The Penitential Psalms - Psalm 142 verses 1-4

Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 46v
David Beseeches God Against Evildoers
the Musée Condé, Chantilly.

The opening verses of Psalm 142 are a plea for God to listen to the psalmist's prayer be heard, and a reiteration of the sentiments of Psalm 129: we are all sinners, he points out, who would be unable to withstand God's judgment if he dealt with us strictly.

As in the previous psalms, the speaker states that he is in a dire situation: his enemies are persecuting him, tempting him, and as a result he fell into a state of sin, consigning him to darkness; as a result, his soul is troubled and disturbed.  He is in that that state of restless that persists, as St Augustine says, until we come to rest with God.

1	V/NV	Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam: áuribus pércipe obsecratiónem meam in veritáte tua: exáudi me in tua justítia.
	JH	Domine, exaudi orationem meam, ausculta deprecationem meam in ueritate tua : exaudi me in iustitia tua.

Note that St Jerome uses the word ‘ausculta’ or listen, the first word of the Benedictine Rule, instead of more usual vocabulary here.  ‘In your truth’ (in veritate tua) means loyal to his promises. Domine, . . . auribus percipe obsecrationem meam in veritate tua =O Lord, give ear to my supplication in Thy truth, i.e., in Thy loyalty to Thy promises

percipio, cepi, ceptum, ere 3 to perceive;  Auribus percipe, hear, hearken, give ear to.

obsecratio, onis, supplication, entreaty, prayer.

DR	Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in your truth: hear me in your justice.
MD	Lord hear my prayer give ear to my supplication; Thou, faithful to Thy promises, hear me in thy justice
Cover	Hear my prayer, O Lord, and consider my desire; hearken unto me for thy truth and righteousness’ sake.

The opening verses of Psalm 142 are a plea for God to listen to the psalmist's prayer be heard.

2	V/NV	Et non intres in judícium cum servo tuo: * quia non justificábitur in conspéctu tuo omnis vivens.
	JH	Et non uenias ad iudicandum cum seruo tuo, quia non iustificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis uiuens.

introeo, ivi or li, Itum, ire, to go into, to enter.

judicium, li, n.  judgment;  law, commandment; the power, or faculty of judging wisely; justice; cause.

justifico, avi, atum, are  to do justice to, justified

conspectus, us, m. (conspicio), sight, presence;

DR	And enter not into judgment with your servant: for in your sight no man living shall be justified.
MD	Enter not into judgment with Thy servant for no man living is just in Thy sight.
Cover	And enter not into judgement with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

3	V	Quia persecútus est inimícus ánimam meam: * humiliávit in terra vitam meam.
	NV	Quia persecutus est inimicus animam meam, contrivit in terra vitam meam,
	JH	Persecutus est enim inimicus animam meam;  confregit in terra uitam meam :

Boylan notes that the Hebrew MT of ‘humiliavit in terra’ suggests the meaning is something like‘He has dashed me to earth and trampled on me’.

percuto, cussi, cussum, ere 3  to smite, strike; to kill, slay.

humilio, avi, atum, are (humilis), to humble, bring low.

DR	For the enemy has persecuted my soul: he has brought down my life to the earth.
MD	For the enemy pursueth my soul: he treadeth my life to the ground
Cover	For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground;

As in the previous psalms, the speaker states that he is in a dire situation: his enemies are persecuting him, tempting him.

4	V	Collocávit me in obscúris sicut mórtuos sæculi : * et anxiátus est super me spíritus meus, in me turbátum est cor meum.
	NV	collocavit me in obscuris sicut mortuos a saeculo. Et anxiatus est in me spiritus meus, in medio mei obriguit cor meum.
	JH	posuit me in tenebris quasi mortuos antiquos. Et anxius  fuit in me spiritus meus ; in medio mei sollicitum fuit cor meum.

The first phrase echoes Lamentations 3:6. Mutuos saeculi = men long dead; St Jerome's ‘mutuous antiquos’ implies men long-forgotten. ‘Anxiatus est super me spiritus meus’ means ‘My spirit is in anguish within me’.

colloco, avi, atum, are  to set, place, put; to lie down, to rest.

obscurus, a, um, dark, obscure; fig., sinful, the dark, darkness.

saeculum, i, n., a lifetime, generation, age; an indefinite period of time; forever, eternity

anxior, atus sum, ari (ango), to be in anguish, to be straitened or distressed. (K, D), vexed (R), troubled (B), dismayed (M), fainteth (Br). 60,3

turbo, avi, atum, are, to trouble, disturb, dismay, throw into disorder or confusion

DR	He has made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been dead of old: And my spirit is in anguish within me: my heart within me is troubled.
MD	He maketh me dwell in darkness, as those who are long dead; my spirit is afraid within me, my heart within me is disconsolate.
Cover	he hath laid me in the darkness, as the men that have been long dead Therefore is my spirit vexed within me, and my heart within me is desolate.

As a result of his enemies, the psalmist fell into a state of sin, consigning him to darkness; as a result, his soul is troubled and disturbed.  He is in that that state of restless that persists, as St Augustine says, until we come to rest with God. 

St Robert Bellarmine comments:

He goes on to detail the calamities in which he got involved through sin, into which he fell through the persecution of the devil. Having "brought down his life to the earth." he next made him "dwell in darkness," in spiritual darkness; and that by blinding the eyes of the interior, so as to be taken up with false for true happiness, not to advert to the depths and precipices, and to lose sight entirely of the way that leads to life; and finally, to cause him to dwell in darkness, as completely as those who have been dead and buried for many years, speaking of which darkness the apostle, says, Eph. 4, "Having the understanding obscured with darkness, alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance which is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;" and in chapter 6, "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against Principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness." He now explains how, by the light of divine grace, he began to see the darkness in which he had been enveloped, and how he had fallen in his love for the things of this world, and how therefrom arose great anxiety and fear of God's judgments, and of the wretched state into which he had fallen through sin. Such is the first stage of penance. He was in such a state of anxiety as nigh caused his death, had he not been consoled with the hope of mercy. "My heart within me is troubled." When I began to reflect on my miserable state I was troubled not lightly, nor superficially, but in the inmost recesses of my heart, as should all those who seek to imitate the repentance of David.

Psalm 142: Domine, exaudi orationem meam

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David, quando persequebatur eum Absalom filius ejus.	A psalm of David, when his son Absalom pursued him
1 Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam: áuribus pércipe obsecratiónem meam in veritáte tua : * exáudi me in tua justítia.	Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in your truth: hear me in your justice.
2  Et non intres in judícium cum servo tuo: * quia non justificábitur in conspéctu tuo omnis vivens.	And enter not into judgment with your servant: for in your sight no man living shall be justified.
3  Quia persecútus est inimícus ánimam meam: * humiliávit in terra vitam meam.	For the enemy has persecuted my soul: he has brought down my life to the earth.
4  Collocávit me in obscúris sicut mórtuos sæculi : * et anxiátus est super me spíritus meus, in me turbátum est cor meum.	He has made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been dead of old: And my spirit is in anguish within me: my heart within me is troubled.
5  Memor fui diérum antiquórum, meditátus sum in ómnibus opéribus tuis: * in factis mánuum tuárum meditábar.	I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all your works: I meditated upon the works of your hands.
6  Expándi manus meas ad te: * ánima mea sicut terra sine aqua tibi.	I stretched forth my hands to you: my soul is as earth without water unto you.
7  Velóciter exáudi me, Dómine: * defécit spíritus meus.	Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit has fainted away.
8  Non avértas fáciem tuam a me: * et símilis ero descendéntibus in lacum.	Turn not away your face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
9  Audítam fac mihi mane misericórdiam tuam: * quia in te sperávi.	Cause me to hear your mercy in the morning; for in you have I hoped.
10  Notam fac mihi viam, in qua ámbulem: * quia ad te levávi ánimam meam.	Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk: for I have lifted up my soul to you.
11  Eripe me de inimícis meis, Dómine, ad te confúgi: * doce me fácere voluntátem tuam, quia Deus meus es tu.	Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, to you have I fled: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.
12  Spíritus tuus bonus dedúcet me in terram rectam: * propter nomen tuum, Dómine, vivificábis me, in æquitáte tua.	Your good spirit shall lead me into the right land: For your name's sake, O Lord, you will quicken me in your justice.
13  Edúces de tribulatióne ánimam meam: * et in misericórdia tua dispérdes inimícos meos.	You will bring my soul out of trouble: And in your mercy you will destroy my enemies.
14  Et perdes omnes, qui tríbulant ánimam meam, * quóniam ego servus tuus sum.	And you will cut off all them that afflict my soul: for I am your servant.

You can find the next part in this series here.