Levavi oculos. God is the keeper of his servants. A gradual canticle.
The iust reioyce that their prayer is heard, and that God continually protecteth them.
1I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.Cantico dei gradi. Alzai gli occhi miei verso de' monti, donde verrà a me soccorso.A gradual Canticle. I HAVE lifted vp mine eies vnto the mountaines, from whence helpe shal come to me.Canticum graduum. Levavi oculos meos in montes, / unde veniet auxilium mihi. 2My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.Il mio aiuto vien dal Signore, che fece il cielo, e la terra.My helpe is from our Lord, who made heauen and earth.Auxilium meum a Domino, / qui fecit cælum et terram. 3May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee.Non permetta egli, che vacilli il tuo piede: e non assonni colui, che è tuo custode.Geue he not thy foote to be moued: neither doe he slumber that keepeth thee.Non det in commotionem pedem tuum, / neque dormitet qui custodit te. 4Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel.Ecco che non assonnerà, né dormirà colui, che custodisce Israele.Loe he shal not slumber nor sleepe, that kepeth Israel.Ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet / qui custodit Israël. 5The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection upon thy right hand.Il Signore ti custodisce: il Signore è tua difesa al tuo destro fianco.Our lord kepeth thee, our Lord is thy protection, vpon thy right hand.Dominus custodit te; / Dominus protectio tua super manum dexteram tuam. 6The sun shall not burn thee by day: nor the moon by night.Non ti brugerà il sole di giorno, né la luna di notte.By day the sunne shal not burne thee: nor the moone by night.Per diem sol non uret te, / neque luna per noctem. 7The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul.Il Signore ti custodisce da ogni male: custodisca il Signore l'anima tua.Our Lord doth kepe thee from al euil: our Lord kepe thy soule.Dominus custodit te ab omni malo; / custodiat animam tuam Dominus. 8May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; from henceforth now and for ever.Il Signore ti custodisca all'entrare, e all'uscire, da questo punto, e per sempre.Our Lord kepe thy coming in, and thy going out: from hence forth now, and for euer.Dominus custodiat introitum tuum et exitum tuum, / ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.
120:1
Berthier
Canticle. David wrote this during his flight from Absalom; (Grotius) and de Muis judges from the martial air, that it was composed in the midst of danger. It relates to the captives, (Origen; Calmet) and to all in the pilgrimage of this world. (Berthier)
Worthington
Mountains. Jerusalem, and heaven, whence all our help must come. God most readily hears the prayers which are poured forth in places appointed by him. (Worthington)
120:3
Calmet
May. Hebrew, "he will not." Many have read in the second person, both in the Hebrew and Septuagint, "Suffer not thy," etc. (Aquila; St. Augustine, etc.) (Calmet)
120:4
Berthier
These figurative expressions shew that God will never cease to protect his people. (Berthier)
120:5
Haydock
Hand. Always ready, Psalm 90:4., and 15:8. (Haydock)
120:6
Worthington
Night. Neither prosperity nor adversity shall hurt thee, (St. Jerome) or the Church. (Worthington)
Berthier
Cold is said to burn or parch up, Genesis 31:40. Justin (2) writes of the Scythians, Quanquam continuis frigoribus urantur, as the effects of extreme heat and cold are similar. The Jews were protected from both at their return; (Isaias 4:6., and 49:10.; Calmet) though we may doubt of this explanation, as the text is applied to those in heaven, Apocalypse 7:16. (Berthier)
120:7
Berthier
Keepeth. Hebrew also, "shall or may." The words of a prophet are always true, and the tenses are varied at pleasure by St. Jerome, etc. (Berthier)
120:8
Berthier
Coming in. Hebrew has, "going out," first. (Berthier)
Haydock
Yet Pagnin agrees with us. (Haydock)
Calmet
This expression denotes all the occurrences of life, Deuteronomy 28:6. (Calmet)
Berthier
We may discover a beautiful progression in this psalm; God protects us from each and from every danger. (Berthier)
St. Chrysostom
He is not like earthly friends, who have not always the will or the power to do it. (St. Chrysostom)
120:1
Towardes Ierusalme, and towards heauen.
Al helpe cometh from heauen, that is, from God, who of his diuine ordinance especially heareth prayers made in holie places. 3. Reg 7.
120:3
The iust speaketh and wisheth wel to his owne soule. Especially the vvhole Church reioyceth in Gods assured protection.
120:4
The militant Church.
120:6
Prosperitie,
nor aduersitie can ouerthrow the Church.
120:7
spiritual life.
120:1
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 7.3
… He can scale already that ladder of which the psalms of degrees are a type; whilst I, still weeping on its first step, hardly know whether I shall ever be able to say: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 1.6
… and so say, “I have lifted up mine eyes to the mountains, from whence shall come my help,” that you immediately add, “My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 36.8
… so our Lord Jesus Christ, when He came, first irradiated the height of the Apostles, first enlightened the mountains, and so His Light descended to the valley of the world. And therefore saith He in a certain Psalm, “I lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 40.6
… and because they trust in Him. Although therefore they make these their models, they place their trust in Him from whom the others have received the grace whereby they are such as they are. “The just shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” Just as in another Psalm, “I lift up mine eyes unto the hills,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 76.5
… But those great mountains the Apostles have received, the Apostles have received as it were the first streaks of the rising light.…Wherefore also, in another place, a Psalm saith what? “I have lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains, whence there shall come help to me.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 121.1
1. …Let them “lift up their eyes to the hills whence cometh their help” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 125.4
… They stand around Jerusalem; they surround her, and, as it were, form a wall for her. Of these lovely and delightful mountains Scripture constantly speaketh.…They are the mountains of whom we sing: “I lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence my help shall come:”
120:2
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 36.8
… but fix not thy hope in them. Hear what He saith next following: “I lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help.” What then? Do the mountains give thee help? No; hear what follows, “My help cometh from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 76.5
… Hast thou stayed at the mountains? Take heed what thou doest. There is something above the mountains: above the mountains is He at whom the mountains tremble. “I have lifted up,” he saith, “mine eyes unto the mountains, whence there shall come help to me.” But what followeth? “My help,” he saith, “is from the Lord, who hath made Heaven and earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 150.2
… And I see indeed how this can be true, and yet the other be true also, without contravening it. For it may be that there was some custom in Hebrew literature, whereby that is called one book which yet consists of more than one, just as of many churches one church consisteth, and of many heavens one heaven,
120:3
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 121.2
2. Sing therefore what followeth; if thou wish to hear how thou mayest most securely set thy feet on the steps, so that thou mayest not be fatigued in that ascent, nor stumble and fall: pray in these words: “Suffer not my foot to be moved!” (
120:4
St Melito of Sardis † AD 180 Melito, the Philosopher 9
The watches of the Lord —in the guardianship of His elect He is always at hand by the presence of His Deity. In the Psalm: “Lo! He will not slumber nor sleep.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 12
[5.] Wherefore we ought always to “guard” ourselves, lest at any time we should fall asleep. For “Lo” (it is said) “he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” ( Ps. cxxi. 4 ), and “Do not suffer
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 75.5
May you be kept holy both in body and spirit by the Samaritan—that is, saviour and keeper—of whom it is said in the psalm, “He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 109.3
… Paul says: “continue in prayer and watch in the same,” and in another place he speaks of himself as “in watchings often.” Vigilantius may sleep if he pleases and may choke in his sleep, destroyed by the destroyer of Egypt and of the Egyptians. But let us say with David: “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 10.34
… and I raise my invisible eyes to Thee, that Thou wouldst be pleased to “pluck my feet out of the net.” Thou dost continually pluck them out, for they are ensnared. Thou never ceasest to pluck them out, but I, constantly remain fast in the snares set all around me; because Thou “that keepest Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 43.2
… Although He returned not cursing with cursing, although He met not slander with slander, yet was it proper for Him to deny the one charge and not to deny the other. And not without a purpose, brethren. For Samaritan means keeper. He knew that He was our keeper. For “He that keepeth Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 37.3.11
… Now what evil doth he suffer, whom God keepeth? Thou settest a watchman in thy vineyard, and feelest secure from thieves; and that watchman may sleep, and may himself fall, and may admit a thief. But “He who keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 44.18
18. “Awake; why sleepest Thou, O Lord?” ( ver. 23 ). Who is addressed, and who is the speaker? Would not he be more correctly said to sleep and slumber, who speaks such words as these? He replies to you, I know what I am saying: I know that “He that keepeth Israel doth not sleep:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.19
19. Who can explain, who expound that which is said to Him in another Psalm, “For my goods Thou needest not”? He hath said that He needeth not from us any necessary thing. “If I shall be hungry, I will not tell thee” ( ver. 12 ). He that keepeth Israel shall neither hunger nor thirst, nor be weary, nor fall asleep.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 121.3
… but He also saith unto thee, “Let not him that keepeth thee slumber.” Thou perhaps wast about to turn thyself unto men as thy keepers, and to say, whom shall I find who will not sleep? what man will not slumber? whom do I find? whither shall I go? whither shall I return? The Psalmist telleth thee: “He that keepeth Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 127.2
… 1 ). We are watchful on our guard, but vain in our watchfulness, except He who seeth your thoughts guard you. He keepeth guard while ye are awake, He keepeth guard also whilst ye are asleep. For He hath once slept on the Cross, and hath risen again; He no longer sleepeth. Be ye Israel: for “the Keeper of Israel neither sleepeth nor slumbereth.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 8.3
For if when these things are said of God they are to be understood literally in a material gross signification, then also He sleeps , as it is said, “Arise, wherefore sleepest thou, O Lord?” though it is elsewhere said of Him: “Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 4.2.6
6. Of the divine nature the prophet David says, “Behold He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 11.78
… Rest therefore your hope on no one among men, but bind your whole soul to trust in Almighty God. While we sleep, then, He will protect you, of whom it is written, Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep (
120:5
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 121.4
4. And who, thou askest, shall help me, save He who slumbereth not, nor sleepeth? Hear what followeth: “The Lord Himself is thy keeper” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 121.6
6. Let us now come to this verse of the Psalm: “The Lord is thy defence upon the hand of thy right hand” (
120:6
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 52.13
… Christ’s soldier marches on through good report and evil report, the one on the right hand and the other on the left. No praise elates him, no reproaches crush him. He is not puffed up by riches, nor does he shrink into himself because of poverty. Joy and sorrow he alike despises. The sun does not burn him by day nor the moon by night.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.12
… They that are offended in Christ, and in the Church. They that are offended in Christ, are as if burnt by the sun, those in the Church as by the moon. But the Psalm saith, “The sun shall not burn thee by day, neither the moon by night:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 121.7
7. “May the Lord shield thee upon the hand of thy right hand” (
120:7
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 121.8
8. “For the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil” (
120:8
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 121.8
… And for what reason? Because we are amid temptations: “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. The Lord preserve thy soul:” even thy very soul. “The Lord preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth for evermore” (
120:3
v. 3 sequitur, potest S ἰδ οὐδεν ut apostrophe ad se ipsum, qua se confirmet sibique bene precetur et demum in v. 4 sione seu in quo alloquio prius alloquens ei bene precatur v. 3, deinin. — — v. 4 eius spem confirmat ex munere fidelis Dei foederis, quod munus — E in v. 5-8 pluribus ei declarat. Totus quasi coetus sacer, vel sacerdotum = E | collegium fingitur respondere et unum illum quaerentem auxilium et — E affirmantem opem divinam in πὰς spe confirmare ampliusque edocere, BE. , : Ita ex textu tradito res concipi potest. | NS . | Verum hoc loco oceurit coniectura a Zenner et 17768. proposita, f M. E quae sua se facilitate commendat : in v. 3 non legendum אל non, sed . D אל Deus; esse quendam dialogum : exsuli pio obiicitur : num Deus —— qui commovet pedem tuum, Deus qui dormitat, est custos tuus ?Seil.qui — | τ te migrare fecit in exsilium et nunc quasi dormiens te relinquit in exsi- 4 lio? cui obiicienti respondet pius exsul v. 4 non dormitat etc. Ita omne — — dubium etiam levissimum propter exsilium etiam tum durans abiecit . atque se ipsum alloquens in se confortat v. 5 sq. Dominus protectio ; - tua, ita certe hebr umbra tua concipi debet — ad dexteram tuam, vide —— — 15,8 a dextris est mihi (Dominus) ne commovear, et 109,5. Tutus erit 8 .à nocumentis rerum ; exemplis declaratur v. 6 per diem sol non -ע6ק - S cutiet te (Hier); non damnum patieris nimiis caloribus ; neque luna | [ per noctem scil. te pereutiet, tibi nocebit; vide quae Iacob affirmat : die noctuque aestu urebar et gelu (Gen. 3l ,40( ; ceterum lunam habi- — tam esse malorum causam, solo iam nomine lunaticorum satis constat. | Nomine introitus et exitus tota occupatio vitae, omnia designantur | negotia et officia; vide Deut. 28,6; 31,2. 1 Reg. 29,6. 2 Reg. 3,25 ad hoec venit ad te; ut sciret exitum um et utc. tuum et nosset
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.