Book 21 Psalms (continued 2)
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
For Jeremias... For the time of Jeremias, and the captivity of Babylon.
136:1. Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:
136:2. On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.
136:3. For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.
136:4. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?
136:5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.
136:6. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.
136:7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
136:8. O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.
136:9. Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.
Dash thy little ones, etc... In the spiritual sense, we dash the little ones of Babylon against the rock, when we mortify our passions, and stifle the first motions of them, by a speedy recourse to the rock which is Christ.
Psalms Chapter 137
Confitebor tibi.
Thanksgiving to God for his benefits.
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:
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.
137:3. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shalt multiply strength in my soul.
137:4. May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.
137:5. And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.
137:6. For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low: and the high he knoweth afar off.
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.
137:8. The Lord will repay for me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: O despise not the works of thy hands.
Psalms Chapter 138
Domine, probasti.
God's special providence over his servants.
138:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:
138:2. Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.
138:3. Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.
138:4. And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
There is no speech, etc... Viz., unknown to thee: or when there is no speech in my tongue; yet my whole interior and my most secret thoughts are known to thee.
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.
138:6. Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.
138:7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?
138:8 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.
138:9. If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
138:10. Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.
138:11. And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
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.
138:13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother's womb.
138:14. I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.