PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS LVIII — ERIPE ME

Deliver Me From My Enemies

Eripe me de inimicis meis is an imprecatory psalm calling for vindication against violent persecutors. The vivid imagery of enemies as ravenous dogs and the morning praise of deliverance structure this psalm of spiritual combat. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Thursday Matins. The Fathers counsel that imprecations be directed against spiritual enemies, not persons.

LATINE
Eripe me de inimicis meis, Deus meus: et ab insurgentibus in me libera me.
Eripe me de operantibus iniquitatem: et de viris sanguinum salva me.
Quia ecce ceperunt animam meam: irruerunt in me fortes.
Neque iniquitas mea, neque peccatum meum, Domine: sine iniquitate cucurri, et direxi.
Exsurge in occursum meum, et vide: et tu, Domine, Deus virtutum, Deus Israel.
Ego autem cantabo fortitudinem tuam: et exsultabo mane misericordiam tuam.
Quia factus es susceptor meus, et refugium meum, in die tribulationis meae.
Adiutor meus, tibi psallam, quia Deus susceptor meus es: Deus meus, misericordia mea.
ENGLISH
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me from them that rise up against me.
Deliver me from them that work iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
For behold they have caught my soul: the mighty have rushed in upon me.
Neither is it my iniquity, nor my sin, O Lord: without iniquity have I run, and directed my course.
Rise up thou to meet me, and behold: even thou, O Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel.
But I will sing thy strength: and will extol thy mercy in the morning.
For thou art become my support, and my refuge, in the day of my trouble.
Unto thee, O my helper, will I sing, for thou art God my defence: my God my mercy.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Against persecution, Morning prayer
CONTEXT
Psalm 59 in Hebrew numbering. The context is Saul's men watching David's house to kill him (1 Sam 19:11).