PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXLVI — LAVDATE DOMINVM

Praise Ye the Lord, Because Psalm Is Good

Laudate Dominum quoniam bonus is a hymn praising God who rebuilds Jerusalem and heals the brokenhearted. The imagery moves from cosmic power (numbering the stars) to tender care (binding up wounds). In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Lauds. The contrast between the humble whom God lifts up and the wicked whom He casts down echoes the Magnificat.

LATINE
Laudate Dominum quoniam bonus est psalmus: Deo nostro sit iucunda, decoraque laudatio.
Aedificans Ierusalem Dominus: dispersiones Israelis congregabit.
Qui sanat contritos corde: et alligat contritiones eorum.
Qui numerat multitudinem stellarum: et omnibus eis nomina vocat.
Magnus Dominus noster, et magna virtus eius: et sapientiae eius non est numerus.
Suscipiens mansuetos Dominus: humilians autem peccatores usque ad terram.
Non in fortitudine equi voluntatem habebit: nec in tibiis viri beneplacitum erit ei.
Beneplacitum est Domino super timentes eum: et in eis, qui sperant super misericordia eius.
ENGLISH
Praise ye the Lord, because psalm is good: to our God be joyful and comely praise.
The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem: he will gather together the dispersed of Israel.
Who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their bruises.
Who telleth the number of the stars: and calleth them all by their names.
Great is our Lord, and great is his power: and of his wisdom there is no number.
The Lord lifteth up the meek, and bringeth the wicked down even to the ground.
He shall not delight in the strength of the horse: nor take pleasure in the legs of a man.
The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him: and in them that hope in his mercy.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Lauds, Comfort of the afflicted
CONTEXT
Psalm 147:1-11 in Hebrew numbering. The juxtaposition of numbering stars and healing hearts shows God's care for cosmos and individual alike.