They have called, etc... That is, they have left their names on their graves, which alone remain of their lands.
48:13. And man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them.
48:14. This way of theirs is a stumblingblock to them: and afterwards they shall delight in their mouth.
They shall delight in their mouth... Notwithstanding the wretched way in which they walk, they shall applaud themselves with their mouths, and glory in their doings.
48:15. They are laid in h.e.l.l like sheep: death shall feed upon them. And the just shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their help shall decay in h.e.l.l from their glory.
In the morning... That is, in the resurrection to a new life; when the just shall judge and condemn the wicked. Ibid. From their glory... That is, when their short-lived glory in this world shall be past, and be no more.
48:16. But G.o.d will redeem my soul from the hand of h.e.l.l, when he shall receive me.
48:17. Be not thou afraid, when a man shall be made rick, and when the glory of his house shall be increased.
48:18. For when he shall die he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him.
48:19. For in his lifetime his soul will be blessed: and he will praise thee when thou shalt do well to him.
48:20. He shall g in to the gneerations of his fathers: and he shall never see light.
48:21. Man when he was in honour did not understand: he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them.
Psalms Chapter 49
Deus deorum.
The coming of Christ: who prefers virtue and inward purity before the blood of victims.
49:1. A psalm for Asaph. The G.o.d of G.o.ds, the Lord hath spoken: and he hath called the earth. From the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof:
49:2. Out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty.
49:3. G.o.d shall come manifestly: our G.o.d shall come, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn before him: and a mighty tempest shall be round about him.
49:4. He shall call heraven from above, and the earth, to judge his people.
49:5. Gather ye together his saints to him: who set his covenant before sacrifices.
49:6. And the heavens shall declare his justice: for G.o.d is judge.
49:7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak: O Israel, and I will testify to thee: I am G.o.d, thy G.o.d.
49:8. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices: and thy burnt offerings are always in my sight.
49:9. I will not take calves out of thy house: nor he goats out of thy flocks.
49:10. For all the beasts of the woods are mine: the cattle on the hills, and the oxen.
49:11. I know all the fowls of the air: and with me is the beauty of the field.
49:12. If I should be hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
49:13. Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks? or shall I drink the blood of goats?
49:14. Offer to G.o.d the sacrifice of praise: and pay thy vows to the most High.
49:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
49:16. But to the sinner G.o.d hath said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth?
49:17. Seeing thou hast hated discipline: and hast cast my words behind thee.
49:18. If thou didst see a thief thou didst run with him: and with adulterers thou hast been a partaker.
49:19. Thy mouth hath abounded with evil, and thy tongue framed deceits.
49:20. Sitting thou didst speak against thy brother, and didst lay a scandal against thy mother"s son:
49:21. These things hast thou done, and I was silent. Thou thoughtest unjustly that I should be like to thee: but I will reprove thee, and set before thy face.
49:22. Understand these things, you that forget G.o.d; lest he s.n.a.t.c.h you away, and there be none to deliver you.
49:23. The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me: and there is the way by which I will shew him the salvation of G.o.d.
Psalms Chapter 50
Miserere.
The repentance and confession of David after his sin. The fourth penitential psalm.
50:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David,
50:2. When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had sinned with Bethsabee. [2 Kings 12.]
50:3. Have mercy on me, O G.o.d, according to thy great mercy. And according to the mult.i.tude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.
50:4. Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
50:5. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.
50:6. To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil befoer thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art judged.
50:7. For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me.
50:8. For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.
50:9. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.