Hebrew Psalm No. 46
(Psalm No. 45 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster, of the sons of Korah, according to the tune of the virgins. A song. Beneath the mysteries contained in this Psalm, the Church Fathers understand the protection with which God favors his Church against the ravages of time and the persecutions of its enemies. The Psalm expresses gratitude, accompanied by profound joy, for the help God's people received in the face of imminent war, and the confidence that this protection will continue. Christians can offer this same prayer to God in all adversities, and especially in the perils facing the Church. 2 God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 3 Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains fall into the midst of the sea, 4 though the waters of the sea rise and boil, and though the mountains quake in their fury. Selah. 5 A river makes glad with its streams the city of God, the sanctuary where the Most High dwells. In the midst of the dangers that surround it outside, the river of divine doctrine (Isaiah 12:3, Ezekiel 41:1, Revelation 22:1) will gladden the Church of God. 6 God is in her midst; she will not be shaken at the breaking of dawn; God comes to her aid. 7 The nations rage, the kingdoms crumble; he utters his voice, and the earth melts. 8 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. 9 Come, see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 10 He has made wars cease to the ends of your land; he has broken the bow, shattered the spear, and burned the chariots with fire. It is He, He who is, who in all times and in all places, puts an end to wars. 11 «Be still and acknowledge that I am God. I rule over the nations, I rule over the earth.» Be at rest, and consider my marvelous works; for I am God. 12 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Sela.
Hebrew Psalm No. 47
(Psalm No. 46 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster, a psalm of the sons of Korah. This psalm is a song of thanksgiving after a victory, and it was sung when the ark of the covenant was brought back from the camp to Mount Zion. In a higher sense, it is a hymn of rejoicing concerning the triumph of the Deliverer ascending into heaven and reigning at the right hand of his Father. 2 All you peoples, clap your hands, praise God with shouts of joy 3 for the Lord is most high and awesome, the great King over all the earth. 4 He subdues peoples under us, and nations under our feet. What is written in the psalm of victory is fully applicable to the triumph of Jesus Christ. Through the ministry of eleven poor and ignorant sinners, Jesus Christ subjected the nations to the Church, first founded in Judea, to his kingdom. 5 He chose our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob, his beloved. Selah. He has established us in our land, we, the glorious descendants of Jacob, and he has chosen our land as the place of his dwelling on earth. 6 God ascends to his sanctuary with shouts of acclamation, the Lord, to the sound of the trumpet. He ascended Mount Zion when the ark was brought back there. In a higher sense, this applies to Jesus Christ, who, after his victorious death on the cross, ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of his Father and from there take the reins of his kingdom. 7 Sing to God, sing, sing, to our King, sing, 8 for God is king of all the earth. Sing a song of praise. 9 God reigns over the nations; he sits on his holy throne. 10 The princes of the peoples are gathered together to form a people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God. He is highly exalted. The princes have recognized the true God, and practice the true religion; by entering with their people into the kingdom of God, they have risen to an eminent dignity.
Hebrew Psalm No. 48
(Psalm No. 47 in the Vulgate)
1 A song, a psalm of the sons of Korah. The Psalm is a hymn of thanksgiving for the swift deliverance of Jerusalem from the attacks of powerful kings. Perhaps it refers to the story recounted in 2 Chronicles 20:16-22. 2 The Lord is great and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain. God is great and worthy of praise everywhere, but especially in his holy city, which was a figure of the Church, through the wonders of his grace. 3 She rises gracefully, joy of all the earth, the mountain of Zion, on the farthest reaches of the north, the city of the great King. Mount Zion rises magnificently; it is joy of all the earth. Cf. Lamentations 2:15. The upper city of Jerusalem was situated north of Mount Zion. 4 God, in his palaces, has made himself known as a refuge. 5 For behold, the kings had gathered together, they had advanced. against Jerusalem 6 They saw it, suddenly they were amazed, bewildered, they fled. 7 There trembling seized them, a pain like that of a woman giving birth. 8 By the east wind, you shatter the ships of Tharsis. The ships that sailed from Tarsis (Tartessus in Spain) were among the largest, and that is why they are shown here as a symbol of strength and grandeur. You have destroyed the strength and power of the kings who advanced against Jerusalem, the holy city. 9 What we had heard, we have seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. God establishes it forever. Selah. As promised, the city of God would last forever, and we now see that its duration is eternal. 10 O God, we remember your goodness in your temple. 11 As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of justice. 12 Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah (the cities) They may rejoice because of your judgments. That the whole country is in joy regarding the resounding victory you have achieved. 13 Go around and count her fortresses, 14 consider her wall, examine her palaces, so that you may tell the next generation. The Psalmist urges us to consider the beauty and solidity of the holy city, so that we may speak of it to posterity. 15 This is the God who is our God forever and ever, he will be our guide throughout all ages.
Hebrew Psalm No. 49
(Psalm No. 48 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster, a psalm of the sons of Korah. In this Psalm, the sacred singer exhorts all peoples to fully grasp this truth, that pious men should not be troubled by the sight of the happiness of the wicked, because the final fate of the latter will be eternal death. 2 Listen to this, all you peoples, give ear, all you inhabitants of the world, 3 commoners and nobles alike, rich and poor. 4 My mouth will speak words of wisdom, and my heart will ponder on matters of understanding. 5 I will listen to the words that God inspires in me; I will explain my riddle to the sound of the harp. I will make known, to the sound of the harp, what has been inspired in me. 6 Why should I fear in days of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me? 7 They put their trust in their possessions, their glory in their great riches. Should I fear, should I allow myself to be led astray from your good way, when my enemies, despite their iniquity, are, before my very eyes, prosperous and wealthy? No, because these rich men will die without being able to escape eternal death. The rich and wicked die without being given redemption from eternal death (v. 20), while the righteous will be delivered from eternal damnation (v. 16). 8 No one can redeem their brother, nor pay God a ransom for him. 9 The ransom for their lives is too costly, it is forever impossible, 10 so that he may live forever and never see the pit. No man would be able to deliver these rich and powerful men from death; how then could I allow myself to be disconcerted? 11 No, he will see it; the wise die, and the foolish and the stupid also perish, leaving their possessions to others. 12 They imagine that their houses will last forever, that their dwellings will endure from generation to generation, and they name their estates after themselves. 13 But even in his splendor, man does not endure; he is like a deer that perishes. The man who is honored has no substance; he is like the animals that are slaughtered. 14 Such is their fate, these trusting men and those who follow them, approving their words. Selah. 15 Like sheep, they are driven into Sheol; death is their shepherd. In the morning, the upright rule over them, and their shade will burn in Sheol, where they will not dwell. 16 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will take me with him. Selah. God, whatever efforts my enemies make to take my life, will deliver me from the power of death; I will outlive them. This is both the death of the soul and eternal life. 17 Therefore do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, when the wealth of his house increases, 18 for he will take nothing with him when he dies; his wealth will not descend with him. Take comfort in considering how little time the rich have to spend on earth. 19 He may consider himself fortunate during his life, and people may praise you for the pleasures you give yourself: 20 You will go to join the generation of your fathers, who will never see the light again. Although the rich bless their souls, and men praise the rich, they will nevertheless pass away until the generation of their fathers. 21 Man, even in his splendor, does not understand; he is like the beasts that perish.misfortune of these rich people struck by blindness.
Hebrew Psalm No. 50
(Psalm No. 49 in the Vulgate)
1 Psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. In this Psalm, God appears as judge and condemns purely external religion, as well as the dead knowledge of the law without its observance. Since Jesus is also to appear one day in this way, the Church Fathers consider this Psalm a prophecy concerning the Last Judgment. 2 From Zion, perfect beauty, God shines forth. It is from the top of his holy mountain, a type of the Church and of the heavenly Jerusalem, that God appears in the splendor of his majesty (Chrysostom). 3 Our God is coming, and he will not be silent. Before him is a devouring fire; around him is a raging tempest. 4 He calls upon the heavens above and the earth to judge his people. What is marked here in the near sense of the God of Israel, namely that he will make his voice heard from the top of Zion, and appear as a fearsome judge, applies to Jesus Christ, who descending from heavenly Zion, surrounded by the splendor of his majesty, amid the resounding of the trumpets of angels, will call all men to judgment, to separate the good from the wicked (Jerome, Augustine, Cyril). 5 «Gather for me my faithful ones who have made a covenant with me on sacrifice.» May the people of his covenant (Exodus 24:8) now gather together to receive his judgments and teachings. Those who are called are designated as faithful, so that they may experience justifiable shame upon seeing that they are unworthy of this title (Chrysostom). According to others, it is those who have faithfully observed the Lord's covenant who, in this verse, are called to be witnesses and to exercise with God the functions of judges. 6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for it is God who will judge. Selah. 7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak, Israel, and I will rebuke you: I am God, your God. 8 I do not blame you for your sacrifices, for your burnt offerings are continually before me. 9 I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats from your pens. 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and every thousands of cattle on the mountains. 11 I know every bird of the mountains, and all that creeps in the fields is under my hand. 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. 13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls? Do I drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Instead of your purely external religion, instead of your sacrifices offered without inner feelings, you should have, if you had the desire to win my favor, offered me the gratitude of an upright heart, and put into practice the good resolutions to which you had committed yourself by vow (Chrysostom, Eusebius). 15 »And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” 16 But to the wicked God said, «What then do you recite my precepts and have my covenant on your lips, 17 you who hate discipline and cast my words behind you. But to him who does not apply himself to rendering to God this inner worship, and who, without following the law, only has it in his mouth, to this hypocrite the Lord says etc. 18 »If you see a thief, you take pleasure in him and make friends with adulterers. 19 You give free rein to your mouth for evil, and your tongue plots deceit. 20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your mother’s son. 21 These are the things you have done, and I kept silent. You thought I was just like you, but I will rebuke you and lay it all before your eyes.” 22 Therefore, take heed, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, with no one to deliver. "O ineffable goodness of God," exclaims Saint Chrysostom, "that before pronouncing the final sentence, he deigns to warn us to carefully weigh the truth revealed to us in this Psalm, namely that purely external practices of religion do not justify us before God if we do not add to them the inner religion of the heart.". 23 Whoever offers thanksgiving as a sacrifice honors me, and to the one who plans his way, I will show the salvation of God.
