PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXI — BEATVS VIR QVI TIMET

Blessed Is the Man That Feareth the Lord

Beatus vir qui timet Dominum is an alphabetic acrostic wisdom psalm describing the blessedness of the God-fearing man. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Sunday Vespers as part of the festal psalms. The portrait of the just man - merciful, generous, unshaken by evil tidings - became the model for Christian virtue.

LATINE
Beatus vir qui timet Dominum: in mandatis eius volet nimis.
Potens in terra erit semen eius: generatio rectorum benedicetur.
Gloria et divitiae in domo eius: et iustitia eius manet in saeculum saeculi.
Exortum est in tenebris lumen rectis: misericors, et miserator, et iustus.
Iucundus homo qui miseretur et commodat, disponet sermones suos in iudicio:
Quia in aeternum non commovebitur.
In memoria aeterna erit iustus: ab auditione mala non timebit.
Paratum cor eius sperare in Domino, confirmatum est cor eius: non commovebitur donec despiciat inimicos suos.
Dispersit, dedit pauperibus: iustitia eius manet in saeculum saeculi: cornu eius exaltabitur in gloria.
Peccator videbit, et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet et tabescet: desiderium peccatorum peribit.
ENGLISH
Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.
His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the righteous shall be blessed.
Glory and wealth shall be in his house: and his justice remaineth for ever and ever.
To the righteous a light is risen up in darkness: he is merciful, and compassionate and just.
Acceptable is the man that sheweth mercy and lendeth: he shall order his words with judgment:
Because he shall not be moved for ever.
The just shall be in everlasting remembrance: he shall not fear the evil hearing.
His heart is ready to hope in the Lord: his heart is strengthened, he shall not be moved until he look over his enemies.
He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor: his justice remaineth for ever and ever: his horn shall be exalted in glory.
The wicked shall see, and shall be angry, he shall gnash with his teeth and pine away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Sunday Vespers, Stewardship, Almsgiving
CONTEXT
Psalm 112 in Hebrew numbering. St. Paul quotes v. 9 on generosity (2 Cor 9:9). The psalm pairs with Psalm 110 as wisdom mirror-images.