CD Psalm Texts
Psalm 1: iuxta rivulos aquarum He shall be lyke a freshly planted tree
Lyricist: English version by Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
He shall be lyke a freshly planted tree,
To which sweet springs of waters neighbours be;
Whose braunches faile not timelie fruite to nourish,
Nor with’red leafe shall make it faile to flourish:
So all the things whereto that man doth bend
Shall prosper still with well-succeeding end.
Not so the wicked, but like chaff with wind
Shall neither stay in judgement find
Nor with the just, be in their meetings placèd:
For good men’s ways by God are known and gracèd.
But who from justice sinfully do stray,
The way they go shall be their ruin’s way.
Iuxta rivulos aquarum.
Psalm 4: in tribulatione Heare, O heare me when I call
English version by Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
Heare, O, heare me when I call, O God of my equity!
Thou setd’st me free when I was thrall,
Have mercy therefore still on me,
And hearken how I pray to Thee.
The sacrifices sacrify
Of just desires, on justice stay’d;
Trust in the Lord that cannot lie.
Indeed full many folk have said,
From whence shall come to us such ayd?
But, Lord, lift thou upon our sight
The shining clearness of Thy face,
Where I have found more heart’s delight
Then they whose stoare in harvest space
Of grain and wine fills stoaring place.
So I in peace and peacefull blisse
Will lay me down and take my rest;
For it is Thou, Lord, Thou it is,
By pow’r of whose owne onlybrestI dwell,
Layd up in Safetie’s neast.
Heare, O, heare me when I call,
O God of my equity!
Thou setd’st me free when I was thrall,
Have mercy therefore still on me,
And hearken how I pray to Thee.
Psalm 72 (4-8, 11-13): Deus, judicium He shall keep the simple folk
iudicabit pauperes populi salvabit filios pauperis et confringet calumniatorem
et timebunt te quamdiu erit sol et ultra lunam in generatione generationum
descendet ut pluvia super vellus ut stillae inrorantes terram
germinabit in diebus eius iustitia et multitudo pacis donec non sit luna
et dominabitur a mari usque ad mare et a flumine usque ad terminos terrae
et adorabunt eum omnes reges universae nationes servient ei
quia eruet pauperem a potente et inopem cui non est adiutor
parcet inopi et pauperi et animas pauperum salvabit
[4. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
5. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
7. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
11. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
12 .For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
13. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. ]
Psalm 51 (1-2): Miserere mei Have mercy upon me
miserere mei Deus secundum misericordiam tuam iuxta multitudinem miserationum tuarum dele iniquitates meas
multum lava me ab iniquitate mea et a peccato meo munda me
[Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness; according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences.
Wash me throughly from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin.]
Psalm 23: Pascit me The Lord is my shepherd
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want;
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
For you are with me, you will comfort me
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Psalm 10: Ut quid, Domine? Why standest thou so farr?
English Version by Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
Why standest Thou so farr,
O God, our only starr,
In time most fitt for Thee
To help who vexèd be?
For lo, with pride the wicked man
Still plagues the poore the most he can;
O, let proud him be throughly caught
In craft of his own crafty thought.
For he himself doth prayse
When he his lust doth raise;
Extolling rav’nous gain,
But doth God self disdain.
Nay, so proud is his puffèd thought,
That after God he never sought,
But rather much he fancys this,
The name of God a fable is.
For while his wayes do prove
On them he sets his love,
Thy judgments are too high,
He cannot them espy.
Therefore he doth defy all those
That dare themselves to him oppose,
And sayeth in his bragging heart,
This gotten blisse shall ne’re depart.
In such a place unknown
To slay the hurtless one:
With winking eyes aye bent
Against the innocent,
Like lurking lion in his denn,
He waites to spoyle the simple men:
Whom to their losse he still does get,
When once he draw’th his wily nett.
Salva Domine
Thou openest heav’nly doore to prayers of the poore;
Thou first prepar’dst their mind, then eare to them enclin’d:
O be Thou still the orphan’s aide,
That poore from ruine may be stayd,
Least we should ever feare the lust
Of earthly man, a lord of dust a lord of dust.
Salva Domine.
Psalm 139: Tu cognovisti Thou walkest with me when I walk
English version by Mary Sidney (1561-1621)
Tu cognovisti sessionem meam
Thou walkest with me when I walk;
When to my bed for rest I go,
I find thee there and ev’rywhere:
Not youngest thought in me doth grow,
No, not one word I cast to talk
But yet unuttered thou dost know.
O Sun, whom light nor flight can match,
Suppose thy lightful flightful wings
Thou lend to me And I could flee
As far as thee the evening brings:
E’en led to west he would be catch,
Nor should I lurk with western things.
Tu cognovisti sessionem meam
et surrectionem meam
Do thou thy best, O secret night,
In sable veil to cover me:
Thy sable veil Shall vainly fail;
With day unmasked my night shall be,
For night is day, and darkness light,
O Father of all lights, of all lights to Thee.
My God, how I these studies prize,
That do thy hidden workings show!
Whose sum is such No sum so much,
Nay, summed as sand they sumless grow.
I lie to sleep, from sleep I rise,
Yet still in thought with Thee I go.
Psalm 137: Super flumina By the waters of Babylon
By the waters of Babylon where we sat down and wept,
When we remembered thee, O Sion,
When we remembered thee.
As for our harps,
We hanged them up upon the trees that are therein
For they that led us away captive required of us a song
And melody in our heaviness
Sing a song of Sion.
By the waters of Babylon where we sat down and wept,
When we remembered thee, O Sion
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
Psalm 130: De profundis Out of the deep
Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord
Lord, hear my voice
I look for the Lord: my soul doth wait for Him
In His word is my trust.
My soul fleeth unto the Lord before the morning watch,
I say, before, before the morning watch.
Psalm 122 (6-8): Rogate pacem O pray for the peace ofJerusalem
O pray for the peace ofJerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.
Peace be within thy walls, and plenteousness within thy palaces.
For my brethren and companions’ sakes
I will wish thee prosperity.
Psalm 111: Beatus vir A good man is merciful
Iucundus homo qui miseretur et commodat, disponet sermones
suos in iudicio: quia in aeternum non commovebitur
In memoria aeterna erit iustus: ab auditione mala non timebit.
Peccator videbit, et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet et tabescet.
[A good man is merciful, and lendeth, and will guide his words with discretion. For he
shall never be moved, and the righteous shall be had in everlasting
remembrance. The ungodly shall see it, and it shall grieve him; he shall
gnash with his teeth, and consume away. ]
Psalm 102: Pellicano solitudinis A pelican in the wilderness
English version: The Bay Psalm Book (1640)
Like Pelican in wilderness,
Like owl in desert so am I
I watch, and like a sparrow am
On house top solitarily
Mine enemies daily mee reproach:
‘Gainst mee they rage, ‘gainst mee they sweare
That I doe ashes eate for bread:
And mixe my drink with weeping teare.
My dayes as shaddow that decline:
And like the witheredgrasseam I
He weakned hath in the way my strength
And shortened my dayes hath hee.
I sayd, in middest of my dayes
My God doe not away take mee:
They yeares throughout all ages are.
Dicam: Deus meus, ne auferas me in dimidio dierum meorum in generationem et generationem sunt anni tui
[I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. ]
Psalm 93: Levaverunt flumina Rivers, yea, though rivers roar
English version by Mary Sidney (1561-1621)
Levaverunt flumina, levaverunt Domine
Rivers, yea, though rivers roar,
Roaring though sea-billows rise,
Vex the deep, and break the shore:
Stronger art thou, Lord of skies.
Firm and true thy promise lies
Now and still, as heretofore:
Holy worship never dies
In thy house where we adore.
Levaverunt flumina, levaverunt Domine,
Voces suas levaverunt flumina gurgites suos
Levaverunt flumina.
[The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves ]
Psalm 84: Quam dilecta How lovely are your dwellings
quam dilecta tabernacula tua Domine exercituum
desiderat et defecit anima mea in atria Domini cor meum et caro mea laudabunt Deum viventem
siquidem avis invenit domum et passer nidum sibi ubi ponat pullos suos altaria tua Domine exercituum rex meus et Deus meus
[O how amiable are thy dwellings, thou Lord of hosts! My
soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the
Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow
a nest, where she may lay her young, even thy altars, O Lord
of hosts, my King and my God.]