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The Psalms come from the collections of songs used in the Temple of Jerusalem. Al-
though tradition has it that David regulated the liturgy just as he composed all the psalms, it
is more likely that the Levites—the “Sons of Asaph and Yedutun”—who were in charge of
the sacred music of the Temple, had a greater role in the writing and selection of the psalms.
With the passage of time, the psalms took on an overlay of personal piety, collective lamen-
tations and the expressions of another era.
As the prayer book of ancient Israel, the psalms fed Jewish piety as they did the prayer
of Jesus. To this day, they form the foundation of Christian liturgical prayer used by count-
less religious, priests and deacons as well as an increasing number of laity.
Not all Christians may find in the psalms the fulfillment of their own aspirations, but
adapting them for prayer, or better still, allowing them to educate and form one’s spiritual life
may prove to be more valuable. If we are to enter into a conversation with God, we would
benefit more by listening to Him and meditating his inspired words than by speaking of our
own worries.
The Psalms have come through the ages as a powerful means of prayer. If they do not
always satisfy our own sense of prayer, it is not necessarily a bad thing. If they manage to
unbalance even slightly our ingrained habits of piety, that is not a small gift. These psalms
may be capable of renewing our language and symbolism in a world where God is often a
stranger and people would prefer to be left alone, to pursue their own interests.
The Psalms have been collected into five books as one can see from the endings of each
book (cf Ps 41, 72, 106). Within different collections one sometimes finds nearly identical
Psalms and we can consider them as pairs.
The numbering of the psalms is slightly different in the Hebrew and Greek editions. We
have used the Hebrew numbering and placed the Greek number in parenthesis—the one most
often used in our Latin Liturgy.
86:6;
2
O Lord, listen to my words and way straight before me, for my ene-
84:4
hear my complaint, mies lie in wait.
3
give heed to my sighs, my King 10
Not a word of their mouth can Rom 3:13
and my God. be trusted, for their heart is full of
4
From daybreak you hear my mischief. Their tongue flatters with
voice, from dawn I am in your pres- deceit, but their throat is an open
ence watching for you. grave.
5
You are not a God who delights in 11
O Lord, make them pay for their
wickedness; evil has no place in you. guilt. Let their snares trap them. Cast
Pro 6:
6
The arrogant cannot stand be- them out for their many sins—for
16-19;
Mt 7:23; fore you. You hate all who do evil; their offense and rebellion.
Rev 21:8 7
you destroy all who speak false- 12
But for those who take refuge in 69:37;
119:132
hood, who thirst for blood and live on you, let them ever sing and rejoice.
lies; all of them the Lord detests. Let your deliverance shield them,
138:2;
8
But I, by your love and grace, that they may praise you in glad-
1K 8:
44, 48; may come into your house. In rever- ness—those who love your name, O
Dn 6:11 ence I bow down and worship at your Lord.
holy temple. 13
You bless all who live in right-
23:3;
9
Lead me, O Lord, through your eousness; your favor covers them as
Is 26:7
path of righteousness; make your a shield.
Jer 2
O Lord, in your anger do not re- 7
I am weary with moaning; I weep
10:24;
Ps 38:2 prove; nor punish me in your fury. every night, drenching my bed with
Jer 17:
3
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I tears.
14-15
have no strength left. O Lord, heal 8
My eyes have grown dim from
me, for my bones are in torment. troubles; I have weakened because
4
My soul also is greatly troubled. of my foes.
How long, O Lord, how long? How 9
Away from me, you evildoers, for 119:115;
Mt 7:23
long will you be? the Lord has heard my plaintive
5
Come back to me, O Lord, save voice.
my life; rescue me for the sake of 10
The Lord has heard my plea; the
your love. Lord will grant all that I pray for.
Is 38:18;
6
For no one remembers you in 11
Let my enemies fall back in
Ps 88:
11-13 the grave; who will praise you in the shame, all of a sudden—the whole
world of the dead? bunch of them!
2
O Lord, my God, in you I take 4
O Lord, my God, if my hands are
shelter; deliver me and save me from stained with guilt—5 if with evil I have
all my pursuers, 3 lest lions tear me repaid good, if I have plundered un-
to pieces with no one to rescue me. justly my opponent, 6 let the enemy
PSALM 7 1198
hound me, let him crush me to the anger ever awaiting those who refuse
ground and lay down my liver in the to repent.
dust. 13
God has his sword ready and
7
Arise, O Lord, in your wrath; rise sharpened, his bow bent and arrows
up against the fury of my foes. Awake, aimed.
O my God and judge the nations, for 14
He has in hand, always ready, Is 50:11
the time of judgment has come. his deadly weapons and fiery darts.
8
Let the nations gather around 15
Look at the one who conceived Is 59:4;
Job
you; and you take your seat high iniquity and is pregnant with mis- 15:35
above them. chief: miscarriage will result.
9
Proclaim, O Lord, my righteous- 16
He digs a pit and makes it deep, 9:16;
35:8
ness; you see that I am blameless. he will fall into the trap he made.
Jer
10
Bring to an end the power of the 17
His evil intent recoils upon his Job 4:8;
11:20 Sir 27:
wicked, but affirm the just, O right- head; his wicked design comes back 25-27
eous God, searcher of mind and heart. in his face.
3:4
11
You cover me as a shield, Oh 18
I will rejoice in the Lord for his
God, for you protect the upright. justice, and sing to the Most High in
34:6-7
12
A righteous judge is God, his gratitude and praise.
ers and sisters who struggle or vege- how great is your name all over the earth!
tate in the ant-hills of the entire world.
1199 PSALM 10
138:1
2
Let my heart give thanks to the throned in Zion, proclaim his deeds
Lord, I yearn to proclaim your mar- among the nations.
velous deeds, 3 and rejoice and exult 13
For he who avenges blood re- Job
16:18
in you, and sing praise to your name, members, he does not ignore the cry
O Most High. of the lowly.
4
For my enemies fell back in re- 14
Have mercy on me, O Lord. See Wis
16:13
treat, they stumbled and perished how they afflict me. Oh, lift me up
7:9, 12; before you. 5 You have upheld my from the gates of death, 15 that I may
89:15
right and my cause, you have sen- declare your praise, that I may re-
tenced from your throne, O just joice in your salvation in the gates of
judge. Zion.
6
You have turned back the na- 16
The pagans have sunk into the 7:16
tions; you have destroyed the pit they have dug, their own feet en-
wicked; you have blotted out their snared by the trap they laid.
names forever. 17
The Lord has shown his pres-
Gen 19:
7
Your enemies lay in endless ruin, ence, he has judged and the wicked
23-25
their cities trampled, their memory plotters have been trapped by the
perished. work of their hands.
8
But the Lord reigns forever, hav- 18
To the netherworld the wicked 50:22
ing set up his throne for judgment. will depart, all the nations that have
96:13;
9
He will judge the nations with no thought of God.
98:9
justice and govern the peoples in 19
For the needy will not always be Pro
23:18
righteousness. forgotten, nor the hope of the poor
Is 25:4;
10
The Lord is a rampart for the op- perish forever.
Ps 37:39
pressed, a refuge in times of distress. 20
Rise, O Lord! Do not let mortals 7:7
36:11
11
Those who cherish your name, prevail; let the nations stand on trial
O Lord, can rely on you, for you before you.
have never forsaken those who look 21
Bring terror, O Lord, strike at 10:18
to you. them; let these pagans realize that
12
Sing praises to the Lord en- they are but humans.
22;
1
Why, O Lord, do you stand afar? 3
Exploiters boast in their power 10:13
74:1
Why hide from us in times of dis- and greed; the covetous blasphemes
tress? and defies God.
2
The wicked are in power; the 4
In their pride the wicked say, Job
22:13;
weak suffer harassment; the poor “There is no God.” They see no further. Ps 14:1;
become victims of evil schemes. 5
The wicked prosper in their 36:2
• 9 Psalms 9 and 10 of the Hebrew text the community. Those who exploit the widow
are only the two halves of the Greek or Latin and the orphan, the foreigner and the traveler,
Bible text. This causes the disarrangement in are in fact the enemies of God.
the numbering of the psalms which begins
here. Psalm 9 denounces the enemies of Is- • 10 The rich and the powerful may think
rael. Psalm 10 denounces the wicked within that God is far away, that he is passive, and
PSALM 10 1200
PSALM 11 (10) The just fear nothing. If God is with us, who will
condemn us? May he deliver us from fear when we
face those who threaten and crush others.
When foundations fall to ruin, 1
In the Lord I take refuge. 7:2;
what can the righteous do? That is How, then, can you say to me, 141:8
what the tempter suggests, “Do not
swim upstream, everyone does it; do “Flee to the mountains like a bird;
as they do and say nothing. Flee to 2
for the wicked are bending their bows 37:14
the mountain, simple one; you have and fit their arrows to the string.
seen nothing, forget about injustice
and see to your own business, or in- They get ready to shoot in the dark,
stead go to your religious practices!” they take aim at the upright of heart.
Let us pray for those who struggle 3
When foundations fall to ruin,
against organized oppression, for
those who awake each day to the
what can the righteous do?”
threat of terrorism. 4
The Lord is in his holy place— 5:8;
Hb 2:20;
our God whose throne is in heaven. Ps 2:4;
He looks down to earth 103:19;
102:20
to observe the race of Adam.
5
The Lord searches both righteous and wicked.
He hates those who delight in violence. Gen
6
Upon the wicked, he will rain 19:24;
Ezk
coals of fire and brimstone; 38:22;
a burning blast will be their lot. Rev 20:
9-10
that perhaps, he does not exist. But God hears Christian must ask himself to what extent he is
the cry of the oppressed. It is very easy to be- not responsible for the injustice and discrimi-
come rich in spirit in a consumer world: every nation which we witness.
1201 PSALM 14
7
For the Lord is righteous; 75:9;
Is 51:
he loves justice. 17-22;
The upright will see his face. Jer 25:15
Mic 7:2
2
Help us, O Lord, none of the needy suffer, now I will save them,”
godly are left, the faithful have van- says the Lord. “I will give them secu-
Jer 9:2-8 ished. 3 Everyone lies; with flattering rity.”
lips they speak from a double heart. 7
The promises of the Lord are 18:31;
Pro 30:5
31:19
4
May the Lord cut off insincere sure and lasting—silver refined in the
lips, every glib tongue that utters de- furnace seven times and freed from
ceit. dross.
5
Many say, “Our strength lies in 8
Hold us, O Lord, in your keeping;
our tongue, we know how to speak, protect us always from this genera-
who will lord it over us?” tion, 9 for the wicked prowl on all
Is 33:10
6
“The poor are despoiled and the sides, and the basest are exalted.
PSALM 13 (12) Look and listen to me. God does not forget his
children: he has resurrected Christ.
Personal prayer, persevering prayer 2
How long, O Lord, will you forget me 6:4;
will surely be heard. and hide your face from me? 89:47;
Lm 5:20;
3
How long must I suffer pain in my soul Ps 10:11;
27:9;
and grief in my heart all the day long? 30:8
How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
4
Look upon me and answer, O Lord my
God! Give light to my eyes,
lest I sleep the sleep of death;
5
lest my enemy say, 38:17
“I have routed him,”
lest my foes rejoice of my fall.
6
But I put my trust in your unfailing love, 52:10
my heart will rejoice on seeing your
salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for he has been good to me!
PSALM 15 (14) Lord, who shall dwell in your tent? May the Lord
help us to follow his commandments.
24:3-6;
This psalm repeats in its own way 1
O Lord, who will dwell in your tent Is 33:
the word of the prophet Hosea: “I pre- and reside on your holy mount? 14-16
fer mercy to sacrifice.” To the ques-
tion, who will dwell in your tent? he
2
Those who walk blamelessly Ezk 18:
5-9
replies with a list of ten virtues of jus- and do what is right,
tice: service of God and justice are two who speak truth from their heart
facets of a same attitude. 3
and control their words,
who do no harm to their neighbors
and cast no discredit on their companions,
4
who look down on evildoers
but highly esteem God’s servants;
who at all cost stand by a pledged word,
5
who do not lend money at interest 22:24;
23:8;
and refuse a bribe against the innocent. Ps 16:8;
Do this, and you will soon be shaken. 30:7
• 18 We find in 2 Samuel 22 a version Verse 10. He bent the heavens and came
only slightly different from this psalm attributed down. It is what he did when his own Son came
to David. among us to deliver humanity from its enemies.
The author thanks God who has given him Verse 11. In the traditions of the Middle
the victory, he recognizes with gratitude his in- East, the cherubs were the winged monsters
tervention. This intervention is expressed in a charged to escort the gods. For the Israelites
poetic way like a glorious appearance of God they drew God’s chariot or carried his throne.
in the heights of heaven (see Hb 3). Verse 29. Jesus said: “I am the light of the
Verse 3. My powerful Savior: literally: my world,” and we repeat with the psalmist: You
triumphant horn. give light to my lamp.
1205 PSALM 18
6
caught by the cords of the grave, Pro
13:14;
I was brought to the snares of death. 14:27
7
But I called upon the Lord in my distress,
I cried to my God for help; and from his
temple he heard my voice,
my cry of grief reached his ears.
8
Then the earth reeled and rocked; 19:16, 18;
Hb 3:
the foundations of the mountains shook; 3-13
they trembled at his fury.
9
Smoke rose from his nostrils,
from his mouth a devouring fire
throwing off live embers.
10
He bent the heavens and came down 144:5
with dark clouds under his feet.
11
He rode on a cherub and flew, 104:3
borne on the swift wings of the wind.
12
Veiled with darkness surrounding him, 97:2;
Dt 4:11
he made misty rain clouds his tent.
13
Then from the brightness of his presence
hail and fiery embers broke forth.
14
From heaven the Lord thundered; 29;
77:18-19
the voice of the Most High resounded.
15
Sending out a hail of arrows, he scattered 144:6
them;
flashing forth bolts of lightning, he routed
them.
16
The beds of the seas appeared, 15:8
the foundations of the world were laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of his breath.
17
Reaching down from above,
he drew me out of the deep waters.
18
Too strong for me were my enemies, 142:7
but he rescued me from my adversaries.
19
They launched their attack on an
opportune day,
but the Lord was my support.
20
He has set me out in the open,
he saved me because he cares for me!
21
The Lord rewarded me for my justice,
according to my righteousness.
22
For I have been faithful to the Lord’s way
and have not departed from my God.
23
All his ordinances are before me,
I have always followed his statutes.
24
Before him I have done uprightly
and kept myself from iniquity.
PSALM 18 1206
20;
61:6-8
PSALM 21 (20) Thanksgiving for our king. He asked you for life
and you have given it: he will live for ever.
63:12
2
The king rejoices in your through the love of the Most High, he Pro
20:28
strength, O Lord, and exults in your will not be shaken.
saving help. 9
Your hand, O Lord, will reach your
20:5
3
You have granted him his desire; enemies, and lay hold of all your foes.
you have not rejected his request. 10
Your mere appearance will turn
4
You have come to him with rich them into a blazing furnace. Your
blessings; you have placed a golden wrath will engulf them like a fire.
crown upon his head. 11
You will wipe their fruit from the
2K 20:
5
When he asked, you gave him earth and destroy their posterity.
1-7
life—length of days forever and ever. 12
Though they plot evil against
45:4;
6
He glories in the victory you you and devise wicked schemes,
96:6
gave him; you shall bestow on him they will never win;
splendor and majesty. 13
they will turn back in fear, when
72:17;
7
You have given him eternal you aim arrows at them.
Gen 12:
2-3 blessings, and gladdened him with 14
Be exalted, O Lord, in your 57:6-12
the joy of your presence. strength! We will sing in praise of
61:8;
8
The king trusts in the Lord, and your might.
89:2;
rest. 10
Yet it is you who drew me from
Is 6:3
4
Yet you are enthroned the Holy the womb and kept me safe at my
One, the praise of Israel. mother’s breasts.
5
In you our fathers trusted, and 11
I have been yours from birth;
you delivered them. from my mother’s womb you have
Jdg 3:
6
They cried to you and they were been my God.
9-15
saved; they trusted in you and were 12
Be not far from me for trouble is 38:22
not overcome. near, and there is no one to help me.
Is 53:3
7
But I am a worm and not human, 13
A herd of bulls surround me—
scorned by everyone, despised by strong bulls of Bashan closing in on
the people. me,
• 21 The preceding psalm asked help for • 22 This prayer is a passage from night
the king; this psalm in turn gives thanks for the to day. The first part is gloomy, the second is
victory gained. We know how to ask, but do like a sunrise which gives new life and puts joy
we know how to thank? in the heart of humans. It is the long lament of
When we read the Bible, it seems that with the persecuted, who, on the edge of the abyss
so many of God’s blessings, the kings of Israel are given assurance and certitude.
should have had more success than they did. From the beginning, Christian tradition has
The Word of God is true: God’s friends dis- applied this psalm to Jesus himself. In fact, we
cover with surprise that if they persevere in fi- find here the passion of Jesus: the bulls, the
delity, God works marvels for them. lions, the dogs are the enemies; only a worm,
PSALM 22 1210
17:12
14
their mouths open, like lions 24
“All you who fear the Lord,
roaring for their prey. praise him! All you offspring of Ja-
15
I am like water draining away; cob, glorify him! All you sons of Is-
all my bones are out of joint, my rael, revere him!
heart melts away like wax. 25
For he has not scorned or Heb 5:7
16
My throat is dried up like a pot- loathed the afflicted in his misery. He
sherd; my tongue clings to my has not hidden his face from me but
palate. You have laid me down in the has listened when I cried to him.”
dust of death. 26
I will praise you in the great as- 35:18
17
Round about me are vicious sembly, fulfill my vows before all who
dogs, villainous rogues encircling revere you.
me. They have tied up my hands and 27
The lowly will eat and be satis-
feet. fied. Those who seek the Lord will
18
They can count all my bones, for praise him. May your hearts live for-
they are looking and watching me, ever!
Mt 27:35;
19
dividing my garments among 28
The whole earth will acknowl- 72:8-11
Jn 19:24
them and casting lots for my raiment. edge and turn to the Lord; the fami-
20
O Lord, be not far from me! O lies of nations will worship him.
my strength, come quickly to my 29
For dominion belongs to the Ob 1:21;
Zec 14:9;
help. Lord and he reigns over the nations. Rev
21
Deliver my soul from the sword, 30
Before him all those who rest in 11:15
my life from the powerful grip of the the earth will bow down, all who go
dog. down to the dust.
7:3;
22
Rescue me from the jaws of the My soul will live for him. 31 My de- 48:14;
17:12; 71:18
57:5; lion, my soul from the horns of the scendants will serve him and pro-
2Tim 4:17 wild bull. claim the Lord to coming generations;
35:18;
23
I will proclaim your name to my 32
they will announce his salvation to 78:6;
40:10; 102:19;
Heb 2:12 brothers, I will praise you in the as- a people yet unborn, “These are the Eph 2:7
sembly, things that he has done.”
it is the humiliation of blows and the infamy of The Crucified of Good Friday is transformed
the cross; and his clothes were divided just as to the Glorious Lord and his reign will be uni-
he said. versal. Jesus had said: “When I am lifted up
Jesus himself made this psalm his own from the earth, I will draw all things to myself.”
when from the cross he uttered this cry: “My Christian life is a passage from death to life.
God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus him- What is marvelous is that through Jesus we
self felt he had appealed to God in vain… And can always bring good from evil, happiness
yet, in the midst of this terrible darkness, a from suffering and even from death.
light in the soul of Jesus does not waver. He Verse 26. I will fulfill my vows: it is a mat-
knows that in spite of this silence, the Father ter of sacrifices and of thanksgiving.
is always with him and all the second part of Verse 27. It is an allusion to the banquet that
the psalm is a song of trust which ends in a cry God has prepared for his elect: Isaiah 25:6;
of triumph. Luke 22:30.
1211 PSALM 24
The earth and its fullness belong The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord, 89:12;
to the Lord. A procession goes for- the world and all that dwell in it. 1Cor 10:26
ward towards the Temple: the Is-
raelites carry the Ark of the Covenant
2
He has founded it upon the ocean 75:4;
104:5;
to the place where God himself, the and set it firmly upon the waters. Job 38:4-6
Creator of the universe, will dwell in
their midst. Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord?
3
15
Lift up, O gateways, your lintels, Who will stand in his holy place?
open up, you ancient doors, that the
King of glory may enter! Let us con- 4
Those with clean hands and pure heart, 26:1
template this mystery. The All-power- who desire not what is vain,
ful comes to live among us and reside
in the humble dwelling place we pre- and never swear to a lie.
pare for him. He becomes man in the
womb of Mary.
5
They will receive blessings from the Lord,
Who is this King of glory? On the a reward from God, their savior.
day of his resurrection and ascension,
6
Such are the people who seek him,
Christ became the King of glory. He who seek the face of Jacob’s God.
went up to the Holy Mountain and was
the first to enter the eternal dwelling 7
Lift up, O gateways, your lintels, 118:19-20
place of God. All those who share his open up, you ancient doors,
upright life and seek God with a sin-
cere heart will follow Jesus in glory that the King of glory may enter!
and share his eternal happiness.
Verse 2. Allusion to the vision the
8
Who is the King of glory?
Israelites had of the world: the earth The Lord, the strong, the mighty,
was like a disk resting on columns. the Lord, valiant in battle.
PSALM 24 1212
PSALM 25 (24) Calling on God in trials. The Bible does not know
despair. We can be broken by sorrow, anxiety, the
weight of sin, but there is always an escape. All our
paths, even the worst, can finally lead to a love
stronger than all the powers of this world.
• 25 Remember your compassion, O the blood of Jesus. God will never forsake his
Lord, your unfailing love from of old. Re- people. Every mass celebrates this covenant
member not the sins of my youth. The love between God and us in the blood of Jesus.
of God for us has been eternally expressed by
1213 PSALM 27
PSALM 26 (25) Prayer of the just. Let us make our own the prayer
of the just that reaffirms his fidelity. Let us not count on
our own merits, like the Pharisee. Let us rather give
thanks for this new person that we have become through
baptism: Christ has purified and has enriched us.
• 26 I wash my hands, such was a liturgical act; it is a way of expressing the absence of
faults.
PSALM 27 1214
35:22;
1
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, gard for the works of the Lord, he will Is 5:12;
39:13 Ps 52:7
be not deaf to me. tear them down and never let them
For if you heed me not, I shall go rise again.
down to the pit like the rest.
6
Blessed be the Lord! He has
heard my cry for help.
5:8;
2
Hear my cry for mercy as I call
134:2
7
The Lord is my strength, my
to you for help, as I lift up my hands
shield, my heart was sure of him, I
toward your innermost sanctuary.
have been helped and my heart ex-
26:9;
3
Drag me not away with the ults, with my song I give him thanks.
12:3;
Pro 26: wicked, with those who do evil, who 8
The Lord is the strength of his 29:11;
24-25 mouth words of peace while they people, the saving refuge of his 1S 2:10
PSALM 30 (29) I will praise you because you have freed me.
Nothing is definitive in this life. The Lord alternates
joys and sorrows according to what we need for the
development of our faith. We are, at times, surprised:
the trials discourage us as if God no longer existed,
and when God gives favors, we dare not believe them
to be true.
2
I extol you, O Lord, for you have from the grave, you gave me life
rescued me; my enemies will not when I was going to the pit.
gloat over me.
6:3
3
O Lord my God, I called to you Sing to the Lord, O you his
5
97:12
for help, and you healed me. saints, give thanks and praise to his
4
O Lord, you have brought me up holy name.
• 30 Verse 10 mentions what had become the scandal of believers. Is it possible that the dead
go forever to this underworld (they called it Sheol) and that God who is so faithful might forget them?
PSALM 30 1216
Is 54:7-8
6
For his anger lasts but a little my destruction, in my going down to
while, and his kindness all through the pit?
life. Would my dust give you praise?
Weeping may tarry for the night, Would it prove your faithfulness?
but rejoicing comes with the dawn.
11
Hear, O Lord, and have mercy
7
Once in my prosperity I said, “I on me; O Lord, be my protector.”
shall not be troubled.”
12
But now, you have turned my 126:5-6;
Is 35:10;
mourning into rejoicing; you have Jer 31:13
27:9;
8
Yet it was you, O Lord, who taken off my sackcloth and wrapped
104:29
made me stand on the rock; as soon me in the garments of gladness.
as you hid your face, I wavered! 13
And so my soul, no longer
9
To you, O Lord, I called; to you I silent, now sings praise without ceas-
begged for mercy: ing. O Lord my God, forever will I
6:6
10
“What good would there be in give you thanks.
71:1-3 PSALM 31 (30) I seek refuge in you, Lord. Into your hands I
commend my spirit.
2
In you, O Lord, I take refuge, dim with sorrow, my body emaci-
may I never be disgraced; deliver me ated.
in your justice. 11
For my days are wracked with
3
Give heed to my plea, and make grief, and my years worn out in an-
haste to rescue me. Be a rock of guish. My strength fails because of
refuge for me, a fortress for my my misery.
safety. 12
I have become an object of re-
18:3;
4
For you are my rock and my proach for my foes, a horror for my
23:3
stronghold, lead me for your name’s neighbors, a fear to my friends.
sake; Those who see me in the streets flee
25:15;
5
free me from the snare that they from me.
142:8
have set for me. Indeed you are my 13
I am like the dead, unremem-
protector. bered; I have become like a broken
Lk 23:46;
6
Into your hands I commend my pot, thrown away, discarded.
Acts
7:59; spirit; you have redeemed me, O 14
I hear whispering among the Jer 6:25;
Mt 26:
1P 4:19 Lord, faithful God. crowd, rumors that frighten me 3-4
7
You hate those who worship from every side—their conspiracies,
worthless idols; but I put all my trust their schemes, their plot to take my
in the Lord. life.
8
I will rejoice and be glad in your 15
But I put my trust in you, O 22:11;
63:2
love, for you have seen my affliction; Lord, I said: “You are my God;”
you know the agony of my soul. 16
my days are in your hand. De-
18:20;
9
The hand of the enemy did not grab liver me from the hand of my ene-
118:5
me; you gave me room to move. mies, from those after my skin. 4:7;
6:8
10
Be merciful to me, O Lord, in 17
Make your face shine upon your 67:2;
119:135;
my affliction; my eyes have grown servant; save me in your love. 80:4, 8, 20;
Num 6:25
• 31 Luke attributes these words to Jesus Psalm 22, and closely linked to the Passion.
on the cross. A little further on we find other It will be our last hope at the moment of
words, “You are my God,” which are also in death.
1217 PSALM 32
18
Let me not be dishonored, O safe from the intrigues of wagging
Lord, for I have called on you; tongues.
but let the wicked lie dishonored 22
Blessed be the Lord for his won-
and go to the pit never to speak. derful love! He has strengthened my
19
Let lying lips close in silence, heart.
these speaking against the just with 23
I said in my fright: “I have been Jon 2:5
malice and arrogance. cut off from your sight!”
20
How great is the goodness Yet when I was crying, you heard;
which you have stored for those who when I called for mercy, you listened.
fear you, which you show, for all to 24
Love the Lord, all you his saints!
see, to those who take refuge in you! The Lord preserves his faithful, but
27:5
21
In the shelter of your presence he fully requites the arrogant.
you hide them from human wiles; 25
Be strong and take courage, all 27:14
you keep them in your dwelling, you who hope in the Lord.
PSALM 32 (31) Relief after the confession of sin. Buried sin ruins
our conscience. Confession is always a liberation.
It is good to clarify what was not re- Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven, 25:18;
ally sin but caused guilt. On the other whose iniquity is wiped away. Rom
hand, nothing is gained in denying a 4:7-8
fault and still less a sin. In Christian 2
Blessed are those in whom the Lord sees Jn 1:47
language, sin signifies that we com-
mitted a wrong not with a law but to- no guilt
wards someone we love. and in whose spirit is found no deceit.
Our well-being, in the truest mean-
ing of the word, depends on the qual- 3
When I kept my sin secret, 39:2-4
ity of our relationship with God: what my body wasted away,
sin has destroyed will only be restored
by trust in God who pardons the hum-
I was moaning all day long.
ble and the repentant. When we ask
4
Your hand day and night lay heavy upon me;
God to heal someone, we do not sep- draining my strength, parching my heart
arate health of body from health of as in the heat of a summer drought.
soul. It is what the following prayer for
the anointing of the sick expresses: 5
Then I made known to you my sin 51:5;
Jesus, our Savior, we ask you, 2S 12:13;
through the power of the Holy Spirit and uncovered before you my fault, 1Jn 1:
to cure the illness from which this saying to myself, 9-10
person suffers, heal his wounds, par- “To the Lord I will now confess my wrong.”
don his sins, rid him of all that tor-
ments his body and soul; give him And you, you forgave my sin,
again spiritual and physical health you removed my guilt.
so that, healed through your good-
ness, he may return to his work.
6
So let the faithful ones pray
to you in time of distress;
the overflowing waters will not reach them.
7
You are my refuge;
you protect me from distress
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8
I will teach you, 33:18
I will show you the way to follow.
I will watch over you and give you counsel.
9
Do not be like the horse or the mule—
senseless and led by bit and bridle.
PSALM 32 1218
PSALM 34 (33) Taste and see, etc. Let our experience be that of 1S 21:
11-16
the poor and the humble. God is near to those who
have no other support but him. When there will be
no assurance, God will be obliged to take charge of
those to whom he owes fidelity.
2
I will bless the Lord all my days; 16:7;
145:1
his praise will be ever on my lips.
3
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the lowly hear and rejoice.
4
Oh, let us magnify the Lord,
together let us glorify his name!
5
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
from all my fears he delivered me.
6
They who look to him are radiant with joy,
their faces never clouded with shame.
7
When the poor cry out, the Lord hears
and saves them from distress.
35:5-6;
8
The Lord’s angel encamps and patrols 91:11;
14:19;
to keep safe those who fear him. 23:20
9
Oh, see and taste the goodness of the 1P 2:3;
Ps 2:12
Lord!
Blessed is the one who finds shelter in him!
10
Revere the Lord, all you his saints, 23:1
for those who fear him do not live in want.
11
The mighty may be hungry and in need,
but those who seek the Lord lack nothing.
PSALM 34 1220
12
Come, listen to me, my children; Pro 1:8
I will show you how to fear the Lord.
13
If you desire long life, 1P 3:
10-12
if you want to enjoy prosperity,
14
keep your tongue from falsehood,
keep your lips from deceit;
15
turn away from evil and do good; 37:27
seek peace and pursue it.
16
The eyes of the Lord are fixed on the 33:18
righteous;
his ears are inclined to their cries.
17
But his face is set against the wicked
to destroy their memory from the earth.
18
The Lord hears the cry of the righteous
and rescues them from all their troubles.
19
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted 51:19
and saves the distraught.
20
Many are the troubles of the just,
but the Lord delivers them from all.
21
He keeps all their bones intact, Jn 19:36
and none of them will be broken.
22
Evil will slay the wicked;
the enemies of the just will be doomed.
23
But the Lord will redeem the life of his 25:22
servants;
none of those who trust in him will be doomed.
O Lord, attack those who attack and precipitous, with the Lord’s
me; angel always at their heels.
fight against those who fight 7
They set their net against me for 9:16
against me. no cause, they dug a pit for me with-
2
Come to my aid with armor and out reason.
shield; 8
Let ruin come upon them unex- Is 47:11;
Ps 7:16;
3
stand with your spear and war pectedly, let them be entangled in 140:6
ax, halt my pursuers. Say to my soul, their own snare; let them fall into the
“I am your deliverer.” trap of their own making.
71:13;
4
Let them be shamed and dishon- 9
Then will my soul rejoice in the
40:15
ored, those who seek my life. Let Lord and exult in his salvation.
them be routed and destroyed, those 10
My whole being will exclaim, “O 71:19;
77:14
who plot my ruin. Lord, who is like you? You deliver the
1:4;
5
Let them be like chaff before the oppressed from those too strong for
83:14;
34:8
wind, when the Lord’s angel drives them, you rescue the poor and the
them away. needy from their oppressors.” 27:11;
73:18
6
Let their escape path be dark 11
False witnesses take the stand, Mt 26:
59-60
1221 PSALM 36
Rom
2
Wickedness speaks to the wick- 6
Your love, O God, reaches the 57:11;
3:18 Eph 3:
ed in the depths of his heart: there is heavens; your faithfulness, to the 18-19
no fear of God before his eyes. clouds.
3
Blinded by conceit, he fails to see 7
Your justice is like the mighty
his guilt. mountains; your judgment like the
4
With mouths full of malice and unfathomable deep. You preserve, O
deceit, they no longer think of doing Lord, humans and beasts.
good. 8
How precious, O God, is your 17:8;
91:4
5
They plot mischief even in bed; constant love! Mortals take refuge in
committed to a life of sin, they know the shadow of your wings.
not how to reject evil. 9
In your house they find rich food 23:5;
63:6
• 36 The first part (vv. 2-5) shows us evil as a personified power. The second (vv. 6-13) tells
us that the power of God is still greater.
PSALM 36 1222
and they drink from your spring of Let not the foot of the arrogant
12
PSALM 37 (36) Happiness for the just, ruin for the wicked. “Do
not get worried when you think of the wicked.” Nei-
ther power nor riches give access to the inheritance
that God promised to his children.
73;
Job 21:
1
Do not be annoyed with evil peo- 11
but the humble will inherit the Is 57:13;
1-26; Mt 5:4
Pro 24:19 ple nor be envious of wrongdoers. land and enjoy peace in abundance.
90:6;
2
For they will fade as any green 12
The wicked plot against the vir- 35:16;
103:15; 112:10
Is 40:7 herb and soon be gone like withered tuous and gnash their teeth at them;
grass. 13
but the Lord laughs at the wic- 2:4
3
Trust in the Lord and do good, ked, for he sees their day coming.
dwell in the land and live on it. 14
The wicked draw their swords 7:13;
11:2
4
Make the Lord your delight, and and bend their bows; they aim at the
he will grant your heart’s desire. poor and the afflicted, they get ready
5
Commit your way to the Lord; to slay the righteous.
put your trust in him and let him act. 15
But their bows will be shattered;
6
Then will your revenge come, the sword thrust into their own heart.
beautiful as the dawn, and the justi- 16
The little that the righteous pos- Pro
15:16;
fication of your cause, bright as the sess is better than the abundance of 16:8
noonday sun. the wicked.
4:5;
7
Keep calm before the Lord, wait 17
For the arms of the wicked will
62:6
for him in patience; do not fret if oth- be broken, and the righteous will be
ers succeed when they carry out evil upheld by the Lord.
schemes. 18
The Lord watches over the lives 1:6
8
Refrain from anger, turn away of the upright; forever will their in-
from wrath; fret not, for it only leads heritance abide.
to evil. 19
They are not crushed in times of
25:13
9
Remember this: the wicked will calamity; when famine strikes, they
perish, but those who hope in the still are satisfied.
Lord will inherit the land. 20
But the wicked will perish; the
10
Wait a moment: the wicked are enemies of the Lord will vanish like
no more. Though you look for them, smoke, disappear like the wild flow-
they cannot be found; ers.
• 37 The psalm is addressed not only to and have courage. The children of a people
believers, but to a people of God concerned who lives in solidarity and believes in God’s
about its land. promises will be masters one day.
Do not be discouraged when others cause Time works for God; the tree that the Fa-
you difficulties; or when they multiply little vex- ther did not plant will be uprooted. History
ations intended to make you leave. Keep calm turns against those who impose their truth.
1223 PSALM 38
21
The wicked borrow and do not 31
His steps have never faltered, Dt 6:6;
Jer
repay, but the righteous have mercy for the law of God is in his heart. 31:33
and share. 32
The wicked spies on the just
Mt 25:
22
They will inherit the land—those man and lies in wait to slay him.
34, 41
whom the Lord blesses; but those 33
But the Lord does not hand him
whom the Lord curses he will cut off. over, or let him be condemned when
Pro
23
The Lord is the one who makes he is tried.
20:24
people stand, he gives firmness to 34
Hope in the Lord and follow his
3:6 those he likes. 24 They may stumble, way, for he will exalt you and give
but they will not fall, for the Lord you the land. You will see how the
holds them by the hand. wicked perish.
25
From my youth to old age, I 35
I have seen an oppressor migh- Ezk 31:
10-12
have yet to see the righteous forsak- ty, towering like a cedar of Lebanon.
en or their children begging for alms. 36
But when I passed by again, he
26
He lends and gives, and his chil- was no longer there. I looked for him
dren are blessed. The whole day he but could not find him.
succeeds. 37
Mark the blameless, watch the
34:15
27
Do good and shun evil, so that upright, and you will see that there is
you will live secure forever. a future for the person of peace.
28
For the Lord loves justice and 38
But all sinners will be destroyed;
right, and never forsakes his faithful the future of the wicked will be shat-
ones. The wicked instead will perish tered.
and their breed will be cut off. 39
The Lord is the salvation of the 9:10
29
The righteous will possess the righteous; in time of distress, he is
land; they will make it their home their refuge.
forever. 40
The Lord helps them, and res-
30
The mouth of the virtuous utters cues them from the oppressor; he
wisdom and his tongue speaks of saves them for they sought shelter in
what is right. him.
6:2
2
O Lord, rebuke me not in your 5
For my transgressions over- Ezra 9:6
rage, punish me not in your fury. whelm me; they weigh me down like
Job 6:4;
3
Your arrows have struck me; an unbearable load.
16:13
your hand has come down heavily 6
My wounds stink and fester with-
upon me. in me, the outcome of my sinful folly.
Is 1:5-6
4
Your anger has spared no part of 7
Stooped and bowed down, I go 35:14;
42:10
my body, my sin gives no peace to about mourning all day.
my bones. 8
My loins burn, my flesh is dis-
• 38 The third of the so-called seven Pen- distinguish sin from misfortune: if someone is
itence Psalms: Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, sick and has trials, it is surely because there is
130, 143. The greater the sin, the greater a debt with God. In theory, of course, it is not
must be our trust in God. true: beware of guilt when things go wrong for
I confess my transgression, I repent of my us! In fact, the sick person is always a sinner;
sin (v. 19). The Old Testament does not clearly his weakness will help him to know the truth.
PSALM 38 1224
2
I said, “I will watch my ways and await? All my hope rests in you.
keep my tongue from sin; I will muz- 9
Rescue me from all my sins and let
zle my mouth in front of the wicked.” me not be derided by fools.
32:3;
3
So I did. But as I kept silent, their 10
I shall keep silent and not open
38:14
happiness made my anguish grow. my mouth, since this is your work.
4
My heart began to burn within, 11
Only remove from me your
and finally, I blurted out: scourge; for I am done in with your
89:48
5
“Lord, let me know when my end blows.
will come, let me know the number 12
When you want to correct the Job
13:28
of my days; show me how frail and mortals and punish their sin, you eat
fleeting is my life.” like moth what they hold dear. Mor-
62:10;
6
You allow me to live but a short tals are a mere puff of wind! 119:19;
90:9-10;
Job 7: span; before you, all my years are 13
Hear, O Lord, my supplication, Gen 23:4;
Lev
6-21;
14:1-5
nothing. Human existence is a mere listen to my cry for protection; do not 25:23;
whiff of breath. be deaf to my lamentation. For I 29:15;
Heb
7
Humans are mere shadows that dwell with you as an alien, a pilgrim, 11:13;
1P 2:11
go about relentlessly. Being but a as all my ancestors have been.
breath they toil and rake in wealth, 14
Turn from me awhile, that I may Job 7:
19, 21;
not knowing who will take it next. find relief, before I depart and be no 10:20-22;
8
But now, O Lord, what do I more.” 14:6
1225 PSALM 40
• 40 Two prayers have been combined in even if it expresses the prayer of the people of
this psalm. The first is verses 2-12 (or 13). God in their trials.
With resolve I waited for the Lord. Who Out of the horrid pit he drew me. Many
speaks in this psalm? If one compares it to the will see and be awed and put their trust in
Poems of the Servant (Is 49–53) or to Psalms the Lord. The Church is in the hands of God
22 and 68, it seems that it is not a matter of and he will not spare it from trials along the
only one person. The psalm expresses the way. Could it, without that, be the instrument
thanksgiving of the believing minority of God’s of salvation? God asks all of us to accept in dif-
people, agents of God for the salvation of the ferent ways this vocation of sacrifice, but it is
world. It is also a fact that in the Bible some- only perfectly accomplished in the case of
one, a savior or the Savior always embodies Christ: Then I said, Here I come!
the people or the faithful group. This psalm From verse 14, we have the text of Psalm
then is in a special way applicable to Christ, 70: verse 13 was probably part of it.
PSALM 41 1226
gress, be it ever so great and salutary, let them take me to your holy mountain,
brings new problems and stirs up in us to the place where you reside.
new desires. We are at times mindful
that we have been created for some- 4
Then will I go to the altar of God,
thing greater: nothing of that fully grat-
ifies us, and death is always at the end. to God, my gladness and delight.
How can we revive those moments I will praise you with the lyre and harp,
when we knew true joy? O God, my God.
5
Why are you so downcast, my soul, 42:6, 12
why so troubled within me?
Hope in God, for again I will praise him—
my savior and my God.
78:3
2
With our ears, O God, we have foes; through your name we shatter
heard; our ancestors have declared our enemies.
to us the works you did in their days 7
For it is not in my bow that I
78:55; of old. 3 You drove out the nations trust, nor in my sword to make me
80:9
and settled them in their land; you victorious.
conquered the peoples to make 8
But it is you who give us victory, 37:39-40;
132:18
room for them. you who bring our adversaries to
Dt 8:
4
For it was not with their own shame.
17-18;
Hos 1:7 sword that they conquered the land 9
It is always in God that we find
nor were they victors by their own glory. Forever shall we praise your
hand; but it was by your right hand name.
and arm and by the light of your 10
Yet now you have rejected and 60:12
countenance; for you truly loved humbled us; you no longer go forth
them. with our armies.
74:12
5
It is you, my King and my God, 11
You have let our enemies drive Jdg 2:14
who ordain victories for Jacob. us back and our adversaries plunder
1K 22:11;
6
Through you we batter down our us.
Ps 60:14;
108:14
• 44 Everywhere, including Christian coun- Verses 10-17: These humiliated people ex-
tries, Christians are only a minority among a press anguish at having lost God himself: he
mass of people of other religions, or far re- no longer does the wonders he did before to
moved from faith in Christ. That is why we re- prove that he alone is God.
member with nostalgia other times when Yet this passionate complaint (vv. 24-25) is
everyone professed the same faith and took not without hope: the psalmist is convinced
part in religious celebrations. that God is all-powerful and his love is faithful
The Jews were in a similar situation when (v. 27). It is the same for us. We have good rea-
this psalm was written. It must have been the son to be discouraged: how many counter tes-
time of the Maccabees, when a minority of be- timonies! How many apostolic efforts that
lievers were trying to uplift Israel in the face of seem to fail; how God seems to let his Church
Syrian persecution and the resignation of the get stuck in the mud of old, lifeless structures!
majority. How the mission to the masses has been for-
In a poetical contrast, the psalmist opposes gotten! Will God not come back? Whatever
the failure of the faithful troops to the tri- may be the responsibility of Christians in the
umphant conquest of Palestine six centuries actual situation, God still knows how to draw a
earlier when the Israelites left Egypt under the greater good from it.
leadership of Moses and Joshua (vv. 2-9).
1229 PSALM 45
Lev
12
You have let us be driven for 19
Our heart has not turned back
26:33
slaughter like sheep, scattered nor have our steps faltered; 20 yet you
among nations as captives. have crushed us in the desert of the
Is 52:3
13
You have handed us over to snakes and covered us with deep
them for nothing: the sale was of no darkness.
benefit for you. 21
Had we forgotten the name of
79:4
14
You have made us the butt of our God and stretched forth our
our neighbors’ insult, the scorn and hands to an alien god, 22 God would Jer
17:10
laughingstock of those around us. have discovered this, for the secrets
15
You have made us a byword of the heart are not hidden from him.
among the nations; they look at us 23
For your sake we are slain all Rom
8:36
and shake their heads. day and accounted as sheep for
69:8
16
All day long my disgrace is be- slaughter.
fore me and shame covers my face, 24
Awake, O Lord! Why are you Is 51:9
17
at the voice of the one who mocks asleep? Arise! Reject us not forever.
and reviles, in the presence of the 25
Why hide your face from us? 10:11
enemy and the avenger. Why forget our misery and woes?
18
All this has happened to us, al- 26
Our souls are humbled in the dust, 119:25;
7:6
though we have not forgotten you, our bodies smashed to the ground.
nor have we been untrue to your 27
Come to our help, deliver us for 3:8;
35:2
covenant. the sake of your kindness.
one’s way of thinking and one’s habits with the oil of gladness, above your fellow
for those of God. kings.
Forget your fathers, and think of
your sons. We can see here Jesus’ 9
Your robes are fragrant 1K 22:39
promises to those who leave all to
serve him. with myrrh, aloes and cassia.
The music of strings gladdens your palace
adorned and glowing with ivory.
10
Among your ladies of honor Song 6:8
are daughters of kings;
at your right hand, in gold of Ophir,
stands the queen.
11
Listen, O daughter, pay attention; Ru 1:16
forget your father’s house and your nation,
12
and your beauty will charm the King, Eph 5:24
for he is your lord.
13
The people of Tyre will bow before him. 72:10-11
The wealthiest nations will seek your favor.
14
All glorious as she enters
is the princess in her gold-woven robes.
15
She is led in royal attire to the king,
following behind is her train of virgins.
16
Amid cheers and general rejoicing,
they enter the palace of the king.
17
Forget your fathers and think of your sons, Gen 17:6;
35:11
you will make them princes throughout the
land.
18
I will make your name famous through all
generations;
may all nations praise you forever!
PSALM 46 (45) God is with us. A river whose streams bring joy to
the city of God. To the upheavals mentioned in the
first stanza the psalmist contrasts a vision of tranquil-
ity, the Holy City, Jerusalem, the Church.
This psalm is one of those that re- 2
God is our strength and protection, 62:9
call the miraculous deliverance of Jeru- an ever-present help in affliction.
salem in the time of Isaiah (Is 36–37). 3
We will not fear, therefore, Is 54:10;
We will not fear… though the Job 9:5-6
mountains quake and totter. The though the earth be shaken
Hebrew poetry always associates na- and the mountains plunge into the seas,
ture and political events. The history 4
though its waters foam and roar, 93:3
of Israel has been a troubled history:
marked by internal crises and enemy though the mountains quake and totter.
invasions. Yet, it is not a chaotic his-
tory. This history is guided by an invis-
For the Lord of hosts is with us,
ible hand, powerful and tender—the the God of Jacob, our stronghold.
hand of God. 5
There is a river whose streams bring joy to
A river brings joy to the city of
God. The pool of Shiloah, where the the city of God,
water entered through a tunnel in the the holy place where the Most High dwells.
1231 PSALM 47
PSALM 47 (46) To the king of all the nations. The Lord comes at
the end of time to begin his reign.
2
Clap your hands, all you peoples; Zep 3:
14-15
acclaim God with shouts of joy.
3
For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared; 68:36;
76:8
he is a great king all over the earth.
4
He brings peoples under our dominion
and puts nations under our feet.
5
He chose our inheritance for us—
the pride of Jacob whom he loves!
6
God ascends amid joyful shouts, 24:7-10
the Lord amid trumpet blasts.
7
Sing praises to God, sing praises! 30:5
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
8
God is king of all the earth;
sing to him a hymn of praise.
9
For God now rules over the nations, Is 6:1
God reigns from his holy throne.
10
The leaders of the nations rally together Is 2:2
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For in his hands are the great of the earth,
God reigns far above.
PSALM 48 1232
• 48 This psalm, like Psalm 46, mentions sidered the mountains of the north as the res-
the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem. idence of the gods.
Walk around Zion: this refers, perhaps, to
The holy mountain, the text reads: Mount the very ancient religious practice of walking
Zion in the far north—ancient traditions con- around a sanctuary and touching the wall.
1233 PSALM 49
8
For no ransom avails for one’s life,
there is no price one can give to God for it.
9
For redeeming one’s life Mt 16:26
demands too high a price,
and all is lost forever.
10
Who can remain forever alive
and never see the grave?
11
For we see that the wise die, Sir 11:19
and pass away like the fool and the stupid
leaving to others their fortune and wealth.
12
Their graves are their eternal homes,
from generation to generation,
no matter how big the tracts of land they own.
13
People of wealth have no thought, Ecl 3:
18-21
they will be silenced like the beasts.
14
This is the fate of people trusting themselves,
the future of those who rely on their strength.
15
Like sheep led to the grave,
they have death as their shepherd and ruler;
quickly their form will be consumed
in the world of the dead, which is their home.
16
But God will rescue my soul from the grave Hos
13:14
by receiving me unto himself.
17
Fear not when someone grows rich,
when his power becomes oppressively great,
18
for nothing will he take when he dies; 1Tim 6:7
his wealth and pomp he will leave behind.
Though he praised himself in his lifetime,
19
• 50 For a long time, it has been a subject the Law? The psalm demands honoring God
of reflection and discussion for the people of with sacrifices, but clearly gives priority to an
God to know what, in God’s eyes is more im- upright life.
portant: the offering of sacrifices or keeping
1235 PSALM 51
15
Call on me in time of calamity;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
16
But God says this to the wicked:
“What right have you to mouth my laws,
or to talk about my covenant?
17
You hate my commands
and cast my words behind you.
18
You join a thief when you meet one; Rom 2:
21-22
you keep company with adulterers.
19
You have a mouth of evil
and a deceitful tongue.
20
You speak ill of your brother,
and slander your own mother’s son.
21
Because I was silent while you did these
things,
you thought I was like you.
But now I rebuke you
and make this charge against you.
22
Give this a thought, you who forget God, Hos 5:14
lest I tear you to pieces with no one to help you.
23
Those who give with thanks offerings 91:16
honor me,
but the one who walks blamelessly,
I will show him the salvation of God.”
PSALM 51 (50) Have mercy on me, Lord. Let us admit our sin be-
fore the God of truth. Our humiliation will not be with-
out hope, since we know God is able to give us a new
heart.
to us, making us steadfast and joyful. nor take your holy spirit from me.
Deliver me from the guilt of blood.
The evil or the crimes we have com-
14
Give me again the joy of your salvation
mitted make us fear death: we carry it and sustain me with a willing spirit.
within us. From this comes the desire of 15
Then I will show wrongdoers your ways
reparation, to start again, to save oth-
ers. I will teach them your ways. That and sinners will return to you.
will depend more on God than on us.
This psalm refers to the adultery of
16
Deliver me, O God, from the guilt of blood,
David (2 S 11): it was in fact written and of your justice I shall sing aloud.
much later when God’s people in gen- 17
O Lord, open my lips,
eral became aware of the experience
of its sin. At the end it reaffirms that and I will declare your praise.
the God of truth is not interested in
our religious gestures if our inner being
18
You take no pleasure in sacrifice;
has not been deeply moved. Such an were I to give a burnt offering,
affirmation was at that time difficult to you would not delight in it.
accept and that is why someone 19
O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; Ezk 6:9
wanted to correct it by adding verses
20-21 so as not to shock the good peo- a contrite heart you will not despise.
ple who came to pray in the Temple.
The whole psalm breathes an at-
20
Shower Zion with your favor: 102:
14-18
mosphere of serenity (10-14) because rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
God does not want the death of the 21
Then you will delight in fitting sacrifices, 4:6
sinner, but rather that he may live. The
sinner, pardoned and sure of God’s in burnt offerings and bulls offered on your
constant pardon, will be the witness of altar.
divine mercy in an embittered and pes-
simistic world.
When in the Church, we receive the
sacrament of pardon, we meet Jesus
himself, the Savior who intercedes, and
the Father who pardons. Each of our
confessions is a joyful celebration of
God’s mercy and a source of renewal.
3
Why boast of your wickedness, words that inflict harm, O you de-
strong man? Why boast all day long ceitful tongue!
4
that you are plotting crimes? 7
But God will bring you down for- Job
18:14;
Your tongue is like a sharp razor; ever; he will snatch you, tear you Pro 2:22
5
you love evil more than good, and away from your tent; he will uproot
falsehood more than truth. 6 You love you from the land of the living.
• 52 The psalmist asks God to do justice is not only a question of a group of good peo-
against an oppressor. The fall of an unjust sys- ple confronting a wicked group.
tem is a judgment of God, but we know that it
1237 PSALM 55
40:4
8
The good will know fear at the that thrives in the house of God: I
sight; they will say concerning his fate: trust in God’s unfailing love forever
Pro
9
“See the one who would not rely and ever.
11:28
on God, but trusted in riches and 11
I will praise you forever for all
drew strength from wickedness.” you have done, and proclaim your
1:3;
10
But I am as a green olive tree good name before the faithful ones.
92:13;
13:6
PSALM 54 (53)
3
By your name, O God, save me; 7
May their evil plots rebound on
you, the Valiant, uphold my cause. them; in your faithfulness destroy
4
Hear my prayer, O God; listen to them!
the words of my mouth. 8
Freely will I offer sacrifice to you 52:11
86:14
5
Strangers are against me—the and praise your name, O Lord, for it
ruthless seek my life; they have no is good.
regard for God. 9
You have delivered me from 118:7
6
See, God is my helper; the Lord calamity, and I look down on my
upholds my life. foes.
17:1;
2
Listen to my prayer, O God, do I am greatly troubled 4 at the out-
86:6
not be deaf to my pleading; 3 give cry of the enemy and the clamor of
heed to me and answer me. the wicked.
• 53 This psalm is almost identical to God and his strong intervention are almost
Psalm 14. identical (see Mk 16:17; Acts 3:6; Phil 2:9). If
we place our trust in the name of Jesus, our
• 54 In verse 1, we see that the name of prayer will not be in vain.
PSALM 55 1238
I am distraught at the way they alive, for within them evil and mis-
revile me and persecute me in their chief thrive.
fury. 17
But in God I seek refuge; the
5
My heart agonizes within me; the Lord will rescue me.
Job 4:14 terrors of death fall upon me. 6 I trem- 18
Morning, evening, and even at Dn 6:11
ble in fear—horror has got the better noon, I cry out my grievance and
of me. moan; surely he will hear my voice.
7
I said, “If I had wings like a dove, 19
He will deliver me in safety from
I would fly away and be at rest; my opponents, for they are many.
Jer 9:1;
8
I would seek a home in the
Rev 12:6
20
God who is enthroned forever 29:10
desert 9 or hurry to find a cave for
will hear me and humble them, for
shelter from the tempest.”
they do not repent nor do they stand
Gen 11:7
10
O Lord, shatter their plans. In
in awe of God.
the city I see strife and violence;
11
day and night they prowl about its
21
My friend has attacked his asso-
walls, while inside, evil prevails. ciates and has violated his pact with
12
Forces of tyranny and treachery them.
are at work undermining the city.
22
His words were smoother than 5:10;
57:5
13
If it were a rival insulting me, I butter, yet war was in his heart; his
could bear with him; if it were a foe utterances, more soothing than oil,
in pursuit of me, I could hide from were swords ready and drawn.
him. 23
Place your burden on the Lord, 1P 5:7
41:10;
14
But it is you, an equal of mine, and he will sustain you, for he never
Jer 9:3
my bosom friend, my companion allows the upright to fall.
15
whose fellowship I enjoyed as we 24
But you, O God, will cast the 102:25
walked together in the house of wicked into a pit; bloodthirsty and
God. treacherous, they will not live out half
Num
16
Let death come upon them sud- their days. As for me, I trust in you
16:33
denly, let them go down to the grave alone, O Lord.
PSALM 56 (55) The just will not fall. Prayer of the millions of op-
pressed who live, and no doubt will die crushed. You,
Lord, have gathered our tears!
2
O God, show your mercy to me, 7
They conspire and lurk around,
for my foes are in hot pursuit; they watching my every move, bent upon
press their attack on me all the taking my life.
time. 8
They must not be allowed to go Jer
18:23
3
My accusers pursue me all day unpunished; therefore, O God, in
long, many attack me. 4 But when I your fury bring the nations down.
am afraid, O Mighty One, I put my 9
You have a record of my la-
trust in you, ments; my tears are stored in your
60:13
5
In God whose word I praise, in wineskin. Are they not written on
God I trust without fear. What can your scroll?
mortals do against me? 10
My enemies turn back when I 9:4
6
All day long they hatch their evil call on you for help; now I know that
plans, plotting mischief to injure my God is for me.
cause. 11
In God whose word I praise, 12 in
1239 PSALM 58
Heb 13:6; God I trust without fear. What can For you have rescued my soul
14
Job
Ps 118:6 33:30
mortals do against me? from death and my feet from stum-
13
I am bound to you by vows, O bling, that I might walk in God’s
God; I shall offer my thanksgiving. presence in the light of the living.
17:8
2
Have mercy on me, O God, have 7
They have set a snare for my Lm 1:13;
Ps 7:16
mercy, for my soul takes refuge in steps; my soul was bowed down in
you; I will find shelter in the shadow distress. They dug a pit along my
of your wings till the disaster has path, but they themselves fell into
passed. it.
3
I call on God the Most High, on 8
My heart is steadfast, O God, my 108:2-6
God who has done everything for heart is steadfast. I will sing and
43:3 me: 4 may he send from heaven a make music.
savior and put my oppressors to 9
Awake, my soul, awake, O harp
shame. May God send me his love and lyre! I will wake the dawn.
and faithfulness. 10
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
17:12;
5
I lie prostrate in the midst of lions among the peoples; I will sing praise
Dn 6:17;
Ps 64:4 that greedily devour people, their to you among the nations.
teeth are pointed spears and arrows, 11
For your love reaches to the 36:6
their tongues, sharpened swords. heavens, and your faithfulness, to the
108:6
6
Be exalted, O God, above the clouds. 12 Be exalted, O God, above
heavens! Your glory be over all the the heavens! Let your Glory be over
earth! all the earth!
PSALM 58 (57) God judges judges. God denounces leaders who es-
tablish and maintain a corrupt order instead of being
agents of his justice.
82:2
2
You gods, are your decrees just, water; let them be trodden down like Ps 18:15
and are your judgments upright? grass that withers.
3
No, you willfully commit crimes; 9
Let them be like snails that sink Job 3:16
you deal in violence and corruption. into slime, like untimely births that
4
Even from the womb the wicked never see the sun. 10 Like green grass
go astray; from birth they are way- that is burned before the thorns are
ward liars. dry—let them be swept away!
Dt 32:33
5
They are poisonous like deadly 11
The upright will rejoice when 35:27;
68:24
Ecl 10:11 snakes, deaf as the adder 6 that they are avenged; they will bathe
blocks its ears so as not to hear the their feet in the blood of the
charmer’s voice casting spells. wicked.
3:8
7
Break the teeth in their mouths, 12
Then will people say, “Surely the 1:3;
Job
O God; tear out the fangs of the righteous are rewarded; surely there 19:29
lions, O Lord. is a God who gives judgment on
Job
8
Let them vanish like spilled earth.”
11:16;
• 58 The rulers and those responsible for social justice are called gods because they repre-
sent God in carrying out their functions.
PSALM 59 1240
1S 19:
2
Deliver me from my enemies, O 12
But slay them not, lest my peo-
11-17
God, from those who rise up against ple forget; just shake them by your
me. power, and bring them down, O
3
Deliver me from evildoers; res- Lord, our shield.
cue me from the bloodthirsty. 13
Give us your help against the
Pro 1:11
4
Look, they lie in wait for my life; foe, for human help is worthless.
the mighty conspiring against me,
For the curses and lies they
for no fault of mine, O Lord.
utter, 14 destroy them in your ven-
7:7
5
I have done them no wrong, yet
geance, destroy them till they are
they prepare to attack me. Rise and
no more. Then it will be known that
help me, look on my plight, 6 O Lord
God rules over Jacob to the ends of
God of hosts, God of Israel! Arise and
the earth.
punish the nations; have no mercy
on the wicked traitors.
15
Each evening let them return,
22:17
7
Each evening they return, howl- howling like dogs, prowling about
ing like dogs, prowling about the city. the city, 16 roaming about for food,
8
To their mind, God does not hear or growling and never filled.
see their wicked deeds. 17
But I will sing of your might; in
2:4
9
But you, O Lord, laugh at them; the morning I will sing of your love.
you look down upon the wicked. For you have been a fortress to me,
10
O my Strength, I look up to you, a refuge in time of distress. 18 O my
for you, O God, are my fortress. Strength, I will sing praises to you,
54:9
11
My loving God will come to help for you, O God, are my stronghold;
me and let me see my enemies fall. you are a loving God.
44:10
3
O God, you have rejected us and 7
Help us and listen to us, that 108:7-14
have broken our defenses; you have your beloved may be rescued.
been angry, but now turn back to us. 8
God has spoken in his sanctu-
Hag 2:6
4
You have shaken the land and ary: “In triumph I will divide up
torn it open; mend its cracks for it Shechem and parcel out the Valley of
totters. Succoth.
Is 51:17
5
You have made your people suf- 9
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is Gen
49:10
fer; you have given us wine that mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah
makes us stagger. my scepter.
6
You set the banner behind us and 10
Moab is my washbasin; upon
your people fled from bow and Edom I cast my sandal; over Philistia
arrow. I shout in triumph.”
• 59 Is God far from evil places? Does he his fault. Then, in the Temple, a priest or a
do nothing there? Is there no prayer, no wit- prophet proclaims a comforting message from
ness which can move them? God: he is going to war and his arms will be
the tribes of Israel: Gilead, Ephraim, Judah…
• 60 Perhaps it is difficult for us to under- and he will trample the neighboring coun-
stand this psalm. The people have been hu- tries… Edom, Moab…
miliated and are complaining to God that it is
1241 PSALM 62
11
Who will take me to the fortified 13
Give us aid against the foe, for 56:5
city? Who will lead me to Edom? human help is not worth a straw.
12
Have you not rejected us, O God? 14
With God we will gain victory;
You no longer go with our armies. he will crush the enemy for us.
PSALM 61 (60)
2
Hear my cry, O God; listen to my O God, and the wish of those who
prayer. fear your name.
3
I call to you from the ends of the 7
Increase the days of the king’s 21:5
earth; my heart grows faint. Set me life; prolong his years for many gen-
46:2 high upon a rock; 4 be my refuge, a erations.
strong tower against the enemy. 8
May he ever be enthroned in Is 16:5;
Pro
15:1;
5
Let me dwell in your tent forever God’s presence; let your love and 20:28
17:8
and take refuge in your wings’ shel- loyalty watch over him.
ter. 9
So I will sing praises to your 66:13
6
Indeed you have heard my vows, name and fulfill my vows day after day.
PSALM 62 (61) My soul rests in God alone. God has revealed two
of his dominant qualities: power and goodness. Would
we like them to be active? Let us believe and open
our hearts.
• 61 The king of Israel has trouble and he knows it is better not to hear everything but it
says his prayer or someone says it for him. pleases him that we want to call on him: in
How much, perhaps, do we ask of God daily, fact, he is all that we lack.
for house, husband, children and the cat. God
PSALM 62 1242
PSALM 65 (64) You visit the earth and fill it with abundance.
Thanksgiving for the harvest of a fertile year.
• 64 Everyone will stand in awe. We mans are not angels, and they need to see that
should not despise the fear of God, unless we justice is effective. How many people have
belong to those perfect people who have be- seen the justice of God rise in the eastern
come pure love of God. A child is not educated countries! Ask him to let it rise in our western
without correction. The great majority of hu- world.
PSALM 65 1244
The psalmist knows that God has Shout with joy to God, all you on earth; 98:4
not only created nature but that he 2
sing to the glory of his name; 29:2
protects his people from a hostile
world, and he recalls his saving won- proclaim his glorious praise.
ders. 3
Say to God, “How great are your deeds! 18:45
“We thank you, Lord God, Master
of the universe, who are and who How formidable your power
were, for you have begun your reign, that makes your enemies cower!
making use of your invincible power. 4
All the earth bows down to you,
The nations raged but your wrath has
come, the time to judge the dead and
making music in praise of you,
reward your servants the prophets, the singing in honor of your name.”
saints and those who honor your
Name—whether great or small—and
5
Come and see God’s wonders, 46:9
destroy those who destroy the earth” his deeds awesome for humans.
(Rev 11:17-18). 6
He has turned the sea into dry land, 14—15;
Jos 3;
and the river was crossed on foot. Ps 114:
Let us, therefore, rejoice in him. 3, 5
7
He rules by his might forever,
his eyes keeping watch on the peoples,
his arm holding the rebels in check.
8
Praise our God, O nations,
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9
for he has preserved us among the living 121:3
and kept our feet from stumbling.
Why did you test us, O God;
10
26:2;
Zec 13:9
and refine us like silver?
1245 PSALM 67
11
You let us fall into the snare;
you burdened us with disgrace.
12
You allowed a nobody to rule over us,
and we have gone through fire and water,
but you have brought us to safety at last.
13
I will bring offerings to your house 22:26
in fulfillment of my vows—
14
those I made when assailed with troubles.
15
I will offer holocausts of fatlings, 51:21
sending up smoke of burning rams,
and a sacrifice of goats and bulls.
16
All you who fear God, come and listen; 9:2
let me tell you what he has done.
17
I cried aloud to him,
extolling him with my tongue.
18
If I had nurtured wickedness in my heart, Jn 9:31
then he would not have heard.
19
But God has listened; 17:1
he gave heed to my prayer.
20
May God be blessed!
He has not rejected my prayer;
nor withheld his love from me.
Num
2
Arise, O God, scatter your ene- army!” 13 The kings and their armies 48:5-6
10:35
mies; let your foes flee before you. flee, yes, they flee, they flee!
3
As smoke is blown by the wind, 14
A woman at home divides the
so blow them away; as wax melts spoils: wings of dove covered with
before the fire, so let the wicked per- silver, their pinions with shining gold.
ish before you. 15
When the Lord routed the kings, Job 38:
22-23
32:11
4
But let the righteous be glad and snow fell on the Dark Mountain.
exult before God; 16
O mighty mountain of Bashan, Am 4:1
let them sing to God and shout for high and rugged mountain, 17 why 78:68
joy. look with envy upon the mountain
15:21
5
Sing to God, sing praises to his where God chooses to reign, where
name; open the way to him who the Lord will dwell forever?
rides upon the clouds; the Lord is his 18
With myriads of powerful char- Jos 5:
13-15
name. Rejoice in his presence. iots, the Lord came from Sinai into
146:9;
6
Father of orphans and protector his sanctuary.
22:21-22
of widows—such is our God in his 19
He ascended the high mountain, Eph 4:8
holy dwelling. leading captives in his train, taking
7
He gives shelter to the homeless, people as tributes, even rebels, to his
sets the prisoners free, but keeps the dwelling.
rebels in their jail. 20
Blessed be the Lord, God our
8
O God, when you went forth, savior, who daily bears our burdens!
when you led your people through 21
Ours is a God who saves; our
Hb 3:3-6; the desert, 9 the earth trembled, the Lord lets us escape from death.
Heb
12:26; heavens poured down rain, at the 22
But he crushes the heads of his Jdg 5:2
Dt 33:2;
Jdg 5:5
presence of God, the God of Israel. enemies, the hairy crowns of the
10
Then you gave a rain of bless- criminals.
ings to comfort your weary children. 23
The Lord said, “I will bring them
11
Your people found a dwelling back from Bashan, back from the
and in your mercy, O God, you pro- depths of the sea, 24 that you may 2K 9:36
vided for the needy. bathe your feet in blood, and the
12
The Lord has dispatched mes- tongues of your dogs may have their
sengers: “The Lord has shattered an share of your foes.”
• 68 We have here a very ancient psalm, people, and his miracles in the desert startled
fairly picturesque, although in certain places nature (vv.9-10). The enemy kings are de-
the text may be obscure, having been badly feated: this is a reference to the victory of Deb-
preserved. orah at the torrent of Kishon (Jdg 4). The
This psalm was sung in processions going psalmist then remembers the choice of God’s
up to Jerusalem. The faithful knew God was mountain, Jerusalem (vv. 16-17). This choice
with them and the procession was like the causes jealousy in the great mountains.
entry of the triumphant God into his Temple. All ends with a vision of the future full of
This explains the images we find in this hope. God who rides on the clouds will mani-
psalm. The Lord God has come from Sinai to fest himself to all the nations. In the liturgy,
the Holy Land, mounted on the clouds, or on this psalm is used for the Ascension of the
the cherubim. He has been at the side of his Lord.
1247 PSALM 69
25
I remember the procession of 31
Rebuke the beast that dwell in
the King, of my God, as they came the reeds, and the herd of bulls.
into the sanctuary: 26 the singers in Humble them; let them bring gold
front, the musicians last, between and silver. Scatter the nations who
them maidens playing tambourines. delight in war.
27
Praise God in the great congre- 32
Let wealth come from Egypt; let
gation, praise the Lord in the feasts Ethiopia extend its hands to God.
of Israel. 33
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the
28
There in the lead is the least of world; sing praises to the Lord, 34 to 18:11;
Dt 33:26
them, the tribe of Benjamin; the him who rides the ancient heavens
princes of Judah in a body; the and speaks in the voice of thunder.
princes of Naphtali, and of Zebulun. 35
Proclaim the might of God; he is
29
Summon your power, O God, great in Israel, powerful in heavens.
with the strength you have wielded 36
Awesome in his sanctuary is the 29:11
for us. God of Israel. He gives his people
30
To your temple in Jerusalem, power and strength.
kings will come with gifts. Blessed be God!
40:14-18
2
Be pleased, O God, to rescue put to shame and disgrace. Let those
me! Make haste to help me! who want me destroyed be turned
3
Let those who seek my life be back in confusion.
• 70 This psalm is almost a repetition of were included in the Bible, the psalms circu-
Psalm 40:14-18; here, Lord is replaced by lated in different collections.
God. This is due to the fact that before they
1249 PSALM 71
4
Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!” your saving power say evermore,
to me feel consternation. “Great is the Lord!”
6
But I am afflicted and needy;
May all who seek you be glad
5
come to me quickly, O God, my help
and rejoice in you. May all who love and my Savior. O God, do not delay!
31:2-4
1
In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; let 14
Then I may trust in you and
me not be disgraced. praise you.
2
In your justice help me and de- 15
My lips will proclaim your inter-
liver me, turn your ear to me and vention and tell of your salvation all
save me! day, little though it is what I can un-
3
Be my rock of refuge, a strong- derstand.
hold to give me safety, for you are 16
I will come to your strength, O
my rock and my fortress. Lord, and announce your justice,
4
Rescue me, O my God, from the yours alone.
hand of the wicked, from the grasp 17
You have taught me from my
of cruel and violent people. youth and until now I proclaim your
5
For you, O Lord, have been my marvels.
hope, my trust, O God, from my 18
When I grow old and gray, do 22:31
youth. not leave me, O God; give me time
6
I have relied on you from birth: to declare your might, your power to
from my mother’s womb you all generations to come.
brought me forth. My praise is of you 19
Your justice, O God, reaches to
continually. heaven; you have done great things.
7
I have become like a portent to Who is like you, O God?
many, but you are my strong refuge. 20
Many have been my hardships
8
My mouth is filled with your and misery, but once more you
praise, announcing your glory day come to revive me; from the depths
by day. of the earth you will bring me up
9
Do not cast me off in my old age, again.
do not desert me when my strength 21
You will restore me and comfort
fails. me again.
10
For my enemies speak ill of me; 22
I will praise you with the harp,
awaiting my death they set plans. for your faithfulness, O my God; I will
11
They say, “God has forsaken sing your praise with the lyre, O Holy
him; let us pursue and seize him, for One of Israel.
22:12;
no one will rescue him.” 23
My lips will rejoice, and my soul,
38:23;
12
O God, be not far from me; my too, which you have rescued.
40:14;
70:2 God, make haste to help me! 24
I will recall your intervention the 35:28
13
Let my accusers be destroyed in whole day long, “Yes, those who
40:15; shame; let those who seek my ruin sought to do me harm have been
35:4
be covered with disgrace and scorn. confused and put to shame.”
• 71 We shall have a better knowledge of he worked for us. May God grant us true con-
the love of God at the end of our lives, and it solation at the end of our present life.
will be easy for us to remember the wonders
PSALM 72 1250
PSALM 72 (71) The King of Peace. Waiting for the King of Peace,
he who will do justice for the humble. The expectation
of universal peace after so much obstinacy in mur-
dering one another.
The ideal kingdom will never be a O God, endow the king with your justice, 89:15
reality here below. The risen Lord will the royal son with your righteousness.
inaugurate it at the end of time. Faith,
however, lets us discover the signs of
2
May he rule your people justly
the coming of the kingdom: humanity and defend the rights of the lowly.
goes forward towards its unification;
the desire for justice and peace for all
3
Let the mountains bring peace to the people,
grows stronger in every nation. and the hills justice.
The King of Peace brings good
news to the poor (Lk 4:18). He de-
4
He will defend the cause of the poor,
fends the rights of the lowly. He pro- deliver the children of the needy,
claims a new age when God will rec- and crush the oppressor.
oncile humanity; the weak have the
right to live, and there is food for all. 5
He will endure as the sun
Our world is far from the realization and as the moon through all generations.
of the universal charter of human
rights, and it is not for us to wait pas-
6
He will be like rain falling on the fields, 37:11
sively for this reign. God is so thought- or showers watering the earth.
ful towards humanity, created in his 7
Justice will flower in his days,
image, that he wishes humans to be and peace abound till the moon be no more.
associated with all his works, including
the realization of the eternal city. 8
For he reigns from sea to sea, Zec 9:10;
This will be, evidently, a gift of God, Sir 44:21;
but not a simple gift as was the ap- from the River to the ends of the earth; Jos 1:4
parition of the universe. It will be the
9
his foes are crushed before him,
crowning of what humans have begun and his enemies lick the dust.
to do on earth.
Verse 8: from sea to sea, which
10
The kings of Tarshish and the islands 1K 10:1
• 74 The great trials and persecutions at find the ancient legends about creation: God
the time of the Maccabees had been a chal- split in two the sea monster, the wicked god-
lenge to God: could he not and should he not dess Rahab, and thrown her to the sea turtles
act? It is the same in those places where the to be eaten.
Church is really persecuted. With verse 14, we
1253 PSALM 76
them all.” They razed to the ground night; you have set the course of the
all the shrines of God in the land. sun and the light.
77:9;
9
With no signs and no prophets, 17
You fixed the earth’s borders,
Lm 2:9
no one can tell how long this will last. you created summer and winter.
10
How long, O God, will the foe 18
Remember, O Lord, how the
blaspheme? How long will the enemy lawless scoff at your name, a party
revile your name? of fools cast you off.
11
Why do you hold back your 19
Do not betray your turtledove to
right hand? Why keep your hand hid- the beast, do not forget forever the
den? life of your poor.
12
Are you not O God, my king 20
See how they keep your cove-
since birth, you who bring salvation nant in the dark caves of the land.
to the land? 21
Do not let the oppressed be put
13
You split the sea in two by your to shame; may the poor and needy
power; you broke the monsters’ praise your name.
heads in the water; 14 you crushed the 22
Arise, O God, and defend your
heads of Leviathan and fed him to cause, see how the thoughtless
17:1-7;
the dolphins. laugh at you all day long.
Num 20:
15
You opened up rivers and springs 23
Do not forget the clamor of your
2-13;
Jos 3 and dried up ever-flowing streams. foes, the continuous uproar of your
16
You own the day as well as the enemies.
PSALM 75 (74) God will come to judge. Through the cross and
resurrection of Christ, God has already judged the
world; to the just he has given the assurance that they
will triumph.
2
We give you thanks, O God, we east or the west, nor from the moun-
give thanks. Those who invoke your tains or desert;
name will recount your wonderful 8
God comes to judge, putting one
deeds. down and lifting up another.
3
“At a set time I will judge fairly. 9
In the hand of the Lord is a cup 11:6;
Rev
4
The earth wobbles with its inhabi- of spiced and foaming wine; he 14:10
tants, but I will restore its founda- pours it out for the wicked to drain to
tions. the dregs.
5
To the proud I say, ‘Boast no 10
As for me, I will rejoice forever
more.’ And to the wicked, ‘Raise not and sing praises to the God of Jacob.
your head. 6 Do not lift yourself so 11
He will break the power of the
high, do not insult God.’” wicked, but the power of the virtuous
7
God comes, though not from the will be exalted.
PSALM 76 (75) After a victory. God has defeated the kings who
were attacking Jerusalem, the Holy City. This victory
prefigures another when in the end, the humble will
be liberated.
2
God is now famous in Judah,
in Israel his name is great.
3
Salem is indeed his tent; Gen
14:18;
he has made Zion his dwelling place. 2S 6
PSALM 76 1254
4
There he broke the flashing arrow, 48:4-8
the shield and sword, the spear and bow.
5
You are glorious and majestic,
enthroned on everlasting mountains.
6
The stouthearted lie despoiled,
sleeping their last sleep,
not one able to lift a hand.
7
At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider and horse lay stunned.
8
But you—how terrible you are!
Who can oppose the fury of your onslaught?
9
You thundered judgment from the heavens;
while the earth trembled and lay still,
10
as you, O God, arose to judge,
to save all the humble of the earth.
11
Pagan nations will bring you praise,
their survivors will celebrate your name.
12
Make vows to the Lord, your God,
and fulfill them; let the peoples
bring offerings to the Fearsome One,
13
who breaks the spirit of rulers,
and is formidable to the kings of the earth.
2
I cry aloud to God—aloud that he the years of long ago 7 and the whole
may hear me. night my soul remains disturbed, my
Is 26:16;
3
In the day of trouble I seek the spirit wonders,
Ps 50:15;
88:2 Lord, and stretch out my hand untir- 8
“Will the Lord keep silent for-
ingly, my soul refusing to be con- ever? Will he never show his favor
soled. again?
42:6, 12;
4
When I think of God I sigh; when 9
Has he locked his love and
43:5
I meditate my spirit fails. ended his promise for all time?
5
You keep my eyes watchful; I am 10
Is God forgetting his mercy? Has
143:5 so troubled I cannot speak, 6 I re- he in anger withheld his compas-
member the days of old. I consider sion?”
• 77 The Most High no longer acts as be- the Church could be seen as collapse, but the
fore. The psalmist meditates on God’s marvels next generation will find that there has been a
in the past, and then returns to his own time. resurrection. Likewise, in the life of every be-
It would seem that God abandons his people in liever, there are moments when God reveals
the midst of insoluble difficulties. The fact is himself and lifts us, and others when he asks
that the past is seen more beautiful than it was, for our fidelity even though he offers no en-
even in the Bible. Similarly, the actual crises in couragement.
1255 PSALM 78
11
This is what makes me dis- 17
When the waters saw you, O 14
traught—that the Most High no God, they were afraid, the depths of
longer acts as before. the sea trembled.
12
I remember the deeds of the 18
The clouds poured down rain;
Lord; I recall his marvels of old. the skies resounded with thunder;
13
I meditate on all your work, and your arrows flashed from every side.
consider your mighty deeds. 19
Your thunder crashed in the 19:16;
Ps 97:4
14
Your way, O God, is most holy. midst of the whirlwind; your lightning
Is there any god greater than you, lit up the world; the earth shook and
our God? trembled.
15
You alone are the God who 20
Your path led through the sea,
works wonders, who has made your way through the great water,
known his power to the nations. but your footprints were nowhere to
16
With power you have redeemed be seen.
your people, the descendants of 21
You led your people as a flock
Jacob and Joseph. by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
PSALM 78 (77) How many times did they tempt God! This
psalm draws a lesson from the history of Israel: God’s
blessings and the ingratitude of his people.
I remember the deeds of the Lord, I recall divided into two kingdoms. The strongest, the
his marvels of old. We say with Paul: “Why one in the north called the kingdom of Israel,
will God, who has given his Son for us, not considered itself the true heir of the ancestor
give us all with him?” Let us remember our Jacob–Israel, and the chief tribe was that of
past, the past of our nation and of our Chris- Ephraim, son of Joseph.
tian community and let us search to discover Doubtless the psalm was written in this king-
God’s patience and to see in our misfortunes dom before it disappeared. When it was again
the consequence of our sins. In particular, the taken to the Temple of Jerusalem, in the king-
division of Christians into so many churches dom of Judah, verses 67-72 were added. The
should make us feel that we have not been first part showed the disobedience of the peo-
faithful to the teaching of Christ. ple in the north, and then ended with the kind-
ness of God for those of the south—for us, of
• 78 Ephraim… Jacob… Joseph. We course, who are still here.
must not forget that for centuries, Israel was
PSALM 78 1256
10
It is because they did not keep 30
But even before they were fin-
God’s covenant and refused to live ished, while the food was still in their
by his law. mouths,
11
They forgot the marvels he had 31
God’s anger rose against them;
done, 12 what their ancestors had he slew the strongest among them
seen in the land of Egypt, in the and laid low the flower of Israel.
fields of Zoan. 32
In spite of all this, they kept on
14
13
He divided the sea and led them sinning and did not believe,
across; he made the water stand like 33
so he swept away their days
a wall. suddenly as a storm, and their years
105:39;
14
By day he led them with a in terror. 34 When he slew them, they
13:21
cloud, and by night with a fiery light. repented and sought him earnestly.
Num 20:
15
In the desert he split rocks to 35
They remembered that God was
2-13;
17:1-7 give them abundant drink. their rock, the Most High, their re-
114:8
16
He made streams come out of a deemer.
rock and caused water to flow like a 36
But they flattered him with their
river. mouths, they lied to him with their
17
Yet they sinned even more tongues, 37 while their hearts were
against him and rebelled against the unfaithful; they were untrue to his
95:8-9; Most High in the desert. 18 They tested covenant.
16;
Dt 6:16 God, demanding the food they craved. 38
Even then, in his compassion,
19
They blasphemed against God, he forgave their offenses and did not
saying: “Can God spread a table in destroy them.
the desert? Many a time he restrained his
20
He made water flow out of the anger and did not fully stir up his
rock; can he also give his people wrath.
bread or meat?” 39
He remembered that they were
21
When the Lord heard this he but flesh, a breeze that passes and
was enraged; a fire raged against never returns.
Jacob, his anger flared against Israel, 40
How often did they rebel against
22
for they had no faith in God nor him in the wilderness, how often did
trust in his deliverance. they grieve him in the desert!
23
Yet he commanded the skies 41
Again and again they tested
above and opened the doors of him, and provoked the Holy One of
Jn 6:31 heaven; 24 he rained down manna Israel.
upon them and fed them with the 42
They did not remember his
heavenly grain. power in redeeming them from the
1Cor
25
They ate and had more than oppressor; 43 neither his marvels 7—11
10:3
their fill of the bread of angels. shown in Egypt nor his wonders in
Num
26
Then from heaven he stirred the the fields of Zoan, 44 when he turned
11:31
east wind, and by his power let loose the rivers to blood and the oppres-
the south wind, 27 to rain down meat sors had nothing to drink.
on them like dust. 45
He sent swarms of flies that de-
Birds as thick as the sand on the voured them, frogs that devastated
seashore 28 fell inside their camp, them.
lying all around their tents. 46
He gave their crops to the cater-
29
They ate till they were satisfied, pillar and their produce to the locust.
for he had given them what they 47
He destroyed their vines with
craved. hail and their sycamores with frost.
1257 PSALM 79
48
He struck their herds with 59
Filled with wrath, God rejected
plague and their flocks with thunder- Israel.
bolts. 60
He abandoned his dwelling at 1S 4:
10-11
49
He unleashed his fury against Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt
them, his wrath, indignation and among humans.
strife—a band of destroying angels. 61
He lead his glory into captivity,
50
Giving vent to his anger, he did his ark into the hand of the enemy.
not spare them from death, but gave 62
He gave his people over to the
them over to the plague. sword, so furious was he at his in-
105:36
51
He struck down Egypt’s first- heritance.
born, manhood’s firstfruits in the 63
Fire devoured their young men;
tents of Ham. their maidens were deprived of wed-
52
Then he led forth his people like ding songs.
a flock, and guided them like sheep 64
As their priests fell by the sword,
through the desert. no lament was heard from their wid-
53
He led them safely, they did not ows.
fear, but the sea engulfed their ene- 65
Then the Lord awoke, shouting,
mies. as from sleep induced by wine; 66 he
54
He brought them to his holy struck his enemies on their back and
land, to the mountain his right hand put them to everlasting shame.
had won. 67
He rejected the house of Jo-
Jos 23:4
55
He drove out peoples before seph, and did not choose the tribe of
them and gave them the land as their Ephraim, 68 but the tribe of Judah 87:2
inheritance; they pitched their tents and Zion, his beloved mountain.
in it. 69
He built his sanctuary like heav-
56
But they challenged and re- en, like the earth he founded forever.
belled against God the Most High, 70
He chose David his servant and 1S
13:14;
and disobeyed his decrees. took him from the sheepfolds; 71 from 16:11-13
57
They were unfaithful like their tending the sheep and their young,
ancestors, deceitful and crooked as he brought him to shepherd Jacob,
a twisted bow. the people of Israel, his inheritance.
58
They angered him with their 72
And with upright heart David
high places; they aroused his jeal- pastured them; with skillful hands he
ousy with their idols. led them.
PSALM 79 (78) How long will your anger last? Let God do justice
to his people. The Lord owes us nothing since we are
sinners.
74; O God, the pagans have invaded corpses to the birds, and the flesh of 1Mac
2K 25:9 7:17
your inheritance; they have defiled your saints to the beasts of the
your holy temple and reduced earth.
Jerusalem to rubble. 3
They have poured out the blood
Jer 19:7;
2
They have given your servants’ of your faithful like water around
• 79 Here again is a psalm born of the re- as prayers composed by David. When the
ligious persecution at the time of the Mac- apostles quote a psalm, they say: “God said
cabees. The Bible liked to consider the psalms through the mouth of David…” The psalms
PSALM 79 1258
Jerusalem, and there was no one to us, for we have been brought very
bury them. low.
44:14
4
Mocked and reviled by those
9
Help us, God, our savior, for the
around us, we are scorned by our glory of your name; forgive us for the
neighbors. sake of your name.
89:47
5
How long will this last, O Lord?
10
Give not the nations a chance to 42:4;
Jl 2:17
Will you be angry forever? Will your say, “Where is their God?” Before our
wrath always burn to avenge your eyes let them know that you avenge
rights? the blood of your servants.
11
Listen to the groans of the pris-
Jer
6
Pour out your anger on the na-
10:25; oners; by the strength of your arm,
1Thes tions that do not acknowledge you;
deliver those doomed to die.
4:5 on the kingdoms that do not call on 12
Return our neighbors sevenfold,
your name.
O Lord, the taunts with which they
7
For they have devoured Jacob have taunted you.
and laid waste his homeland. 13
Then we, your people, the flock 100:3
8
Do not remember against us the of your pasture, will thank you for-
sins of our fathers. ever. We will recount your praise
Let your compassion hurry to from generation to generation.
PSALM 80 (79) Let your face shine on us! God is our shepherd:
has he forgotten his people? When the Church is dis-
credited, the salvation of Christ seems to be a failure.
Lord bring us back and convert us!
18:11;
2
Listen, O shepherd of Israel, you 7
You have made us the scorn of Lk 23:35
1S 4:4
who lead Joseph like a flock, you our neighbors and the laughingstock
who sit enthroned between the of our oppressors.
cherubim. 8
Restore us, O God of hosts;
3
Shine forth before Ephraim, make your face shine upon us, that
Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up we may be saved.
your might and come to save us. 9
You had a vine you brought from Is 5:1
4
Restore us, O God of hosts; Egypt. You drove nations out, to
make your face shine upon us, that plant it in their land.
we may be saved. 10
On the ground that you cleared,
5
O Lord of hosts, how long will it took root, and filled the land.
your anger burn against the prayers 11
Its shade covered the moun-
of your people? tains, its shoots went through the
6
You have fed them with the bread mighty cedars,
of woe, and have given them tears to 12
its branches reached out to the 72:8
drink in their sorrow. sea and its shoots to the River.
are in fact the prayer of a people that lived and • 80 This psalm refers to the years of trial
suffered. for the kingdom of Israel at the time of Elisha.
This psalm reminds God that his honor is Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh were the
at stake: what does he think? Are we ready more important tribes of the northern king-
to accept that the glory of God includes fail- dom. In the former century, it extended from
ure and and at times, humiliations for his peo- the Mediterranean to the Euphrates (v. 12).
ple? Verse 18 refers to the King.
1259 PSALM 81
PSALM 81 (80) Open your mouth and I shall fill it. “If my peo-
ple would listen to me, I would subdue their enemies.”
We lack dynamism to evangelize and change the
world: this is because we still have idols even in our
apostolate planning.
2
Sing joyfully to God, our strength;
acclaim aloud the God of Jacob.
3
Start the music, strike the timbrel,
play melodies on the harp and lyre.
4
Sound the trumpet at the new moon,
on our feast day when the moon is full.
5
This is a decree for Israel, 23:14
an ordinance of the God of Jacob,
6
a statute he wrote for Joseph
when he went out of Egypt.
They heard a voice they did not know:
“Open wide your mouth and I will fill it,
7
I relieved your shoulder from burden;
I freed your hands.
8
You called in distress, and I saved you; 95:8;
17;
unseen, I answered you in thunder; Num 20
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
9
Hear, my people, as I admonish you.
If only you would listen, O Israel!
10
There shall be no strange god among you, 20:1
you shall not worship any alien god,
11
for I the Lord am your God,
who led you forth from the land of Egypt.
12
But my people did not listen;
Israel did not obey.
13
So I gave them over to their stubbornness Jer 3:17;
7:24
and they followed their own counsels.
14
If only my people would listen,
if only Israel would walk in my ways,
PSALM 81 1260
15
I would quickly subdue their adversaries
and turn my hand against their enemies.
16
Those who hate the Lord would cringe
before him,
and their panic would last forever.
17
I would feed you with the finest wheat Dt 32:13
and satisfy you with honey from the rock.”
God assembles the gods of the God presides in the divine council; 89:6;
world, those who, at the head of the he gives judgment among the gods: 4:16
nations share the task of supreme
judge. God reminds them of the sacred
2
“How long will you judge unjustly Mic 3
rights of the people. The rulers are and show partiality to the wicked?
also mortals and will have to render an
account. 3
Give justice to the weak and the orphan; Jer 5:28;
All the earth’s foundations are defend the poor and the oppressed. Job
29:12
shaken. The Bible does not separate
the physical from the moral world.
4
Rescue the helpless and the needy; 23:6
The evil of humans destroys the order deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
of nature and brings about disasters.
Sons of the Most High (v. 6). In
5
Without knowledge and understanding,
many places the biblical text mentions they walk about in darkness;
the “sons of God.” This hebraic ex- all the earth’s foundations are shaken.
pression could be translated “divine
beings” and most of the time refers to 6
“You are gods,” I said, Jn 10:34
angels. The rulers have been called to
share the dignity of those heavenly “you are all sons of the Most High.”
spirits but God’s judgment may de- 7
But now you will die like the others;
prive them of it. you will all fall like any mortal.
8
Rise, O God, judge the earth,
you who guide all the nations.
44:24;
2
Do not be silent, O God, hold not Ishmaelites, Moab and the progeny
50:3;
109:1 your peace, be not unmoved! of Hagar,
3
See how your enemies are astir; 8
Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Jos 13:2
those who hate you rear their heads. Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
Jer
4
Craftily they plot against your 9
Those from Sur are in league
11:19
people, they conspire against those with them and lend support to Lot’s
you protect. descendants.
5
They say, “Let us finish them as 10
Deal with them as you did with Jdg 6—8
a nation. Let the name of Israel be Midian, with Sisera and Yabin at the
forgotten!” river Kishon;
6
With one heart they devise a 11
they perished at Endor and be-
scheme and form an alliance against came dung for the ground. Jdg
you: 7 the people of Edom and the 12
Make their nobles like Oreb and 7:25;
8:21
• 83 Verses 10-13 refer to the wars of liberation of Israel at the time of the Judges (chaps.
4 and 7).
1261 PSALM 84
Zeeb, all their chiefs like Zebah and Cover their faces with shame, O
17
Zalmunna, 13 who said, “Let us seize Lord, that they may seek your
the pasture lands of God.” name.
14
O my God, make them like 18
Let them be dismayed and
leaves caught in a whirlwind, like
abashed forever; let them perish in
chaff helpless before the wind.
disgrace.
15
As fire consumes the forest, as
flames set the mountains ablaze, Let them know that you alone,
19
97:9
16
drive them out with your tempest whose name is the Lord, are the Most
and terrify them with your storm. High over all the world.
PSALM 84 (83) I want to see the living God. The joy of the pil-
grimage and of going up to the Temple.
courtyard of the Temple than ask a cit- and the swallow a nest
izen of Jerusalem for lodging—one where she may lay her young,
who might be arrogant and unable to at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
share the joy of a pilgrim.
my King and my God!
5
Happy are those who live in your house,
continually singing your praise!
6
Happy the pilgrims whom you strengthen,
to make the ascent to you.
7
As they pass through the Valley, Ezk
34:26;
they make it a place of springs, Jl 2:23
the early rain covers it with blessings.
8
They go from strength to strength
till they appear before God in Zion.
9
O Lord of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
10
Look upon our shield, O God;
look upon the face of your anointed!
11
One day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be left at the threshold
in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.
12
For the Lord God is a sun and a shield;
he bestows favor and glory.
PSALM 84 1262
• 86 Here is a very tranquil psalm, without Many are in love with my kingdom, but few
cursing and cries of anguish: the son of your are ready to carry my cross.
servant has enemies, of course, but in the set- Many want my consolation, but few want
ting of a small town. But his sorrow is no less my tribulations. I find many companions at my
great because of that. table, but few to share my privations.
We add here some verses from the Imitation Everyone would like to rejoice with me, but
of Christ: Christ calls us to share his anguish. few wish to suffer with me.
1263 PSALM 87
40:18 Listen, O Lord, and answer me, ful are your deeds; you alone are
for I am afflicted and needy. God.
25:20
2
Preserve my life for I am God- 11
Teach me, O Lord, how to walk 26:3;
27:11
fearing; save your servant who trusts in your truth, that my heart may fear
in you. your name.
3
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I 12
I give thanks to you, O Lord my
cry to you all day. God; I will glorify your name forever,
25:1
4
Bring joy to the soul of your ser- 13
for great has been your love for 88:7
vant, for you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. me, you have saved me from the
5
You are good and forgiving, O grave.
Lord, caring for those who call on 14
O God, the insolent are against 54:5
you. me; a band of cut-throats, evildoers
5:2-3
6
Listen, O Lord, to my prayer, who do not hold you in reverence.
hear the voice of my pleading. 15
But you, O Lord God, are mer- 34:6;
Ps 103:8;
77:3
7
I call on you in the time of my ciful, slow to anger, loving and faith- 145:8
15:11;
trouble for you will answer me. ful.
Ps 35:10;
8
None is like you among the gods, 16
Turn to me, take pity on me; 25:16;
89:9; 116:16
Jer 10:6 your works are beyond compare. give your strength to your servant,
Rev
9
All the nations you have made and save the child of your handmaid.
15:4;
Ps 22:28 will come; they will worship before 17
Give me a sign of your grace,
you, O Lord, and bring glory to your that my foes may see to their dis-
name. grace, that you, O Lord, are my help
10
For you are great, and wonder- and comfort.
PSALM 87 (86) God loves the gates of Zion. The psalmist recalls
that God has chosen Jerusalem–Zion as the capital of
his people and the mother of the nations.
Here so-and-so was born. God He himself has built it in his holy mountain; 48:2
passes in review the people of all races 2
the Lord prefers the gates of Zion
and inscribes them in his book as true
children of his holy city. But of Zion to all of Jacob’s towns.
it shall be said: She is the mother.
The new Jerusalem is the Church, the
3
Great things have been foretold
mother of all. Mary, mother of the of you, O city of God:
Savior, is the image of the Church; she 4
Between friends we speak of Egypt and
is also the mother of all the faithful.
Babylon;
We should not say that the people
of every religion belong to the Church and also Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia:
without knowing it. Only at the end of “Here so-and-so was born.”
Many follow me to the breaking of bread, But if I hide and leave them for a while, they
but few to drinking the cup of my passion. complain and sink into depression.
Many venerate my miracles, but few are de-
voted to the ignominy of my cross. On the other hand, those who love me for
Many love me as long as they are without my own sake and not because of a particular
trials. interest, bless me in time of trial and anguish of
Many praise me and bless me as long as heart, just as in their time of great joy.
they receive favors.
PSALM 87 1264
PSALM 89 (90) Your love and your fidelity. God is faithful: he di-
rects history and he guides our lives according to his
promises which never fail.
2
I will sing forever, O Lord, of your 3
I will declare how steadfast is
love and proclaim your faithfulness your love, how firm your faithfulness.
from age to age. 4
You said, “I have made a cove-
• 88 A psalm that seems quite pessimistic. which the Jews themselves had up to a short
Yet the sick person has not lost confidence. time before the coming of Jesus, was hardly
The vision he has of the “beyond death,” that encouraging (vv. 5, 10, 12).
1265 PSALM 89
nant with David, my chosen one; I sion; you said of your faithful ser-
have made a pledge to my servant. vant:
2S 7:
5
I establish his descendants forever; “I have set the crown upon a
8-16;
23:5; I build his throne for all genera- mighty one; on one chosen from the
Acts 2:30 tions.” people.
6
The heavens proclaim your won- 21
I have found David my servant, 1S 16;
Acts
ders, O Lord; the assembly of the and with my holy oil I have anointed 13:22
holy ones recalls your faithfulness. him.
7
Who in the skies can compare with 22
My hand will be ever with him
the Lord; who of the heaven-born is and my arm will sustain him, 23 no
like him? enemy shall outwit him nor the
8
A God feared in the council of wicked oppress him.
the holy ones, awesome to those 24
I will crush his foes before him
who approach him. and strike down his adversaries.
9
O Lord God of hosts, who is like 25
My faithfulness and love will be
you, clothed in might and faithful- with him, and by my help he will be
ness? strong.
65:8
10
You reign over the surging sea; 26
I will set his hand over the sea,
74:14; you calm its raging waves. 11 You split his right hand over the rivers.
Job
26:12 Rahab like a carcass; with your 27
He will call on me, ‘You are my 2S 7:14;
Ps 2:7;
strong arm you routed your foes. Father, my God, my Rock, my Sav- 18:3
24:1
12
Yours are the heavens and the ior.’
earth; you founded the world and 28
I will make him the firstborn, the Rev 1:5
everything in it. highest of the kings of the earth.
13
You created the north and the 29
I will keep my covenant firm for-
south—Tabor and Hermon rejoice at ever, and my love for him will en-
your name. dure.
14
You have a powerful arm, migh- 30
His dynasty will last forever, and
ty and exalted is your right hand! his throne as long as the heavens.
97:2
15
Justice and righteousness are 31
If his sons forsake my law and
the foundation of your throne; love fail to follow my decrees, 32 if they vi-
and faithfulness go before you. olate my statutes and do not keep
16
Blessed is the people who know my commandments,
your praise. They walk in the light of 33
I will punish their crime with the 2S 7:14
your face. 17 They celebrate all day rod and their offenses with the
your name and your protection lifts scourge; 34 yet I will not withdraw my
them up. love from him, nor will I withdraw my
18
You give us glory and power; faithfulness.
and your favor gives us victory. 35
I will be true to my promises and
19
Our king is in the hands of the not break my covenant. 36 Did I not
Lord; the God of Israel is our shield. swear by my holiness? I will not lie to
2S 7:8
20
In the past you spoke in a vi- David.
• 89 Love and fidelity are the theme of this give glory and prosperity to his people? Simi-
psalm. These two dominant qualities of God larly today, the believer sometimes asks: Lord,
are emphasized throughout the Bible. Love or what has happened to your promises? Why is
grace, goodness, tenderness, mercy; fidelity or there no bread for your children? Where is
loyalty, truth. The day after the great defeats, your justice? Why does your Church not live
the author of this psalm remembers God’s the Gospel?
promises: Where is the Savior–King who is to
PSALM 89 1266
37
His dynasty will last forever, and scepter from his hand and flung his
his throne endure as the sun before throne to the ground.
me. 46
You have shortened the time of
Rev 1:5
38
It will shine forever like the his splendor and covered him with
moon, the unfailing watch of heav- shame.
ens.” 47
How long, O Lord, will you hide? 79:5
39
But now you have rejected, dis- How long will anger burn like a fire?
owned and raged at your anointed. 48
Consider how short my life is,
40
You have disregarded your how shadowy the human destiny.
covenant and cast off the crown of 49
What mortal can live and never
your servant. see death? Who will escape from the
80:13-14
41
You have destroyed his walls netherworld?
and reduced his strongholds to rub- 50
O Lord, where is your former
ble. 42 The victim of despoilers, he great love, the faithfulness you
has become the scorn of his neigh- pledged to David?
bors. 51
Remember, O Lord, how your
43
You have exalted the right hand servant is despised, how I suffer the
of his foes; you have made his ene- scorn of the peoples, 52 the taunts
mies rejoice. with which your enemies have
44
You have turned the edge of his mocked every step of your anointed. 41:14;
sword, and have not stood by him in 53
Blessed be the Lord forever! 72:19;
106:48;
battle. 45 You have wrenched the Amen, Amen. Lk 1:68
PSALM 90 (89) Our days pass like a sigh. Our earthly life is short
and frail before the face of the eternal God. He is our
refuge and can give meaning to our existence. Let us
ask him to fill it with wisdom, which is to love him,
praise him and serve him.
1
Lord, you have been our refuge 9
Our days pass away in your
through all generations. wrath; our years are gone in no time.
2
Before the mountains were 10
Seventy years to our life or Ecl 12:
1-7
formed, before you made the earth eighty if we are strong, yet most of
and the world, from eternity to eter- them are sorrow and trouble; speed-
nity—you are God. ing by, they sweep us along.
Gen
3
You turn humans back to dust, 11
Who knows the extent of your
3:19
saying, “Return, O mortals!” anger? Who has seen the end of your
2P 3:8
4
A thousand years in your sight wrath?
are like a day that has passed, or like 12
So make us know the shortness
a watch in the night. of our life, that we may gain wisdom
5
You sow them in their time, at of heart.
dawn they peep out. 6 In the morning 13
How long will you be angry, O
they blossom, but the flower fades Lord? Have mercy on your servant.
and withers in the evening. 14
Fill us at daybreak with your
7
Your fury consumes us like fire, goodness, that we may be glad all
and we are helpless before your our days.
anger. 15
Make joy endure as the misery
8
Our evils lie before you who did, and the years in which we were
scrutinize our hidden sins. afflicted.
1267 PSALM 91
PSALM 91 (90) Night prayer. A prayer that the believer prays with
assurance that God protects those who trust in him.
PSALM 92 (91) The just will rise like a palm tree. Enthusiasm of
the one whose life is built on faithfulness. He has seen
the fall of many fortunes and much glory.
1
O Lord God, vengeance is yours; tress while a pit is dug for the wick-
O God who avenges, show yourself! ed.
2
Judge of the world, repay the 14
The Lord will not reject his peo- Rom
11:2;
proud with what they deserve. ple nor will he forsake his heritage. 1S 12:22
3
How long shall the wicked, O 15
Justice will return to the just,
Lord, how long shall the wicked and the upright will follow in its
exult? wake.
4
Pouring out words of arrogance, 16
Who stands up for me against
evildoers make a show of their inso- the wicked? Who stands by me
lence. against evildoers?
5
They crush your people, O Lord, 17
Had the Lord not helped me, I
they oppress your inheritance. would have fallen into the silence of
6
They murder the widow and the death.
lonely, they massacre the helpless; 18
No sooner did I say, “My foot is
10:11
7
“The Lord does not see,” they say, slipping,” your kindness, O Lord,
“the God of Jacob does not care.” held me up.
8
Remember this, you stupid peo- 19
The more worries and trouble
ple, when will you understand, you assailed me, the more you consoled
fools! me.
9
He who made the ear, will he not 20
You shun wicked rulers who im-
hear? He who formed the eye, will he pose injustice by law.
not see? 21
They plot together against the
10
He who rebukes nations, will he virtuous and condemn the innocent.
not punish them? 22
But the Lord is my stronghold,
1Cor
11
The Lord knows the thoughts of my God, my rock of refuge.
3:20
humans, that they are a puff of wind. 23
He will repay them for their evil
119:71;
12
Fortunate the one you correct, and destroy them for their wicked-
Job 5:17
O Lord, the one you teach your law; ness; the Lord, our God, will blot
13
you give them relief from dis- them out.
PSALM 95 1270
10
For forty years they wearied me and I said, Num 14:34;
Ps 78:8, 37;
“They are a people of inconstant heart; Dt 32:5, 20;
they have not known my ways.” Job 21:14
11
So I declared on oath in my anger, Num 14:30;
Dt 12:9
“Never shall they enter my rest.”
PSALM 97 (96) God reigns and the idols disappear. Already light
shines on the just. Already it shines on the person of
the risen Christ.
93:1;
We often find it hard to share the 1
The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; 96:10-11;
enthusiasm and joy of the psalmist let the distant islands be glad. 99:1
who sees so clearly the world divided
between the good and the wicked. We
2
Clouds and darkness surround him; Dt 5:22;
Ps 85:11;
rather see the world covered by a fog justice and right are his throne. 89:15
where each one has his own excuses
and share of wickedness. The confu-
3
Fire goes before him, 18:9;
sion is temporary, however, there is 50:3
burning his foes on every side.
good seed and there are weeds, and
each one goes towards what he
4
His lightning lights up the world; 77:19
prefers. God hates evil as much as he the earth watches and trembles.
loves himself, and what cannot return 5
The mountains melt like wax Mic 1:4;
to God should be destroyed. before the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. Ps 68:3
6
The heavens proclaim his justice, 50:6
all peoples see his glory.
7
Shame on worshipers of idols, 96:5;
Heb 1:6
on those proud of their worthless images.
Let all spirits bow before him.
8
Zion hears and rejoices, 48:12
and the cities of Judah exult,
because of your judgments, O God.
9
For you are the Master of the universe, 83:19;
95:3
exalted far above all gods.
10
You who love the Lord, hate evil,
for he preserves the lives of his faithful,
he delivers them from their foes.
11
He sheds light upon the upright, 112:4
and gladness upon the just.
PSALM 97 1272
PSALM 98 (97) Sing a new song to the Lord. Humanity has found
the way to liberation and salvation:
– in the coming of Christ, God-made-man;
– in his resurrection.
96:1;
1
Sing to the Lord a new song, for and sing praise, 5 with melody of the 147:7
Is 42:10;
Ps 86:10; he has done wonders; his right hand, lyre and with music of the harp.
34:10;
Is 51:5
his holy arm, has won victory for 6
With trumpet blast and sound of Num
10:10
him. the horn, rejoice before the King, the
2
The Lord has shown his salva- Lord!
tion, revealing his justice to the na- 7
Let the sea resound and every- 96:11;
24:1
tions. thing in it, the world and all its peo-
Lk 1:54;
3
He has not forgotten his love nor ples.
Is 52:10
his faithfulness to Israel. The farthest 8
Let rivers clap their hands, hills 89:13;
Is 55:12
ends of the earth all have seen God’s and mountains sing with joy 9 before
saving power. the Lord, for he comes to rule the 96:13;
9:9;
66:1;
4
All you lands, make a joyful earth. He will judge the world with 67:5
100:1
noise to the Lord, break into song justice and the peoples with fairness.
93:1;
1
The Lord reigns and the nations 6
Among his priests were Moses 1S 7:9;
18:8, 11; 12:18
80:2 tremble. He is enthroned upon the and Aaron, and Samuel among
cherubim; the earth gets distraught. those who called on his name. They
48:2;
2
Great is the Lord in Zion; he is called to the Lord, and he answered
Is 12:6;
Ps 113:4 high over all the nations. them.
111:9
3
May they give glory to your 7
In the pillar of cloud he spoke to 19:18-19;
33:9;
name, great and terrible: “Holy is he: them, and they kept his statutes and Num
72:1-2
4
this is the mighty King who loves the decrees he gave them. 12:5
justice.” 8
O Lord our God, you responded 34:6-7
For you come to install fairness, to them; you were a patient God for
to establish in Jacob right and justice. them, but you punished their wrongs.
132:7;
5
Extol the Lord, our God; worship 9
Extol the Lord our God; worship 3:5;
Rev 15:4 Lev 19:2
at his footstool. Holy is he! And at his holy mountain. Holy is the
mighty! Lord our God!
• 99 Yes, he is holy! This exclamation will This sovereign holiness has a beauty which
appear three times in the psalm. Let us take leaves us speechless with a love that dispels
the vision of Isaiah if we want to find the mean- our resistance and oppressive heaviness. It will
ing of the word “holy.” It signifies, according not prevent God from giving himself totally to
to some, that God is totally different, removed us in definitive marriage. The true fear of
from what is not “of him”: he is the “totally God, the fascination that his mystery has on
other.” That is true. It might be necessary to us (we shall live it for eternity) has nothing to
add here what the word “high tension” means do with fear or defiance. The formidable as-
for us: a mysterious power which upsets all our pect of death—necessary for returning to
mechanisms, magnetizing all its surroundings, God—helps us to gauge what separates us
drawing sparks from bodies thought to be inert, from him.
striking down whoever approaches it (2 S 6:7).
1273 PSALM 102
PSALM 100 (99) All the earth acclaim the Lord. Let all the earth
sing, and you, serve him with joy.
66:1
1
All you lands, acclaim the Lord! 4
Enter his gates with thanksgiv- 5:8;
118:19;
Dt 28:47
2
Serve the Lord with gladness; ing, his courts with praise. Give 96:2
come before him with joyful songs. thanks to him and bless his name.
Dt 4:39;
3
Know that the Lord is God; he 5
For the Lord is good; his love Jer 33:11;
32:6; Ps 106:1;
Eph 2:10; created us and we are his people, the lasts forever and his faithfulness 117:2
Ps 95:7;
Ezk 34:31
sheep of his fold. through all generations.
71:22 I will sing of your love and justice; cherously, I will silence. He who talks
to you, O Lord, I will sing praise. and acts arrogantly, I will not endure.
1Tim 3:4
2
I will walk the way of integrity— 6
I will choose from the faithful of 119:63
O Lord, when will you come to me? the land those who may dwell with
With a blameless heart I will walk me; only the upright shall be my ser-
within my house. vant.
139:21;
3
I will not set before my eyes any- 7
No double-dealer shall live in my 26:4-5
Jd 1:23
thing that is base. I hate the deeds of house; no one who utters falsehood
faithless people; I will have no part in shall stand before my eyes.
them. 8
Each morning I will clear the Pro 20:26;
Rev 21:27
Eph 5:11;
4
I will banish all wicked hearts, land and silence all the wicked; I will
Pro 11:20
and evil I will not know. uproot all the evildoers from the city
Pro 21:4
5
He who deals with others trea- of the Lord.
39:13;
2
O Lord, hear my prayer; let my 6
Because of my great grief I am 6:7;
88:3 Job
cry for help come to you. reduced to skin and bones. 19:20
69:18;
3
Do not hide your face from me 7
I am like an owl in the wilder-
27:9;
31:3; when I am in trouble. Turn your ear ness, like a vulture among the
71:12;
56:10;
to me; make haste to answer me ruins.
143:7 when I call. 8
I awake moaning like a lonely
4
For my days are passing away bird on the housetop.
like smoke, my bones burning like a 9
All day long I am taunted by my 44:17
furnace. enemies; they use my name as a
90:6;
5
Like withered grass, my heart is curse.
Is 40:7
blighted, and I forget to eat my 10
The bread I eat is ashes, my 42:4;
80:6
bread. drink is mingled with tears, 11 for your
• 101 In beginning his daily work, the be- cry of a forsaken, sick person, and a prayer for
liever sets out to live according to the truth, to the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
struggle for justice, while hoping for the com- Verse 10 says: The bread I eat is ashes,
ing of the Lord. which means: I’m fasting, I’m going without
bread and I’m covering myself with ashes.
• 102 This psalm blends two poems: the
PSALM 102 1274
wrath, your fury; for you have thrown the Lord has looked on the earth 21 to 79:11
me aside. hear the groaning of the prisoners,
109:23;
12
My days are vanishing like the and free those condemned to death.
144:4;
103:15 shadows at night; I wither away like 22
Then the name of the Lord will
grass. be declared in Zion, and his praise in
9:8;
13
But you, O Lord, you sit forever; Jerusalem,
Lm 5:19;
Ps your name endures through all gen- 23
when the peoples and the king- Is 60:3-4
135:13 erations. doms assemble to worship him.
14
Arise, have mercy on Zion; this 24
My walk has exhausted me, he
is the time to show her your mercy. has cut short my days.
Ne 2:3
15
For your servants cherish her 25
I cry to him, “My God, do not Is 38:10
stones, and are moved to pity by her take my life in mid-course, you
dust. whose days are from age to age.”
16
O Lord, the nations will revere 26
In the beginning you laid the Is 51:6-8;
Heb 1:
your name, and the kings of the earth’s foundation, the heavens are 10-12
earth your glory, the work of your hands.
Is 60:1
17
when the Lord will rebuild Zion 27
Although they perish, you will Is 65:17;
Rev
and appear in all his splendor. remain; they will all wear out like a 20:11;
18
For he will answer the prayer of garment, you change them like 21:1;
2P 3:10
the needy and will not despise their clothes: they pass away,
plea. 28
but you remain the same, your
22:31-32
19
Let this be written for future years unending.
ages, “the Lord will be praised by a 29
Your servants’ children will dwell 69:37
14:2;
people he will form.” secure; their posterity will endure
Dt 26:15;
20
From his holy height in heaven, without fail.
Ps 113:6;
Is 63:15
PSALM 103 (102) The Lord showers his blessings upon you. This
psalm looks on God, humans, and God’s mercy to-
ward humankind: from these three, praise is born.
104:1, 35
1
Bless the Lord, my soul; all my ment to your years, and renews your
being, bless his holy name! youth like the eagle’s.
2
Bless the Lord, my soul, and do 6
The Lord restores justice and se- 146:7
103:8 not forget all his kindness; 3 he for- cures the rights of the oppressed.
gives all your sins and heals all your 7
He has made known his ways to Rom 3:2
107:20 sickness; 4 he redeems your life from Moses and his deeds to the people of
destruction and crowns you with love Israel. 34:6-7;
Is 40:31 and compassion; 5 he gives fulfill- 8
The Lord is gracious and merci- Ps 86:15;
145:8;
Jas 5:11
• 103 Because of their origin and their in- ciful love. Christians will discover many reso-
consistency, humans are dust. They are also nances in this psalm:
God’s creation and God’s children. God is all- – God is indulgent because he knows we are
powerful but his authentic greatness is his infi- but dust, but also because he wanted to expe-
nite capacity to love, to increase the flame of rience the human condition including suffer-
his love from his own fire. God’s characteristic ing, death and even temptation.
is to be mercifully forgiving. In this regard, the – His pardon can be seen: the cross of Jesus
psalmist uses a simple but grandiose image: Christ surmounting the world and history to
the enormous distance between heaven and the end of time.
earth, the east and the west, is less represen- – His covenant with Israel: definitive and
tative of the greatness of God than of his mer- universal.
1275 PSALM 104
ful, abounding in love and slow to it is gone, his field will not see him Job 7:10;
8:18
Is 57:16; anger; 9 he will not always scold nor again.
Jer 3:12
will he be angry forever. 10 He does 17
But the Lord’s kindness is for- 100:5;
Lk 1:50;
Ezk not treat us according to our sins, ever with those who fear him; so is 20:6
20:44
nor does he punish us as we deserve. his justice, for their children’s chil-
36:6;
11
As the heavens are high above dren, 18 for those who keep his Dt 33:9
117:2;
Is 55:9 the earth, so great is his love for covenant and remember his com-
Mic 7:19 those fearing him; 12 as far as the east mands, for those who put them into
is from the west, so far does he re- practice.
move from us our sins. 19
The Lord has set his throne in 11:4;
22:29
Jer 31:20
13
As a father has compassion on heaven; he rules, he has power
his children, so the Lord pities those everywhere.
who fear him. 20
Praise the Lord, all you his an- Dn 3:59;
Ps 148:8;
90:3;
14
For he knows how we are formed, gels, you mighty ones who do his Lk 1:19
Job 10:9
he remembers that we are dust. bidding, you who obey his word.
102:12;
15
The days of mortals are like 21
Praise the Lord, all his hosts, all 148:2
Is 40:6-7
grass; they bloom like a flower of the his servants who do his will.
field; 22
Praise the Lord, all his works, 145:10;
Dn 3:57
90:6;
16
but the wind passes over it, and everywhere he rules.
37:36;
– All the good that has come to us through crowd of witnesses to Jesus Christ, those of
Christ goes far beyond what the psalmist had yesterday and those of tomorrow, and finally
hoped for: the truth of the Gospel and the our own experience of God in this life.
grace of redemption leading us to eternal life. These are some of our reasons for hoping in
– The permanence of the Church, the God and for celebrating his immense glory.
PSALM 104 1276
Gen 45:5;
17
he sent a man ahead of them, Jo- 32
He gave them hail for rain, and 9:13-35;
Acts 7:9 Ps 78:47;
seph, who was sold as a slave; lightning flashed over the land. Rev 8:7
18
his feet in shackles, his neck in 33
He blighted their vines and fig
Gen 41: irons 19 till what he foretold came to trees, shattered the trees in the coun-
9-13;
Wis 10:14 pass, and the Lord’s word proved tryside.
him true. 34
He spoke and locusts came, 10:12-15;
Ps 78:46;
20
The king sent for him, set him grasshoppers without number; 35 they Jl 1:4
free, the ruler of the peoples released devoured all the vegetation and the
Gen 41: him. 21 He put him in charge of his produce of the soil; 36 then he smote 12:29;
39-44; Ps 78:51;
Acts 7:10 household and made him ruler of all all the firstborn, the firstfruits of their Wis 18:12
his possessions, 22 that he might train manhood.
his princes and teach his elders wis- 37
He led Israel out of the alien Gen 15:14;
12:35-36
dom. land, laden with silver and gold, and
Gen 46:6
23
Then Israel came to Egypt, none were left behind.
Jacob settled in the land of Ham. 38
Egypt was glad when they de- 12:33;
15:16
1:7;
24
The Lord made his people fruitful parted, so filled were they with dread.
Dt 26:5
and much stronger than their foes, 39
He spread a cloud as covering, 14:19-20;
Ps 78:14
1:8-22
25
whose hearts he turned to hate his and fire to give them light at night.
people, to deal deceitfully with his 40
They asked for food; he gave 16:12-13;
Ps 78:18, 27;
servants. them quails and fed them with bread Wis 16: 2, 20
3:10;
26
Then he sent Moses his servant from heaven. 17:6;
4:14-16
and Aaron whom he had chosen. 41
He opened the rock, and water Num 20:
8-11;
78:43;
27
They performed his signs gushed out, flowing like a river Ps 78: 24-25;
Jer 32:20
among them, his miracles in the land through the desert. 78:15-16;
Is 48:21
of Ham. 42
For he remembered his promise 2:24;
Lk 1:54-55
10:21-22
28
He sent darkness to the land, to Abraham, his servant.
but they rebelled against his words. 43
So he led forth his people with 15:1-21
7:19-21;
29
He turned their waters into joy, his chosen ones with singing.
Ps 78:44
blood, causing their fish to die. 44
He gave them the lands of the Dt 4:38;
6:11;
7:28;
30
Their land teemed with frogs, in- nations, and let them take the fruit of Ps 78:
Ps 78:45
vading even the king’s bedroom. others’ toil, 54-55
8:12-13
31
He spoke, and flies and gnats 45
that they might keep his statutes 78:7
swarmed throughout the country. and remain obedient to his laws.
PSALM 106 (105) Another look at the history of Israel. Like Psalm
78, this psalm contrasts the mercy of God and Israel’s
rebellions. God punishes but he always gives his grace
again.
107:1;
100:5; Alleluia! cue me when you deliver them; 5 let
118:1, 29;
136:1;
me see the triumph of your faithful,
16:34, 41; Give thanks to the Lord, for he is
1
let me share the joy of your nation,
Ezra
3:11 good, for his love endures forever. and join your people in praising you.
Sir 18:4
2
Who can count the Lord’s mighty 6
We have sinned like our ances- Jer 3:25
deeds, or declare all his praises? tors; we have done wrong and acted
112;
3
Blessed are they who always do wickedly.
Is 56:1-2;
Jas 1:25 just and right. 7
When they were in Egypt, our 78:11;
Ne 9:17
4
Remember me, O Lord, when ancestors had no regard for your
you show favor to your people; res- wondrous deeds; they forgot the
1279 PSALM 106
relented for their sake, because of his we may give thanks to you and
great love. praise your holy name.
1K 8:50;
46
He let them be pitied by all 48
Blessed be the Lord, God of Is- 89:53;
Jer 42:12 Lk 1:68
those who held them captive. rael, from eternity to eternity. Let all
Dt 30:3;
47
Save us, O Lord, our God, gath- the people say, “Amen!” Praise the
2Mac
1:27; er us from among the nations, that Lord!
16:35
PSALM 107 (106) A third look at the history of Israel. Like the two
preceding psalms, this one recalls the past, and draws
another lesson from it: each time they cried to the
Lord, he listened to them. “Let us give thanks for his
love.”
106:1;
1
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is 15
Let them thank the Lord for his
100:5
good, for his love endures forever. love and wondrous deeds for hu-
106:10
2
Let the redeemed of the Lord say mans.
this, those he redeemed from the 16
For he breaks open gates of Is 45:2
106:47; hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered bronze and batters down bars of iron.
Is 11:12;
43:5 from the lands, from east and west, 17
They were sick because of their
from north and south. wrongs, they were afflicted for their
Dt 8:15;
4
Some strayed in the wilderness iniquities.
32:10
and were lost, far away from the city. 18
Unable to take any food they
Is 49:10;
5
They wandered about hungry drew near the gates of death.
41:17
and thirsty, their lives ebbing away. 19
Then they cried to the Lord in
34:18;
6
Then they cried to the Lord in anguish, and he rescued them from
Hos 5:15;
Is 63:9 anguish, and he rescued them from their distress.
their distress. 20
He sent forth his word and
Dt 6:10
7
He led them by a straight way to healed them, and rescued them from
a city where they could dwell. destruction.
8
Let them thank the Lord for his 21
Let them thank the Lord for his
love and wondrous deeds for hu- love and wondrous deeds for humans.
mans. 22
Let them offer sacrifices of 50:14;
Heb
146:7;
9
He quenches the thirst of the thanksgiving, and declare his deeds 13:15
Lk 1:53
soul and satisfies the hunger of the in joyful song.
heart. 23
Those who went to the sea in Sir 43:
24-25
Is 9:1
10
They lived in the darkness of ships, merchants on the mighty wa-
death like prisoners suffering in ters, 24 saw the marvels of the Lord,
chains, 11 for they rebelled against the his wonderful deeds in the deep.
word of God and despised the coun- 25
For he spoke and stirred up a
sel of the Most High. storm whipping up the waves of the
12
Their backs bent in hard labor, sea.
they fell down, and there was no one 26
Flung upward and plunged to
to help. the depths, they lost courage in the
106:43
13
Then they cried to the Lord in ordeal; 27 reeling like drunkards, they
anguish, and he rescued them from were adrift, in spite of all their sea-
their distress. manship.
14
He brought them out of the dark 28
Then they cried to the Lord in
and gloom, and he tore asunder their anguish, and he rescued them from
bonds. their distress.
1281 PSALM 108
89:10;
29
He stilled the storm to a gentle and found a city where they could
Lk 8:24
breeze and hushed the billows to dwell.
silent waves. 37
They planted vineyards, they Am 9:
13-15
30
How glad they were! He brought sowed fields, and from them got
them safe and sound to the port fruitful harvests.
where they were bound. 38
By his blessing their numbers Dt 7:13
31
Let them thank the Lord for his increased, and their herds and flocks
love and wondrous deeds for hu- did not diminish.
mans. 39
But then they dwindled and
22:23, 26
32
Let them extol him in the con- were humbled through oppression,
gregation, praise him in the assem- sorrow and distress.
bly of the people. 40
And he who pours contempt Job 12:
21, 24
Is 50:2
33
He turned rivers into waste- upon princes and makes them wan-
lands, flowing springs into parched der in trackless wastes 41rescued the 113:7;
146:7
Dt 29: grounds, 34 and fruitful valleys into needy from their affliction and made
22-23
salt-flats, because of the wickedness their families flourish like flocks.
of their inhabitants. 42
The upright see it and are glad, 63:12;
Job
114:8;
35
Yet he also turned deserts into but the wicked are silenced. 22:19
Is 41:18
watersheds and parched land into 43
Let the wise consider all this Jer 9:11;
Hos
flowing springs. and understand the Lord’s infinite 14:10
36
There he let the hungry settle love.
57:8-12
2
My heart is ready, O God! I will ary: “In triumph I will divide up
sing praise and make music. Awake Shechem and parcel out the Valley of
my soul! Succoth.
3
Awake, harp and lyre! I will 9
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is
awake the dawn. mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah
18:50
4
I will thank you, O Lord, among my scepter.
the nations. I will sing praise to you 10
Moab is my washbasin; upon
among the peoples. Edom I cast my sandal; over Philistia
36:6;
5
For great is your love above the I shout in triumph.”
Is 55:9
heavens, your faithfulness beyond 11
Who will take me to the fortified
the skies. city? Who will lead me to Edom?
113:4
6
Be exalted, O God, above the 12
O God! Have you really rejected 60:3
heavens. Let your glory be over the us? You no longer go with our armies.
earth. 13
Give us aid against the foe, for 118:8
60:7-14
7
Give help and save us by your the help of mortals is not worth a
right hand, and rescue those you straw.
love. 14
With God we will gain victory; 18:30;
44:6-9
8
God has spoken in his sanctu- he will crush the enemy for us.
• 108 This psalm combines part of Psalm 57 and part of Psalm 60.
PSALM 109 1282
PSALM 109 (108) Have no pity for them. Someone who only had
words of friendship has been accused and slandered.
He asks justice from God who does not forsake his
own. God will show no mercy for those who are mer-
ciless.
28:1; Break your silence, O God whom Lord, and their memory cut off from
35:22
I praise, 2 now that the wicked and the earth.”
deceitful hurl their false accusations 16
For he did not remember to
at me. show kindness, but hounded the
69:5
3
They assail me with words of ha- poor, the needy, and the broken-
tred; they attack me for no valid hearted to their death.
cause. 17
He loved to curse; may he be
4
They return my friendship with cursed. He loathed blessing; may it
slander, and yet I pray for them. be far from him.
35:12
5
They repay me evil for good, and 18
He wrapped himself in cursing; Num
5:22
hatred for my love. may it soak into his body like water,
Zec 3:1
6
Appoint a wicked man against penetrate his bones like oil.
him; find an accuser to repeat this 19
May it be like a garment he
curse: wears, like the belt he ties around
7
“Let him be found guilty when himself.
tried; let his own plea condemn 20
May the Lord reward my accus-
him. ers with this, and others who speak
Acts
8
May his days be numbered, his evil of me.
1:20
office be taken by another. 21
But as for me, O God my Lord, 79:9;
106:8;
9
May his children lose a father for your name’s sake, act on my be- Jer 14:7
and his wife a husband. half, deliver me, in the goodness of
10
May his children go begging, your love.
driven out of their ruined homes. 22
For I am poor and needy, my 40:18
Job 5:5
11
May the creditor seize all his be- heart is stricken within me.
longings and strangers plunder the 23
Like an evening shadow, I fade
fruits of his toil. away; like a locust, I am swept away.
12
Let no one extend kindness to 24
My knees have become weak
him or take pity on his orphaned from fasting, my body is wasted of its
children. substance.
Job 18:
13
May his posterity be destroyed, 25
I have become the butt for the 22:7-8
17, 19;
Sir 41:11 their names blotted out in the next scorn of my foes; people shake their
generation. heads at me in derision.
Jer 18:23;
14
May his father’s evil be remem- 26
Help me, O Lord my God, and 70:2
Lm 1:22
bered before the Lord; may his mo- save me for the sake of your love.
ther’s sin never be effaced. 27
Let them know that this is your 71:13
34:17
15
May their sins be ever before the hand, that it is you, Lord, who do this.
• 109 It is perhaps the psalm that most We have not yet completely come to the
scandalizes Christians, well-educated as we new Gospel age (we continue to kill each other
are. An attempt has been made to change the in a “nice way” in Christian countries) and cer-
translation (instead of a curse, verses 6-20 tainly no one has attained it. They all have the
would be a charitable way of saying what could right to pray. These curses are a cry to the jus-
happen to the evildoer). It has been excluded tice of God who understands them and who—
from the breviary. Whose fault is it, if it is part yes, he too—knows how to curse.
of the Bible and the word of God?
1283 PSALM 111
28
They may curse, but you will 30
To the Lord, I will give my 22:26
bless; when they attack, they will be thanks; I will praise him in the great
disgraced; but may your servant re- assembly.
joice! 31
He stands at the right hand of
29
Let my accusers be clothed with the needy, to save them from those
dishonor; let them be wrapped in who condemn them.
their own shame.
PSALM 110 (109) Word of the Lord to my Lord. The basic force rul-
ing history and the destiny of the world is the victory
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who was made man 2;
so that we might share his eternal glory. Mt 22:44;
Acts 2:
34-35;
Most probably, this psalm was first
1
The Lord said to my Lord, Heb 1:13;
10:12-13;
written for Simon Maccabee: see the “Sit at my right hand 1Cor
commentary on Melchizedek in He- till I make your foes your footstool.” 15:25;
brews 7. It was charged with a proph- 1P 3:22
etic message and we can no longer 2
From Zion the Lord will extend your 2:6, 9
read it without relating it to Christ.
The Lord said to my Lord. Some- mighty scepter
times we feel we are trapped, as if in and you will rule in the midst of your enemies.
prison, by the problems of life. This
psalm is like a flash of lightning illumi-
3
Yours is royal dignity
nating the prison and showing us an from the day you were born in holy majesty.
unexpected escape towards heaven. In
spite of some obscure expressions, the
Like dew from the womb of the dawn,
overall meaning is clear: from Zion will I have begotten you.
come the one, as the warlike tone of
verses 5-6 indicates, who will be victo-
4
The Lord has sworn, Gen
14:18;
rious over all the hostile powers. He and he will not take back his word: Ps
has lapped up the water from the “You are a priest forever 132:11;
brook which is an allusion to Judges Heb 5:6;
7:4—the warriors who can cope with in the order of Melchizedek.” 7:17, 21
trials. The struggle will be hard, but
God will finally ask him to sit at his
5
The Lord is at your right hand 2:9;
16:8;
right and all will be subject to him. to crush the kings on his day of wrath. Is 63:6
“Melchizedek” is the mysterious 6
He will judge the nations, 68:22
person in Genesis (14:18)—whose an-
cestors are not mentioned—but to
heaping up corpses,
whom Abraham offered the tenth part smashing heads on the wide plain.
of his conquests. Melchizedek, king
and priest, is already Christ (Heb 7).
7
He has lapped up the water from the brook,
this is why he will lift up his head.
PSALM 113 (112) Poor and humble people, praise the Lord! What
distinguishes God from humans is not the infinity of
his creation, but his way of being with us, his prefer-
ence for what many despise. God likes to choose poor
instruments to achieve his great deeds of grace.
1
Alleluia! 134:1;
135:1;
Praise, O servants of the Lord, Dn 3:85
praise the name of the Lord!
2
Blessed be the name of the Lord
now and forever!
3
From eastern lands to the western islands,
may the name of the Lord be praised!
4
The Lord is exalted over the nations, 57:6;
97:9
his glory above the heavens.
5
Who is like the Lord our God, 35:10
who sits enthroned on high,
6
but also bends down to see 11:4;
14:2;
on earth as in heaven? 102:20
7
He lifts up the poor from the dust 1S 2:8;
Lk 1:52
and the needy from the ash heap.
8
He makes them sit with princes,
with rulers of his people.
9
He gives a home to the barren woman, Is 54:1
and makes her a joyful mother.
Praise the Lord!
PSALM 114 (113 A) The departure from Egypt. The power of God-
Savior manifested itself in the first Passover, the de-
parture from Egypt. The resurrection of Christ has
touched the universe in a different way.
1
Alleluia! 12;
15:17
When Israel came out of Egypt,
the family of Jacob
from a people of foreign language,
2
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his possession.
3
At his sight the sea fled
and the Jordan retreated;
4
the mountains skipped like rams, 29:6
the hills frolicked like lambs.
5
Why is it, sea, that you flee?
Jordan, that you turn back?
6
Mountains, that you skip like rams?
Hills, that you frolic like lambs?
96:9;
7
Tremble, O earth, at your Master’s presence, 99:1
PSALM 114 1286
PSALM 115 (113 B) God’s people have no idols. Since we have been
given to know the one and true God, let us leave aside
all that is not God.
PSALM 116 (114-115) You have freed me from death. “I shall walk in
the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.” We
sing our thanksgiving with all those God has saved
from death, with our Lord Jesus Christ.
17
I will offer you a thanksgiving sacrifice; 107:22;
105:1
I will call on the name of the Lord.
PSALM 116 1288
18
I will carry out my vows to the Lord 56:13;
Jon 2:10
in the presence of his people,
19
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
PSALM 118 (117) I will not die, I will live! The stone rejected by the
builders has become the keystone. Jesus applies to
himself the symbol of the rejected stone (Mt 21:42; 1 P
2:4), and when he enters the Temple, the children sing:
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
This psalm was sung when the pro- 1
Alleluia! 106:1;
cessions entered the Temple of Jeru- Give thanks to the Lord, 100:5;
salem. The people and their leader al- 136
ternated with the choir of the Levites. for he is good,
At the end the priests gave Aaron’s his loving kindness endures forever.
blessing (Num 6:22). What does Israel
sing? Their thanksgiving to God who 2
Let Israel say, 115:9-11;
saves them from death or raises them, 135:
“His loving kindness endures forever.” 19-20;
thanksgiving to God who chooses the
poor and the despised of this world to
3
Let the house of Aaron say, Lk 1:50
build his kingdom with them. “His loving kindness endures forever.”
The stone rejected by the build- 4
Let those who fear the Lord say,
ers… A way of repeating the an- “His loving kindness endures forever.”
nouncement of Isaiah 28:16. Who
would dare to do this, if not the risen 5
In anguish I cried to the Lord; 4:2;
Christ? (see Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11). 18:7, 20;
he answered by setting me free. 120:1
6
With the Lord beside me I need not fear. 27:1;
56:12;
What can humans do to me? Is 51:12;
7
The Lord is with me, ready to help; Rom
8:31;
I can look in triumph upon my enemies. Heb 13:6
8
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in the help of humans.
9
It is better to take refuge in the Lord 146:3
than to trust in the might of princes.
10
All the nations surrounded me; 22:13
in the name of the Lord I crushed them.
11
They surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I crushed them.
12
Like swarms of bees they encircled me;
but like burning thorns they died down;
in the name of the Lord I crushed them.
I was pushed hard and about to fall,
13
PSALM 119 (118) Psalm about the Law. This psalm, the longest in
the Bible, repeats without tiring that to follow the
word of God is life and happiness.
112:1;
1
Blessed are they whose ways are 3
They do no wrong; they walk in
128:1;
Lk 11:28 upright, who follow the law of the his ways.
Lord. 4
You have laid down precepts to
2
Blessed are they who treasure be obeyed. 5 O, that my ways were
his word and seek him with all their steadfast in observing your statutes!
heart. 6
Then I would not be put to dis-
PSALM 119 1290
105:42
49
Remember your word to your 68
You are good, and your works
servant, your word which has given are good; teach me your decrees.
me hope. 69
I am slandered by the arrogant,
1Mac
50
My consolation in suffering is but I keep your precepts within my
12:9;
Rom this: that your promise renews my heart.
15:4 life. 70
Their hearts have become dull, 17:10;
Is 6:10
51
Although the arrogant mock me but I delight in your laws.
without end, I faithfully cling to your 71
It is good for me to have been
word. afflicted, for I have deeply learned
52
When I remember your ordi- your statutes.
nances of old, I find comfort in them, 72
Your law is more precious to me 19:11
O Lord. than heaps of silver and gold.
53
I feel indignant at the wicked
who have forsaken your law. 73
Give me insight to know your Job 10:8
54
Your decrees are the theme of commands, since I have been
my song, in this my place of exile. formed by your hands.
63:7
55
Each night I call on your name, 74
Those who fear you will be glad, 107:42
O Lord, and renew my vow to keep seeing that I hope in your word.
your word. 75
I know, O Lord, that your laws
Ecl
56
This has been my practice; I are just, and there is justice in my af-
12:13
have kept your precepts. fliction.
16:5
57
You are my portion, O Lord; I 76
Comfort me then with your un-
have promised to obey your word. failing love, as you promised your
58
With all my heart I have sought servant.
your face; be gracious to me accord- 77
Let your mercy come to give me
ing to your promise. life, for your law is my delight.
59
I have considered my ways and 78
Humble the arrogant who op-
have turned my steps to your paths. press me as I meditate on your pre-
60
I hasten and no longer delay in cepts.
keeping your commands. 79
Let those who fear you turn to me,
61
The wicked have me trapped in they will understand your statutes.
their snares, but I have not forgotten 80
May my heart be blameless in
your laws. your decrees, that I may not be
42:9
62
At midnight I rise to praise you ashamed.
for the justice of your ordinances.
63
I am an ally for those who fear 81
My soul longs for your protec-
you, for those who keep your pre- tion; your word is my hope of salva-
cepts. tion.
PSALM 119 1292
101:2
82
I have kept watch for your 101
I turn my feet from evil paths,
promise. “When will you comfort that I may keep step with your word.
me?” I ask. 102
I have not departed from your
83
I have become as dry as a wine- decrees for you yourself have in-
skin, yet I have not forgotten your structed me.
statutes. 103
How sweet are your promises 19:11
7:2
84
How long must your servant en- to my taste, sweeter than honey to
dure? When will you judge my per- my mouth!
secutors? 104
Your precepts have given me
57:7
85
The arrogant have dug pitfalls knowledge, and I hate all that is
for me in defiance of your law. false.
33:4;
86
Your law indeed is trustworthy,
111:7-8
when they persecute me, help me. 105
Your word is a lamp to my feet, Pro 6:23
87
They have almost put an end to a light for my path.
me on earth, and yet I have not for- 106
I have taken an oath to keep
saken your precepts. your just commands.
88
In your kindness give me life, 107
I have suffered much, O Lord; 70:6
that I may keep your commands. renew my life according to your
word.
Is 40:8
89
O Lord, your word stands for- 108
Accept my offerings of praise,
ever, firmly fixed in the heavens. O Lord, and teach me your decrees.
104:5
90
Your faithfulness lasts through- 109
I am ready to sacrifice my life
out the ages—as long as the earth for your Law that is always in my
you created. heart.
Jer
91
Your ordinances last to this day 110
Though the wicked have laid a
33:25
for all things are made to serve you. snare for me, I do not stray from your
92
If your law had not been my precepts.
pleasure, I would have perished in af- 111
Your statutes are my heritage Jer
15:16
fliction. forever, they are the joy of my heart.
93
Never will I forget your precepts, 112
From age to age, I am deter-
for with them you give me life. mined to fulfill your decrees until the
100:3
94
Save me for I am yours, since I end.
seek your statutes.
95
The wicked lie in wait to destroy 113
I detest double-dealing people, Sir 2:12
me, but I look to your word for sal- but I treasure your law.
vation. 114
You are my shield, my refuge; 3:4
Sir 24:29
96
I saw that all perfection is lim- my hope is in your word.
ited but your command is boundless. 115
Leave me, you evildoers; let me 6:9
keep the commandments of my God.
97
How I love your law, meditating 116
May your promise uphold me
on it all day! that I may live; let me not hope in
Dt 4:6
98
Your command—mine forever— vain.
has made me wiser than my enemy. 117
Support me and I shall be safe,
99
I have more insight than my and faithfully keep your decrees.
teachers for I meditate on your de- 118
You spurn all who stray from
crees. your decrees, for vain is their deceit.
Wis 8:10
100
I have more understanding than 119
You discard all the wicked as
the elders for I abide by your pre- dross; that is why I love your
cepts. statutes.
1293 PSALM 119
120
My flesh trembles in fear of you; 139
I burn with zeal, seeing how my 69:10
I stand in awe before your laws. foes ignore your words.
140
Your promises have been
121
I have done what is just and tested; therefore our servant loves
right; do not leave me to my oppres- them.
sors. 141
Though I am lowly and de-
122
Guarantee the well-being of spised, I do not forget your precepts.
your servant; let not the arrogant op- 142
Your justice is eternal and your
press me. Law is true.
123
I strain my eyes searching your 143
In calamity and in anguish,
saving help, watching for the fulfill- your ordinances are my delight.
ment of your just promise. 144
Your statutes are just forever;
124
Treat your servant with com- give me understanding, that I may
passion, and instruct me in your de- live.
crees.
116:16;
125
Give me knowledge; I am your 145
I call with all my heart; answer Wis 8:21
143:12
servant who desires to understand me, O Lord: help me keep your
your statutes. statutes.
69:14;
126
It is time for you, O Lord, to act, 146
I call upon you, save me and I
102:14
for they have broken your law. will do your will.
127
I love your commandments 147
Before dawn I rise and cry for 57:9
more than gold—the finest gold. help; all my hope is in your word.
128
Because my steps are guided 148
I lie awake through the night to
by your precepts, I hate all false ponder on your promises.
ways. 149
Hear my voice, in your unfail-
ing love; in your justice, O Lord, pre-
129
Wonderful are your decrees; serve my life.
my soul cannot but keep them. 150
My persecutors close in with
19:9
130
As your words unfold, light is evil intent; they are far from your
shed, and the simple-hearted under- Law.
stand. 151
But you, O Lord, are near, and Dt 4:7
131
I gasp in ardent yearning for all your commandments are true.
your commandments that I love. 152
Long have I known that your Mt 5:18
25:16
132
Turn to me then and be gracious decrees were founded to last forever.
as to those who love your name.
133
You promised to direct my 153
Look upon my suffering and
steps; free my path from evil. rescue me, for I have not forgotten
Is 54:14;
134
Rescue me from human op- your Law.
Lk 1:74
pression, and help me keep your 154
Plead my cause and redeem
precepts. me; and, as you promised, give me
31:17
135
Favor me with your smile and life.
teach me your statutes. 155
Salvation is far from the wick-
Jer
136
My eyes shed streams of tears ed, for they do not seek your
13:17
for those who disobey your law. statutes.
156
Great is your compassion, O 69:17
Dt 32:4;
137
O Lord, you are just, and your Lord; renew my life according to
Rev 16:7;
19:2 judgments right. your word.
138
You have pronounced your de- 157
Many foes persecute me, but I
crees in justice and faithfulness. have not turned away from your law.
PSALM 119 1294
95:10
158
I look upon the faithless with 168
I obey your precepts and your
loathing, because they do not obey decrees; my ways are always before
your ruling. you.
159
See how I love your precepts;
give me life, O Lord, in your kind- 169
Let my cry come to you, O
ness. Lord; give me understanding accord-
Jn 17:17
160
The essence of your word is ing to your word.
truth, everlasting are your just ordi- 170
May my prayer come before
nances. you; rescue me as you have prom-
ised.
161
Rulers persecute me for no 171
Let my lips overflow with
cause, yet my heart stands in awe of praise, for you teach me your de-
your words. crees.
Is 9:2;
162
Your word filled me with joy: I 172
Let my tongue sing of your Rom
Mt 13:44 7:12
found there great riches. good news, for all you say is true.
163
I hate and abhor falsehood, but 173
Let your hand be ready to help
I love your law. me, for I have chosen your precepts.
164
Seven times a day I praise you 174
I long for your salvation, O
for your just ordinances. Lord; I delight in your law.
1Jn 2:10
165
Lovers of your Law have found 175
Long may I live to sing your
great peace; nothing can make them praise, may your ordinances always
stumble, not even distress. be my help!
166
O Lord, I wait for your salvation, 176
Like a stray sheep I wandered Is 53:6;
Ezk
and I keep your commands in faith. about—come and look for your lost 34:6;
167
My soul clings to your words for servant. See that I have not forgotten Lk 15:4;
1P 2:25
I truly cherish them. your commands.
PSALM 121 (120) God will not fail you. On the way to Jerusalem the
pilgrims think about the hardship of the journey, the
difficulty of the road, the heat of the day, the risk of
brigands. They know God is with them and that he
protects them.
123:1;
133:3;
God is faithful, he watches by day 1
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— 3:5;
and by night. On the road to Emmaus, from where shall come my help? 20:3
Jesus accompanies them but they do
not recognize him.
2
My help comes from the Lord, 124:8;
134:3
“If God is with us, who could be maker of heaven and earth.
against us?”
Prayer for the beginning of a diffi-
3
Will he let your foot slip, 66:9
cult task: a conversion, a vocation, the the one watching over you?
beginning of a family, risks taken for
the good of all.
Will he slumber?
4
No, the guardian of Israel 1K 18:27
neither slumbers nor sleeps.
91:1;
5
The Lord is your guardian, the Lord is at Is 25:4;
Lk 1:35;
your side and you in his shade; Ps 16:8;
6
Sunstroke will not be for you by day, 109:31
PSALM 123 (122) Psalm of hope. We know that our very good Father
always hears us. Let us fix our eyes on the Lord with-
out tiring until he says, “Your faith has saved you.”
Prayer of the afflicted. 1
To you I lift up my eyes, 121:1;
The cry of petition and hope of the to you whose throne is in heaven. Mt 5:34;
Jews who, on returning from exile, are 6:9
humiliated and despised by their pagan 2
As the eyes of servants look 25:15;
neighbors. 141:8;
How often in the Gospel do we to the hand of their master, 145:15
hear the same cry of the afflicted! as the eyes of maids look
Think especially of the Canaanite to the hand of their mistress,
woman: “Lord, have pity on me!” She
pursues Christ with desperate insis- so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
tence for she feels it is now or never. till he shows us his mercy.
3
Have mercy on us, O Lord, 44:14-17
have mercy on us,
for we have our fill of contempt.
4
Too long have our souls been filled Pro 16:18
with the scorn of the arrogant,
with the ridicule of the insolent.
PSALM 124 (123) We have escaped from the hunter’s snare. “The
very hairs of your head are numbered, you are worth
much more than the birds.”
With admiration and gratitude, the 1
Had not the Lord been on our side— 94:17;
people of God remember how they let Israel say— 129:1
overcame their trials because God was
with them. An invitation to give
2
had not the Lord been on our side,
thanks. In the Gospel, of the ten lepers when people rose up against us,
who were healed, only one came back 3
then they would have swallowed us alive; 35:25;
to thank the Lord. If we haven’t the Jer 51:34;
heart to thank God, it is because we such was their anger against us. Pro 1:12
do not know how to discover the won-
4
A bit more and the flood would have 32:6;
ders in our own life and in the world. 42:8;
engulfed us, 69:2-3; Is
It is strange, that in the communi-
ties of the poor and the persecuted,
the torrent would have swept over us, 8:7-8
PSALM 126 (125) They will come back in joy carrying their
sheaves. The mystery of life springing up from
death. Hope for the afflicted, for those who are dis-
appointed because of the little fruit of their labor.
Prayer on the return from exile—the 1
When the Lord brought the exiles back to 14:7;
great trial of the people. Happiness Zion, 85:2
and surprise at the end of captivity,
something that seemed unbelievable: we were like those moving in a dream.
“We thought we were dreaming.” 2
Then our mouths were filled with laughter, Job 8:21
We cannot help thinking of the Vir- and our tongues with songs of joy.
gin Mary: “The Lord has done won-
ders for me, holy is his name,” or of Among the nations it was said,
Peter freed from prison. Today, many “The Lord has done great things for them.”
sow in tears; it is not the same one 3
The Lord had done great things for us,
who sows and who reaps the harvest.
and we were glad indeed.
4
Bring back our exiles, O Lord,
like fresh streams in the desert.
5
Those who sow in tears Is 25:8-9;
Rev 21:4
will reap with songs and shouts of joy.
6
They went forth weeping, Jer 31:9;
Is 65:19;
bearing the seeds for sowing, Bar 4:23;
they will come home with joyful shouts, Jn 16:20
PSALM 127 (126) What is built without God is lost time. It is use-
less spending all our days in search of security for the
future, if blind and unresponsive, we pass by the
events and joys that the present moment has in store
for us.
The believer lives life day by day. 1
Unless the Lord builds the house, Pro 3:5-6;
She does not neglect giving time to in vain do its builders labor. 10:22;
prayer, family, friendship and sharing Mt 6:
Christian community life. She does not Unless the Lord guards the city, 25-34;
Jn 15:5
damage health by overworking. She is in vain does the guard stay awake.
aware that families with larger in-
comes and one child who have noth- 2
It is in vain that you rise early Gen 3:19;
ing to share are not always the ones Mt 6:11;
and stay up late, putting off your rest, Pro 3:
who best make ends meet, and that
the richest homes are not the happi- toiling for your hard-earned bread; 24-26;
Ecl 2:24
est. The Father asks us to work but God gives it to his loved ones, and they
also wants us to keep the sabbath. sleep.
PSALM 127 1298
PSALM 129 (128) From its youth, the people of God were perse-
cuted. In the end, their enemies were dispersed, but
they remained. To hold on in spite of the difficulties of
life is a form of true hope.
1
How they have oppressed me from my 124:1
youth—
let Israel say,
2
how they have oppressed me from my 118:13;
Jn 16:33
youth—
they have not put me down.
3
Upon my back plowers have plowed Is 51:23
long and deep furrows
4
But the Lord, who is just, 35:4;
40:15
has shattered the yoke of the wicked.
1299 PSALM 131
5
May all who hate Zion
be thrown into confusion.
6
May they be like grass in the garden, Is 37:27
which withers before you uproot it.
7
No reaper sets his hands on it,
no one gathers it to fill his arms,
8
nor says of them the passersby, 118:26
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!”
We bless you in the name of the Lord!
PSALM 130 (129) From the depths I cry to you. A penitential psalm,
but above all, a prayer of trust in God.
18:5-7; 69;
The prayer during a long expecta- Jon 2:3;
tion. Years of a human life, genera-
1
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, Lm 3:55
PSALM 131 (130) Childlike trust in God. A simple and humble prayer
full of trust, which reminds us of the serenity of a child
in its mother’s arms. Is not this what Jesus praised
and is God less mother than father?
1
O Lord, my heart is not proud Mic 6:8;
Ps 139:6
nor do I have arrogant eyes.
I am not engrossed in ambitious matters,
nor in things too great for me.
2
I have quieted and stilled my soul Mt 18:3;
Hos 11:4;
like a weaned child on its mother’s lap; Is 66:12-13
like a contented child is my soul.
3
Hope in the Lord, O Israel,
now and forever.
PSALM 132 1300
David, do not turn away the face of mies, but upon his head a crown
your anointed. shall shine.”
PSALM 133 (132) What a marvel: fraternal love! Our unity in God’s
service as well as Christian friendship that is lasting and
deep are gifts of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts.
“Love and be united so that the world may believe.”
life everlasting.
PSALM 134 (133) A song of praise. This was perhaps used in the
Temple during a night ceremony, when the priests re-
placed each other in praising God.
At times, Jesus spent the entire
night in prayer. Jesus went up a hill to
1
Come, bless the Lord, 135:1-2
pray alone. all you servants of the Lord,
1301 PSALM 136
We can think of our companions who minister by night in the house of the
who work during the night, of those Lord,
who are sick and cannot sleep, so that
their work, their fatigue, their suffer- in the courts of the house of our God.
ings may be a song of praise to the 141:2;
Lord.
2
Raise your hands to the sanctuary Is 30:29;
9:33;
and bless the Lord. 23:30
3
May the Lord bless you from Zion, 128:5;
118:26;
he who made heaven and earth. Num 6:24
PSALM 135 (134) Praise the Lord who chose us for himself.
134:1;
1
Alleluia! 11
Sihon, king of the Amorites, Og,
113:1
Praise the name of the Lord. O king of Bashan, all the kings of Ca-
servants of the Lord, 2 praise him, you naan.
who serve in the house of the Lord, 12
He gave their land as an inheri-
in the courts of the house of our God. tance to Israel, his people.
3
Praise the Lord, for he is good, 13
Your name, O Lord, will endure 102:13
praise his name, for it is beautiful; forever; your renown, O Lord,
33:12;
4
for the Lord has chosen Jacob as throughout the ages.
19:5;
Dt 7:6 his own, Israel as his possession. 14
For the Lord vindicates his peo- Dt 32:36
18:11;
5
I know that the Lord is great, that ple and shows mercy to his ser-
Ps 95:3
our Lord is above all gods. vants.
115:3
6
Whatever the Lord pleases, he 15
The nations’ idols are but gold 115:4-6
does—in heaven and on earth, in the and silver, the work of human hands.
seas and in their depths. 16
They have mouths that cannot
Jer
7
He raises clouds from the ends of speak, eyes that cannot see, 17 ears
10:13;
51:16 the earth; he hurls down lightning that cannot hear; neither is there
with the rain; and from his vaults he breath in their mouths.
lets loose the wind. 18
Their makers will be like them, 115:8
136:10;
8
It was he who killed the firstborn so will all who trust in them.
12:29
in Egypt, both people and beasts. 19
Bless the Lord, house of Israel; 115:9-11
9
It was he who worked signs and bless the Lord, house of Aaron;
wonders in your land, O Egypt, 20
bless the Lord, house of Levi; bless
against Pharaoh and all his officers. the Lord, all you who fear him.
136:17-
10
He destroyed mighty nations 21
Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
22
and slew powerful kings— he who dwells in Jerusalem.
8
O daughter of Babylon, you will be sacked Is 47:1;
Jer 50—
happy is he who repays you 51;
and does to you what you have done to us! Rev 18:6
9
Happy is who seizes your infants Is 14:22;
Hos 14:1
and dashes them against the rocks!
1303 PSALM 139
PSALM 138 (137) Your hands lead all for my good. A prayer for
the times when we are pleased with God and we
would like heaven and earth to share our joy and
thanksgiving.
1
I thank you, O Lord, with all my heart, 9:2
for you have heard the word of my lips.
I sing your praise in the presence of the gods.
2
I bow down towards your holy temple 5:8
and give thanks to your name,
for your love and faithfulness,
for your word which exceeds everything.
3
You answered me when I called; Is 40:29
you restored my soul and made me strong.
4
O Lord, all kings on earth will give you praise, 68:33;
Mal 1:11
when they have heard your words.
5
They will celebrate the ways of the Lord,
“great is the glory of the Lord!”
6
From above, the Lord watches over the lowly; Is 57:15
from afar, he marks down the haughty.
7
If I walk in the midst of trouble, 23:5
you give me life.
With outstretched arm,
you save me from the wrath of my foes,
with your right hand you deliver me.
8
How the Lord cares for me! 57:3;
100:5
Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever.
Forsake not the work of your hands.
PSALM 139 (138) God everywhere, in all, knows all. A prayer filled
with admiration of God’s wisdom: “Everything is un-
covered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we
render account” (Heb 4:13).
There is a way of contemplating the 1
O Lord, you know me: Jer 12:3
presence of the all-powerful God you have scrutinized me.
which crushes us. There is another
way which fills us with assurance. The
2
You know when I sit and when I rise; 2K 19:27;
Job 31:4;
Bible cannot contemplate this unfath- beforehand you discern my thoughts. Ps 44:22;
omable mystery of God without im- 3
You observe my activities and times of rest; Heb 4:13
mediately coming back to the struggles
of the real world: its God has a passion you are familiar with all my ways.
for justice, and the faithful person can-
4
Before a word is formed in my mouth,
not be satisfied with half-measures or you know what it is all about, O Lord.
compromise with evil. This accounts
for the declaration which shocks some
5
From front to back you hedge me round,
but we can guess its inspiration which shielding me with your protecting hand.
is always valid: “I hate them, they have
become my foe.” It is actually a hatred
6
Your knowledge leaves me astounded,
of evil. it is too high for me to reach.
PSALM 139 1304
7
Where else could I go from your Spirit?
Where could I flee from your presence?
8
You are there if I ascend the heavens; Am 9:2-3;
Job 11:
you are there if I descend to the depths. 8-9;
23:8-9;
9
If I ride on the wings of the dawn Jer 23:
23-24;
and settle on the far side of the sea, Pro 15:11
10
even there your hand shall guide me
and your right hand shall hold me safely.
11
Shall I say, “Let darkness hide me,
I prefer the night as my light?”
12
But darkness for you is not dark Job
12:22;
and night for you shines as the day. Dn 2:22
13
It was you who formed my inmost part Job 10:8
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14
I thank you for these wonders you have
done,
and my heart praises you for your
marvelous deeds.
15
Even my bones were known to you
when I was being formed in secret,
fashioned in the depths of the earth.
16
Your eyes saw the course of my days; Mal 3:16;
Dn 7:10;
they were all recorded in your book Ps 69:29;
before any of them came to be. Job 14:5;
Rev 20:12
17
How difficult it is to grasp your thoughts, Job 11:7;
Sir 18:5-7;
O God! Rom 11:33
Their number cannot be counted.
18
If I tried to do so, they would outnumber 40:6
the sands;
I am never finished with you.
19
If only you would slay the wicked, O God, 119:115
and drive away from me the violent!
20
They rebel falseheartedly, Job 21:14
your foes blaspheme your name.
21
I hate those who hate you, O Lord, 119:158;
5:11
and loathe those who defy you.
22
I hate them deeply,
they have become my foes.
23
Search me, O God, and know my heart; 17:3;
26:2
try me and know my thoughts.
24
See if my steps are going astray, 5:9;
143:10
and lead me in your eternal way.
1305 PSALM 142
Jer
6
The arrogant have set a snare for
12
Do not let the slanderer thrive
18:22;
me; they have spread out their nets on earth; let disaster hunt down the 55:24
Ps 57:7;
Sir 12:16 to entrap me along my path. violent.
31:15
7
I say to the Lord, “You are my
13
I know that the Lord upholds the
God.” Hear, O Lord, my voice in sup- cause of the afflicted, and justice will
plication. be done to the poor.
8
O God, my Lord, my strength 14
The just shall praise your name, 11:7;
16:11;
and salvation, in the day of battle the upright shall dwell in your pres- 17:15
you shield my head. ence.
PSALM 141 (140) Do not lead us into temptation. May God grant
us that we resist the seduction of the world around us
but that also we listen to those who correct us.
1
Lord, I call on you, hasten to help 6
When their rulers are flung upon
me! Listen to my plea when I call to the rock, only then will these wicked
you. learn that I was tolerant with them,
29:39;
2
Let my prayer rise to you like in- 7
when the earth opens to swallow
30:8;
Num 28:4 cense, as I lift up my hands as in an them and their bones are scattered
evening sacrifice. at the edge of the netherworld.
3
O Lord, set a guard at my mouth, 8
But my eyes are turned to you,
keep watch at the gate of my lips. O God, my Lord; strip me not of life,
4
Let not my heart be drawn to for you are my refuge.
evil; let me not be enticed into evil 9
Keep me from the trap they have
acts in company with sinners, and let set for me, keep me from the net laid
me not partake of their delights. by evildoers.
Pro 9:8;
5
Rather the reproach and the just 10
Let the wicked fall into their own 7:16;
25:12; 35:8;
27:6-9 scourge, than the oil of the wicked snares, while I alone escape safe and Pro
anointing my head. free. 26:27
PSALM 142 (141) Prayer during trials. The prayer of someone in the
most dire poverty. This psalm is applicable to the pas-
sion of Christ and St. Francis of Assisi prayed it when
he was dying.
2
I cry aloud to the Lord,
in a loud voice I beseech the Lord.
3
Before him I pour out my sorrows,
PSALM 142 1306
PSALM 144 (143) Happy the people whose God is the Lord! The
first part of this psalm repeats verses of other psalms,
especially Psalm 18. The second part, with simple im-
ages, reflects a yearning for heaven, where there will
be no more tears or grief.
18:47;
1
Blessed be the Lord, my rock, 9
I will sing a new song to you, O 33:2-3
18:35
who trains my hands for war and my God, I will make music on the ten-
18:3; fingers for battle—2 my loving God, stringed harp, 10 for you who give vic- 18:51
18:48
my fortress; my protector and deliv- tory to kings and deliver David, your
erer, my shield where I take refuge, servant.
who conquers nations and subjects 11
Rescue me from the evil sword
them to my rule. and from the hands of foreigners,
8:5
3
O Lord, what are humans that whose mouths speak falsehood,
you should be mindful of them, the whose words are full of deceit.
race of Adam, that you should care
12
May our sons be like plants well- 128:3;
Job 42:
for them? nurtured and full grown, and our 14-15;
39:6-7;
4
They are like a breath, their days daughters like pillars that adorn the Sir 26:18
Job 14:2
pass like a shadow on earth. corners of the temple.
13
May our barns be full, with every Lev
18:10;
5
Bend your heavens, O Lord, and kind of provision. 26:4-5;
104:32; Dt 7:13
Is 63:19 come down; touch the mountain and May our sheep increase by thou-
make it smoke. sands, even by tens of thousands, in
18:15
6
Flash forth lightning and rout the our pastures.
foe; shoot your arrows and scatter 14
May our cattle be strong and Lev
them. fruitful; and may there be an end to 26:6;
Is 65:19
18:17
7
From above, reach down and raids and exile, to cries of distress in
draw me out of the deep waters, our streets.
from the hands of foreigners 8 whose 15
Happy are the people so bless- 29:11;
33:12
mouths speak falsehood, whose ed; happy the people whose God is
words are full of deceit. the Lord!
PSALM 145 (144) Bless the Lord forever. This psalm is like a litany:
God is justice, faithfulness, goodness, the author of
wonders. It invites us to discover the immense riches
of God in his work and his revelation in the person of
Christ.
thanks; all your saints, O Lord, will you satisfy the living according to
praise you. their needs.
93:1;
11
They will tell of the glory of your 17
Righteous is the Lord in all his Dt 32:4
29:11
kingdom and speak of your power, ways, his mercy shows in all his
12
that all may know of your mighty deeds.
deeds, your reign and its glorious 18
He is near those who call on Dt 4:7;
splendor. him, who call trustfully upon his Jer
29:13;
Dn 3:100;
13
Your reign is from age to age; name. Is 58:9
Ps
102:13; your dominion endures from genera- 19
He fulfills the wish of those who 34:18
1Tim
1:17;
tion to generation. fear him; he hears their cry and
Rev
11:15
The Lord is true to his promises saves them.
and lets his mercy show in all he does. 20
For those who love him, the Jdg 5:31
94:18;
14
The Lord lifts up those who are Lord has compassion; but the
146:8
falling and raises those who are wicked, he will destroy.
beaten down. 21
Let my mouth speak in praise of
104:
15
All creatures look to you to be the Lord, let every creature bless his
27-28;
Mt 6:25 fed in due season; 16 with open hand holy name, for ever and ever.
PSALM 146 (145) The Lord frees the oppressed. The extent of
human anguish—the hungry, the prisoners, the op-
pressed—has reached such a point that the powerful
of this earth alone are incapable of finding a solution
for it. Only God can give the world justice, peace, and
hope. He has sent me to give Good News to the
poor, to announce freedom to prisoners…
8
The Lord gives sight to the blind, 145:14;
11:7
the Lord straightens the bent.
1309 PSALM 147
9
The Lord protects the stranger, 22:20;
22:21;
sustains the widow and the orphan. Ps 68:6
PSALM 147 (146-147) Rejoice, Jerusalem! Let the Church rejoice because
the Lord has “strengthened the bars of her gates.”
The powers of evil and death will not overcome her.
The Lord blessed her children and gave them his
peace, not that of the world. He feeds his Church with
his word and the best of wheat: his body-made-bread
of life.
9
He provides food for the cattle, Job
38:41;
even for the young ravens when they call. Mt 6:26
10
He is not concerned with the strength of a 20:8-9;
33:16-18
horse;
nor is he pleased in the speed of a runner;
11
The Lord delights in those who fear him
and expect him to care for them.
12
Exalt the Lord, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion! Jer 33:10;
13
For he strengthens the bars of your gates Is 65:18;
Ps 48:14
and blesses your children within you.
PSALM 147 1310
Gen 1;
1
Alleluia! Praise the Lord from the ning, storm winds that do his bid-
Ps 104
heavens; praise him in the heavenly ding,
heights. 9
you mountains and all you hills, Is 44:23
103:
2
Praise him, all his angels; praise you fruit trees and cedars,
20-21; 10
you wild beasts and tame ani-
Job 38:7 him, all his heavenly hosts. Is 43:20
3
Praise him, sun and moon; mals, you creeping things and winged
praise him, all you shining stars. fowl.
1K 8:27;
4
Praise him, you highest heavens
11
Kings of the earth and nations,
Gen 1:7
and you waters above the skies. princes and all rulers of the world,
12
young men and maidens, old and Jer
Jer 31:
5
Let them praise the name of the young together—13 let them praise 31:13
35-36
Lord, at whose command they were the name of the Lord. 108:6;
made. For his name alone is exalted; his 113:4
6
He established them forever and majesty is above earth and heaven.
gave each a fixed and lasting duty. 14
He has given his people glory; 89:18;
7
Praise the Lord from the earth, he has given a praise to his faithful, Dt 7:6;
Eph 2:13
you sea creatures and all the depths, to Israel, the people close to him. Al-
8
clouds and snow, hail and light- leluia.
• 148 Once more: Praise God! It would something be wanting when we are assured of
seem that peoples more simple than ourselves everything and our eyes constantly enjoy the
have never finished praising God. Would marvels we have fabricated?
1311 PSALM 150
PSALM 149 (148) National hymn. The people of God know that they
are called to glory and happiness. They will be the in-
struments of God’s justice. God uses his poor, gath-
ered by Christ, to judge the world and bring it to sal-
vation.
1
Alleluia! 40:10
Sing to the Lord a new song,
sing his praise in the assembly of his saints.
2
Let Israel rejoice in his Maker,
let the people of Zion glory in their King!
3
Let them dance in praise of his name 87:7;
150:4;
and make music for him with harp and 68:26;
timbrel. 81:3
4
For the Lord delights in his people; Is 61:9;
62:4-5;
he crowns the lowly with victory. 1S 2:8
5
The saints will exult in triumph;
even at night on their couches. Ne 4:10-12;
6
Let the praise of God be on their lips, 2Mac
15:27;
and in their hands two-edged swords, Rev 19:15
7
to wreak vengeance on the nations Zec 9:
13-16
and punishment on the peoples,
8
to bind their kings in chains
and their nobles in iron fetters,
9
to execute on them the written sentence:
this is the glory of all his saints. Alleluia!