PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS LXIII — EXAVDI DEVS

Hear, O God, My Prayer

Exaudi Deus orationem meam cum deprecor is a psalm of confident petition for protection from the secret plots of the wicked. The contrast between the hidden arrows of the enemies and God's sudden arrow of judgment structures the psalm. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Friday Matins. The imagery of warfare makes it apt for spiritual combat.

LATINE
Exaudi, Deus, orationem meam cum deprecor: a timore inimici eripe animam meam.
Protexisti me a conventu malignantium: a multitudine operantium iniquitatem.
Quia exacuerunt ut gladium linguas suas: intenderunt arcum rem amaram.
Ut sagittent in occultis immaculatum.
Subito sagittabunt eum, et non timebunt: firmaverunt sibi sermonem nequam.
Narraverunt ut absconderent laqueos: dixerunt: Quis videbit eos?
Scrutati sunt iniquitates: defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio.
Accedet homo ad cor altum: et exaltabitur Deus.
Laetabitur iustus in Domino, et sperabit in eo: et laudabuntur omnes recti corde.
ENGLISH
Hear, O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.
Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.
For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing.
To shoot in secret the undefiled.
They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness.
They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them?
They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search.
Man shall come to a deep heart: and God shall be exalted.
The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Against slander, Times of conspiracy
CONTEXT
Psalm 64 in Hebrew numbering. The imagery of tongues as swords anticipates James 3 on the power of the tongue.