The Word Am I

The Book of Psalms

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

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- Chapter 116 -

The Lord has heard my voice

1
Alleluia. I have loved: therefore, the Lord will heed the voice of my prayer.(a)
2
For he has inclined his ear to me. And in my days, I will call upon him.
3
The sorrows of death have surrounded me, and the perils of Hell have found me. I have found tribulation and sorrow.
4
And so, I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, free my soul.
5
Merciful is the Lord, and just. And our God is compassionate.
6
The Lord is the keeper of little ones. I was humbled, and he freed me.
7
Turn again, my soul, to your rest. For the Lord has done good to you.
8
For he has rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from slipping.
9
I will please the Lord in the land of the living.

Footnotes

(a)114:1 In this case, ‘quoniam’ does not mean ‘because,’ but more like ‘therefore.’ Here is a common translation problem. A Latin word is very often translated, and properly so, by one particular English word. Then along comes a context in which that Latin word actually means something else. It should be translated in this other context by another English word. But it is a common translation mistake not to do so. In this verse, the statement ‘I have loved,’ is followed, not by the reason that I loved, but by the result of that choice. I do not choose to love because I think that God will answer my prayers, but rather when I choose to love, the result is that God will answer my prayers.(Conte)
10
Alleluia. I had confidence, because of what I was saying, but then I was greatly humbled.
11
I said in my excess, “Every man is a liar.”
12
What shall I repay to the Lord, for all the things that he has repaid to me?
13
I will take up the cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
14
I will repay my vows to the Lord, in the sight of all his people.
15
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones.
16
O Lord, because I am your servant, your servant and the son of your handmaid, you have broken my bonds.
17
I will sacrifice to you the sacrifice of praise, and I will invoke the name of the Lord.
18
I will repay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people,
19
in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem.
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