Eighth Day: Evening Prayer
   
  41  Beatus qui intelligit
   
1 Happy are they who consider the poor and needy! *
    the LORD will deliver them in the time of trouble.

 

 

Psalm 41     641

 

2 The LORD preserves them and keeps them alive,
so that they may be happy in the land; *
    he does not hand them over to the will of their enemies.
   
3 The LORD sustains them on their sickbed *
    and ministers to them in their illness.
   
4 I said, "LORD, be merciful to me; *
    heal me, for I have sinned against you."
   
5 My enemies are saying wicked things about me: *
    "When will he die, and his name perish?"
   
6 Even if they come to see me, they speak empty words; *
    their heart collects false rumors;
    they go outside and spread them.
   
7 All my enemies whisper together about me *
    and devise evil against me.
   
8 "A deadly thing," they say, "has fastened on him; *
    he has taken to his bed and will never get up again."
   
9 Even my best friend, whom I trusted,
who broke bread with me, *
    has lifted up his heel and turned against me.
   
10 But you, O LORD, be merciful to me and raise me up, *
    and I shall repay them.
   
11 By this I know you are pleased with me, *
    that my enemy does not triumph over me.
   
12 In my integrity you hold me fast, *
    and shall set me before your face for ever.
   
   
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, *
    from age to age. Amen. Amen.

 

 

642    Psalm 41

 
  Book Two
   
  42  Quemadmodum
   
1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *
    so longs my soul for you, O God.
   
2 My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; *
    when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
   
3 My tears have been my food day and night, *
    while all day long they say to me,
    "Where now is your God?"
   
4 I pour out my soul when I think on these things; *
    how I went with the multitude and led them into the
                             house of God,
   
5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, *
    among those who keep holy-day.
   
6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
    and why are you so disquieted within me?
   
7 Put your trust in God; *
    for I will yet give thanks to him,
    who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
   
   
8 My soul is heavy within me; *
    therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
    and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.
   
9 One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts; *
    all your rapids and floods have gone over me.
   
10 The LORD grants his loving-kindness in the daytime; *
    in the night season his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.

 

 

Psalm 42     643

 

11 I will say to the God of my strength,
"Why have you forgotten me? *
    and why do I go so heavily while the enemy
                             oppresses me?"
   
12 While my bones are being broken, *
    my enemies mock me to my face;
   
13 All day long they mock me *
    and say to me, "Where now is your God?"
   
14 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
    and why are you so disquieted within me?
   
15 Put your trust in God; *
    for I will yet give thanks to him,
    who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
   
  43  Judica me, Deus
   
1 Give judgment for me, O God,
and defend my cause against an ungodly people; *
    deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked.
   
2 For you are the God of my strength;
why have you put me from you? *
    and why do I go so heavily while the enemy
                             oppresses me?
   
3 Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, *
    and bring me to your holy hill
    and to your dwelling;
   
4 That I may go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joy and gladness; *
    and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God.

 

 

644    Psalm 43

 
5 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
    and why are you so disquieted within me?
   
6 Put your trust in God; *
    for I will yet give thanks to him,
    who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
   
  Ninth Day: Morning Prayer
   
  44  Deus, auribus
   
1 We have heard with our ears, O God,
our forefathers have told us, *
    the deeds you did in their days,
    in the days of old.
   
2 How with your hand you drove the peoples out
and planted our forefathers in the land; *
    how you destroyed nations and made your people flourish.
   
3 For they did not take the land by their sword,
nor did their arm win the victory for them; *
    but your right hand, your arm, and the
                              light of your countenance,
    because you favored them.
   
4 You are my King and my God; *
    you command victories for Jacob.
   
5 Through you we pushed back our adversaries; *
    through your Name we trampled on those who
                              rose up against us.
   
6 For I do not rely on my bow, *
    and my sword does not give me the victory.
   
7 Surely, you gave us victory over our adversaries *
    and put those who hate us to shame.

 

 

Psalm 44     645

 

8 Every day we gloried in God, *
    and we will praise your Name for ever.
   
9 Nevertheless, you have rejected and humbled us *
    and do not go forth with our armies.
   
10 You have made us fall back before our adversary, *
    and our enemies have plundered us.
   
11 You have made us like sheep to be eaten *
    and have scattered us among the nations.
   
12 You are selling your people for a trifle *
    and are making no profit on the sale of them.
   
13 You have made us the scorn of our neighbors, *
    a mockery and derision to those around us.
   
14 You have made us a byword among the nations, *
    a laughing-stock among the peoples.
   
15 My humiliation is daily before me, *
    and shame has covered my face;
   
16 Because of the taunts of the mockers and blasphemers, *
    because of the enemy and avenger.
   
17 All this has come upon us; *
    yet we have not forgotten you,
    nor have we betrayed your covenant.
   
18 Our heart never turned back, *
    nor did our footsteps stray from your path;
   
19 Though you thrust us down into a place of misery, *
    and covered us over with deep darkness.
   
20 If we have forgotten the Name of our God, *
    or stretched out our hands to some strange god,
   
21 Will not God find it out? *
    for he knows the secrets of the heart.

 

 

646    Psalm 44

 
22 Indeed, for your sake we are killed all the day long; *
    we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
   
23 Awake, O Lord! why are you sleeping? *
    Arise! do not reject us for ever.
   
24 Why have you hidden your face *
    and forgotten our affliction and oppression?
   
25 We sink down into the dust; *
    our body cleaves to the ground.
   
26 Rise up, and help us, *
    and save us, for the sake of your steadfast love.
   
  45  Eructavit cor meum
   
1 My heart is stirring with a noble song;
let me recite what I have fashioned for the king; *
    my tongue shall be the pen of a skilled writer.
   
2 You are the fairest of men; *
    grace flows from your lips,
    because God has blessed you for ever.
   
3 Strap your sword upon your thigh, O mighty warrior, *
    in your pride and in your majesty.
   
4 Ride out and conquer in the cause of truth *
    and for the sake of justice.
   
5 Your right hand will show you marvelous things; *
    your arrows are very sharp, O mighty warrior.
   
6 The peoples are falling at your feet, *
    and the king's enemies are losing heart.

 

 

Psalm 45     647

 

7 Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever, *
    a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom;
    you love righteousness and hate iniquity.
   
8 Therefore God, your God, has anointed you *
    with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
   
9 All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia, *
    and the music of strings from ivory palaces makes you glad.
   
10 Kings' daughters stand among the ladies of the court; *
    on your right hand is the queen,
    adorned with the gold of Ophir.
   
11 "Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; *
    forget your people and your father's house.
   
12 The king will have pleasure in your beauty; *
    he is your master; therefore do him honor.
   
13 The people of Tyre are here with a gift; *
    the rich among the people seek your favor."
   
14 All glorious is the princess as she enters; *
    her gown is cloth-of-gold.
   
15 In embroidered apparel she is brought to the king; *
    after her the bridesmaids follow in procession.
   
16 With joy and gladness they are brought, *
    and enter into the palace of the king.
   
17 "In place of fathers, O king, you shall have sons; *
    you shall make them princes over all the earth.
   
18 I will make your name to be remembered
from one generation to another; *
    therefore nations will praise you for ever and ever."

 

 

648    Psalm 45

 
  46  Deus noster refugium
   
1 God is our refuge and strength, *
    a very present help in trouble.
   
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, *
    and though the mountains be toppled into the
                               depths of the sea;
   
3 Though its waters rage and foam, *
    and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.
   
4 The LORD of hosts is with us; *
    the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
   
   
5 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, *
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
   
6 God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be overthrown; *
    God shall help her at the break of day.
   
7 The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; *
    God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.
   
8 The LORD of hosts is with us; *
    the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
   
   
9 Come now and look upon the works of the LORD, *
    what awesome things he has done on earth.
   
10 It is he who makes war to cease in all the world; *
    he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,
    and burns the shields with fire.

 

 

Psalm 46     649

 

11 "Be still, then, and know that I am God; *
    I will be exalted among the nations;
    I will be exalted in the earth."
   
12 The LORD of hosts is with us; *
    the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
   
  Ninth Day: Evening Prayer
   
  47  Omnes gentes, plaudite
   
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples; *
    shout to God with a cry of joy.
   
2 For the LORD Most High is to be feared; *
    he is the great King over all the earth.
   
3 He subdues the peoples under us, *
    and the nations under our feet.
   
4 He chooses our inheritance for us, *
    the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
   
5 God has gone up with a shout, *
    the LORD with the sound of the ram's-horn.
   
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; *
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.
   
7 For God is King of all the earth; *
    sing praises with all your skill.
   
8 God reigns over the nations; *
    God sits upon his holy throne.
   
9 The nobles of the peoples have gathered together *
    with the people of the God of Abraham.
   
10 The rulers of the earth belong to God, *
    and he is highly exalted.

 

 

650    Psalm 47

 
  48  Magnus Dominus
   
1 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; *
    in the city of our God is his holy hill.
   
2 Beautiful and lofty, the joy of all the earth, is the
hill of Zion, *
    the very center of the world and the city of the great King.
   
3 God is in her citadels; *
    he is known to be her sure refuge.
   
4 Behold, the kings of the earth assembled *
    and marched forward together.
   
5 They looked and were astounded; *
    they retreated and fled in terror.
   
6 Trembling seized them there; *
    they writhed like a woman in childbirth,
    like ships of the sea when the east wind shatters them.
   
7 As we have heard, so have we seen,
in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God; *
    God has established her for ever.
   
8 We have waited in silence on your loving-kindness, O God, *
    in the midst of your temple.
   
9 Your praise, like your Name, O God, reaches to
                              the world's end; *
    your right hand is full of justice.
   
10 Let Mount Zion be glad
and the cities of Judah rejoice, *
    because of your judgments.
   
11 Make the circuit of Zion;
walk round about her; *
    count the number of her towers.

 

 

Psalm 48     651

 

12 Consider well her bulwarks;
examine her strongholds; *
    that you may tell those who come after.
   
13 This God is our God for ever and ever; *
    he shall be our guide for evermore.
   
  49  Audite haec, omnes
   
1 Hear this, all you peoples;
hearken, all you who dwell in the world, *
    you of high degree and low, rich and poor together.
   
2 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, *
    and my heart shall meditate on understanding.
   
3 I will incline my ear to a proverb *
    and set forth my riddle upon the harp.
   
4 Why should I be afraid in evil days, *
    when the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,
   
5 The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods, *
    and boast of their great riches?
   
6 We can never ransom ourselves, *
    or deliver to God the price of our life;
   
7 For the ransom of our life is so great, *
    that we should never have enough to pay it,
   
8 In order to live for ever and ever, *
    and never see the grave.
   
9 For we see that the wise die also;
like the dull and stupid they perish *
    and leave their wealth to those who come after them.

 

 

652    Psalm 49

 
10 Their graves shall be their homes for ever,
their dwelling places from generation to generation, *
    though they call the lands after their own names.
   
11 Even though honored, they cannot live for ever; *
    they are like the beasts that perish.
   
12 Such is the way of those who foolishly trust in themselves, *
    and the end of those who delight in their own words.
   
13 Like a flock of sheep they are destined to die;
Death is their shepherd; *
    they go down straightway to the grave.
   
14 Their form shall waste away, *
    and the land of the dead shall be their home.
   
15 But God will ransom my life; *
    he will snatch me from the grasp of death.
   
16 Do not be envious when some become rich, *
    or when the grandeur of their house increases;
   
17 For they will carry nothing away at their death, *
    nor will their grandeur follow them.
   
18 Though they thought highly of themselves while they lived, *
    and were praised for their success,
   
19 They shall join the company of their forebears, *
    who will never see the light again.
   
20 Those who are honored, but have no understanding, *
    are like the beasts that perish.

 

 

Psalm 49     653

 

  Tenth Day: Morning Prayer
   
  50  Deus deorum
   
1 The LORD, the God of gods, has spoken; *
    he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to
                               its setting.
   
2 Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, *
    God reveals himself in glory.
   
3 Our God will come and will not keep silence; *
    before him there is a consuming flame,
    and round about him a raging storm.
   
4 He calls the heavens and the earth from above *
    to witness the judgment of his people.
   
5 "Gather before me my loyal followers, *
    those who have made a covenant with me
    and sealed it with sacrifice."
   
6 Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; *
    for God himself is judge.
   
   
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
"O Israel, I will bear witness against you; *
    for I am God, your God.
   
8 I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices; *
    your offerings are always before me.
   
9 I will take no bull-calf from your stalls, *
    nor he-goats out of your pens;
   
10 For all the beasts of the forest are mine, *
    the herds in their thousands upon the hills.

 

 

654    Psalm 50

 
11 I know every bird in the sky, *
    and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.
   
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, *
    for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.
   
13 Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *
    or drink the blood of goats?
   
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving *
    and make good your vows to the Most High.
   
15 Call upon me in the day of trouble; *
    I will deliver you, and you shall honor me."
   
   
16 But to the wicked God says: *
    "Why do you recite my statutes,
    and take my covenant upon your lips;
   
17 Since you refuse discipline, *
    and toss my words behind your back?
   
18 When you see a thief, you make him your friend, *
    and you cast in your lot with adulterers.
   
19 You have loosed your lips for evil, *
    and harnessed your tongue to a lie.
   
20 You are always speaking evil of your brother *
    and slandering your own mother's son.
   
21 These things you have done, and I kept still, *
    and you thought that I am like you."
   
   
22 "I have made my accusation; *
    I have put my case in order before your eyes.
   
23 Consider this well, you who forget God, *
    lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.

 

 

Psalm 50     655

 

24 Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving
                              honors me; *
    but to those who keep in my way will I show
                              the salvation of God."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

656    Psalm 50