings.

104:31. He spoke, and there came divers sorts of flies and sciniphs in all their coasts.

Sciniphs... See the annotation, Ex.8.16.

104:32. He gave them hail for rain, a burning fire in the land.

104:33. And he destroyed their vineyards and their fig trees: and he broke in pieces the trees of their coasts.

104:34. He spoke, and the locust came, and the bruchus, of which there was no number.

Bruchus... An insect of the locust kind.

104:35. And they devoured all the grass in their land, and consumed all the fruit of their ground.

104:36. And he slew all the firstborn in their land: the firstfruits of all their labour.

104:37. And he brought them out with silver and gold: and there was not among their tribes one that was feeble.

104:38. Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them lay upon them.

104:39. He spread a cloud for their protection, and fire to give them light in the night.

104:40. They asked, and the quail came: and he filled them with the bread of heaven.

104:41. He opened the rock, and waters flowed: rivers ran down in the dry land.

104:42. Because he remembered his holy word, which he had spoken to his servant Abraham.