Psalm 131; Psalm 138; Psalm 139; Psalm 143; Psalm 144; Psalm 145 (Douay-Rheims)

1 (130-1) <A gradual canticle of David.> Lord, my heart is not exalted: nor are my eyes lofty. Neither have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me. 2 (130-2) If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul: As a child that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward in my soul. 3 (130-3) Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth now and for ever. 1 (137-1) <For David himself.> I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: for thou hast heard the words of my mouth. I will sing praise to thee in the sight of the angels: 2 (137-2) I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to thy name. For thy mercy, and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all. 3 (137-3) In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shalt multiply strength in my soul. 4 (137-4) May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth. 5 (137-5) And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord. 6 (137-6) For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low: and the high he knoweth afar off. 7 (137-7) If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, thou wilt quicken me: and thou hast stretched forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies: and thy right hand hath saved me. 8 (137-8) The Lord will repay for me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: O despise not the works of thy hands. 1 (138-1) <Unto the end, a psalm of David.> Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me: 2 (138-2) Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up. 3 (138-3) Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out. 4 (138-4) And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue. 5 (138-5) Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me. 6 (138-6) Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it. 7 (138-7) Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face? 8 (138-8) If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present. 9 (138-9) If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: 10 (138-10) Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me. 11 (138-11) And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures. 12 (138-12) But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee. 13 (138-13) For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother’s womb. 14 (138-14) I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well. 15 (138-15) My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth. 16 (138-16) Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them. 17 (138-17) But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened. 18 (138-18) I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with thee. 19 (138-19) If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me: 20 (138-20) Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain. 21 (138-21) Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thy enemies? 22 (138-22) I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me. 23 (138-23) Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths. 24 (138-24) And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way. 1 (142-1) <A psalm of David, when his son Absalom pursued him.> Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in thy truth: hear me in thy justice. 2 (142-2) And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight no man living shall be justified. 3 (142-3) For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath brought down my life to the earth. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been dead of old: 4 (142-4) And my spirit is in anguish within me: my heart within me is troubled. 5 (142-5) I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all thy works: I meditated upon the works of thy hands. 6 (142-6) I stretched forth my hands to thee: my soul is as earth without water unto thee. 7 (142-7) Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit hath fainted away. Turn not away thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8 (142-8) Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning; for in thee have I hoped. Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk: for I have lifted up my soul to thee. 9 (142-9) Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, to thee have I fled: 10 (142-10) Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy good spirit shall lead me into the right land: 11 (142-11) for thy name’s sake, O Lord, thou wilt quicken me in thy justice. Thou wilt bring my soul out of trouble: 12 (142-12) And in thy mercy thou wilt destroy my enemies. And thou wilt cut off all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. 1 (143-1) Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war. 2 (143-2) My mercy, and my refuge: my support, and my deliverer: My protector, and I have hoped in him: who subdueth my people under me. 3 (143-3) Lord, what is man, that thou art made known to him? or the son of man, that thou makest account of him? 4 (143-4) Man is like to vanity: his days pass away like a shadow. 5 (143-5) Lord, bow down thy heavens and descend: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. 6 (143-6) Send forth lightning, and thou shalt scatter them: shoot out thy arrows, and thou shalt trouble them. 7 (143-7) Put forth thy hand from on high, take me out, and deliver me from many waters: from the hand of strange children: 8 (143-8) Whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity. 9 (143-9) To thee, O God, I will sing a new canticle: on the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises to thee. 10 (143-10) Who givest salvation to kings: who hast redeemed thy servant David from the malicious sword: 11 (143-11) Deliver me, And rescue me out of the hand of strange children; whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity: 12 (143-12) Whose sons are as new plants in their youth: Their daughters decked out, adorned round about after the similitude of a temple: 13 (143-13) Their storehouses full, flowing out of this into that. Their sheep fruitful in young, abounding in their goings forth: 14 (143-14) Their oxen fat. There is no breach of wall, nor passage, nor crying out in their streets. 15 (143-15) They have called the people happy, that hath these things: but happy is that people whose God is the Lord. 1 (144-1) <Praise, for David himself.> I will extol thee, O God my king: and I will bless thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever. 2 (144-2) Every day will I bless thee: and I will praise thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever. 3 (144-3) Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his greatness there is no end. 4 (144-4) Generation and generation shall praise thy works: and they shall declare thy power. 5 (144-5) They shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of thy holiness: and shall tell thy wondrous works. 6 (144-6) And they shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and shall declare thy greatness. 7 (144-7) They shall publish the memory of the abundance of thy sweetness: and shall rejoice in thy justice. 8 (144-8) The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy. 9 (144-9) The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. 10 (144-10) Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless thee. 11 (144-11) They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom: and shall tell of thy power: 12 (144-12) To make thy might known to the sons of men: and the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom. 13 (144-13) Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words: and holy in all his works. 14 (144-14) The Lord lifteth up all that fall: and setteth up all that are cast down. 15 (144-15) The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord: and thou givest them meat in due season. 16 (144-16) Thou openest thy hand, and fillest with blessing every living creature. 17 (144-17) The Lord is just in all his ways: and holy in all his works. 18 (144-18) The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him: to all that call upon him in truth. 19 (144-19) He will do the will of them that fear him: and he will hear their prayer, and save them. 20 (144-20) The Lord keepeth all them that love him; but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 (144-21) My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name forever; yea, for ever and ever.