Chapter 5

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 rick, 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 en 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 me 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.