Chapter 2

12:4. Consider, and hear me, O Lord, my God. Enlighten my eyes, that I never sleep in death:

12:5. Lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him. They that trouble me, will rejoice when I am moved:

12:6. But I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation: I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: yea, I will sing to the name of the Lord, the most high.

Psalms Chapter 13

Dixit insipiens.

The general corruption of man before our redemption by Christ.

13:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God. They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one.

13:2. The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God.

13:3. They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good: no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they acted deceitfully: the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.

13:4. Shall not all they know that work iniquity, who devour my people as they eat bread?

13:5. They have not called upon the Lord: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear.

13:6. For the Lord is in the just generation: you have confounded the counsel of the poor man; but the Lord is his hope.

13:7. Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when the Lord shall have turned away the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Psalms Chapter 14

Domine, quis habitabit.

What kind of men shall dwell in the heavenly Sion.

14:1. A psalm for David. Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or who shall rest in thy holy hill?

14:2. He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:

14:3. He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.

14:4. In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing: but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his neighbour, and deceiveth not;

14:5. He that hath not put out his money to usury, nortaken bribes against the innocent: He that doth these things, shall not be moved for ever.

Psalms Chapter 15

Conserva me, Domine.

Christ's future victory and triumph over the world and death.

15:1. The inscription of a title to David himself. Preserve me, O Lord, for I have put my trust in thee.

The inscription of a title. . .That is, of a pillar or monument, staylographia: which is as much as to say, that this psalm is most worthy to be engraved on an everlasting monument.

15:2. I have said to the Lord, thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods.

15:3. To the saints, who are in his land, he hath made wonderful all my desires in them.

15:4. Their infirmities were multiplied: afterwards they made haste. I will not gather together their meetings for bloodofferings: nor will I be mindful of their names by my lips.

15:5. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me.

15:6. The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places: for my inheritance is goodly to me.

15:7. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding: moreover, my reins also have corrected me even till night.

15:8. I set the Lord always in my sight: for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved.

15:9. Therefore my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced: moreover, my flesh also shall rest in hope.

15:10. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nor wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption.

15:11. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end.

Psalms Chapter 16

Exaudi, Domine, justitiam.

A just man's prayer in tribulation against the malice of his enemy.

16:1. The prayer of David. Hear, O Lord, my justice: attend to my supplication. Give ear unto my prayer, which proceedeth not from deceitful lips.

16:2. Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance: let thy eyes behold the things that are equitable.

16:3. Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me.

16:4. That my mouth may not speak the works of men: for the sake of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways.

16:5. Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: that my footsteps be not moved.

16:6. I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline thy ear unto me, and hear my words.

16:7. Shew forth thy wonderful mercies; thou who savest them that trust in thee.

16:8. From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of thy wings.

16:9. From the face of the wicked who have afflicted me. My enemies have surrounded my soul:

16:10. They have shut up their fat: their mouth hath spoken proudly.

Their fat. . .That is, their bowels of compassion: for they have none for me.

16:11. They have cast me forth, and now they have surrounded me: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth.

16:12. They have taken me, as a lion prepared for the prey; and as a young lion dwelling in secret places.

16:13. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him and supplant him; deliver my soul from the wicked one; thy sword

16:14. From the enemies of thy hand. O Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life: their belly is filled from thy hidden stores. They are full of children: and they have left to their little ones the rest of their substance.

Divide them from the few, etc. . .That is, cut them off from the earth, and the few trifling things thereof; which they are so proud of, or divide them from the few; that is, from thy elect, who are but few; that they may no longer have it in their power to oppress them. It is not meant by way of a curse or imprecation; but, as many other the like passages in the psalms, by way of a prediction, or prophecy of what should come upon them, in punishment of their wickedness. Ibid. Thy hidden stores. . .Thy secret treasures, out of which thou furnishest those earthly goods, which, with a bountiful hand thou hast distributed both to the good and the bad.

16:15. But as for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear.

Psalms Chapter 17

Diligam te, Domine.

David's thanks to God for his delivery from all his enemies.

17:1. Unto the end, for David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: and he said:

17:2. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength:

17:3. The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. My God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust. My protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support.

17:4. Praising, I will call upon the Lord: and I shall be saved from my enemies.

17:5. The sorrows of death surrounded me: and the torrents of iniquity troubled me.

17:6. The sorrows of hell encompassed me: and the snares of death prevented me.

17:7. In my affliction I called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God: And he heard my voice from his holy temple: and my cry before him came into his ears.

17:8. The earth shook and trembled: the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because he was angry with them.

17:9. There went up a smoke in his wrath: and a fire flamed from his face: coals were kindled by it.

17:10. He bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet.

17:11. And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds.

17:12. And he made darkness his covert, his pavilion round about him: dark waters in the clouds of the air.

17:13. At the brightness that was before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire.

17:14. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Highest gave his voice: hail and coals of fire.

17:15. And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: he multiplied lightnings, and troubled them.

17:16. Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were discovered: At thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the spirit of thy wrath.

17:17. He sent from on high, and took me: and received me out of many waters.

17:18. He delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

17:19. They prevented me in the day of my affliction: and the Lord became my protector.

17:20. And he brought me forth into a large place: he saved me, because he was well pleased with me.

17:21. And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; and will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands:

17:22. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord; and have not done wickedly against my God.

17:23. For all his judgments are in my sight: and his justices I have not put away from me.

17:24. And I shall be spotless with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity.

17:25. And the Lord will reward me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.

17:26. With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent:

17:27. And withe the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.

17:28. For thou wilt save the humble people; but wilt bring down the eyes of the proud.

17:29. For thou lightest my lamp, O Lord: O my God, enlighten my darkness.

17:30. For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; and through my God I shall go over a wall.

17:31. As for my God, his way is undefiled: the words of the Lord are fire-tried: he is the protector of all that trust in him.

17:32. For who is God but the Lord? or who is God but our God?

17:33. God, who hath girt me with strength; and made my way blameless.

17:34. Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: and who setteth me upon high places.

17:35. Who teacheth my hands to war: and thou hast made my arms like a brazen bow.

17:36. And thou hast given me the protection of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath held me up: And thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end: and thy discipline, the same shall teach me.

17:37. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet are not weakened.

17:38. I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them: and I will not turn again till they are consumed.

17:39. I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet.

17:40. And thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; and hast subdued under me them that rose up against me.

17:41. And thou hast made my enemies furn their back upon me, and hast destroyed them that hated me.

17:42. They cried, but there was none to save them, to the Lord: but he heard them not.

17:43. And I shall beat them as small as the dust before the wind; I shall bring them to nought, like the dirt in the streets.

17:44. Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people; thou wilt make me head of the Gentiles.

17:45. A people which I knew not, hath served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.

17:46. The children that are strangers have lied to me, strange children have faded away, and have halted from their paths.

17:47. The Lord liveth, and blessed by my God, and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

17:48. O God, who avengest me, and subduest the people under me, my deliverer from my enraged enemies.

17:49. And thou wilt lift me up above them that rise up against me: from the unjust man thou wilt deliver me.

17:50. Therefore will I give glory to thee, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing a psalm to thy name.

17:51. Giving great deliverance to his king, and shewing mercy to David, his anointed: and to his seed for ever.

Psalms Chapter 18

Coeli enarrant.

The works of God shew forth his glory: his law is greatly to be esteemed and loved.

18:1. Unto the end. A Psalm for David.

18:2. The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands.

18:3. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge.

18:4. There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard.

18:5. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world.

18:6. He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he as a bridegroom coming out of his bridechamber, Hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way:

18:7. His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his heat.

18:8. The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones.

18:9. The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes.

18:10. The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves.

18:11. More to be desired than gold and many precious stones: and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

18:12. For thy servant keepeth them, and in keeping them there is a great reward.

18:13. Who can understand sins? from my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord:

18:14. And from those of others spare thy servant. If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot: and I shall be cleansed form the greatest sin.

18:15. And the words of my mouth shall be such as may please: and the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. O Lord, my helper and my Redeemer.

Psalms Chapter 19

Exaudiat te Dominus.

A prayer for the king.

19:1. Unto the end. A psalm for David.

19:2. May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation: may the name of the God of Jacob protect thee.

19:3. May he send thee help from the sanctuary: and defend thee out of Sion.

19:4. May he be mindful of all thy sacrifices: and may thy whole burntoffering be made fat.

19:5. May he give thee according to thy own heart; and confirm all thy counsels.

19:6. We will rejoice in thy salvation; and in the name of our God we shall be exalted.

19:7. The Lord fulfil all thy petitions: now have I known that the Lord hath saved his anointed. He will hear him from his holy heaven: the salvation of his right hand is in powers.

The salvation of his right hand is in powers. . .That is, in strength. His right hand is strong and mighty to save them that trust in him.

19:8. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord, our God.

19:9. They are bound, and have fallen: but we are risen, and are set upright. O Lord, save the king: and hear us in the day that we shall call upon thee.

Psalms Chapter 20

Domine, in virtute.

Praise to God for Christ's exaltation after his passion.

20:1. Unto the end. A psalm for David.

20:2. In thy strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.

20:3. Thou hast given him his heart's desire: and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips.

20:4. For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.

20:5. He asked life of thee: and thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever.

20:6. His glory is great in thy salvation: glory and great beauty shalt thou lay upon him.

20:7. For thou shalt give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: thou shalt make him joyful in gladness with thy countenance.

20:8. For the king hopeth in the Lord: and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.

20:9. Let thy hand be found by all thy enemies: let thy right hand find out all them that hate thee.

20:10. Thou shalt make them as an oven of fire, in the time of thy anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and fire shall devour them.

20:11. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth: and their seed from among the children of men.

20:12. For they have intended evils against thee: they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish.

20:13. For thou shalt make them turn their back: in thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face.

In thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face. . .Or thou shalt set thy remnants against their faces. That is, thou shalt make them see what punishments remain for them hereafter from thy justice. Instead of remnants, St. Jerome renders it funes, that is, cords or strings, viz., of the bow of divine justice, from which God directs his arrows against the faces of his enemies.

20:14. Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy own strength: we will sing and praise thy power.

Psalms Chapter 21

Deus Deus meus.

Christ's passion: and the conversion of the Gentiles.

21:1. Unto the end, for the morning protection, a psalm for David.

21:2. O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.

The words of my sins. . .That is, the sins of the world, which I have taken upon myself, cry out against me, and are the cause of all my sufferings.

21:3. O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.

21:4. But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.

21:5. In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.

21:6. They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

21:7. But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.

21:8. All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.

21:9. He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.

21:10. For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.

21:11. I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother's womb thou art my God,

21:12. Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.

21:13. Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.

21:14.They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring.

21:15. I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.

21:16. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.

21:17. For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.

21:18. They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me.

21:19. They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.

21:20. But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence.

21:21. Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.

21:22. Save me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.

21:23. I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee.

21:24. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him.

21:25. Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face form me: and when I cried to him he heard me.

21:26. With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him.

21:27. The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.

21:28. All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight.

21:29. For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations.

21:30. All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.

21:31. And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him.

21:32. There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.

Psalms Chapter 22

Dominus regit me.

God's spiritual benefits to faithful souls.

22:1. A psalm for David. The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing.

Ruleth me. . .In Hebrew, Is my shepherd, viz., to feed, guide, and govern me.

22:2. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment:

22:3. He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake.

22:4. For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.

22:5. Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebreateth me, how goodly is it!

22:6. And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.

Psalms Chapter 23

Domini est terra.

Who are they that shall ascend to heaven: Christ's triumphant ascension thither.

23:1. On the first day of the week, a psalm for David. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein.

23:2. For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers.

23:3. Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place?

23:4. The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.

23:5. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.

23:6. This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.

23:7. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.

23:8. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.

23:9. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.

23:10. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.

Psalms Chapter 24

Ad te, Domine, levavi.

A prayer for grace, mercy, and protection against our enemies.

24:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul.

24:2. In thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed.

24:3. Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on thee shall be confounded.

24:4. Let all them be confounded that act unjust things without cause. Shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths.

24:5. Direct me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art God my Saviour; and on thee have I waited all the day long.

24:6. Remember, O Lord, thy bowels of compassion; and thy mercies that are from the beginning of the world.

24:7. The sins of my youth and my ignorances do not remember. According to thy mercy remember thou me: for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.

24:8. The Lord is sweet and righteous: therefore he will give a law to sinners in the way.

24:9. He will guide the mild in judgment: he will teach the meek his ways.

24:10. All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to them that seek after his covenant and his testimonies.

24:11. For thy name's sake, O Lord, thou wilt pardon my sin: for it is great.

24:12. Who is the man that feareth the Lord? He hath appointed him a law in the way he hath chosen.