PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS XII — VSQVEQVO DOMINE

How Long, O Lord?

Usquequo Domine is a lament psalm expressing the anguish of prolonged suffering and the apparent hiddenness of God. The psalmist's fourfold 'How long?' voices the universal cry of those who wait for divine intervention. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Monday Matins. The Fathers interpret the 'enlightened eyes' as the gift of spiritual understanding that sustains hope in darkness.

LATINE
Usquequo, Domine, oblivisceris me in finem? Usquequo avertis faciem tuam a me?
Quamdiu ponam consilia in anima mea, dolorem in corde meo per diem?
Usquequo exaltabitur inimicus meus super me? Respice, et exaudi me, Domine, Deus meus.
Illumina oculos meos ne umquam obdormiam in morte: nequando dicat inimicus meus: Praevalui adversus eum.
Qui tribulant me, exsultabunt si motus fuero: ego autem in misericordia tua speravi.
Exsultabit cor meum in salutari tuo: cantabo Domino qui bona tribuit mihi: et psallam nomini Domini altissimi.
ENGLISH
How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? How long dost thou turn away thy face from me?
How long shall I take counsels in my soul, sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God.
Enlighten my eyes that I never sleep in death: lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.
They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved: but I have trusted in thy mercy.
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation: I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: yea I will sing to the name of the Lord the most high.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Times of desolation, Spiritual dryness
CONTEXT
Psalm 13 in Hebrew numbering. Model for the prayer of those experiencing spiritual darkness or the 'dark night.'