: 6 For he hath said in his heart, "Tush, I shall never be cast down there shall no harm happen unto me.' 7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and fraud: under his tongue is ungodliness and vanity. 8 He sitteth lurking in the thievish corners of the streets and privily in his lurking dens doth he murder the innocent; his eyes are set against the poor. 9 For he lieth waiting secretly, even as a lion lurketh he in his den: that he may ravish the poor. 10 He doth ravish the poor: when he getteth him into his net. II He falleth down and humbleth himself: that the congregation of the poor may fall into the hands of his captains. 12 He hath said in his heart, "Tush, God hath forgotten: he hideth away his face, and he will never see it." 13 Arise, O Lord God, and lift up thine hand : forget not the poor. 14 Wherefore should the wicked blaspheme God: while he doth say in his heart, "Tush, thou God carest not for it." 15 Surely thou hast seen it: for thou beholdest ungodliness and wrong. 16 That thou mayest take the matter into thine hand the poor committeth himself unto thee; for thou art the helper of the friendless. 17 Break thou the power of the ungodly and malicious: take away his ungodliness, and thou shalt find none. 18 The Lord is King for ever and ever: and the heathen are perished out of the land. 19 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the poor: thou preparest their heart, and thine ear hearkeneth thereto. 20 To help the poor and fatherless unto their right: that the man of the earth be no more exalted against them. Sir Philip Sidney's rendering of part of this psalm is worth contrasting with some others, which do not " carve and polish the edges of the text, axe-hewn in the Hebrew.' But nak'd before Thine eyes For of them in Thine hands Commit their cause-them selves-to Thee, [less, The Succour of the succourThe Father of the fatherless." Here is Waddell's racy version: "Ye hae seen 't yersel: for yersel can baith cark and care, till tak a' i' yer han'. Till yersel the puir man leuks an' lippens: the frien' o' the faitherless yerlane are Thou." Here is Tate and Brady's poor bald rendering: "Thou dost the humble suppliants hear That to Thy throne repair, Thou first preparest their hearts to pray, And then accept'st their prayer. for Thou in Thy righteous judgment weigh'st The fatherless and poor." This is both the hardest psalm mediæval commentators and for modern critics; its prophetic darkness puzzled the one and its title the others. Verse 20. This verse inspired St. Hugh of Lincoln to rebuke and defy Jordan of the Tower, a powerful Londoner, who had wronged two orphan children, and threatened violence to all who opposed him. The Latins make it a part of Psalm ix., and use it at Matins on Sundays. Greeks.-On Sunday morning. PSALM XI. In Domino confido. N the Lord put I my trust: how say ye then to my IN tout, that she should flee as a bird unto the hill? 2 For lo, the ungodly bend their bow, and make ready their arrows within the quiver that they may privily shoot at them which are true of heart. : 3 For the foundations will be cast down and what hath the righteous done? 4 The Lord is in his holy temple: the Lord's seat is in heaven. 5 His eyes consider the poor and his eye-lids try the children of men. 6 The Lord alloweth the righteous: but the ungodly, and him that delighteth in wickedness, doth his soul abhor. 7 Upon the ungodly he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, storm and tempest: this shall be their portion to drink. 8 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness : his countenance shall behold the thing that is just. This is one of the psalms which helped the Abolitionist movement in America. Verse 8 is quoted in one of President Lincoln's anti-slavery manifestoes. The next psalm was similarly used. Verse 8. Charles, King of Navarre, "the bad," preached a sermon to the Parisians in 1357, after Poictiers, from this text. He stood on a kind of platform outside St. Germain's Abbey, and spoke eloquently of the woes and wrongs of France, and his desire to right them, so that his audience Liturgical use.-Introit to Mass of St. John, Evangelist (e). H PSALM XII. Salvum me fac. ELP me, Lord, for there is not one godly man left for the faithful are minished from among the children of men. 2 They talk of vanity every one with his neighbour : they do but flatter with their lips, and dissemble in their double heart. 3 The Lord shall root out all deceitful lips: and the tongue that speaketh proud things; 4 Which have said, "With our tongue will we prevail: we are they that ought to speak; who is lord over us ?" 5 Now for the comfortless troubles' sake of the needy and because of the deep sighing of the poor; 6" I will up," saith the Lord: " and will help every one from him that swelleth against him, and will set him at rest." 7 The words of the Lord are pure words: even as the silver, which from the earth is tried, and purified seven times in the fire. 8 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord: thou shalt preserve him from this generation for ever. 9 The ungodly walk on every side: when they are exalted, the children of men are put to rebuke. This is the psalm used by modern Jews at circumcision. There is an interesting old picture of this psalm to be found in the Utrecht Eadwine and Harley psalters. A number of maimed and ragged men are singing it, and the angels with them. Christ is coming out of heaven with a long crossed spear, which he presents to St. Michael. He falls upon a jeering and armed crowd of knights, who are standing idle while some labourers grind a mill. At a forge the words of the Lord are being tried, and the un godly are also going round and round in a profitless circle (in circuitu). St. Bernard describes (and it was a common belief in the Middle Ages, derived from St. Augustine) how "the angels and the spirits of just men made perfect cannot but join with the Church on earth" in her rapture of worship, when the Psalms are sung, "when hands smite the breast and knees the floor, when altars are heaped with devout prayers, when cheeks are stained with tears, and groans and sighs resound on all sides, when with the pleading of spiritual songs the roof shakes; that is what the heavenly citizens love best to behold; that is the sweetest sight to the King of kings. What else did He mean who H said, 'Whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me'? O that one could have the open eyes which Elisha's prayers gave to his servant! Without doubt such an one would see the Princes joined to them that sing psalms, in the midst of the damsels playing on the timbrels. He would behold how carefully, how rhythmically, they join the singers, attend those who pray, supply those who meditate, help those who wait, guide those who order and arrange. Well do the higher powers know their fellow-citizens; and when these possess their heritage of salvation, they rejoice lovingly with them, they share their lot, they educate, they shield, they aid them all, wholly and everywhere." Latins. Sunday Matins. PSALM XIII. Usque quo, Domine? OW long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, for ever: how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? 2 How long shall I seek counsel in my soul, and be so vexed in my heart: how long shall mine enemies triumph over me? 3 Consider, and hear me, O Lord, my God: lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death. 4 Lest mine enemy say, "I have prevailed against him": for if I be cast down, they that trouble me will rejoice at it. 5 But my trust is in thy mercy and my heart is joyful in thy salvation. 6 I will sing of the Lord, because he hath dealt so lovingly with me: yea, I will praise the Name of the Lord most Highest. A commendatory psalm for afflictions," says Beza of Calthe dying. vin, he uttered no syllable save what was worthy of a C "In spite of his manifold Christian, but just raised his eyes to heaven and said, Usque quo, Domine? And even this was in his mouth but a mark of the sorrow he felt for the calamities of the brethren rather than for any of his own." Verse 3. St. Gregory of Decapolis tells a pathetic story of a noble Saracen who beheld the Lamb of God in a vision, and sought out the Christians to learn from them their Way. He was christened and abode three years at Decapolis, where he learnt the Psalter by heart. He then returned to his own people and professed his faith. He was heard with fury, and first thrown out of the house, and was at last stoned to death, using the prayers of David: Psalms xxxi., li., and these words, "Lighten mine eyes." Illumina oculos meos begins the "verses of St. Bernard," which Cranmer, Marshall, and other reformers denounce, as so superstitious in use. Liturgical use.-Introit for 1st Sunday after Epiphany (e). PSALM XIV. Dixit insipiens. HE fool hath said in his heart: "There is no THE God." 2 They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings there is none that doeth good, no not one. 3 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God. 4 But they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become abominable: there is none that doeth good, no not one. 5 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues have they deceived the poison of asps is under their lips. 6 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood. 7 Destruction and unhappiness is in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. 8 Have they no knowledge, that they are all such workers of mischief: eating up my people as it were bread, and call not upon the Lord? 9 There were they brought in great fear, even where no fear was for God is in the generation of the righteous. |