Psalm 90 v8 - Justice will prevail

The Last Judgment by Hieronymus Bosch
Source: Wikicommons

Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.

But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.

Verse 8 of Psalm 90 builds on the previous verse's promise of victory to those who persevere: it is a reminder that God sees all and will judge all.

Looking at the Latin

The Vulgate (and neo-Vulgate of the verse) is:

Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.

The key vocabulary:

verumtamen,  surely, indeed, verily, in truth.

oculus, i,  the eye

considero, avi, atum, are,  look at closely, to observe with the eyes or mind, to regard, contemplate; to lie in wait

retributio, onis, f,  reward, recompense, requital, either as a reward or punishment

peccator, oris, m. a sinner, transgressor; the wicked, the godless.

video, vidi, visum, ere 2,  to see, behold; consider; experience, undergo, suffer, realize; keep watch, look for, meditate on

Word by word: 

Verúmtamen (but surely/ in truth) óculis (with the eyes) tuis (your) considerábis (you will see/contemplate) et (and) retributiónem (the punishment/recompense) peccatórum (of sinners) vidébis (you will see).

The most poetic of the English translations, I think, is Coverdale’s ‘Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly’.  

The literal sense is, just as earlier the just are promised the reward of living in heaven, so also will they see their enemies punished.

The vengeance of God 

The commentaries of the Fathers and Doctors on this verse may at first blush strike the modern reader as somewhat un-PC  in that they focus on the punishment of sinners; they even depict seeing the punishment of those who have persecuted us as one of the rewards God will grant the just.

St Robert Bellarmine for example suggests that:

A fresh source of joy to the just man, who not only has been promised a victory, but that he will, furthermore, have great pleasure in seeing his enemies laid low, and punished according to their deserts, a promise that is sometimes fulfilled even in this world. Thus, the children of Israel saw the Egyptians cast dead on the shores of the Red Sea; Moses and Aaron saw Dathan and Abiron swallowed up alive; Ezechias saw the prostrate corpses of Sennacherib's army; and Judith, with God's people, saw the head of Holofernes cut off, and his whole army scattered and routed; but this promise will be completely fulfilled on the day of judgment, when we shall see all our enemies prostrate on the ground, naked and unarmed, without any strength whatever, and consigned to eternal punishment...you will then see plainly the reward the wicked get for all their labor.

To understand this perspective we need to remember firstly, I would suggest, that while we are required to forgive those who sin against us, that doesn't mean that we forget what they have done.

More fundamentally, the verse reminds us that the current state of affairs, where evil often seems to flourish, and the just suffer, is not the natural order of things, at the last, justice will prevail.  Bellarmine's commentary continues:

Hence will arise a beautiful order of things, that now seem in general disorder and confusion. For, while punishment should follow sin, and virtue should be rewarded, it often happens that the just are afflicted, and bad men honored; and thus sorrow comes from virtue, joy from sin; but, on the last day, all things will be righted and put in their proper place; guilt will meet its punishment, and that in proportion to its enormity; while, on the contrary, justice shall be rewarded in proportion to its merits, too; and then will be accomplished what is prophesied in Psalm 57, "The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge;" that is, when he shall see the sinner duly punished; not that he will rejoice in their misfortunes, but for the vindication of the divine justice and wisdom, that will appear so conspicuous in the punishment of the wicked.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

You can find the next part of this series here.

Psalm 90 v7 - Victory in the battle

Illustration from a Speculum Virginum ("Mirror of Virgins") from ca 1200.
Source: Wikicommons

Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: ad te autem non appropinquábit.

A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.

Verse 7 of Psalm 90 has a particular poignancy in the context of the Office as it echoes and responds to the other psalm of the spiritual warfare said each day in the Office, the first psalm of the day at Matins, Psalm 3. 

Looking at the Latin

The Vulgate of verse 7 is:

Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: ad te autem non appropinquábit

Key vocab

cado, cecidi, casum, ere 3 to fall, esp. in battle; to bow down, fall down, prostrate one's self; to happen, fall

latus, eris, n., the side or flank of men or animals; A latere, on or at the side of; The side or lateral surface of a thing.

mille, num. adj., a thousand; pi. subst.,

millia, mm, n., thousands; used generally in the sense of an indefinitely large number,a host, multitude.

dexter, tera, terum; the right hand.

appropinquo, avi, atum, are to draw near, approach.

Word by word then:

Cadent (they fall) a (from/on) látere (the side/flank of) tuo (you) mille (a thousand), et (and) decem (ten) míllia (million) a (from) dextris (the right hand) tuis (your): ad (to) te (you) autem (but) non (not) appropinquábit (he will draw near).

The Douay-Rheims translates the verse as ‘A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you’.  The Collegeville translation that appears in the Monastic Diurnal interpolates the word evil here, saying, ‘yet no evil shall come nigh to thee’, which in this case helps give the sense of the verse.

The spiritual warfare

There is a key link between this psalm and Psalm 3 at the start of each day in verse 7 of the psalms, in the allusion to thousands of enemies surrounding the psalmist, who is nonetheless protected by God:

Ps 3: 7  Non timébo míllia pópuli circumdántis me: * exsúrge, Dómine, salvum me fac, Deus meus.

I will not fear thousands of the people, surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.

Ps 90:7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.

A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.

The verse represents a powerful promise indeed.

But the Fathers and Theologians point out however that though the person who trusts in God is promised protection, it is also made clear that many will fall: few indeed will make it through safely.

The side of Christ

St Augustine's commentary on the verse starts by suggesting that this part of the psalm refers primarily to Christ and religious, who will sit in judgment of the world at the end:

To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said?...For the members, the body, and the head, are not separate from one another: the body and the head are the Church and her Saviour...to some He promised that they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles, who left all things, and followed Him....Those judges then are the heads of the Church, the perfect. To such He said, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor. 

Those who stand at the right hand, St Cassiodorus suggests, are those who offer counsel to the king:

The side of the Lord Saviour is the circle of just persons who as He promised the apostles will pass judgment with him at the resurrection. Even today when as judges we make a request of the emperor or the king, we say to him: "Set us at your right hand"; the phrase suggests: "We offer you counsel with the most faithful devotion." Lotus (side) is so named because it lurks (lateat) beneath the arm. 

Who then falls?

St Augustine's commentary on the psalm goes on to argue that those who fall are those who did not persevere in the face of trials.  St Cassiodorus adds to this the particular risk of those who thing they deserve more than their deeds merit - religious who assume that because they have made vows that is enough, without seeking to attain true holiness for example, and those who delude themselves.

A salutary reminder.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

You can find the next part of this series here.

Psalm 90 v6 - The delusions and distortions that stalk us at night

Ceiling Painted Dome Cupola Angels Fighting Demons in Vatican Museums
Livioandronico2013
Source: Wikicommons

A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.

Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.

The reference to the midday demon in this verse is traditionally viewed as a reference to Our Lord's temptation in the desert, and accounts for the psalm's use at this time in a number of Eastern forms of the Office.

Looking at the Latin

The Vulgate of the verse is:

A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.

Key vocabulary

sagitta, ae, f., an arrow

volo, avi, atum, are, to fly as a bird. fly, to move swiftly, to speed as an arrow or on the wings of the wind.

negotium, ii, n. business, occupation; anything difficult or unpleasant; a plague, pestilence.

perambulo, avi, atum, are, to pass through, go about, traverse. fig., to walk, live, conduct one’s self.

tenebrae, arum, f  darkness; night, Sheol; misfortune, danger; horror, shuddering.

incursus, us, m.  assault, attack

daemonium, ii, n. a devil, demon, evil spirit.

meridianus, a, um, midday, noonday.

Word by word then: 

A (from) sagítta (the arrow) volante (flying, speeding) in (in) die (the day), a (from) negótio (business, pestilence, things) perambulánte (traversing, walking about) in (in) ténebris (darkness, night): ab (from) incúrsu (attack) et (and) dæmónio (from the demon) meridiáno (midday).

This verse needs to be joined up with the previous one, thus, ‘You will not fear the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day (A sagita volante in die)’.  Negotium means business, occupation or anything unpleasant;  but it can also mean plague or pestilence; neo-Vulgate follows the Hebrew Masoretic Text in making this more explicit by substituting ‘a peste’ for negotio.  The idea that the disease here is a result of demonic influences.

The second phrase also refers back to the previous verse, that is, to make sense of it you need to add back ‘You will not fear’ to ‘the attack/assault of the noonday demon.  The Hebrew Masoretic Text omits the reference to the noonday demon, an omission that may have been deliberate given the Christian application of this psalm to Our Lord’s temptation in the desert.

 A selection of English translations of the verse are set out below.

DR	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
MD	Nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the plague that prowleth in the dark, nor the noonday attack of the demon.
Brenton	nor of the arrow flying by day; nor of the evil thing that walks in darkness; nor of calamity, and the evil spirit at noon-day.
RSV	nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
Coverdale	Nor for the arrow that flieth by day; for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noonday.
Knox	from the arrow that flies by day-light, from pestilence that walks to and fro in the darkness, from the death that wastes under the noon.
Grail	nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the plague that prowls in the darkness nor the scourge that lays waste at noon.

The dangers of the day and night

St Robert Bellarmine points out that the simplest explanation of this verse is straightforward: ‘You will have no dangers to fear, either by day or by night’.

In the light of the New Testament, one could interpret this verse particularly as a promise of protection in the face of demonic temptation.

The patristic commentators though, give day and night here a more allegorical explanation and these are worth considering.

Sinning by day, St Augustine suggests, means sinning in the full knowledge of what we are doing; sinning by night means sinning out of ignorance of the truth:

When any man sins in ignorance, he sins, as it were, by night: when he sins in full knowledge, by day. The two former sins then are the lighter: the second are much heavier; but this is obscure, and will repay your attention, if, by God's blessing, I can explain it so that you may understand it. He calls the light temptation, which the ignorant yield to, terror by night: the light temptation, which assails men who well know, the arrow that flies by day. What are light temptations? Those which do not press upon us so urgently, as to overcome us, but may pass by quickly if declined…

Both of course, must be avoided, the first by rejecting the temptation; the second by ensuring we are properly instructed in our faith.

St Cassiodorus proposes another interpretation equally useful to consider: arrows in the day refers, he suggests, to open persecution of the type experienced by Christians in many countries; but the night refers to the subtle distortions and delusions that can blind us, such as heresy and the temptation to conform to the values of the society around us:

The arrow that flieth by day is open persecution by tyrants. The business in the dark is the debased study by which the mental eye of right believers is blinded. The noonday devil is the massive danger ignited by the heat of persecution, in which destruction is often feared and human weakness overcome

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

You can find the next part of this series here.

Psalm 90 v5 - Truth as a shield

Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: non timébis a timóre noctúrno.

His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.

The key word in verse 5 of Psalm 90 is truth: God’s truth, that is revealed doctrine, protects us from the errors of heresy and thus the fear of hell (the terrors of the night), and this is why we must believe it ‘firmly and truly, at all times’.

Understanding the Latin

The Vulgate of the verse is:

Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.

The key vocabulary is:

scutum, i, n. a shield, buckler.

circumdo, dedi, datum, are,  to surround, beset, encompass with a hostile intent; to gather round

veritas, atis,  truth. grace, kindness ,goodness, fidelity to promises, Faithfulness

timeo, ere 2, to fear, be afraid of.

timor, oris, m.  fear, terror; an object of fear.

nocturnus a um by night, nighly

Accordingly, a word by words translation runs:

Scuto (with a shield) circúmdabit (he will encompass) te (you) véritas (truth) ejus (his): non (not) timébis (you will fear) a (+ablative = by, from) timóre (fears, terrors) noctúrno (by night).

The Douay-Rheims therefore translates it as ‘His truth shall compass you with a shield:

you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night’.

Although the reference to truth is in St Jerome’s translation from the Hebrew (‘scutum et protectio veritas eius, non timebis a timore nocturno’), the word doesn’t appear in the Hebrew Masoretic Text (which instead refers to a shield and buckler), so a number of the modern translations (though not, on this occasion, the neo-Vulgate) have either dropped out the reference altogether (Grail), or changed it from truth to ‘faithfulness’ (Pian, RSV, Knox).

The terror of the night

The reference to the darkness of night is one of the key reasons for assigning this psalm to Compline, but it is of course meant metaphorically as well as literally.

First, we are all, as Isaiah's reference to the people who walked in darkness, and the first chapter of St John's Gospel make clear, a people who walk in the darkness of sin and error, in danger of the seductions of the devil.

As St Jerome puts it:

The devil always lurks in darkness, 'shooting from ambush', Scripture says, 'at the innocent man.'  

But Christ's light, manifested to us by the truth of the Incarnation shines in the darkness, keeping us safe from all evil.

How does he seduce and attack?

One of the most obvious ways is doctrinal error, as St Cassiodorus explained:

The terror of the night, then, is the cloudy persuasion of heretics. 

Another key tactic, St Augustine suggested, is to work on our pride:

One is a sinner, and the other a sinner: but suppose one that presumes upon himself is a despiser, confesses not his sins, and he will say, if my sins displeased God He would not suffer me to live. But another dared not even raise his eyes, but beat upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.  Both this was a sinner, and that: but the one mocked, the other mourned: the one was a despiser, the other a confessor, of his sins. But the truth of God, which respects not persons, discerns the penitent from him who denies his sin, the humble from the proud, him who presumes upon himself from him who presumes on God. 

Sleep as the little death

Secondly, the terrors of the night can be seen as a reference to our natural fear of death  - and judgment: our journey to sleep each night foreshadows our eventual journey into the next life.

But here too, God offers hope to us, as St Robert Bellarmine pointed out:

The truth of faith protects us like a shield also when it gives us a certainty that eternal happiness is prepared for the just, and torments everlasting for the sinner after this life; and that judgment will be held on the last day, when all men shall have to render the most exact account of all their deeds, words, thoughts, desires, omissions; in short, of every idle word, however brief, they may have uttered. 

Using truth as a shield

St Augustine interprets the verse as assuring us 'that He will not confound those whose trust is in themselves with those who hope in God'.

But in order to ensure we truly trust in God and not ourselves, we have to lift up the shield which God gives us.  St Robert Bellarmine suggested that the means of doing this lie in daily scrutiny of our sins, and meditation on the truth of the faith, arguing that reflections on the truths of the faith:

would easily protect us from all temptations, 'both in adversity and prosperity, if we would daily use them as a shield; that is, if we daily and faithfully meditate on these truths of our religion. Who is he that would not bravely bear up against any terror whatever, by reflecting seriously on those words of our Lord? "And fear not those that kill the body, and cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell." And who is there that will not despise the empty pleasures of this world, and the occasions of wronging their neighbor, when they seriously reflect on the following words of our Divine Master? "For what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" 

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

You can.a find the next part of this series here.