PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXL — DOMINE CLAMAVI

I Have Cried to Thee, O Lord

Domine, clamavi ad te, exaudi me is an evening psalm praying for guarded speech and deliverance from the wicked's traps. The verse 'Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; the lifting up of my hands as evening sacrifice' has made this the classic Vespers psalm.

LATINE
Domine, clamavi ad te, exaudi me: intende voci meae, cum clamavero ad te.
Dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum in conspectu tuo: elevatio manuum mearum sacrificium vespertinum.
Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo: et ostium circumstantiae labiis meis.
Non declines cor meum in verba malitiae, ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis.
Cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem: et non communicabo cum electis eorum.
Corripiet me iustus in misericordia, et increpabit me: oleum autem peccatoris non impinguet caput meum.
ENGLISH
I have cried to thee, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice, when I cry to thee.
Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice.
Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips.
Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins.
With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them.
The just shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Vespers, Evening prayer
CONTEXT
Psalm 141 in Hebrew numbering. V. 2 'Dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum' is the source for liturgical incense symbolism. Central to Vespers.