Hebrew Psalm No. 41
(Psalm No. 40 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster, a psalm of David. 2 Blessed is he who considers the poor. In the day of trouble the Lord will deliver him. 3 The Lord will protect him and give him life; he will be blessed on earth, and you will not give him up to the desire of his enemies. 4 The Lord will comfort him on his sickbed; in his illness you will raise him up. God changes his bed of pain, every time he is sick, into joy (Augustine). 5 I say, «Lord, have mercy on me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.» The sacred singer will now speak of his own sufferings, by which he perhaps means some illness; and he shows that he has not encountered that compassion which God fills with his blessings. 6 And my enemies utter curses against me: «When will he die? When will his name perish?» When I was in misfortune, and complained to God about my miserable state, I received from my relatives, instead of signs of compassion, only signs of malicious joy. 7 If anyone comes to visit me, he speaks only lies; his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes away, he speaks abroad. He is looking for what bad omens he might have about my suffering, in order to divulge them to others. 8 All my enemies whisper together against me; against me they plot disaster. 9 «An irreparable harm,» they say, “has befallen him; there he lies, he will never rise again.” 10 Even the man who was my friend, in whom I had confidence, and who ate my bread, lifts his heel against me. Jesus Christ applied these words to the traitor Judas (John 13:18). See also Acts 4:16. The life of David was a prophetic type of the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the feelings, destinies, and sufferings of Jesus Christ bear an analogy to those of the pious monarch; and Jesus Christ could draw parallels between his own destinies and those of David. 11 You, Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up, and I will repay them what they deserve. This was not an expression of a desire for revenge. David must have considered it his royal duty to punish, in a way that would inspire terror, the king's enemies, as they were enemies of God. His conduct toward Shemei (2 Samuel 16) shows how far David was from any desire for revenge. 12 I will know that you love me, if my enemy does not triumph over me. 13 Because of my innocence, you have upheld me and established me in your presence forever. 14 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever. Amen. Amen.
Hebrew Psalm No. 42
(Psalm No. 41 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster. A song of the sons of Korah. A didactic psalm, to be performed under the direction of the descendants of Korah. The descendants of the Levite Korah were singers (see Numbers 16:26; 1 Chronicles 9:22, 2 and 20:19). It is the common opinion among exegetes that David composed this psalm during his flight from Absalom, at a time when, far from the holy tabernacle, he was being fiercely pursued by his enemies. 2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 3 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and appear before God? 4 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, «Where is your God?» David's enemies mocked him, saying: "Where is your God? May he reward your piety poorly! Can he not, or will he not, help you?" 5 I remember, and at this memory my soul merges with me by the pain of seeing myself far from the house of God, when I walked surrounded by the crowd and advanced towards the house of God, amid the shouts of joy and thanksgiving of a festive multitude. 6 Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God. David strengthened his confidence and conceived the firm hope that he would be helped. Compare 2 Samuel 15:25. 7 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I remember you, from the land of the Jordan, from Hermon, from Mount Misar. From the land of the Jordan where he had taken refuge while fleeing from Absalom (See 2 Samuel 17:22). The Christian, in his prayer, must think of the land of sin and misery, which he is eager to leave. 8 One flood calls for another when your waterfalls roar: so all your waves and torrents pass over me. One misfortune follows another when you unleash your judgments. 9 By day, the Lord commanded his grace to visit me. By night, his song was on my lips; I offered a prayer to the God of my life. When I was still in happiness, the Lord, during the day, made me experience his mercy, and filled me with his blessings, so that it was my duty to praise him during the night. 10 Now I say to God, my rock: «Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow under the oppression of the enemy?» Now, during the time of this present life, when my enemies press in on me, I find myself compelled to address my complaints to God. 11 My bones feel as if they are being crushed when my persecutors insult me, saying continually, “Where is your God?” 12 Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. David revives himself and regains his confidence.
Hebrew Psalm No. 43
(Psalm No. 42 in the Vulgate)
1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation; deliver me from the man of deceit and iniquity. This Psalm appears to be a continuation of the previous one, as seen in verse 5. The supplicant prays to God to deliver him from his enemies and to allow him to return to Jerusalem to the holy tabernacle. The Christian at prayer can, in reciting this Psalm, recall the separation from the world, from the enemies of his soul's salvation, and his admission into the assembly of the righteous. 2 For you are the God of my defense, why do you reject me? Why must I walk in sorrow under the oppression of the enemy? 3 Send forth your light and your faithfulness, that they may guide me, that they may lead me to your holy mountain and to your tabernacles. on Zion in Jerusalem, where the tabernacle was. In a higher sense, in the Church, on the mountain of perfection. 4 I will go to the altar of God, to the God who is my joy and my delight, and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. 5 Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. The Church places the words of this psalm in the mouths of the priests before they ascend to the altar. By repeating them, the priests put themselves in David's place, and they consider themselves, like him, as banished from the sanctuary because of their sins; they ask God to deliver them from common corruption, to grant them his light and grace, so that they may climb the mountain of perfection, and finally they exhort themselves, and with them they exhort all the faithful to have confidence in God, who is powerful enough to draw them out of corruption and their state of misery.
Hebrew Psalm No. 44
(Psalm No. 43 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster, of the sons of Korah. A song. This psalm is the prayer of a devout heart asking for help after some great defeat suffered by the chosen people at the hands of the enemies of their religion. It would scarcely be possible to know what this defeat was, and it would be equally without sufficient reason to infer from the circumstance (v. 23) that the war The conflict in question was a religious war, because the cause of the people of Israel was God's cause, and the Israelites liked to view their wars with the nations from a religious perspective. Perhaps it was after Saul's disastrous battle against the Philistines (1 Samuel 31) that David composed this psalm. Moreover, it is particularly fitting for those who suffer persecution for their religion. 2 O God, we have heard with our ears; our fathers have told us the works that you performed in their days, in days of old. 3 With your hand you drove out nations to establish them, you struck down peoples to spread them out, 4 for it was not with their sword that they gained the land, it was not their arm that gave them victory, but it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you loved them. The light of God's face is his grace (See Josh. 2:9). 5 You are my king, O God, decree the salvation of Jacob. Grant, by your commands, that salvation may be Jacob's portion in every circumstance. 6 Through you we will overthrow our enemies, in your name we will crush our adversaries. 7 For I do not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me. 8 But it is you who deliver us from our enemies and who confound those who hate us. Such, says Saint Chrysostom, should also be our feelings toward the enemies of our salvation: we must place our trust not in our weapons, that is, in our strength or our justice, but solely in mercy of God. 9 In God we glory all day long, and we praise your name forever. Selah. 10 Yet you have rejected us and put us to shame; you no longer go out with our armies. 11 You make us retreat before the enemy, and those who hate us plunder us. 12 You deliver us up like sheep to be slaughtered, you scatter us among the nations. 13 You sell your people for a paltry price, you do not value them highly. You allowed us to be given as gifts as slaves, or sold at a low price. 14 You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors, of mockery and derision to those around us. 15 You have made us a byword among the nations and a laughingstock among the peoples. 16 My shame is ever before my eyes, and confusion covers my face, 17 at the voice of those who insult and revile me, at the sight of the enemy and those who breathe vengeance. 18 All this has happened to us, though we have not forgotten you, nor have we been unfaithful to your covenant. 19 Our hearts have not turned back, nor have our steps strayed from your path, 20 so that you may crush us in the hideout of jackals and cover us with the shadow of death. 21 If we had forgotten the name of our God and stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 22 would not God have perceived it, he who knows the secrets of the heart? See Romans 8:36. Saint Paul quotes this passage in connection with the persecutions suffered by the first Christians. Meaning: far from having forgotten God, we sacrifice ourselves for him, for his religion. 23 But it is because of you that we are slaughtered all day long, that we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered. 24 Awake! Why are you sleeping, Lord? Awake and do not reject us forever. 25 Why do you hide your face, why do you forget our misery and our oppression? 26 For our soul sinks to the dust, our body clings to the earth. We are completely broken and bowed under the yoke. 27 Arise to help us; deliver us because of your goodness.
Hebrew Psalm No. 45
Psalm No. 44 in the Vulgate)
1 To the choirmaster: according to the lilies. A psalm of the sons of Korah, a song of love. 2 My heart overflows with a beautiful song; I say, «My work is for a king.» My tongue is like the swift reed of the scribe. 3 You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. The one to whom the sacred poet addresses himself in this psalm is a king whose glory and majesty he celebrates; he then moves on to the queen, painting a picture of the magnificence in which she is brought before the king, and he concludes with the monarch's descendants, who will rule over all the earth. The king in question is the Messiah; this was recognized even by the ancient Jews. But what confirms it above all is the testimony of the Letter to the Hebrews, 1, 8-9, where the Messiah's superiority over the angels is approved by this psalm; it is finally the very content of the psalm, which attributes to the king celebrated therein qualities that cannot befit any king on earth. 4 Gird your sword on your thigh, O hero. Put on your splendor and your majesty. The sword is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17), which comes out of the mouth of Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:15). 5 And in your majesty advance, mount your chariot, fight for the truth, gentleness and justice, and may your right hand accomplish wondrous deeds. Indeed, the reign of Jesus Christ is the reign of truth and virtue, not of the sword and violence (See Isaiah 11, 5). 6 Your arrows are sharp; peoples will fall at your feet; they will pierce the hearts of the king's enemies. The arrows of grace. It was an arrow of this nature that pierced Saint Paul, who from a furious enemy became the friend of the King (Chrysostom). 7 Your throne, O God, is established forever; the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of righteousness. Saint Paul (Hebrews 1:8-9) infers from this verse, where the Messiah is called God, the superiority of Jesus Christ over the angels. 8 You love justice and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. In a more excellent way than all your faithful ones, than the friends who accompany you to your wedding (Matthew 25:1). John 3, 29-34). Just as the King is called Christ, that is, Anointed, so too are all his faithful called Christians, that is, anointed: all are anointed with grace; but He, who is the head of the Church, is anointed in a more excellent way than they. 9 Myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon emanate from all your garments; from ivory palaces, lyres make you glad. Precious perfumes of the Orient, symbols of good works. Scholars interpret these garments as representing the human nature of Jesus Christ, which emerged from the ivory womb—that is, the most pure and noble womb—of the Blessed Virgin. In the litanies that the Church recites in her honor, Married is invoked under the title of ivory tower. 10 Daughters of kings are among your beloved; the queen is at your right hand, adorned with the gold of Ophir. The Bride, the Church of Jesus Christ formed from the nations; in the restricted sense each holy soul, because one can say of each living member of the Church what is marked by the whole Church. 11 «Listen, my daughter, look and pay attention: forget your people and your father’s house, The sacred singer addresses the Church, and at the same time every faithful soul. 12 and the king will be enamored of your beauty because he is your Lord: pay him homage. The Hebrew word rendered as Lord is Adonai; it means Master, Lord, and, by extension, husband, God: because God was all of these in relation to the Jewish people. 13 The daughter of Tyre, with gifts, and the wealthiest of the people will seek your favor.» The wealthiest peoples, princes, and kings will offer gifts and seek favors not only from the King, but also from his Bride, the Church. Scholars explain this by the treasures of grace held in the Church, to which the faithful seek to partake. 14 All resplendent is the king's daughter; within, her garment is made of fabrics of gold. The beauty of the Bride of Jesus Christ is the inner beauty of her heart (1 Peter 3:3-4; Ephesians 5:21). This is why he says of true Christians that outwardly they may seem to be the least of men, but inwardly they are the most glorious brides, the crown, the ornament that is most pleasing to Jesus Christ. 15 Dressed in various colours, she is presented to the king after them, young girls her companions, are brought to you. Peoples will enter the Church of Jesus Christ one after another. 16 They are brought in with rejoicing and gladness, they enter the palace of the King. 17 Your children will take the place of your fathers; you will establish them as princes over all the earth. Children will be born to you in place of patriarchs, that is, you will have children like the patriarchs, having the same prerogatives as them. By these children, exegetes understand the Apostles and disciples, who were the first fruits of the divine mission of Jesus Christ. Compare Isaiah 8:18. 18 I will remember your name in all generations, and the peoples will praise you forever and ever. It is the Psalmist who speaks.
