Book of Psalms commented on verse by verse

Psalm 6

¹ To the choirmaster, with stringed instruments, at the octave, a psalm of David. ² Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. The subject of Psalm 6 is a prayer to God to appease his anger. It is the first of the seven Penitential Psalms. One could not imagine anything more tender, more touching, and more profoundly sorrowful. David, punished for his sins by his enemies, asks in this psalm for grace and deliverance, and he hopes with confidence. ³ Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are trembling. ⁴ My soul is in extreme turmoil, and you, Lord, how long? David's appeal to mercy from God so that he would not punish him in his anger, for he trembles before him. Until when? Will you be angry, or will you leave me in my sad state? Will you delay handing me over, or will you punish me? This is not an expression of impatience, but of filial trust in kindness of God.⁵ Return, Lord, deliver my soul; save me because of your mercy. v5-8 Reasons why God must help David. ⁶ For he who dies no longer remembers you; who will praise you in Sheol? The dead, in absolute silence and in hell, utter only words of despair and blasphemy. Come to my aid, O my God! For if my enemies are victorious, and I die, I will no longer confess and praise you in the next world, as in this life. Sheol, the other world (Numbers 16, ³⁰ But if the Lord does something unprecedented, if the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all who belong to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these people have despised the Lord.» ³¹ As he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their families, all the people of Korah, and all their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into the realm of the dead, they and all that belonged to them, and the earth covered them, and they disappeared from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel, who were around them, fled at their cry, for they said, «Let us flee, lest the earth swallow us up.» ³⁵ A fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who offered the incense»), where all those who were dying were gathered (Job 30:23), before Jesus Christ had completed his work, was not only for the wicked, as hell properly speaking, a place of groaning (Job 26:5), but even with regard to the good, it was not, as a dwelling place before being admitted to heaven, a place of joy, but of silent sadness (Ps. Hebrews 30:10. 88:13. Isaiah 38:18. Ecclesiastes 9, 10); and, in this respect, it was not a place where God was acknowledged and praised, as He is now on earth. It is only through Jesus Christ that death ceased to be sorrowful, in that He opened heaven, which is the place where God is truly confessed and praised. The Christian, in prayer, can recall this verse as a reminder of the death of sin and of eternal death in hell, the place of punishment for the damned, where there is no longer any acknowledgment or praise of God. ⁷ I am exhausted from moaning, every night my bed is soaked with my tears, my bed is drenched with my crying. ⁸ My eyes are consumed by grief; they have aged because of all those who persecute me. Grief has aged me in the presence of my enemies, who have been in joy. The penitent Christian may, with regard to these enemies of David, think of passions, temptations, bad examples and bad company, dangerous occasions, and everything that is an obstacle to salvation. ⁹ Depart from me, all you evildoers, for the Lord has heard the sound of my tears. He who prays suddenly feels his prayer answered. Song of triumph v9-11: God has answered the Psalmist; he grants him victory over all his enemies. See Matthew 7, 23 ; 25, 41 ; Luke 13, 27. ¹⁰ The Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord accepts my prayer. ¹¹ All my enemies will be confounded and seized with terror; they will retreat, suddenly covered in shame.

Psalm 7

¹ A dithyramb of David, which he sang to the Lord on the occasion of the words of Cush the Benjamite. See 2 Samuel Chapters 16 and 17. — Chusi is the same name as Ethiopian. The person from the tribe of Benjamin whom he designates here is unknown: it is not Shemei; it must have been one of Saul's zealous supporters, one of those informers who, like Doeg and the Ziphites, slandered the fugitive David to Saul and stirred up the king's anger against him. Although the historical books do not mention Chusi, the details given in 1 Samuel, Chapters 24 to 26 clarify several passages of this psalm very well. Others, with Saint Jerome, understand it to mean Saul, who could be called Chus (Ethiopian, black), because of his bitter nature and proneness to anger.² Lord, my God, in you I trust, save me from all my persecutors and deliver me The Christian will remember here his bad habits and sins, which he must strive to fight and exterminate as his most formidable enemies; he can also remember the powers of hell, which never tire of putting his salvation in peril, or of undermining it entirely. ³ lest he tear me apart, like a lion, devour his prey, with no one to snatch it away from him. A plea to God to rescue David from his enemies. ⁴ Lord, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, Hands are used for actions, as being the ordinary instruments used to perform them. ⁵ If I have repaid evil to those who are at peace with me, if I have plundered those who oppress me without cause, A protest, in the form of an imprecation against himself, that the Psalmist did not do what Chusi imputes to him. ⁶ Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me, let him trample my life to the ground, let him lay my glory in the dust. Let him trample my life, etc.; let him trample me alive. ― Let him bury ; this is the meaning of the Greek and Hebrew, which literally translate: Let him make it habitable. ⁷ Arise, Lord, in your anger; come against the fury of my adversaries; awake to my aid, you who decree judgment. A judgment: according to the commandment that you yourselves made to protect and rescue the innocent oppressed. ⁸ Let the assembly of the peoples surround you. Then, rising above it, ascend to the heights. And the assembly of the peoples who ardently desire that you do me justice, will surround you to hear the judgment you will pass in my favor, and to give you glory in it. — Go back to the top on your tribunal, from where it seems you have descended to leave me prey to my enemies. The heights here do not signify heaven, but the high tribunal where God sat on Mount Zion, as in Psalm 68:19. The sacred singer means: Return, to exercise your justice, on the heights of Zion, which you seemed to have abandoned, since iniquity has become so powerful; return in consideration of the peoples, the Saints, who await you to judge them.⁹ The Lord judges the peoples: grant me justice, Lord, according to my right and my innocence. The Greek Fathers observe that David, by these words, did not mean to speak of absolute and perfect justice and innocence, but only to say that his way of acting towards Saul had been just (see 1 Kings 24:12); for he himself declares elsewhere that all men are sinners and guilty before God (Ps. Hebrews 143:2). ¹⁰ Put an end to the malice of the wicked and strengthen the righteous, you who search hearts and minds, O righteous God. v7-10 Invocation to God that he may bring justice to the innocent and put an end to iniquity. See 1 Chronicles 28:9; Jeremiah 11:20; 17:10; 20:12. ¹¹ My shield is in God, who saves the upright in heart. ¹² God is a just judge; every day, the Almighty makes his threats heard. ¹³ Indeed, once again he sharpens his sword, he strings his bow and he aims, ¹⁴ He directs deadly arrows at him, he makes his arrows burning hot. God is just and he punishes the sinner; it is impossible to escape his arrows, that is, his judgments. the war, Sometimes arrows were wrapped in flammable materials, set on fire, and launched. ¹⁵ Here is the wicked one, in the labor of iniquity: he conceives evil and gives birth to lies. He devised wicked plans to harm his neighbor, and he carried them out. See Job 15:35; Isaiah 59:4. ¹⁶ He opens a pit, he digs it, and he falls into the abyss he was preparing. In this verse, David alludes to an ancient stratagem used in hunting and the war, to dig pits, which were then covered with branches and a little earth, so that men or animals would fall into them. The sinner receives the treatment he deserved; he falls into the pit he had dug. Praise be to God! Full of confidence in divine help, the sacred singer foresees the downfall of his persecutor.  ¹⁷ His iniquity falls back upon his own head, and his violence descends upon his brow. ¹⁸ I will praise the Lord for his justice; I will sing the name of the Lord Most High. Jesus Christ, the apostles (Matthew 16:15; 1 Corinthians 16:26-38; Hebrews 2:8-9), and the Holy Fathers have linked this psalm to the glorification of the Messiah; and this application is supported by the very content of the psalm. Indeed, although it generally presents the picture of the glory of perfect humanity, regenerated, enriched, and adorned anew, after its fall into sin, by the grace of God (v. 5), this picture is also and above all that of the glorification of Jesus Christ, in whose renewed humanity, after redemption, humankind is glorified.

Psalm 8

¹ To the choirmaster, according to the Gittite, a song of David. ² Lord, our God, how glorious is your name throughout the earth. You who have clothed the heavens with your majesty. You who have clothed the heavens with your majesty. It does not only shine forth over all the earth, it rises to the heavens, which our eyes behold. ³ Through the mouths of children and infants, you have established power to confound your enemies, to silence the adversary and the blasphemer. Children, in their innocence and kindness, sing your praises, silencing and confounding those who refuse to acknowledge your glory and rebel against you. These words were fulfilled especially when children glorified Jesus Christ in the temple (Matthew 21:16), thus utterly confounding his angry and vengeful enemies.⁴ When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have created, I exclaim: ⁵ What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? David does not simply mean the gifts of nature here, he also means and above all those of grace; indeed, to remember, to visit, in the right sense, means, in the biblical style, to save, to deliver (Genesis 8, 1. 21, 1. 50, 24. Exodus 2, 25); from which it follows that it is mainly about redeemed humanity, adorned anew with grace, regenerated, and that the meaning of the verse is: When I consider the heavens and the stars, and see with what magnificence you display your glory, I wonder how you have wanted to display it again by remembering man in the state of grace. Since perfected and regenerated humanity is properly the humanity of Jesus Christ, in that he carries within himself the type of the human race, and in him all, after redemption, find grace and access to God, it is with good reason that the apostles and the holy Fathers make to his person, in the most elevated sense, the application of what is marked here.  ⁶ You made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor. ⁷ You gave him dominion over the works of your hands; you put all things under his feet: the second man, Jesus Christ (Hebrews chap. 1), as well as the first (Genesis 1, 26), and in him his holy Church, which not only makes use of this world, but which often dominates it by its marvelous power.  ⁸ Sheep and oxen, all together, and the animals of the field, ⁹ Birds of the sky and fish of the sea and all that travels the paths of the seas. ¹⁰ Lord, our God, how glorious is your name throughout the earth. Saint Augustine, Saint Chrysostom and Saint Jerome interpret this psalm as a hymn of thanksgiving from the Christian Church, concerning the victories it has won over the enemy of humankind and over paganism (v. 6); and furthermore, as a prayer it addresses to God asking for his protection against its future enemies. David may well have sung this same hymn after some victory over his enemies.

Psalm 9 A

1 To the choirmaster, according to the tune of "Death to the Son," a psalm of David. 2 I will praise the Lord with all my heart; I will recount all your wonderful deeds. 3 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 4 My enemies turn back; they stumble and fall before your face. They will not withstand your gaze, the influence of your power. 5 For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat down on your throne as a righteous judge. 6 You have punished the nations; you have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemies of religion and of God. Such is the end of all the enemies of God and his Church. 7 The enemy is destroyed. Ruins forever. The cities you overthrew are forgotten. 8 But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for judgment. 9 He judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with equity. 10 And the Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. A refuge for the faithful, who, although not always poor in possessions, must nevertheless be poor in spirit, humble and devoted to God.  11 In you all who know your name trust, for you do not forsake those who seek you, Lord. 12 Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion; proclaim among the nations his mighty deeds. In Jerusalem, which, in a higher sense, marks the Church (Augustine, Jerome). 13 For he who demands retribution for shed blood has remembered, he has not forgotten the cry of the afflicted. the blood of pious men persecuted, of martyrs, who shed their blood for God (Jerome). 14 “Have mercy on me, Lord,” they said, “see the affliction to which my enemies have reduced me, you who deliver me from the gates of death, See the suffering my enemies are making me endure, for they are not all yet exterminated. 15 so that I may recount all praises, at the gates of the daughter of Zion, exulting in joy because of your salvation. It was under the gates that they gathered (Deuteronomy 21:19; 22:15). The daughter of Zion is Zion, that is, Jerusalem itself, just as the daughter of Babylon is Babylon itself. Cities are often personified as women. 16 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug; their foot has been caught in the snare they hid. Those who despise God are destroyed by the very plots they devise to ruin those who fear Him. Therefore, when our enemies persecute us and lay traps for us, let us turn to God and hope for His help. 17 The Lord has appeared, he has executed judgment; in the work of his hands he has ensnared the wicked. Higgaion. Sela. 18 The wicked return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. 19 For the unfortunate are not always forgotten, the hope of the afflicted does not perish forever. 20 Arise, O Lord, let not man triumph. Let the nations be judged before your face. Do not allow man to become too powerful, too arrogant 21 Pour terror upon them, Lord, so that the peoples may know that they are men. Sela.

Hebrew Psalm No. 10

(Psalm No. 9B in the Vulgate)

1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off and hide yourself in times of distress? The Sacred Singer, overcome by his overwhelming emotion, bursts into even more vehement complaints about the new enemies he has already lamented (9, 14). By his enemies he likely means the pagan nations (the Philistines, the Arabs), ever ready to the war and to plunder. He laments the violence these nations commit and the oppression under which they hold God's people (1-11); he asks that they be delivered from it (14-15), and he hopes that his prayer will be answered (15-18). Those who do not combine this psalm with the preceding one believe that it refers to new enemies of the same nature as those already mentioned. The Christian will also remember the various enemies of his salvation. 2 When the wicked man boasts, the poor are consumed; they are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 For the wicked man boasts of his lust; the accursed thief despises the Lord. 4 In his pride, the wicked man says, “He will not punish; there is no God”—in all his thoughts. 5 His ways are prosperous at all times. Your judgments are too high for him to worry about; all his adversaries he dispels with a breath.  The hardness and obstinacy of his heart mean that he doesn't think about it (Bruno). 6 He says in his heart, “I will not be shaken; I am forever safe from harm.” 7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; under his tongue are malice and iniquity. 8 He lies in wait near the villages, in the hidden places, he murders the innocent. His eyes spy on the defenseless; 9 he lies in wait in the hidden place, like a lion in its thicket, he lies in wait to seize the poor, he catches the poor in his net. 10 He crouches, he stoops, and the poor fall into his claws. 11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten; he has covered his face; he never sees.” 12 Arise, O Lord, O God, lift up your hand! Do not forget the afflicted! 13 Why does the wicked despise God? Why does he say in his heart, “You do not punish”? 14 Yet you have seen, for you consider the pain and suffering, to take up their cause. To you the afflicted commit themselves, to the orphan you come to the aid of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked, the impious; if you seek their sin, will you not find it? Destroy the power of the wicked, and their sins will cease. To signify that something has disappeared, ceased to be, the Hebrews say: It is sought, but not found. Psalm 37:10. Job 20:7, 8. Revelation 16:20. 16 The Lord is king forever and for eternity; the nations will be exterminated from his land. God's earth is, in the highest sense, the kingdom of God, from which the wicked are excluded. 17 You have heard the desire of the afflicted, Lord; you have strengthened their hearts; you have listened attentively., You have prepared and changed their hearts by your grace, and you have disposed them to prayer. Others attribute this preparation to purity of heart and zeal for good, which inspires pious people with such confidence in prayer. That is why Saint Augustine He said: You remain silent (and your prayers go unanswered) when you cease to love. The cooling of charity is the silence of the heart, the zeal of charity that is the cry. 18 to do justice to the orphan and the oppressed, so that man, taken from the earth, will no longer inspire terror.