Psalm 142 verses 8-9

8	V	Non avértas fáciem tuam a me: * et símilis ero descendéntibus in lacum.
	NV	Non abscondas faciem tuam a me, ne similis fiam descendentibus in lacum.
	JH	ne abscondas faciem tuam a me, et comparabor descendentibus in lacum.

similis, e, like

descendo, scendi, scensum, ere 3  to descend, to come or go down.

lacus, us, m.  a pit.; pitfall, a trap;  the grave, the nether world, the kingdom of the dead, Sheol;

DR	Turn not away your face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
Brenton	turn not away thy face from me, else I shall be like to them that go down to the pit.
MD	Hide not Thy face from me, that I be not like those gone into the grave.
Cover	hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

Cassiodorus sees this verse as a warning of hell:

Earlier God had turned away His face because of the arrogance of sinning, but the prophet now begs that He look upon him because he prostrated himself in remorseful entreaties; for it befits the Lord's mercy to look kindly on the humble since He despises the hearts of the proud. By pit we must understand the lower region of hell, where the wicked are to be plunged into eternal punishment. So such men are matched with those who spurned God's power, and who befouling the images in which they were created assumed the shape of the devil's condemnation. Go down is a good description, for those who deserve to enter that pit are plunged to the lowest depths. So he entreats that he should not be­come like the proud, by lamenting his sins with humble satisfaction.

9	V/NV	Audítam fac mihi mane misericórdiam tuam: * quia in te sperávi.
	JH	Fac me audire mane misericordiam tuam; quoniam in te confido :

auditum facere, to sound forth, utter, announce.

DR	Cause me to hear your mercy in the morning; for in you have I hoped.
Brenton	Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning; for I have hoped in thee;
MD	Make me experience Thy mercy soon, for I trust in thee
Cover	O let me hear thy loving-kindness betimes in the morning; for in thee is my trust.

The morning here is symbolic, As Cassiodorus explains:

To hear thy mercy refers to the Lord's clemency widely known through the whole world, by which He lends help to suppliants, and kindness to the afflicted. The prophet seeks to hear the gospel words: Son, thy sins are forgiven thee.' The morning denotes the time of par­don, for it brings light to the mind when it descends on it with blessed outcome. It is rightly called the morning, for it comes after the dark­ness of sins, when guilt is forgiven. Alternatively it refers to the news of the resurrection, when the angel said to Mary: Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he has risen from the dead, as he said? The reason also follows, which must hold good: there was hope in Him who cannot deceive those who show praiseworthy trust in Him. Observe too that by such reasoning he strengthens his other requests that follow.

The text

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.

And you can find the next part in this series here.

The Penitential Psalms - Psalm 142 v6&7

Death of St Benedict, Monte Cassino

Verse 6 of Psalm 142 is particularly important.  The reference to outstretched hands is often taken as a reference to Christ on the Cross, hence justifying the psalms traditional placement usage in the Roman Office on Fridays.  St Benedict however, shifted this psalm to Saturday, a day that marks Christ resting in the tomb, and the verse's second phrase, which seems to express a fervent longing for an absent Christ, fits well with that interpretation.

6	V/NV	Expándi manus meas ad te: * ánima mea sicut terra sine aqua tibi.
	JH	Expandi manus meas ad te: animia mea quasi terra sitiens ad te.

‘Stretching out the hands’ (expandi manus) is a gesture of prayer.  The literal translation of the second phrase is something like ‘my soul is like the earth without water to you’, however most translators interpret the missing verb as ‘thirsts’ on the basis of similar sentiments in other psalms.  The Septuagint however omits the tibi which solves the problem a slightly different way, so that NETS makes it ‘I spread out my hands to you, my soul was like a parched land’.  The sense is not that different however.

expando pani pansum ere to spread out, stretch out

DR	I stretched forth my hands to you: my soul is as earth without water unto you.
NETS	I spread out my hands to you, my soul was like a parched land
Brenton	I spread forth my hands to thee; my soul thirsts for thee, as a dry land.
MD	I stretch out my hands to Thee, my soul thirsteth after Thee, like parched soil
Cover	I stretch forth my hands unto thee; my soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land.

Cassiodorus summarises the Patristic interpretations of the passage:

"Though he has prophesied the Lord Saviour's coming in countless passages, here too by stretching out his hands he formed the shape of the holy cross. The person who prays with hands extended imitates the cross of the Redeemer which was inflicted as punishment by the faithless Jews, but was none the less bestowed on believers as salvation. When Moses was warring with the Amalekites, this was how he fared: he conquered when he stretched forth his hands, he was defeated if he let his arms fall. The comparison follows in which he says that his soul longs for God as the parched earth often absorbs abundant rain. The beginning of Psalm 41 is similar: As the hart pants after fountains of water, so my soul pants for thee, 0 God.Notice that he said: Unto thee, not to anyone else, so that you would not attach this longing to evil desires."

Bellarmine likewise sees this verse as a plea for God's grace:

The consideration of God's mercy having inspired him with hope, he began to sigh and to look up to him. "I stretched forth my hands to thee" in prayer; for my soul thirsts as much for your grace, as the parched earth does for the rain. A most appropriate comparison; for as the earth, when devoid of mois­ture, does not adhere together, is not clothed with herbage, nor adorned with flowers, produces no fruit, and is altogether idle and unproductive; so the soul, without God's grace, offers no resistance to temptation; but like the dust, that is carried about by the wind, has neither the clothing of justice, nor the orna­ments of wisdom, nor the fruit of good works, of all of which the penitent had practical experience, and was therefore the more thirsty.

7	V/NV	Velóciter exáudi me, Dómine: * defécit spíritus meus.
	JH	Cito exaudi me, Domiu ; defecit spiritus meus :

velociter, adv.  swiftly, quickly, speedily, rapidly

deficio, fed, fectum, ere 3 to fail, to be wasted, spent, consumed, cease to be, come to an end, vanish, long for, pine for,

DR	Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit has fainted away.
Brenton	Hear me speedily, O Lord; my spirit has failed
Cover	Hear me, O Lord, and that soon, for my spirit waxeth faint;

St Augustine expands on this plea for mercy:

For what need of delay to inflame my thirst, when already I thirst so eagerly? You delayed the rain, that I might drink and imbibe, not reject, Your inflowing. If then Thou for this cause delayed, now give; for my spirit has failed. Let Your Spirit fill me. This is the reason why You should speedily hear me. I am now become poor in spirit, make Thou me blessed in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 For he in whom his own spirit lives, is proud, is puffed up with his own spirit against God....

St Robert Bellarmine turns it into a call for action on our part:

The turpitude of the sin he acknowledged and the desire of grace now so presses on the penitent, that he can brook no further delay; and the fact of the penitent not deferring his con­fession, and the other remedies suggested, from day to day, but running at once to his spiritual physician, just as one taken suddenly ill would urgently send for the doctor, or one suffer­ing from thirst would run to the water, is a sign of true contri­tion. "Hear me speedily;" I cannot bear my wretched state any longer; wash me quickly from my iniquities; heal, at once, my disease; because "my spirit hath fainted away;" I am in the last extremities, can scarce draw my breath.

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.

And you can find the next part in this series here.

The penitential Psalms - Psalm 142 v5 (On meditation)

Jacob's Ladder, Morgan Bible c1240s or 50s

In verse 5 of Psalm 142, the psalmist talks about meditating on God's works.  This verse is important from two perspectives.  First as a reminder of one of the key tools of our spiritual life, meditation.  But secondly to warn of some of the dangers in this area.

Meditating on God’s works: Creation and God’s providential plan for his people

In the earlier penitential psalms, the speaker worked though a series of steps to escape from the darkness that encompass his soul: he offered tears of contrition; confessed his sins; and did penance in various forms.  Verse 5 of this psalm though, adds another important rung to this ladder to heaven, namely seeking knowledge of God’s ways through meditation on God's works.

The starting point for knowledge, the psalmist asserts, is meditation on God’s works. Verse 5 states:

5	V	Memor fui diérum antiquórum, meditátus sum in ómnibus opéribus tuis: * in factis mánuum tuárum meditábar.
	NV	Memor fui dierum antiquorum, meditatus sum in omnibus operibus tuis, in factis manuum tuarum recogitabam.
	JH	Recordabar dierum antiquorum; meditabar omnia opera tua : facta manuum tuarum loquebar.

memor, oris mindful of, thoughtful of. to think of.; Thinks of, i.e., worships Thee, praises Thee.

antiquus, a, um old, ancient

meditor, atus sum, ari, to think, plan, devise, meditate

factum, i, n. (facio), work, deed

DR	I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all your works: I meditated upon the works of your hands.
MD	I call to mind the days of old, I ponder all Thy deeds and with the works of Thy hands.
Cover	Yet do I remember the time past; I muse upon all thy works. Yea, I exercise myself in the works of thy hands.

A reasonably literal translation is: 'I remembered (called to mind, memor fui) olden days (dierum antiquorum), I meditated (meditatus sum) on all your works (in omnibus operibus tuis): I meditated/pondered/think (meditabar) upon the works (factum=work, deed) of your hands (manuum tuarum).'

The neo-Vulgate has revises the text somewhat, to make the progression involved here clearer: from calling to mind, to meditating, and then contemplating or pondering (recogitare- consider, weigh, ponder or reflect) the implications.

The verse then reminds us of the path our lectio divina should take.

God's works as a source of hope

The first point to note is that the psalmist does not jump to the 'via negativa', or negative path, which seeks to clear the mind of all created things in order to reach heaven.  On the contrary, he starts from God's works.  And the psalmist makes it clear in the following verses that he is looking to the past as a source of hope: God has acted to help his people in the past, and has promised to do so again - and again and again.  If we simply look at the world around us without the perspective of the hope of heaven, we can easily lose our way; so too if try and we meditate on things seeking the 'via negativa' without first assimilating the important content of our faith.

Hildegarde von Bingen, Book of Divine Works

So when we come to meditate, by all means take the opportunities and things that come to us as our subject.  But try also and balance that with a focus on the events that really matter, such as Our Lord's birth, death and resurrection.

In pointing to God's deeds, the psalmist is, I think, inviting us to recall above all two kinds of God's works.  First, the work of creation itself, evident in nature, society and culture; and secondly God's ongoing providential care of his people down the ages, manifested in particular in the events of salvation history.

Meditating on the wonder of natural creation is important: through it we are reminded of God's power, his goodness and much more.  Through it we can reach knowledge of God's law.  And yes, it should humble us, put our lives into perspective.  For if we wish to escape from sin, we need to develop the true perspective that comes from the hope of heaven.

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.

And you can find the next part in this series here.


And you can find the next post in this series on Psalm 142 here.

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.