Psalm 120 (after Bellarmine)

David introduces the Psalms. Master Jean de Mandeville,
(French, active 1350 - 1370) [Getty Museum]

We continue to build the pages of the Little Office website. Below is Psalm 120, from Terce, with notes based on St Robert Bellarmine's explanations.

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

[ ]  Footnotes are not hyperlinked but refer to the notes after the Psalm.

Psalm 120

Levávi oculos. God is the keeper of his servants. A gradual canticle.

[1] Levávi óculos meos in montes, * unde véniet auxílium mihi.
I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, * from whence help shall come to me.

[2] Auxílium meum a Dómino, * qui fecit cælum et terram.
My help is from the Lord, * who made heaven and earth.

[3] Non det in commotiónem pedem tuum: * neque dormítet qui custódit te.
May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: * neither let him slumber that keepeth thee.

[4] Ecce, non dormitábit neque dórmiet, * qui custódit Israël.
Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, * that keepeth Israel.

[5] Dóminus custódit te, Dóminus protéctio tua, * super manum déxteram tuam.
The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection * upon thy right hand.

[6] Per diem sol non uret te: * neque luna per noctem.
The sun shall not burn thee by day: * nor the moon by night.

[7] Dóminus custódit te ab omni malo: * custódiat ánimam tuam Dóminus.
The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: * may the Lord keep thy soul.

[8] Dóminus custódiat intróitum tuum, et éxitum tuum: * ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum.
May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; * from henceforth now and for ever.

Notes

[1] Levávi óculos meos in montes, * unde véniet auxílium mihi.
I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, * from whence help shall come to me.
Travellers look at nothing more frequently than the place for which they are bound, and if they cannot see it, they fix their eyes on the point next to it, from which they derive great consolation, so much so that they gather fresh strength and courage to prosecute their journey. The earthly Jerusalem being in the mountains, and the celestial Jerusalem being above all the heavens, this traveler, whether real or imaginary, says, “I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains,” where the holy city is situated, “from whence help shall come to me,” that of consolation.

[2] Auxílium meum a Dómino, * qui fecit cælum et terram.
My help is from the Lord, * who made heaven and earth.
The traveller declares he expects no help from the mountains to which he raised his eyes, but from him who presides over the holy city that is on the mountains, which he explains more clearly in the beginning of Psalm, 122, where he says, “To thee have I lifted up my eyes who dwellest in heaven.” He then describes the true God by the creation of heaven and earth, as he did in another Psalm, where he says, “For all the gods of the gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens.”

[3] Non det in commotiónem pedem tuum: * neque dormítet qui custódit te.
May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: * neither let him slumber that keepeth thee.
The prophet, now speaking in his own person, answers the traveler, and says you did well and wisely in raising your eyes to the mountains, in not regarding the vanities you met on the road, and seeking for help and consolation from the founder of your heavenly country; and I, therefore, sincerely hope “he may not suffer thy foot to be moved,” that he may not allow you to slip or to fall on the road, but that he may so strengthen your feet that they may continue to be sound during your journey to your country. “Neither let him slumber that keepeth thee.” I also wish and pray that the Father, who is your guardian, may be always vigilant in guarding you, so as never to suffer your feet to be moved. God is said to slumber, in a figurative sense, when he suffers us, as if he did not advert to it, to fall, as he who slumbers has no cognizance of what is being done. “Thy foot to be moved,” is a Hebrew phrase for falling into sin, as in Psalm 17, “My feet are not weakened,” and in Psalm 72, “My feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipt.”

[4] Ecce, non dormitábit neque dórmiet, * qui custódit Israël.
Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, * that keepeth Israel.
The prophet promises the pilgrim the grace he had been asking for, saying, I pray that the Father, who undertook the care of you, may not slumber; and he certainly will not slumber; because he who has charge of his own people, the people of Israel, including all the pilgrims in this world, who hasten to go up to their heavenly country, never sleeps nor slumbers.

[5] Dóminus custódit te, Dóminus protéctio tua, * super manum déxteram tuam.
The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection * upon thy right hand.
[6] Per diem sol non uret te: * neque luna per noctem.
The sun shall not burn thee by day: * nor the moon by night.
The prophet just assured the pilgrim so confiding in God that he would be protected, that he may not fall on the way; and he now promises another consolation, that he would be protected from the heat of the sun in the daytime, and that of the moon in the night; because God will be like a shade to him, that he can hold in his hand, so as to protect himself on every quarter. The Lord not only protects Israel, his people in general, “but he is thy protector” in particular; and his protector, as the Hebrew implies, is like a parasol, held in the hand, and raised over the head, and can be moved so as to give protection on any side.

[7] Dóminus custódit te ab omni malo: * custódiat ánimam tuam Dóminus.
The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: * may the Lord keep thy soul.
He now adds another consolation, a general one. Not only will the Lord guard you from falling and from fatigue, but he will protect you from every other evil that could possibly befall you on the journey, so that your soul or your life will be preserved whole and intact through the whole journey.

[8] Dóminus custódiat intróitum tuum, et éxitum tuum: * ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum.
May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; * from henceforth now and for ever.
The prophet concludes by promising the last and most desirable consolation of all. Not only will the pilgrim, “who in his heart hath disposed to ascend by steps,” be so protected in any particular part of his journey; but he will be always protected throughout the journey. Every journey consists of an entrance and exit; for, as we go along, we enter on one road, and when that is finished we leave it; then we enter on another, from which we also depart; so also we come into a city or a house, and we go out of them; we enter another and out we go again, until we finish the journey by arriving at our country. Thus it is that we get along on the road of life, entering on and completing good works; for to begin corresponds with coming into; completing with going out; “from henceforth now and forever;” from this day and forever, may the Lord guard thy coming in and thy going out, and protect and save thee.