Hebrew Psalm No. 16
(Psalm No. 15 in the Vulgate)
1 A Psalm of David. Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. The one who speaks in this Psalm is the Messiah; he abandons himself entirely to God (1-8), and finally (8-11) he testifies to his firm conviction that God will deliver him from corruption and fill him with happiness and glory in a new life. These are the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul themselves (Act 2, (verses 22-31, 13, 35-37) which tell us explicitly that the subject of the Psalm is the Messiah, and that David is not speaking of himself; its content, moreover, is in perfect accord with the sentiments of the Apostles. Jesus Christ, says Saint Paul (Hebrews 5:7), established as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, offered his prayers during the days of his earthly life, and prayed to the one who could deliver him from death (through his resurrection); but it was not only for himself that he prayed, he also prayed for his entire mystical body, the Church; he prayed to his Father for all the faithful, so that all might rise again in him. Every Christian, being obliged to consecrate himself to God, and having his resurrection in Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ, can make his own the sentiments that the high priest Jesus expresses in this Psalm. 2 I say to the Lord: You are my Lord, you alone are my possession. 3 The saints who are in the country, these illustrious ones, are the object of all my affection. As for the saints who are on earth, and its admirable men, all my delight is in them. 4 They multiply idols, they run after foreign gods; I will not pour out their libations of blood, I will not put their names on my lips. Their blood libations: their idolatrous sacrifices. 5 The Lord is my portion and my cup; you are the one who secures my lot. The Messiah calls God his Lord, as in Psalm 110:1. Every Christian can apply the words of this verse, but they are particularly fitting for the priest, who lives by the altar. See Numbers 18:20 and following. 6 The measuring line has measured out for me a delicious portion, yes, a splendid inheritance is granted to me. The cord (image taken from the way land was measured when dividing it. Joshua 14, 5. et seq.). 7 I bless the Lord who has given me counsel; even at night my loins warn me. The kidneys are set for the inner dispositions (Ps. Hebrews 7:10, 17:3), that is, even in the midst of the depths of the night, as long as I am awake, the feelings of my heart lead me to gratitude for such a favor. 8 I have set the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand; I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is in joy, My soul rejoices, and my body rests securely. Even my body will have the hope, when it has ceased to exist, of not remaining in death. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or permit him who loves you to see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. You will fill me with joy after my resurrection. After his resurrection, Jesus Christ walked in the way of life and sat down at the right hand of God, that is, he was given possession of his joy and power (see Psalm 110:1). All regenerated humanity will receive its inheritance with him when it is resurrected in him. Compare 1 Corinthians 15.
Hebrew Psalm No. 17
(Psalm No. 16 in the Vulgate)
1 A Prayer of David. Lord, hear my plea for justice; listen to my cry; incline your ear to my prayer, which is not uttered by deceitful lips. My righteous prayer, which comes from sincere lips and an upright heart. 2 Let my judgment come out of your face; let your eyes behold justice. Let my judgment come from you, from your mouth; let your eyes behold my innocence. 3 You have tested my heart, you have visited it by night, you have put me in the crucible: you find nothing. With my thoughts, my mouth is not in disagreement. Your eyes were fixed on me, even during the night, which is the time for reflection (Ps. Hebrews 16:7, 4:5), to ascertain whether thoughts of injustice and evil occupied my mind. 4 As for the actions of man, faithful to the word of your lips, I have taken heed to the ways of the violent. 5 My steps have followed your paths, and my feet have not slipped. I call upon you, for you answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my prayer. 7 Show your unfailing love, you who save those who take refuge in your right hand from their adversaries. 8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. Preserve me as your most precious possession (Compare Deuteronomy 32:10 and Proverbs 1:2) put me under coverof those who resist your power, your decrees, and your designs. 9 The wicked who persecute me, deadly enemies who surround me. 10 They close their hearts to pity, they have proud words on their lips. They have made their hearts impervious to pity. 11 They are on our heels, they surround us, they spy on us to bring us down. 12 They resemble the lion eager to devour, the lion cub camped in its thicket. 13 Arise, O Lord, go forth to meet him, subdue him, deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, 14 from men by your hand, from these men of the world whose portion is in this present life, whose bellies you fill with your treasures, who are satisfied with children and leave their surplus to their grandchildren. Those who are my enemies by your power, wrest from them the sword that you have placed in their hands, for without you they could do nothing. 15 As for me, in my innocence, I will gaze upon your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your face. David clearly expresses his faith in blessed immortality.
Hebrew Psalm No. 18
(Psalm No. 17 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster, a psalm of the servant of the Lord, of David, who addressed to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. Compare this Psalm with 2 Samuel 22. This Psalm is found reproduced at the cited place, but with some rather notable variations, although they do not alter its substance. 2 He said: I love you, Lord, my strength. 3 Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Just as the fighting bull triumphs by its horn, so I triumph by God. (See 1 Samuel 2:1, 10). Luke 1, 69) 4 I called upon the Lord, the one worthy of praise, and I was delivered from my enemies. 5 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of Belial terrified me. Belial: common noun meaning wickedness, destruction 6 The bonds of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death had fallen before me. The greatest dangers threatened my downfall. 7 In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried to my God; from his temple he heard my voice, and my cry before him reached his ears. 8 The earth quaked and trembled, the foundations of the mountains shook and shook, because he was angry. God is now, in the image of a storm, represented in his anger against David's enemies, and coming to the aid of this prince. 9 Smoke rose from his nostrils and a devouring fire came out of his mouth, from which blazing coals sprang forth. Image of God's burning anger. 10 He lowered the heavens and descended; a dark cloud was under his feet. 11 He climbed onto a cherub and he flew, he soared on the wings of the wind. On the impetuous wind stirred up by the clouds, from which thunder resounded. Cf. Ezekiel 1:5 note 14. By cherubim we must also sometimes understand the forces of nature, which God uses like angels, for the execution of his designs. 12 He made darkness his hiding place, his tent around him; it was thick darkness and dark clouds. 13 From the brightness before him came clouds bearing hail and burning coals. 14 The Lord thundered from heaven; the Most High uttered his voice: hail and burning coals. 15 He shot his arrows and scattered them (my enemies), He multiplied his thunderbolts and confounded them. 16 Then the bed of the waters appeared, the foundations of the earth were laid bare, at your rebuke, Lord, at the breath of the wind from your nostrils. The bed of the waters: The bottom, the depths of the sea, by the earthquake and the storm. 17 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from those who hated me, though they were stronger than I. 19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. 20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me, because he was pleased with me.. Set free: released. 21 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; he has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. according to the justice of my case. 22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not sinned, to turn away from my God. 23 All his judgments were before me, and I did not cast aside his laws. 24 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. Against the core of corruption within me, and against my favorite sin. 25 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 26 With the good you show yourself good, with the upright you show yourself upright, 27 with the pure you show yourself pure, but with the deceitful you act treacherously. You will treat each person according to their own way of acting. 28 For you save the humbled people and you humble the proud. 29 Yes, you make my lamp shine. Lord, my God, illuminate my darkness. Enlighten my mind. 30 With you I rush upon the armed battalions, with my God, I leap over the walls. If I am united with you, I will emerge triumphant from temptations, and overcome all the difficulties encountered on the path to salvation. 31 God, his ways are perfect, the word of the Lord is tried; he is a shield to all who trust in him. 32 For who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock except our God? 33 The God who arms me with strength, who makes my way perfect. (my conduct) Perfect., 34 which makes my feet like those of deer and enables me to stand upright on my heights, My feet are agile, quick to attack. 35 which trains my hands for battle and my arms draw the bronze bow. David possessed great physical strength. 36 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand sustains me; your gentleness makes me grow. 37 You broaden my steps beneath me, so that my feet do not slip. You made a spacious path for me, where I walked without discomfort or fatigue. 38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them; I do not return until I have annihilated them. Let the Christian, in his prayer, remember, in connection with these and similar passages against enemies, his bad habits and faults, which he must fight and exterminate as his most dangerous enemies, or even the powers of hell, which do not tire of putting his salvation in peril, or of undermining it entirely. 39 I crush them, and they cannot rise again. They fall beneath my feet. 40 You arm me with strength for battle; you subdue my adversaries. 41 You make my enemies turn their backs to me, and I destroy those who hate me. 42 They cry out, but there is no one to save them; they cry to the Lord, but he does not answer them. 43 I crush them like dust before the wind; I sweep them away like mud from the streets. 44 You deliver me from the revolts of the people, you place me at the head of the nations, peoples I did not know are enslaved to me. You will deliver me from those among the people who stir up disputes. 45 As soon as they hear, they obey me; the foreigners flatter me. 46 The foreigners are weak; they come trembling from their strongholds. Born of adultery, that is, the Israelites who had abandoned God, attached themselves to the corrupt world, especially to idolatry, and who, regulating their lives on its maxims, were, so to speak, born into it (Matthew 19:39). 47 Praise be to the Lord, and blessed be my rock. (the God who is my refuge). May the God of my salvation be exalted, 48 God who grants me vengeance (which allows me to reclaim my rights), who subjugates the peoples to me, 49 who delivers me from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above my adversaries, you save me from the man of violence. It is the mighty God who has given me vengeance, and he has made the peoples subdue me (he has subjected them to me). 50 Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord, I will sing to the glory of your name. 51 He grants glorious deliverances to his king, he shows mercy to his anointed, to David and to his descendants forever.
Hebrew Psalm No. 19
(Psalm No. 18 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster, a psalm of David. 2 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. They bear witness to his power and wisdom. The immense vault of heaven proclaims who made it. In a more elevated sense, according to Saint Paul (Romans 10:18), the firmament should be understood as the Church, the heavens as the Apostles, and the sun as Jesus Christ, as the sun of righteousness and the author of the law, whose praise is included in verses 8-12. 3 The day cries out praise to the day, the night teaches it to the night. Night and day, incessantly in nature resounds the voice of praise for the power and wisdom of God. 4 It is not a language, it is not words whose voice is not heard. This word that resounds in nature is not a word that one does not hear; or, as there is no language that one does not hear, one hears this word in the same way. 5 Their sound (of the firmament and the heavens; in a more elevated sense, of the Church and the Apostles) They travel throughout the earth, their accents reach to the ends of the world. It is there that he pitched a tent for the sun. 6 And he, like a bridegroom coming out of the bridal chamber, goes forth joyfully, like a hero, to fulfill his purpose. He goes out full of strength and enthusiasm, right from the morning. 7 It starts at one end of the sky and its course ends at the other end: nothing escapes its heat. The sun, like a tireless giant, traverses its course from East to West. Furthermore, this is also a picture of the earthly life of Jesus Christ and all the souls who belong to him. He was born, he grew, he taught, he suffered; he rose again, he ascended into heaven; he ran without ever stopping or resting on his path, says Saint Augustine. 8 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. Just as nature, law, or divine revelation brilliantly proclaims the glory and wisdom of God, one can also suppose that the sacred Singer passes from the sun of nature to the light of the spirit, the law. 9 The Lord’s precepts are right, giving joy to the heart. The Lord’s commandments are pure, giving light to the eyes. All these terms of justice, judgment, precepts, and then fear, included in this verse and the following one, mean the same thing, namely the law. 10 The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring forever. The precepts of the Lord are true, and all of them are righteous. 11 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold, sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. 12 By them your servant is enlightened; great is the reward of those who keep them. 13 Who knows his own failings? Forgive me those I am unaware of. But who is the one who, despite all the care he takes not to offend God, notices all his sins? 14 Keep your servant also from the proud, that they may not rule over me, that I may be blameless and free from great sin. 15 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my rock and my deliverer. May the words of my mouth find favor in your sight, and the sentiments of my heart in your presence, O God, you are my rock and my redeemer.
Hebrew Psalm No. 20
(Psalm No. 19 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster, a psalm of David. This Psalm is a prayer that the people addressed to God on behalf of the king, presumably before his departure on an expedition. A Christian can offer the same prayer for their superiors and their needs in general, and especially for the father of the nation (heads of state) and the father of Christendom (the pope). 2 May the Lord answer you in the day of distress, may the name of the God of Jacob (that is, the liberating and awesome God; for it was in these aspects that God had shown himself to Jacob) protects you. 3 That of the sanctuary (from the holy ark of the covenant, where God was present) He sends you help; may he uphold you from Zion. 4 May he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt offerings. Selah. 5 May he give you the desires of your heart and accomplish all your purposes. 6 May we with joyful cries greet your victory, raise the banner in the name of our God. May the Lord fulfill all your wishes. 7 I already know that the Lord has saved his Anointed; he will answer him from heaven, his holy dwelling place, with the mighty help of his right hand. A firm hope of being heard. The one who prays sees in advance the effect of his prayer, as if it had already been answered. 8 Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 9 They bend and fall, we get up and stand firm. 10 Lord, save the king, that he may answer us on the day we call upon him. The ancient Jews, as well as the Holy Fathers, understood this Psalm of Jesus Christ. This interpretation also has several expressions in its favor which, in their literal sense, are unsuitable for any purely earthly king. Since every Christian reigns with Jesus Christ, and is, in the order of nature, a king who has the world under his feet, the one who prays can likewise rejoice in the power God has given him over his enemies, and likewise apply the other expressions to himself.
