Psalm 20 - Our king will reign forever

Psalm 20: Sunday Matins I, 1 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David.	Unto the end. A psalm for David.
1 Dómine, in virtúte tua lætábitur rex: * et super salutáre tuum exsultábit veheménter.	In your strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in your salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.
2  Desidérium cordis ejus tribuísti ei: * et voluntáte labiórum ejus non fraudásti eum.	3 You have given him his heart's desire: and have not withholden from him the will of his lips.
3  Quóniam prævenísti eum in benedictiónibus dulcédinis: * posuísti in cápite ejus corónam de lápide pretióso.	4 For you have prevented him with blessings of sweetness: you have set on his head a crown of precious stones.
4  Vitam pétiit a te: * et tribuísti ei longitúdinem diérum in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi.	5 He asked life of you: and you have given him length of days for ever and ever.
5  Magna est glória ejus in salutári tuo: * glóriam et magnum decórem impónes super eum.	6 His glory is great in your salvation: glory and great beauty shall you lay upon him.
6  Quóniam dabis eum in benedictiónem in sæculum sæculi: * lætificábis eum in gáudio cum vultu tuo.	7 For you shall give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: you shall make him joyful in gladness with your countenance.
7  Quóniam rex sperat in Dómino: * et in misericórdia Altíssimi non commovébitur.	8 For the king hopes in the Lord: and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved
8  Inveniátur manus tua ómnibus inimícis tuis: * déxtera tua invéniat omnes, qui te odérunt.	9 Let your hand be found by all your enemies: let your right hand find out all them that hate you.
9  Pones eos ut clíbanum ignis in témpore vultus tui: * Dóminus in ira sua conturbábit eos, et devorábit eos ignis.	10 You shall make them as an oven of fire, in the time of your anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and fire shall devour them.
10  Fructum eórum de terra perdes: * et semen eórum a fíliis hóminum.	11 Their fruit shall you destroy from the earth: and their seed from among the children of men.
11  Quóniam declinavérunt in te mala: * cogitavérunt consília, quæ non potuérunt stabilíre.	12 For they have intended evils against you: they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish.
12  Quóniam pones eos dorsum: * in relíquiis tuis præparábis vultum eórum.	13 For you shall make them turn their back: in your remnants you shall prepare their face.
13  Exaltáre, Dómine, in virtúte tua: * cantábimus et psallémus virtútes tuas.	14 Be exalted, O Lord, in your own strength: we will sing and praise your power.

St Benedict's selection of Psalm 20 to open Matins each Sunday was a radical one: starting at Psalm 1 was the norm for all of the traditional forms of the Office, monastic or otherwise.  So why did he do it?

In the Rule, St Benedict explicitly makes a link between this starting point and Prime.  After explaining how the psalms of Prime are to be divided and allocated to each day of the week, he says St Benedict's Rule says:

'Thus it comes about that the Night Office on Sundays will always begin with the twentieth psalm.' (RB18).  

 The Resurrection

The most obvious reason for the linkage is the Resurrection, a fitting opening prayer for the 'Lord's Day' when we celebrate that event afresh each week.

The variable psalmody of Saturday in the Office's mini-Triduum ends with Psalm 19, which, you will recall, is a prediction of the Resurrection and sings the praises of the triumphant king.  Cassiodorus explains its concluding verse, O Lord save the king...' as meaning, 'Let Christ the Lord rise from the dead, ascend into heaven, and intercede for us'.

As St Liguori reminds us, Psalm 20 is a song of the Resurrection:

Hymn of thanksgiving which the people address to God for the victories granted to the arms of David. According to Bellarmine, this psalm is understood in the spiritual sense of the victory which Jesus Christ gained through the merits of his Passion over sin and over hell.

Verse 4 is the key to this interpretation as St Augustine makes clear:

He asked life; and You gave Him: He asked a resurrection, saying, Father, glorify Your Son; and You gave it Him, Length of days for ever and ever. The prolonged ages of this world which the Church was to have, and after them an eternity, world without end.

Life of Christ in a week

The link between Psalm 19 and Psalm 20 also provides a link between that theme and the weekly program around the life of Christ that St Benedict sets out in Matins above all.

St Benedict makes Prime about Christ the King, the first and last, who fulfils the law and leads us into heaven.  But the psalms of that hour also link to the schema that I think is traces out each week the life of Christ from the Incarnation on Monday to the Resurrection on Sunday.

Against the denial of the divinity of Christ

The third reason for St Benedict's approach may have been to make a strong statement against the Arian heresy which was widespread in Italy in his time, and denied the true divinity of Christ.

Cassiodorus saw Psalms 18, 19 and 20 as setting out Christ's two natures, human and divine, and his discussion of Psalm 20 provides a strong exposition of its applicability in countering the Arian heresy (reborn in our time, above all in those who claim Christ was unaware of his divine nature and mission, acted in ways conditioned by the times, and so forth).  He comments:

Here a kind of panegyric is recited about His incarnation, and later the deeds of His divinity are recounted so that all may understand that the Son of Mary ever a virgin is identical with the Word of the Father. Our belief which is conducive to salvation is that there are two natures, divine and human, in Jesus Christ, and they continue in one Person unchangeably for ages without end. This statement should be repeated frequently, because regularly hearing and believing it brings life...

Accordingly, starting with Psalm 20 each week may have been interpreted as a bulwark against that heresy, consistent with the many other anti-Arian features of the Benedictine Office (the addition of the Gloria to each psalm, for example, and the closing 'litany', Kyrie eleison, Christie eleison, Kyrie eleison', which were all adopted in Gaul in the early sixth century specifically to address the heresy).

The eighth day

Above all though, the choice of the psalm surely reflects the eschatological character St Benedict gives Matins.  He sets out his instructions for Matins in the eighth chapter of the Rule; says it should be started at the eighth hour on what was in early Christian parlance the 'eighth day', the dawn of the first day of the new creation ushered in by the Resurrection. And St Athanasius summarises the psalm as revealing:

Christ’s kingdom, and the power of his judgment, and his coming again in the flesh to us and the summoning of the nations.

The Scriptural and liturgical uses of Psalm 20

The psalm arranged for liturgical use:

Psalm 20

Dómine, in virtúte tua lætábitur rex: * et super salutáre tuum exsultábit veheménter.	In your strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in your salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.
Desidérium cordis eius tribuísti ei: * et voluntáte labiórum eius non fraudásti eum.	You have given him his heart's desire: and have not withholden from him the will of his lips.
Quóniam prævenísti eum in benedictiónibus dulcédinis: * posuísti in cápite eius corónam de lápide pretióso.	For you have prevented him with blessings of sweetness: you have set on his head a crown of precious stones.
Vitam pétiit a te: * et tribuísti ei longitúdinem diérum in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi.	He asked life of you: and you have given him length of days for ever and ever.
Magna est glória eius in salutári tuo: * glóriam et magnum decórem impónes super eum.	His glory is great in your salvation: glory and great beauty shall you lay upon him.
Quóniam dabis eum in benedictiónem in sæculum sæculi: * lætificábis eum in gáudio cum vultu tuo.	For you shall give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: you shall make him joyful in gladness with your countenance.
Quóniam rex sperat in Dómino: * et in misericórdia Altíssimi non commovébitur.	For the king hopes in the Lord: and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved
Inveniátur manus tua ómnibus inimícis tuis: * déxtera tua invéniat omnes, qui te odérunt.	Let your hand be found by all your enemies: let your right hand find out all them that hate you.
Pones eos ut clíbanum ignis in témpore vultus tui: † Dóminus in ira sua conturbábit eos, * et devorábit eos ignis.	You shall make them as an oven of fire, in the time of your anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and fire shall devour them.
Fructum eórum de terra perdes: * et semen eórum a fíliis hóminum.	Their fruit shall you destroy from the earth: and their seed from among the children of men.
Quóniam declinavérunt in te mala: * cogitavérunt consília, quæ non potuérunt stabilíre.	For they have intended evils against you: they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish.
Quóniam pones eos dorsum: * in relíquiis tuis præparábis vultum eórum.	For you shall make them turn their back: in your remnants you shall prepare their face.
Exaltáre, Dómine, in virtúte tua: * cantábimus et psallémus virtútes tuas.	Be exalted, O Lord, in your own strength: we will sing and praise your power.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

NT references	-
RB cursus	Sunday matins
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc	Ascension; Exaltation of Holy Cross; Common of confessors AN 5478 (4-6); 2963 (6); 1760, 2758, 2759,  (14);
Roman pre 1911	Sunday Matins+AN 2349 (1),
Responsories	7412 (4), 7114 (6), 6682 (14) Ascension no 3, 6681 (14) Common of a martyr: no 6, 6412, v4; no 9, 6341 (3-4); no 11, 6776 (4-6) St Scholastica no 7 (3)
Ambrosian	Tues M wk 1
Brigittine	Monday Sext
Maurist	Sunday M
Thesauris schemas	A: ; B: ; C: ; D:
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Monday Matins. 1970: Vespers (verses 2-8, 14), Tuesday wk 1
Mass propers (EF)	Easter Thurs OF V (cf 3) PP5: AL (2) Vigil of JB, IN (2), CO (5) St Thomas of Canterbury OF (3-6) St Matthew CO (6) Martyr not a bishop IN (2-4), OF (3-6) Martyr bishop TR (3-4)

 

Psalm 118 - Daleth (Sunday Prime no 4)

 Sunday Prime – daleth (Verses 25- 32): Adhæsit paviménto ánima mea

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
25. Adhæsit paviménto ánima mea: * vivífica me secúndum verbum tuum.	My soul clung to the dust: revive me according to your word.
26 Vias meas enuntiávi et exaudísti me: * doce me justificatiónes tuas.	I have disclosed my ways and you have heard me : teach me your justifications.
27 Viam justificatiónum tuárum ínstrue me: * et exercébor in mirabílibus tuis.	Instruct me in the ways of your justifications: and I will be exercised with your wondrous works.
28  Dormitávit ánima mea præ tædio: * confírma me in verbis tuis.	My soul has slept because of weariness : confirm me in your word
29 Viam iniquitátis ámove a me: * et de lege tua miserére mei.	Put away from me the ways of iniquity: and from your law have mercy on me.
30 Viam veritátis elégi: * judícia tua non sum oblítus	I have chosen the way of truth: I have not forgotten your judgments.
31 Adhæsi testimóniis tuis Dómine: * noli me confúndere.	I have adhered to your testimonies Lord: do not let me be confounded.
32 Viam mandatórum tuórum cucúrri: * cum dilatásti cor meum.	I will run in the way of your commandments: when you have enlarged my heart          .

Knox translation:

Deep lies my soul in the dust, restore life to me, as thou hast promised.

Deign, now, to shew me thy will, thou who hast listened when I opened my heart to thee. 

Direct me in the path thou biddest me follow, and all my musing shall be of thy wonderful deeds. Despair wrings tears from me; let thy promises raise me up once more. 

Deliver me from every false thought; make me free of thy covenant. 

Duty’s path my choice, I keep thy bidding ever in remembrance. 

Disappoint me, Lord, never, one that holds fast by thy commandments. 

Do but open my heart wide, and easy lies the path thou hast decreed.

Ancient Christian Commentaries series: 

Revive, teach and strengthen me 

Cassiodorus: 

The council of the faithful passes to the fourth letter, in which they say that they are held bound by physical necessity, and can be saved only by the Lord's devotion. They entreat that He remove from them the ways of iniquity, since they had chosen the path of truth. The human condition is explained by most splendid comparisons.

St Robert Bellarmine:

In the next eight verses David still assumes the person of one imperfect, who is kept back by the concupiscence of the flesh from the perfect observance of the commandments, and asks for grace and help to observe them.

St Benedict:

Therefore must we establish a school of the Lord's service; in founding which we hope to ordain nothing that is harsh or burdensome. But if, for good reason, for the amendment of evil habit or the preservation of charity, there be some strictness of discipline, do not be at once dismayed and run away from the way of salvation, of which the entrance must needs be narrow. But, as we progress in our monastic life and in faith, our hearts shall be enlarged, and we shall run with unspeakable sweetness of love in the way of God's commandments; so that, never abandoning his rule but persevering in his teaching in the monastery until death, we shall share by patience in the sufferings of Christ, that we may deserve to be partakers also of his kingdom. Amen.”  (RB Prologue, trans J McCann)

And you can read more on these verses in my longer post: Daleth Pt 1 and Pt 2 (Enlargement of heart)

Psalm 118/3 (Ghimel) - Prime, Sunday No 3

Beheading of St Valentine
Queen Mary Psalter, London 1310-1320.
British Library, Royal 2 B VII, fol. 243r

Psalm 118 – ghimel (verses 17-24): Retríbue servo tuo

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
17 Retríbue servo tuo, vivífica me: * et custódiam sermónes tuos.	Deal bountifully with your servant, revive me: and I will keep your words
18  Revéla óculos meos: * et considerábo mirabília de lege tua.	Open my eyes, and I will consider the wonderful things of your law.
19. Incola ego sum in terra: * non abscóndas a me mandáta tua.	I am a stranger on the earth: do not hide your commandments from me.
20  Concupívit ánima mea desideráre justificatiónes tuas, * in omni témpore	My soul has longed to desire your precepts: at all times
21 Increpásti supérbos: * maledícti qui declínant a mandátis tuis.	You have rebuked the proud: cursed are they who turn away from your commandments
22  Aufer a me oppróbrium, et contémptum: * quia testimónia tua exquisívi	Take away from me contempt and reproach: because I have sought your testimonies
23  Etenim sedérunt príncipes, et advérsum me loquebántur: *servus autem tuus exercebátur in justificatiónibus tuis.	For the enthroned princes spoke against me: but your servant had been kept busy with your precepts
24  Nam et testimónia tua meditátio mea est: * et consílium meum justificatiónes tuæ.	For your testimonies are my meditation: and my counsel your justification

The Knox translation, which retains the acrostic nature of this psalm in the Hebrew translates it as:

Crown thy servant with life, to live faithful to thy commands.
Clear sight be mine, to contemplate the wonders of thy law.
Comfort this earthly exile; do not refuse me the knowledge of thy will.
Crushed lies my spirit, longing ever for thy just awards.
Chastener of the proud, thy curse lies on all who swerve from thy covenant.
Clear me of the reproach that shames me, as I was ever attentive to thy claims.
Closeted together, princes plot against me, thy servant, that thinks only of thy decrees.
Claims lovingly cherished, decrees that are my counsellors!


Cassiodorus:

They come to the third letter, in which they confess human need, and commend the Lord's grace in all things. They claim that the proud who persecute the Lord's faithful with unjust agitation are rebuked.

St Robert Bellarmine:

In the next octave he enumerates the obstacles to the observance of the law, and prays for their removal out of his way. 

Fr Pasch:

Overcome obstacles

You can find an extended commentary on this stanza of Psalm 118 here.

Psalm 118 (Beth) - (Sunday Prime no 2)

Painting by Jean Weyh in the St Stephen's church of Mackenheim, France

Psalm 118, Beth (Vs 9-16): In quo corrigit 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
9. In quo córrigit adolescéntior viam suam? * in custodiéndo sermónes tuos.	By what does a young man correct his way? By observing your words
10. In toto corde meo exquisívi te: * ne repéllas me a mandátis tuis.	With my whole heart have I sought after you: let me not stray from your commandments.
11  In corde meo abscóndi elóquia tua: * ut non peccem tibi.	Your words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against you
12. Benedíctus es, Dómine: * doce me justificatiónes tuas.	Blessed are you, O Lord: teach me your justifications.
13  In lábiis meis, * pronuntiávi ómnia judícia oris tui.	With my lips I have pronounced all the judgments of your mouth.
14  In via testimoniórum tuórum delectátus sum, * sicut in ómnibus divítiis.	I have been delighted in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15  In mandátis tuis exercébor: * et considerábo vias tuas.	I will meditate on your commandments: and I will consider your ways.
16 In justificatiónibus tuis meditábor: * non oblivíscar sermónes tuos.	I will think of your justifications: I will not forget your words.

You can hear the verse read aloud in Latin here.

This octave of verses starts by talking about the importance of starting out on the right path as a young person, and ends with a rejection of ‘forgetfulness’, or falling away from God. Taken together, they are, I think, a prayer for the grace of perseverance.

Beth is the second psalm of Sunday Prime, and essentially has the same message as the second psalm of Monday Prime (Psalm 2), namely the call for us to take refuge in God, and submit to his discipline.   This portion of Psalm 118 urges us to start young, listen carefully to what God is saying, and remember them always by the practice of meditation.  In short, conversion takes effort.

Cassiodorus:

In the section of the first letter, the faithful people pointed to the spheres of blessedness in which they begged to be maintained; they now under the second letter reveal the time of conversion, and by quoting the Lord's words also state what delights they are to enjoy.

Fr Pasch:

Serve God with all your strength

You can read more on these verses of Psalm 118 here.

Psalm 118 (Aleph) - Sunday Prime

Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci - Gradual from Santa Maria degli Angeli
 - folio 80 -  (Abegg-Stiftung)

Psalm 118 - Aleph

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Alleluia	Alleluia
Beati immaculati in via, qui ambulant in lege Domini.	Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Beati qui scrutantur testimonia ejus; in toto corde exquirunt eum.	Blessed are they that search his testimonies: that seek him with their whole heart.
3 Non enim qui operantur iniquitatem in viis ejus ambulaverunt.	For they that work iniquity, have not walked in his ways.
4 Tu mandasti mandata tua custodiri nimis.	You have commanded your commandments to be kept most diligently.
5 Utinam dirigantur viæ meæ ad custodiendas justificationes tuas.	O! That my ways may be directed to keep your justifications.
6 Tunc non confundar, cum perspexero in omnibus mandatis tuis.	Then shall I not be confounded, when I shall look into all your commandments.
7 Confitebor tibi in directione cordis, in eo quod didici judicia justitiæ tuæ.	I will praise you with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned the judgments of your justice.
8 Justificationes tuas custodiam; non me derelinquas usquequaque.	I will keep your justifications: O! Do not utterly forsake me.

The first 'psalm' of Sunday Prime in the Benedictine Office is the first of the 22 stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, of Psalm 118, the longest psalm in the Bible.  You can hear it read aloud here.

Christianity is above all, a philosophy of life, aimed at the achievement of happiness both now and for all eternity, and here the psalmist tells us that meditation on God’s law (thought of broadest sense) is the key to that happiness. These verses stress that the path to happiness lies in following God’s law. But it is not enough, they tell us, to simply think that we are doing the right thing; rather we are charged to actively seek out God's testimonies.

The opening verses of Psalm 118 really just recapitulate the ideas of verses 1-2 of Psalm 1, said on Monday at Prime, which point to the importance of meditation on God’s law as the path to happiness.

Psalm 1 says:

Beátus vir, qui non ábiit in consílio impiórum, et in via peccatórum non stetit,et in cáthedra pestiléntiæ non sedit. Sed in lege Dómini volúntas ejus, et in lege ejus meditábitur die ac nocte. 

“Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence: But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night”

Psalm 118 says:

Beati immaculati in via, qui ambulant in lege Domini. Beati qui scrutantur testimonia ejus; in toto corde exquirunt eum. 

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that search his testimonies: that seek him with their whole heart.”

The main difference between the two is that Psalm 1 talks of one man, Christ, appropriate to a Monday Office which St Benedict has, I think, shaped to focus on the Incarnation.  By contrast on Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection which opens up the way to heaven to the many, hence St Benedict perhaps thought the focus on the happiness of the blessed in the plural, particularly appropriate.

The Knox translation attempts to replicate the acrostic flavour of the original so is worth looking at:

Ah, blessed they, who pass through life’s journey unstained, who follow the law of the Lord!
Ah, blessed they, who cherish his decrees, make him the whole quest of their hearts!
Afar from wrong-doing, thy sure paths they tread.
Above all else it binds us, the charge thou hast given us to keep.
Ah, how shall my steps be surely guided to keep faith with thy covenant?
Attentive to all thy commandments, I go my way undismayed.
A true heart’s worship thou shalt have, thy just awards prompting me.
All shall be done thy laws demand, so thou wilt not forsake me utterly.

Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Mt 5:3 (v2)
RB cursus	Sunday Prime
Monastic feasts etc	-
Roman pre 1911	Prime daily
Responsories	-
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Sunday Prime . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	PP17 IN (1); CO (4-5); PP 20&21 IN (1); Lent 3 Thurs CO (4-5)

And you can find more detailed notes on each verse of the psalm here.

Matins canticles for Advent/3: Isaiah 49:7-13

I've previously provided notes on the first two Third Nocturn canticles used at Matins in the Benedictine Office during Advent:

Isaiah 40:10-17
Isaiah 42:10-16

The third canticle set for Sunday Matins during Advent is from Isaiah 49:

Canticle of Isaiah (49:7-13)

Hæc dicit Dóminus, redémptor Israël, Sanctus eius, † ad contemptíbilem ánimam, ad abominátam gentem, * ad servum dominórum:	Thus saith the Lord the redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of rulers:
Reges vidébunt,et consúrgent príncipes, † et adorábunt propter Dóminum, quia fidélis est, * et Sanctum Israël qui elégit te.	Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, and adore for the Lord' s sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.
Hæc dicit Dóminus: † In témpore plácito exaudívi te, * et in die salútis auxiliátus sum tui:	Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee.
Et servávi te, et dedi te in fœdus pópuli, * ut suscitáres terram, et possidéres hæreditátes dissipátas;	And I have preserved thee, and given thee to be a covenant of the people, that thou mightest raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed:
Ut díceres his qui vincti sunt: Exíte, * et his qui in ténebris: Revelámini.	That thou mightest say to them that are bound: Come forth: and to them that are in darkness: shew yourselves.
Super vias pascéntur, * et in ómnibus planis páscua eórum.	They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain.
Non esúrient neque sítient, † et non percútiet eos æstus et sol, * quia miserátor eórum reget eos, et ad fontes aquárum potábit eos.	They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them: for he that is merciful to them, shall be their shepherd, and at the fountains of waters he shall give them drink.
Et ponam omnes montes meos in viam, * et sémitæ meæ exaltabúntur.	And I will make all my mountains a way, and my paths shall be exalted.
Ecce isti de longe vénient, † et ecce illi ab aquilóne et mari, * et isti de terra austráli.	Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the south country.
Laudáte, cæli, et exsúlta, terra; † iubiláte, montes, laudem: * quia consolátus est Dóminus pópulum suum, et páuperum suórum miserébitur.	Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth, ye mountains, give praise with jubilation: because the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy on his poor ones.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

These verses form part of the 'second servant song' of Isaiah.

St Paul makes it clear that it applies to Jesus in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2:

"And now, to further that work, we entreat you not to offer God’s grace an ineffectual welcome. 2 I have answered thy prayer, he says, in a time of pardon, I have brought thee help in a day of salvation. And here is the time of pardon; the day of salvation has come already."

The verses set out prophesies of the coming of Jesus, his rejection by the Jews, and his mission of freeing mankind, imprisoned by sin.  Above all it talks of his mercy on the people who have fallen away.

While the verses given here talk about the redemption of Israel, the verse immediately preceding it makes it clear that his mission is a universal one:

"...I have appointed thee to be the light of the Gentiles, in thee I will send out my salvation to the furthest corners of the earth."