PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXXXI — MEMENTO DOMINE

O Lord, Remember David

Memento Domine David is a royal psalm recalling David's zealous desire to build a dwelling for the Ark. The Davidic covenant promise - 'Of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne' - is fulfilled in Christ. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Vespers on Thursdays and on feasts of the Blessed Virgin as a type of Mary, the living Ark.

LATINE
Memento, Domine, David, et omnis mansuetudinis eius.
Sicut iuravit Domino, votum vovit Deo Iacob:
Si introiero in tabernaculum domus meae, si ascendero in lectum strati mei:
Si dedero somnum oculis meis, et palpebris meis dormitationem:
Et requiem temporibus meis: donec inveniam locum Domino, tabernaculum Deo Iacob.
Ecce audivimus eam in Ephrata: invenimus eam in campis silvae.
Introibimus in tabernaculum eius: adorabimus in loco, ubi steterunt pedes eius.
Surge, Domine, in requiem tuam, tu et arca sanctificationis tuae.
Iuravit Dominus David veritatem, et non frustrabitur eam: de fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam.
ENGLISH
O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness.
How he swore to the Lord, he vowed a vow to the God of Jacob:
If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house: if I shall go up into the bed wherein I lie:
If I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids,
Or rest to my temples: until I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
Behold we have heard of it in Ephrata: we have found it in the fields of the wood.
We will go into his tabernacle: we will adore in the place where his feet stood.
Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place: thou and the ark, which thou hast sanctified.
The Lord hath sworn truth to David, and he will not make it void: of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Dedication of churches, Davidic covenant
CONTEXT
Psalm 132 in Hebrew numbering. Thirteenth Song of Ascents. The Davidic promise 'of the fruit of thy womb' is applied to Christ through Mary.