PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXXVIII — SAEPE EXPVGNAVERVNT

Often Have They Fought Against Me

Saepe expugnaverunt me a iuventute mea is a national lament recounting Israel's sufferings 'from my youth,' yet affirming that the Lord has cut the cords of the wicked. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Vespers on Wednesdays. The image of grass upon housetops, withering before it grows, describes the fate of those who hate Sion.

LATINE
Saepe expugnaverunt me a iuventute mea, dicat nunc Israel.
Saepe expugnaverunt me a iuventute mea: etenim non potuerunt mihi.
Supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores: prolongaverunt iniquitatem suam.
Dominus iustus concidit cervices peccatorum: confundantur et convertantur retrorsum omnes, qui oderunt Sion.
Fiant sicut foenum tectorum: quod priusquam evellatur, exaruit.
De quo non implevit manum suam qui metit: et sinum suum qui manipulos colligit.
Et non dixerunt qui praeteribant: Benedictio Domini super vos: benediximus vobis in nomine Domini.
ENGLISH
Often have they fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say.
Often have they fought against me from my youth: but they could not prevail over me.
The wicked have wrought upon my back: they have lengthened their iniquity.
The Lord who is just will cut the necks of sinners: let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Sion.
Let them be as grass upon the tops of houses: which withereth before it be plucked up.
Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand: nor he that gathereth sheaves his bosom.
And they that passed by have not said: The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we have blessed you in the name of the Lord.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Perseverance, Against enemies
CONTEXT
Psalm 129 in Hebrew numbering. Tenth Song of Ascents. The plowing imagery refers to the scourging of suffering Israel—and prophetically, of Christ.