PRAYING WITH THE PSALMS IN THE YEAR OF MERCY
CONTENTS Introduction... 3 Psalm 25... 4 Psalm 51... 5 Psalm 70... 6 Psalm 103... 7 Psalm 136... 8 Psalm 146... 9 Psalm 147... 10 Magnificat... 11
The Good Samaritan (1838), Pelegrí Clavé i Roqué. INTRODUCTION As the Pope reminds us, we need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Mercy: the word reveals the love of God. It is the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness. (See Misericordiae Vultus, 1) The Psalms show us the greatness of God s merciful action in a very special way. It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion (Ps 103: 3-4). It is the Lord who sets prisoners free, the Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed down, the Lord, who protects the stranger, and upholds the widow and orphan (Ps 146: 7-9). It is the Lord who heals the broken-hearted, he binds up all their wounds. The Lord raises the lowly; he humbles the wicked to the dust (Ps 147: 3, 6). The Psalms are an essential part of the prayer of the Church. Jesus Christ himself used the Psalms to pray. St Josemaria advises in The Way (no. 86): Your prayer should be liturgical. How I would like to see you using the psalms and prayers from the missal, rather than private prayers of your own choice. The following are the complete texts of the Psalms that the Holy Father refers to in Misericordiae Vultus, and also the Magnificat, the song our Lady sang to God when she went to visit her cousin St Elizabeth. 3
PSALM 25 The Return of the Prodigal Son (1608), Leonello Spada. May the Church become the voice of every man and woman, and repeat confidently without end: Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old (Ps 25:6). Misericordiae Vultus, 25 1 To thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in thee I trust, let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. 3 Yea, let none that wait for thee be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 4 Make me to know thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long. 6 Be mindful of thy mercy, O Lord, and of thy steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions; according to thy mercy remember me, for thy goodness sake, O Lord! 8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. 11 For thy name s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. 12 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. 13 He himself shall abide in prosperity, and his children shall possess the land. 14 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. 15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. 16 Turn thou to me, and be gracious to me; for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distresses. 18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. 19 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me. 20 Oh guard my life, and deliver me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in thee. 21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for thee. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. 4
PSALM 51 Nathan rebukes King David for his adultery with Bathsheba, Paris Psalter, 10th century. The mercy of God is not an abstract idea, but a concrete reality with which he reveals his love as of that of a father or a mother, moved to the very depths out of love for their child. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that this is a visceral love. It gushes forth from the depths naturally, full of tenderness and compassion, indulgence and mercy. Misericordiae Vultus, 6 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy mercy; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee. 14 Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance. 15 O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. 16 For thou hast no delight in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased. 17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 19 then wilt thou delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on thy altar. 5
PSALM 70 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering. 1 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me! 2 Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt! 3 Let them be appalled because of their shame who say, Aha, Aha! 4 May all who seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee! May those who love thy salvation say evermore, God is great! Statue of King David in the Piazza di Spagna, Rome. 5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! Thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not tarry! In mercy, we find proof of how God loves us. He gives his entire self, always, freely, asking nothing in return. He comes to our aid whenever we call upon him. What a beautiful thing that the Church begins her daily prayer with the words, O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me (Ps 70:2)! The assistance we ask for is already the first step of God s mercy toward us. He comes to assist us in our weakness. And his help consists in helping us accept his presence and closeness to us. Day after day, touched by his compassion, we also can become compassionate towards others. Misericordiae Vultus, 14 6
PSALM 103 The Return of the Prodigal Son (1662), Rembrandt. In a special way the Psalms bring to the fore the grandeur of his merciful action: He forgives all your iniquity, he heals all your diseases, he redeems your life from the pit, he crowns you with steadfast love and mercy (Ps 103:3-4). Misericordiae vultus, 6 1 Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. 6 The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. 17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him, and his righteousness to children s children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. 19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! 21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will! 22 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul! 7
PSALM 136 1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever. 2 O give thanks to the God of gods, for his mercy endures for ever. 3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords, 4 to him who alone does great wonders, The Creation of Adam, detail (1512) Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Rome. 5 to him who by understanding made the heavens, 6 to him who spread out the earth upon the waters, 7 to him who made the great lights, To repeat continually for his mercy endures forever, as the psalm does, seems to break through the dimensions of space and time, inserting everything into the eternal mystery of love. It is as if to say that not only in history, but for all eternity man will always be under the merciful gaze of the Father. Misericordiae Vultus, 7 8 the sun to rule over the day, 9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, 10 to him who smote the first-born of Egypt, 11 and brought Israel out from among them, 12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, 13 to him who divided the Red Sea in sunder, 14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it, 15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, 16 to him who led his people through the wilderness, 17 to him who smote great kings, 18 and slew famous kings, 8
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites, 20 and Og, king of Bashan, 21 and gave their land as a heritage, 22 a heritage to Israel his servant, for his mercy endures for ever. PSALM 146 1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being. 3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. 4 When his breath departs he returns to his earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, The Curing of the Man Born Blind (1308-1311), Duccio di Buoninsegna. The Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel, which in its own way must penetrate the heart and mind of every person. The Spouse of Christ must pattern her behaviour after the Son of God who went out to everyone without exception. Misericordiae Vultus, 12 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the sojourners, he upholds the widow and the fatherless; but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign for ever, thy God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! 9
PSALM 147 1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is seemly. 2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. 6 The Lord lifts up the downtrodden, he casts the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God upon the lyre! 8 He covers the heavens with clouds, he prepares rain for the earth, he makes grass grow upon the hills. Miniature of King David playing the harp, Westminster Psalter, 13th century. The Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy the most stupendous attribute of the Creator and of the Redeemer and when she brings people close to the sources of the Saviour s mercy, of which she is the trustee and dispenser. Dives in misericordia, 13 9 He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens which cry. 10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man; 11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his mercy. 12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you. 14 He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat. 15 He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. 16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. 17 He casts forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold? 10
18 He sends forth his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel. 20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord! MAGNIFICAT (Lc 1, 46-55) 46 My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. Chosen to be the Mother of the Son of God, Mary, from the outset, was prepared by the love of God to be the Ark of the Covenant between God and man. She treasured divine mercy in her heart in perfect harmony with her Son Jesus. Her hymn of praise, sung at the threshold of the home of Elizabeth, was dedicated to the mercy of God which extends from generation to generation (Lk 1:50). We too were included in those prophetic words of the Virgin Mary. This will be a source of comfort and strength to us as we cross the threshold of the Holy Year to experience the fruits of divine mercy. Misericordiae Vultus, 24 51 He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, 52 he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever. 11