{N}1,{/}1: The first psalm speaks of happiness, just as Jesus' first discourse began with "Happy!" (or being blessed "Fortunate").
We often find the theme of two ways in the Bible (Dt 30:15; Jer 21:8; Prov 4:18; Mt 7:13). It expresses our personal responsibility which will be clearly seen on the day of judgment. Whatever the appearances may be at times, true happiness is for those who are faithful to the will of God.
Jesus is the green and productive tree, {C}par excellence{/}. All that is good, great, beautiful and holy in the heart of a person blossoms on the tree of the cross.

{N}9,{/}2: Psalms 9 and 10 of the Hebrew text are only the two halves of the Greek or Latin Bible text. This causes the disarrangement in the numbering of the psalms which begins here. Psalm 9 denounces the enemies of Israel. Psalm 10 denounces the wicked within the community. Those who exploit the widow and the orphan, the foreigner and the traveler, are in fact the enemies of God.

{N}10,{/}1: The rich and the powerful may think that God is far away, that he is passive, and that perhaps, he does not exist. But God hears the cry of the oppressed. It is very easy to become rich in spirit in a consumer world: every Christian must ask himself to what extent he is not responsible for the injustice and discrimination which we witness.

{N}18,{/}2: We find in 2 Samuel 22 a version only slightly different from this psalm attributed to David.
The author thanks God who has given him the victory, he recognizes with gratitude his intervention. This intervention is expressed in a poetic way like a glorious appearance of God in the heights of the heaven (see Hab 3).
18:3. {C}My powerful Savior{/}: literally: my triumphant horn.
18:10. {C}He bent the heavens and came down{/}. It is what he did when his own Son came among us to deliver humanity from its enemies.
18:11. In the traditions of the Middle East, the {C}cherubs{/} were the winged monsters charged to escort the gods. For the Israelites they drew God's chariot or carried his throne.

{N}18,{/}29: Jesus said: "I am the light of the world," and we repeat with the psalmist: {C}You give light to my lamp. {/}

{N}21,{/}2: The preceding psalm asked help for the king; this psalm in turn gives thanks for the victory gained. We know how to ask, but do we know how to thank?
When we read the Bible, it seems that with so many of God's blessings, the kings of Israel should have had more success than they did. The Word of God is true: God's friends discover with surprise that if they persevere in fidelity, God works marvels for them.

{N}22,{/}2: This prayer is a passage from night to day. The first part is gloomy, the second is like a sunrise which gives new life and puts joy in the heart of humans. It is the long lament of the persecuted, who, on the edge of the abyss are given assurance and certitude.
From the beginning, Christian tradition has applied this psalm to Jesus himself. In fact, we find here the passion of Jesus: the {C}bulls{/}, the {C}lions{/}, the {C}dogs{/} are the enemies; {C}only a worm{/}, it is the humiliation of blows and the infamy of the cross; and his clothes were divided just as he said.
Jesus himself made this psalm his own when from the cross he uttered this cry: "My God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus himself felt he had appealed to God in vain... And yet, in the midst of this terrible darkness, a light in the soul of Jesus does not waver. He knows that in spite of this silence, the Father is always with him and all the second part of the psalm is a song of trust which ends in a cry of triumph.
The Crucified of Good Friday is transformed to the Glorious Lord and his reign will be universal. Jesus had said: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself."
Christian life is a passage from death to life. What is marvelous is that through Jesus we can always bring good from evil, happiness from suffering and even from death.

{N}22,{/}26: {C}I will fulfill my vows{/}: it is a matter of sacrifices and of thanksgiving.

{N}22,{/}27: It is an allusion to the banquet that God has prepared for his elect: Is 25:6; Lk 22:30.

{N}25,{/}2: {C}Remember your compassion{/}, {C}O Lord, your unfailing love from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth. {/}The love of God for us has been eternally expressed by the blood of Jesus. God will never forsake his people. Every mass celebrates this covenant between God and us in the blood of Jesus.

{N}26,{/}2: {C}I wash my hands{/}, such was a liturgical act; it is a way of expressing the absence of faults.

{N}30,{/}2: Verse 10 mentions what had become the scandal of believers. Is it possible that the dead go forever to this underworld (they called it Sheol) and that God who is so faithful might forget them?

{N}31,{/}2: Luke attributes these words to Jesus on the cross. A little further on we find other words, {C}"You are my God,{/}" which are also in Psalm 22, and closely linked to the Passion. It will be our last hope at the moment of death.

{N}36,{/}2: The first part (vv. 1-5) shows us evil as a personified power. The second (vv. 6-13) tells us that the power of God is still greater.

{N}37,{/}2: The psalm is addressed not only to believers, but to a people of God concerned about its land.
Do not be discouraged when others cause you difficulties; or when they multiply little vexations intended to make you leave. Keep calm and have courage. The children of a people who lives in solidarity and believes in God's promises will be masters one day.
Time works for God; the tree that the Father did not plant will be uprooted. History turns against those who impose their truth.

{N}38,{/}2: The third of the so-called seven Penitence Psalms: Ps 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143. The greater the sin, the greater must be our trust in God.
{C}I confess my transgression, I repent of my sin{/} (v._19). The Old Testament does not clearly distinguish sin from misfortune: if someone is sick and has trials, it is surely because there is a debt with God. In theory, of course, it is not true: beware of guilt when things go wrong for us! In fact, the sick person is always a sinner; his weakness will help him to know the truth.

{N}40,{/}2: Two prayers have been combined in this psalm. The first is verses 2-12 (or 13).
{C}With resolve I waited for the Lord.{/} Who speaks in this psalm? If one compares it to the Poems of the Servant (Isaiah 49-53) or to Psalms 22 and 68, it seems that it is not a matter of only one person. The psalm expresses the thanksgiving of the believing minority of God's people, agents of God for the salvation of the world. It is also a fact that in the Bible someone, a savior or the Savior always embodies the people or the faithful group. This psalm then is in a special way applicable to Christ, even if it expresses the prayer of the people of God in their trials.
{C}Out of the horrid pit he drew me. Many will see and be awed and put their trust in the Lord.{/} The Church is in the hands of God and he will not spare it from trials along the way. Could it, without that, be the instrument of salvation? God asks all of us to accept in different ways this vocation of sacrifice, but it is only perfectly accomplished in the case of Christ: {C}Then I said, Here I come!{/}
From verse 14, we have the text of Psalm 70: verse 13 was probably part of it.

{N}44,{/}2: Everywhere, including Christian countries, Christians are only a minority among a mass of people of other religions, or far removed from faith in Christ. That is why we remember with nostalgia other times when everyone professed the same faith and took part in religious celebrations.
The Jews were in a similar situation when this psalm was written. It must have been the time of the Maccabees, when a minority of believers were trying to uplift Israel in the face of Syrian persecution and the resignation of the majority.
In a poetical contrast, the psalmist opposes the failure of the faithful troops to the triumphant conquest of Palestine, six centuries earlier when the Israelites left Egypt under the leadership of Moses and Joshua (vv. 2-9).
Verses 10-17: These humiliated people express anguish at having lost God himself: he no longer does the wonders he did before to prove that he alone is God.
Yet this passionate complaint (vv. 24-25) is not without hope: the psalmist is convinced that God is all-powerful and his love is faithful (v. 27). It is the same for us. We have good reason to be discouraged: how many counter testimonies! how many apostolic efforts that seem to fail; how God seems to let his Church get stuck in the mud of old, lifeless structures! _How the mission to the masses has been forgotten! Will God not come back? Whatever may be the responsibility of Christians in the actual situation, God still knows how to draw a greater good from it.

{N}48,{/}2: This psalm, like Psalm 46, mentions the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem.
{C}The holy mountain{/}, the text reads: Mount Zion in the far north - ancient traditions considered the mountains of the north as the residence of the gods.
{C}Walk around Zion{/}: this refers, perhaps, to the very ancient religious practice of walking around a sanctuary and touching the wall.

{N}50,{/}1: For a long time, it has been a subject of reflection and discussion for the people of God to know what, in God's eyes is more important: the offering of sacrifices or keeping the Law? The psalm demands honoring God with sacrifices, but clearly gives priority to an upright life.

{N}52,{/}3: This psalm is almost identical to Ps 14.
The psalmist asks God to do justice against an oppressor. The fall of an unjust system is a judgment of God, but we know that it is not only a question of a group of good people confronting a wicked group.

{N}54,{/}3: In verse 1, we see that the {C}name{/} of God and his strong intervention are almost identical (see Mk 16:17; Acts 3:6; Phil 2:9). If we place our trust in the name of Jesus, our prayer will not be in vain.

{N}58,{/}2: The rulers and those responsible for social justice are called {C}gods{/} because they represent God in carrying out their functions.

{N}59,{/}2: Is God far from evil places? Does he do nothing there? Is there no prayer, no witness which can move them?

{N}60,{/}3: Perhaps it is difficult for us to understand this psalm. The people have been humiliated and are complaining to God that it is his fault. Then, in the Temple, a priest or a prophet proclaims a comforting message from God: he is going to war and his arms will be the tribes of Israel: Gilead, Ephraim, Judah... and he will trample the neighboring countries... Edom, Moab...

{N}61,{/}2: The king of Israel has trouble and he says his prayer or someone says it for him. How much, perhaps, do we ask of God daily, for house, husband, children and the cat. God knows it is better not to hear everything but it pleases him that we want to call on him: in fact, he is all that we lack.

{N}64,{/}2: {C}Humankind will stand in awe. {/}We should not despise the fear of God, unless we belong to those perfect people who have become pure love of God. A child is not educated without correction. The great majority of humans are not angels, and they need to see that justice is effective. How many people have seen the justice of God rise in the eastern countries! Ask him to let it rise in our western world.

{N}68,{/}2: We have here a very ancient psalm, fairly picturesque, although in certain places the text may be obscure, having been badly preserved.
This psalm was sung in processions going up to Jerusalem. The faithful knew God was with them and the procession was like the entry of the triumphant God into his Temple.
This explains the images we find in this psalm. The Lord God has come from Sinai to the Holy Land, mounted on the clouds, or on the cherubim. He has been at the side of his people, and his miracles in the desert startled nature (vv.9-10). The enemy kings are defeated: this is a reference to the victory of Deborah at the torrent of Kishon (Jdg 4). The psalmist then remembers the choice of God's mountain, Jerusalem (vv. 16-17). This choice causes jealousy in the great mountains.
All ends with a vision of the future full of hope. God who rides on the clouds will manifest himself to all the nations. In the liturgy, this psalm is used for the Ascension of the Lord.

{N}69,{/}2: The prayer of a believer who, no doubt, would be less a target of mockery and affront from his circle if he were not known as a Chris-tian. {C}A jealous love of your house devours me, draws insults from those who insult you{/} (see Jn 2:17). Let us not think too quickly that if we are persecuted, it is because we are believers; and yet Jesus said that must be. Humiliation - often justified - will  accompany the graces and the glory which God gives his children (2 Cor 4:7).

{N}70,{/}2: This psalm is almost a repetition of Psalm 40:14-18; here, {C}Lord{/} is replaced by {C}God{/}. This is due to the fact that before they were included in the Bible, the psalms circulated in different collections.

{N}71,{/}1: We shall have a better knowledge of the love of God at the end of our lives, and it will be easy for us to remember the wonders he worked for us. May God grant us true consolation at the end of our present life.

{N}74,{/}2: The great trials and persecutions at the time of the Maccabees had been a challenge to God: could he not and should he not act? It is the same in those places where the Church is really persecuted. With verse 14, we find the ancient legends about creation: God split in two the sea monster, the wicked goddess Rahab, and thrown her to the sea turtles to be eaten.

{N}77,{/}2: {C}The Most High no longer acts as before. {/}The psalmist meditates on God's marvels in the past, and then returns to his own time. It would seem that God abandons his people in the midst of insoluble difficulties. The fact is that the past is seen more beautiful than it was, even in the Bible. Similarly, the actual crises in the Church could be seen as collapse, but the next generation will find that there has been a resurrection. Likewise, in the life of every believer, there are moments when God reveals himself and lifts us, and others when he asks for our fidelity even though he offers no encouragement.
{C}I remember the deeds of the Lord, I recall his marvels of old.{/} We say with Paul: "Why will God, who has given his Son for us, not give us all with him?" Let us remember our past, the past of our nation and of our Christian community and let us search to discover God's patience and to see in our misfortunes the consequence of our sins. In particular, the division of Christians into so many churches should make us feel that we have not been faithful to the teaching of Christ.

{N}78,{/}2: {C}Ephraim... Jacob... Joseph. {/}We must not forget that for centuries, Israel was divided into two kingdoms. The strongest, the one in the north called the kingdom of Israel, considered itself the true heir of the ancestor Jacob-Israel, and the chief tribe was that of Ephraim, son of Joseph. 
Doubtless the psalm was written in this kingdom before it disappeared. When it was again taken to the Temple of Jerusalem, in the kingdom of Judah, verses 67-72 were added. The first part showed the disobedience of the people in the north, and then ended with the kindness of God for those of the south - for us, of course, who are still here.

{N}79,{/}2: Here again is a psalm born of the religious persecution at the time of the Maccabees. The Bible liked to consider the psalms as prayers composed by David. When the apostles quote a psalm, they say: "God said through the mouth of David..." The psalms are in fact the prayer of a people that lived and suffered.
This psalm reminds God that his honor is at stake: what does he think? Are we ready to accept that the glory of God includes failure and and at times, humiliations for his people?

{N}80,{/}2: This psalm refers to the years of trial for the kingdom of Israel at the time of Elisha. Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh were the more important tribes of the northern kingdom. In the former century, it extended from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates (v. 12).
Verse 18 refers to the King.

{N}83,{/}2: Verses 10-13 refer to the wars of liberation of Israel at the time of the Judges (chs. 4 and 7).

