Book III by Athanasian Grail Psalter

Psalm 73(72) Quam bonus Israel! 1 How good God is to Israel, to those who are pure of heart. 2 Yet my feet came close to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped 3 for I was filled with envy of the proud when I saw how the wicked prosper. 4 For them there are no pains; their bodies are sound and sleek. 5 They do not share in men's sorrows; they are not stricken like others. 6 So they wear their pride like a necklace, they clothe themselves with violence. 7 Their hearts overflow with malice, their minds seethe with plots. 8 They scoff; they speak with malice; from on high they plan oppression. 9 They have set their mouths in the heavens and their tongues dictate to the earth. 10 So the people turn to follow them and drink in all their words. 11 They say: "How can God know? Does the Most High take any notice?" 12 Look at them, such are the wicked, but untroubled, they grow in wealth. * * * 13 How useless to keep my heart pure and wash my hands in innocence, 14 when I was stricken all day long, suffered punishment day after day. 15 Then I said: "If I should speak like that, I should betray the race of your sons." 16 I strove to fathom this problem, too hard for my mind to understand, 17 until I pierced the mysteries of God and understood what becomes of the wicked. * * * 18 How slippery the paths on which you set them; you make them slide to destruction. 19 How suddenly they come to their ruin, wiped out, destroyed by terrors. 20 Like a dream one wakes from, O Lord, when you wake you dismiss them as phantoms. 21 And so when my heart grew embittered and when I was cut to the quick, 22 I was stupid and did not understand, no better than a beast in your sight. 23 Yet I was always in your presence; you were holding me by my right hand. 24 You will guide me by your counsel and so you will lead me to glory. 25 What else have I in heaven but you? Apart from you I want nothing on earth. 26 My body and my heart faint for joy; God is my possession for ever. 27 All those who abandon you shall perish; you will destroy all those who are faithless. 28 To be near God is my happiness. I have made the Lord God my refuge. I will tell of your works at the gates of the city of Zion. Return to Athanasius' Letter Psalm 74(73) Ut quid, Deus? 1 Why, O God, have you cast us off for ever? Why blaze with anger at the sheep of your pasture? 2 Remember your people whom who chose long ago, the tribe you redeemed to be your own possession, the mountain of Zion where you made your dwelling. 3 Turn your steps to these places that are utterly ruined! The enemy has laid waste the whole of the sanctuary. 4 Your foes have made uproar in your house of prayer: they have set up their emblems, their foreign emblems, 5 high above the entrance to the sanctuary. /6 Their axes have battered the wood of its doors. They have struck together with hatchet and pickax. 7 O God, they have set your sanctuary on fire; they have razed and profaned the place where you dwell. 8 They said in their hearts: "Let us utterly crush them; let us burn every shrine of God in the land." 9 There is no sign from God, nor have we a prophet, we have no one to tell us how long it will last. 10 How long, O God, is the enemy to scoff? Is the foe to insult your name for ever? 11 Why, O Lord, do you hold back your hand? Why do you keep your right hand hidden? 12 Yet God is our king from time past, the giver of help through all the land. 13 It was you who divided the sea by your might, who shattered the heads of the monsters in the sea. 14 It was you who crushed Leviathan's heads and gave him as food to the untamed beasts. 15 It was you opened springs and torrents; it was you who dried up ever-flowing rivers. 16 Yours is the day and yours is the night. 17 It was you who appointed the light and the sun; it was you who fixed the bounds of the earth: you who made both summer and winter. 18 Remember this, Lord, and see the enemy scoffing; a senseless people insults your name. 19 Do not give Israel, your dove, to the hawk nor forget the life of your poor ones for ever. 20 Remember your covenant; every cave in the land is a place where violence makes its home. 21 Do not let the oppressed return disappointed; let the poor and the needy bless your name. 22 Arise, O God, and defend your cause! Remember how the senseless revile you all the day. 23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the daily increasing uproar of your foes. Return to Athanasius' Letter Psalm 75(74) Confitebimur tibi .2 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks and call upon your name. We recount your wonderful deeds. * * * .3 "When I reach the appointed time, then I will judge with justice. .4 Though the earth and all who dwell in it may rock, it is I who uphold its pillars. .5 To the boastful I say: 'Do not boast,' to the wicked: 'Do not flaunt your strength, .6 do not flaunt your strength on high. Do not speak with insolent pride.' " .7 For neither from the east nor the west, nor from desert or mountains comes judgment, .8 but God himself is the judge. One he humbles, another he exalts. .9 The Lord holds a cup in his hand, full of wine, foaming and spiced. He pours it; they drink it to the dregs; all the wicked on the earth must drain it. .10 As for me, I will rejoice for ever and sing psalms to Jacob's God. .11 He shall break the power of the wicked, while the strength of the just shall be exalted. Return to Athanasius' Letter Psalm 76(75) Notus in Judaea .2 God, you are made known in Judah; in Israel your name is great. .3 You set up your tent in Jerusalem and your dwelling place in Zion. .4 It was there you broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, the armor. .5 You, O Lord, are resplendent, more majestic than the everlasting mountains. .6 The warriors, despoiled, slept in death; the hands of the soldiers were powerless. .7 At your threat, O God of Jacob, horse and rider lay stunned. .8 You, you alone, strike terror. Who shall stand when your anger is roused? .9 You uttered your sentence from the heavens; the earth in terror was still .10 when you arose to judge, to save the humble of the earth. .11 Men's anger will serve to praise you; its survivors surround you with joy. .12 Make vows to your God and fulfill them. Let all pay tribute to him who strikes terror, .13 who cuts short the breath of princes, who strikes terror in the kings of the earth. Return to Athanasius' Letter Psalm 77(76) Voce mea ad Dominum .2 I cry aloud to God, cry aloud to God that he may hear me. .3 In the day of my distress I sought the Lord. My hands were raised at night without ceasing; my soul refused to be consoled. .4 I remembered my God and I groaned. I pondered and my spirit fainted. .5 You withheld sleep from my eyes. I was troubled, I could not speak. .6 I thought of the days of long ago and remembered the years long past. .7 At night I mused within my heart. I pondered and my spirit questioned. .8 "Will the Lord reject us for ever? Will he show us his favor no more? .9 Has his love vanished for ever? Has his promise come to an end? .10 Does God forget his mercy or in anger withhold his compassion?" .11 I said: "This is what causes my grief; that the way of the Most High has changed." .12 I remember the deeds of the Lord, I remember your wonders of old, .13 I muse on all your works and ponder your mighty deeds. .14 Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? .15 You are the God who works wonders. You showed your power among the peoples. .16 Your strong arm redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. .17 The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and trembled; the depths were moved with terror. .18 The clouds poured down rain, the skies sent forth their voice; your arrows flashed to and fro. .19 Your thunder rolled round the sky, your flashes lighted up the world. The earth was moved and trembled .20 when your way led through the sea, your path through the mighty waters and no one saw your footprints. .21 You guided your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Return to Athanasius' Letter Psalm 78(77) Attendite, popule 1 Give heed, my people, to my teaching; turn your ear to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable and reveal hidden lessons of the past. 3 The things we have heard and understood, the things our fathers have told us, 4 these we will not hide from their children but will tell them to the next generation: the glories of the Lord and his might and the marvelous deeds he has done, 5 the witness he gave to Jacob, the law he established in Israel. He gave a command to our fathers to make it known to their children 6 that the next generation might know it, the children yet to be born. 7 They too should arise and tell their sons that they too should set their hope in God and never forget God's deeds but keep every one of his commands, 8 so that they might not be like their fathers, a defiant and rebellious race, a race whose heart was fickle, whose spirit was unfaithful to God. * * * 9 The sons of Ephraim, armed with the bow, turned back in the day of battle. 10 They failed to keep God's covenant and would not walk according to his law. 11 They forgot the things he has done, the marvelous deeds he had shown them. 12 He did wonders in the sight of their fathers, in Egypt, in the plains of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and led them through and made the waters stand up like a wall. 14 By day he led them with a cloud, by night, with a light of fire. 15 He split the rocks in the desert. He gave them plentiful drink as from the deep. 16 He made streams flow out from the rock and made waters run down like rivers. * * * 17 Yet still they sinned against him; they defied the Most High in the desert. 18 In their heart they put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. 19 They even spoke against God. They said: "Is it possible for God to prepare a table in the desert? 20 It was he who struck the rock, water flowed and swept down in torrents. But can he also give us bread? Can he provide meat for his people?" 21 When he heard this the Lord was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, his anger rose against Israel 22 for having no faith in God; for refusing to trust in his help. 23 Yet he commanded the clouds above and opened the gates of heaven. 24 He rained down manna for their food, and gave them bread from heaven. 25 Mere men ate the bread of angels. He sent them abundance of food; 26 he made the east wind blow from heaven and roused the south wind by his might. 27 He rained food on them like dust, winged fowl like the sands of the sea. 28 He let it fall in the midst of their camp and all around their tents. 29 So they ate and had their fill; and he gave them all they craved. 30 But before they had sated their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, 31 God's anger rose against them. He slew the strongest among them, struck down the flower of Israel. 32 Despite this they went on sinning; they had no faith in his wonders: 33 so he ended their days like a breath and their years in sudden ruin. 34 When he slew them then they would seek him, return and seek him in earnest. 35 They would remember that God was their rock, God the Most High their redeemer. 36 But the words they spoke were mere flattery; they lied to him with their lips. 37 For their hearts were not truly with him; they were not faithful to his covenant. 38 Yet he who is full of compassion forgave them their sin and spared them. So often he held back his anger when he might have stirred up his rage. 39 He remembered they were only men, a breath that passes never to return. * * * 40 How often they defied him in the wilderness and caused him pain in the desert! 41 Yet again they put God to the test and grieved the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember his deeds nor the day he saved them from the foe; 43 when he worked his miracles in Egypt, his wonders in the plains of Zoan;

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Book III

Athanasian Grail Psalter

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