flight and the strings of thy bow shalt thou make ready against the face of them. 13 Be Thou exalted, LORD, in Thine own strength: so will we sing, and praise Thy power. Evening Prayer. PSALM 22. Deus, Deus meus. [A Psalm of David, composed under circumstances of the most profound depression, such as can be hardly accounted for, except on the ground that it has distinctly prophetic reference to the sufferings of JESUS CHRIST.] Good Friday. Morning Prayer, fol- On Aijeleth Shahar, the Hind of the Dawn. My God, my God, [look upon me;] why The melody to which hast Thou forsaken me and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint? 2 O my God, I cry in the day-time, but Thou hearest not: and in the night-season also I take no rest. 3 And Thou continuest holy : 0 Thou worship of Israel. 4 Our fathers hoped in Thee: they trusted in Thee, and Thou didst deliver them. 5 They called upon Thee, and were holpen they put their trust in Thee, and were not confounded. 6 But as for me, I am a worm, and no man a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people. 7 All they that see me laugh scorn they shoot out their lips, and their heads, saying, me to shake would 8 He trusted in God, that He deliver him let Him deliver him, if He will have him. : the Psalm was to be set. 1. "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" S. Matt. xxvii. 46. 3. Worship; lit. "inhabiting the praises." temple of praise. God's dwelling is a 5. Holpe and holpen are the old pret. and part. of the verb to help. 7. Laugh me to scorn; deride. The same Greek word in the Seventy as that used by S. Luke xxiii. 35. 8. [God; should be the LORD, JEHOVAH.] Cf. St. Matt. xxvii. 43. The chief priests mocked Christ on the cross with these words. 9 But Thou art He that took me out of my mother's womb: Thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother's breasts. 10 I have been left unto Thee ever since I was born: Thou art my God even from my mother's womb. 11 O go not from me, for trouble is hard at hand and there is none to help me. : 12 Many oxen are come about me: fat bulls of Basan close me in on every side. 13 They gape upon me with their mouths : as it were a ramping and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my gums: and Thou shalt bring me into the dust of death. 16 For many dogs are come about me: and the council of the wicked layeth siege against me. 17 They pierced my hands and my feet; I may tell all my bones: they stand staring and looking upon me. 18 They part my garments among them: and cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not Thou far from me, O LORD: Thou art my succour, haste Thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword: my darling from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion's mouth : Thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the unicorns. 22 I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee. : 24. Congregation-i.e., church; so translated in midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee." 23 O praise the LORD, ye that fear Him : magnify Him, all ye of the seed of Jacob, and fear Him, all ye seed of Israel; 24 For He hath not despised, nor abhorred, the low estate of the poor: He hath not hid His face from him, but when he I called unto Him He heard him. 25 My praise is of Thee in the great congregation my vows will I perform in the sight of them that fear Him. 26 The poor shall eat, and be satisfied : they that seek after the LORD shall praise Him; your heart shall live for ever. 27 All the ends of the world shall remember themselves, and be turned unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Him. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD's: and He is the Governour among the people. 29 All such as be fat upon earth have eaten and worshipped. : 30 All they that go down into the dust shall kneel before Him and no man hath quickened his own soul. : 24. Low estate, &c.; lit. the affliction of the afflicted. 25. Is of thee; lit. comes from thee; the source of praise is in God. 26. Poor-i.e., afflicted, as in ver. 24. 27. The eternal. kingdom of Messiah. 29, 30. At the Supper of the Lamb shall be found the rich, the miserable, and the extreme poor, he "who cannot keep alive his own soul." 31. The knowledge of the Lord shall reach tion. 31 My seed shall serve Him: they shall be counted unto the LORD for a generation. 32 They shall come, and the heavens to the future generashall declare His righteousness: unto a people that shall be born, whom the LORD hath made. PSALM 23. Dominus regit me. [A Psalm of David, suggested by his experience as a shepherd on the pasture-lands of Bethlehem.] THE LORD is my Shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing. 2 He shall feed me in a green pasture : and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort. "the 32. Omit heavens." Whom the Lord, &c.; rather, "that He hath done it"-i.e., that "it is finished; "the will of God is done." 2. Shall. This and the following verbs are better understood in the present tense; they declare what God does. : 3 He shall convert my soul and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness, for His Name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me. 5 Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me : Thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full. 6 But Thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. : Morning Prayer. PSALM 24. Domini est terra. [A Psalm of David, most probably used at the removal of the ark from the house of Obed-edom to Mount Zion in Jerusalem.-2 Sam. vi. It was sung by the alternate sides of a choir, answering one another. The king himself took part in the procession.] THE earth is the LORD's, and all that therein DAY 5. Ascension Day. The first Psalm at Evening Prayer, followed by Ps. 47. Verses 1-6 sung as is the compass of the world, and they that the procession moved dwell therein. 2 For He hath founded it upon the seas: and prepared it upon the floods. 3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD or who shall rise up in His holy place? 4 Even he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart and that hath not lift up his mind unto vanity, nor sworn to deceive his neighbour. : 5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. up the hill. 1. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof," 1 Cor. x. 26. 4. Vanity; unreal things as compared with real: idols, falsehood, false things. Sworn to deceive i.e., sworn deceitfully. 6 This is the generation of them that seek Him: even of them that seek Thy face, O Jacob. 7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in. 6. O Jacob; rather, So O God of Jacob. Vulgate and Seventy. [SELAH. ] 7. The procession demands admittance into the sanctuary; and is received with 8 Who is the King of glory: it is the songs of triumph. LORD strong and mighty, even the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is the King of glory : even the LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. PSALM 25. Ad te, Domine, levavi. [A Psalm of David. In the Hebrew each verse of this Psalm commences with a letter of the alphabet, beginning with the first and continuing in order down to the last. It is therefore properly divided into twenty-two verses, as in the Bible. "Its prevailing thought is that God is the teacher of the afflicted, and the guide of the erring."] UNTO Thee, O LORD, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in Thee: O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me. 2 For all they that hope in Thee shall not be ashamed: but such as transgress without a cause shall be put to confusion. 3 Shew me Thy ways, O LORD teach me Thy paths. and 4 Lead me forth in Thy truth, and learn : me for Thou art the God of my salvation : in Thee hath been my hope all the day long. 5 Call to remembrance, O LORD, Thy tender mercies: and Thy loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of old. |