Fragmenda

Scripture

Psalms 1–2 · Psalms 14 · Psalms 21–23 · Psalms 46 · Psalms 67

Book Introduction

The psalms are called by the Hebrews TEHILLIM, that is, Hymns of Praise. The author, of a great part of them at least, was king David: but many are of opinion that some of them were made by Asaph, and others whose names are prefixed in the titles.

Psalms 1

Beatus vir. The happiness of the just and the evil state of the wicked.

1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
2 

But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.

3 

And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.

4 

Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.

5 

Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.

6 

For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.


Psalms 2

Quare fremuerunt. The vain efforts of persecutors against Christ and his church.

1 

Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things?

2 

The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord, and against his Christ.

3 

Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us.

4 

He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them.

5 

Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage.

6 

But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.

7 

The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.

8 

Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.

9 

Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

10 

And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth.

11 

Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.

12 

Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way.

13 

When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.


Psalms 14

Domine, quis habitabit. What kind of men shall dwell in the heavenly Sion.

1 

A psalm for David. Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or who shall rest in thy holy hill?

2 

He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:

3 

He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.

4 

In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing: but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his neighbour, and deceiveth not;

5 

He that hath not put out his money to usury, nor taken bribes against the innocent: He that doth these things, shall not be moved for ever.


Psalms 21

Deus Deus meus. Christ’s passion: and the conversion of the Gentiles.

1 

Unto the end, for the morning protection, a psalm for David.

2 

O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.

3 

O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.

4 

But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.

5 

In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.

6 

They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

7 

But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.

8 

All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.

9 

He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.

10 

For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.

11 

I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother’s womb thou art my God,

12 

Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.

13 

Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.

14 

They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring.

15 

I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.

16 

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.

17 

For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.

18 

They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me.

19 

They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.

20 

But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence.

21 

Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.

22 

Save me from the lion’s mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.

23 

I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee.

24 

Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him.

25 

Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face from me: and when I cried to him he heard me.

26 

With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him.

27 

The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.

28 

All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight.

29 

For the kingdom is the Lord’s; and he shall have dominion over the nations.

30 

All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.

31 

And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him.

32 

There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.


Psalms 22

Dominus regit me. God’s spiritual benefits to faithful souls.

1 

A psalm for David. The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing.

2 

He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment:

3 

He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name’s sake.

4 

For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.

5 

Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it!

6 

And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.


Psalms 23

Domini est terra. Who are they that shall ascend to heaven: Christ’s triumphant ascension thither.

1 

On the first day of the week, a psalm for David. The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein.

2 

For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers.

3 

Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place?

4 

The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.

5 

He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.

6 

This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.

7 

Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.

8 

Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.

9 

Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.

10 

Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.


Psalms 46

Omnes gentes, plaudite. The Gentiles are invited to praise God for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ.

1 

Unto the end, for the sons of Core.

2 

O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy,

3 

For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.

4 

He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under our feet.

5 

He hath chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob which he hath loved.

6 

God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet.

7 

Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye.

8 

For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely.

9 

God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne.

10 

The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God of Abraham: for the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted.


Psalms 67

Exurgat Deus. The glorious establishment of the church of the New Testament, prefigured by the benefits bestowed on the people of Israel.

1 

Unto the end, a psalm of a canticle for David himself.

2 

Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: and let them that hate him flee from before his face.

3 

As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

4 

And let the just feast, and rejoice before God: and be delighted with gladness.

5 

Sing ye to God, sing a psalm to his name, make a way for him who ascendeth upon the west: the Lord is his name. Rejoice ye before him: but the wicked shall be troubled at his presence,

6 

Who is the father of orphans, and the judge of widows. God in his holy place:

7 

God who maketh men of one manner to dwell in a house: Who bringeth out them that were bound in strength; in like manner them that provoke, that dwell in sepulchres.

8 

O God, when thou didst go forth in the sight of thy people, when thou didst pass through the desert:

9 

The earth was moved, and the heavens dropped at the presence of the God of Sina, at the presence of the God of Israel.

10 

Thou shalt set aside for thy inheritance a free rain, O God: and it was weakened, but thou hast made it perfect.

11 

In it shall thy animals dwell; in thy sweetness, O God, thou hast provided for the poor.

12 

The Lord shall give the word to them that preach good tidings with great power.

13 

The king of powers is of the beloved, of the beloved; and the beauty of the house shall divide spoils.

14 

If you sleep among the midst of lots, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of her back with the paleness of gold.

15 

When he that is in heaven appointeth kings over her, they shall be whited with snow in Selmon.

16 

The mountain of God is a fat mountain. A curdled mountain, a fat mountain.

17 

Why suspect, ye curdled mountains? A mountain in which God is well pleased to dwell: for there the Lord shall dwell unto the end.

18 

The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of them that rejoice: the Lord is among them in Sina, in the holy place.

19 

Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts in men. Yea for those also that do not believe, the dwelling of the Lord God.

20 

Blessed be the Lord day by day: the God of our salvation will make our journey prosperous to us.

21 

Our God is the God of salvation: and of the Lord, of the Lord are the issues from death.

22 

But God shall break the heads of his enemies: the hairy crown of them that walk on in their sins.

23 

The Lord said: I will turn them from Basan, I will turn them into the depth of the sea:

24 

That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thy enemies; the tongue of thy dogs be red with the same.

25 

They have seen thy goings, O God, the goings of my God: of my king who is in his sanctuary.

26 

Princes went before joined with singers, in the midst of young damsels playing on timbrels.

27 

In the churches bless ye God the Lord, from the fountains of Israel.

28 

There is Benjamin a youth, in ecstasy of mind. The princes of Juda are their leaders: the princes of Zabulon, the princes of Nephthali.

29 

Command thy strength, O God confirm, O God, what thou hast wrought in us.

30 

From thy temple in Jerusalem, kings shall offer presents to thee.

31 

Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds, the congregation of bulls with the kine of the people; who seek to exclude them who are tried with silver. Scatter thou the nations that delight in wars:

32 

Ambassadors shall come out of Egypt: Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God.

33 

Sing to God, ye kingdoms of the earth: sing ye to the Lord: Sing ye to God,

34 

Who mounteth above the heaven of heavens, to the east. Behold he will give to his voice the voice of power:

35 

Give ye glory to God for Israel, his magnificence, and his power is in the clouds.

36 

God is wonderful in his saints: the God of Israel is he who will give power and strength to his people. Blessed be God.

Catechism

Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part 2, Chapter 1, Sections 38-41

In Case Of Necessity Adults May Be: Baptised At Once

Sometimes, however, when there exists a just and necessary cause, as in the case of imminent danger of death, Baptism is not to be deferred, particularly if the person to be baptised is well instructed in the mysteries of faith. This we find to have been done by Philip, and by the Prince of the Apostles, when without any delay, the one baptised the eunuch of Queen Candace; the other, Cornelius, as soon as they expressed a wish to embrace the faith.

Dispositions for Baptism

Intention

The faithful are also to be instructed in the necessary dispositions for Baptism. In the first place they must desire and intend to receive it; for as in Baptism we all die to sin and resolve to live a new life, it is fit that it be administered to those only who receive it of their own free will and accord; it is to be forced upon none. Hence we learn from holy tradition that it has been the invariable practice to administer Baptism to no individual without previously asking him if he be willing to receive it. This disposition even infants are presumed to have, since the will of the Church, which promises for them, cannot be mistaken.

Insane, delirious persons who were once of sound mind and afterwards became deranged, having in their present state no wish to be baptised, are not to be admitted to Baptism, unless in danger of death. In such cases, if previous to insanity they give intimation of a wish to be baptised, the Sacrament is to be administered; without such indication previously given it is not to be administered. The same rule is to be followed with regard to persons who are unconscious.

But if they (the insane) never enjoyed the use of reason, the authority and practice of the Church decide that they are to be baptised in the faith of the Church, just as children are baptised before they come to the use of reason.

Faith

Besides a wish to be baptised, in order to obtain the grace of the Sacrament, faith is also necessary. Our Lord and Saviour has said: He that believes and is baptised shall be saved.