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Psalm 100-102

Psalm 100^[a]

Processional Entrance Hymn

¹A psalm of thanksgiving.^[b]

Acclaim the Lord^[c] with joy, all the earth;
²    serve the Lord^[d] with gladness;
    enter his presence with songs of joy.
³Proclaim that the Lord is God.^[e]
    He made us and we are his possession;
    we are his people, the flock he shepherds.
⁴Offer thanksgiving as you enter his gates,^[f]
    sing hymns of praise as you approach his courts;
give thanks to him and bless his name,
⁵    for the Lord is good.
His kindness endures forever,
    and his faithfulness is constant to all generations.^[g]

Psalm 101^[h]

Norm of Life for a Good Ruler

¹A psalm of David.

I will sing of kindness and justice;
    to you, O Lord, I will offer praise in song.
²I will walk in the path of blamelessness;
    when will you come to me?^[i]
Within my house^[j] I will act
    with integrity of heart.
³I will not allow any shameful act
    to be done before my eyes.
^[k]I will refuse to associate
    with people who do evil.
⁴Let the perverse of heart remain far from me;
    I will not tolerate the wicked.
⁵^[l]Anyone who secretly slanders a neighbor
    I will reduce to silence.
Anyone with haughty glances and an arrogant heart
    I cannot endure.
⁶The faithful in the land are the ones
    whom I will choose to be my companions.
Only the one who follows the path of integrity
    will be allowed to be my servant.
⁷No one who practices deceit
    will be permitted to remain in my house.
No one who utters lies
    will be numbered among my companions.^[m]
⁸Morning after morning^[n] I will banish
    all the wicked from the land,
    removing all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Psalm 102^[o]

Prayer of an Exile

¹The prayer of one afflicted. When he is wasting away^[p] and pours out his anguish before the Lord.

²^[q]O Lord, give heed to my prayer;
    let my plea for help reach you.
³Do not conceal your face^[r] from my sight
    in the time of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
    on the day when I call out to you, answer me speedily.
⁴For my days are fading away like smoke,
    and my bones are burning like live coals.
⁵My heart^[s] is stricken, withered like grass;
    I am too exhausted to eat my bread.
⁶As a result of my incessant groaning,
    I am now nothing more than skin and bones.
⁷I am like a pelican^[t] of the wilderness,
    like an owl among the ruins.
⁸I am sleepless^[u] and I moan
    like a lone sparrow on a rooftop.
⁹All day long my enemies revile me;^[v]
    those who rage against me use my name as a curse.
¹⁰^[w]I eat ashes as though they were bread,
    and I mingle tears with my drink.
¹¹Because of your indignation and wrath,
    you have raised me up only to cast me down.
¹²My days are like a lengthening shadow,
    and I am withering away like grass.
¹³^[x]But, you, O Lord, are enthroned forever,
    and your renown will endure for all generations.
¹⁴You will arise and show mercy to Zion,
    for it is time for you to have pity on her;
    the appointed time^[y] has come.
¹⁵For her stones are precious to your servants,
    and her dust causes them to weep.^[z]
¹⁶The nations will revere your name,^[aa] O Lord,
    and all the kings of the earth will sing of your glory.
¹⁷For the Lord will rebuild Zion
    and reveal himself in all his glory.^[ab]
¹⁸He will answer the prayer of the destitute,
    and he will not ignore their petition.
¹⁹Let this be written^[ac] for future generations
    so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:
²⁰“The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high
    and gazed on the earth from heaven,
²¹to hear the sighs of the prisoners
    and to set free those under sentence of death.”^[ad]
²²Then the name of the Lord will be proclaimed in Zion,
    and his praise^[ae] in Jerusalem
²³when all peoples and kingdoms come together
    to worship the Lord.^[af]
²⁴^[ag]He has taken away my strength on my life’s journey;
    he has cut short my days.
²⁵So I said: “Do not carry me off, O my God,
    before half my days are done,^[ah]
    for your years endure from age to age.
²⁶^[ai]“Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
²⁷They will pass away but you endure;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like clothing,
    and they will perish.^[aj]
²⁸“However, you remain always the same,
    and your years will have no end.^[ak]
²⁹The children of your servants will be secure,
    and their descendants will dwell in your presence.”^[al]

Footnotes

Psalm 100:1 Although it does not explicitly mention the theme of the Lord as King, this psalm is linked with the group of psalms of the kingdom by its style and ideas and serves as a kind of general conclusion for them. The Lord is King of the world and especially of Israel, his flock. This is the Good News that calls for praise and joy.
The psalmist intimates that in a few brief moments, the sacrifice will be offered by which the people enter into communion with God (see Lev 7:11-15). He invites the throng to celebrate the one God and his providence for the people he has created and chosen for himself. Although this hymn is short, it must have filled the hearts of believers with great wonder since they knew themselves to be in the hand of God. The entire universe is invited to share this endless joy of Israel.
By this hymn, the Church calls Christians to sing to the Lord Jesus with a similar enthusiastic joy, for he too is our Lord and God (see Jn 20:28). In cooperation with his Father he has created and then re-created us (see Jn 1:1-3, 12). Because of this, we belong entirely to him (see 1 Cor 3:22f).
Psalm 100:1 Thanksgiving: this word may indicate that the psalm was to be used in conjunction with a “thank offering” (see Lev 7:12).
Psalm 100:1 Acclaim the Lord: a similar opening phrase occurs in Pss 66; 81; 95. All the earth: the entire world is to worship God for all that he is and all that he has done for his people (see Pss 47:2f; 66:1, 4; 97:1; 117:1 for this theme of universalism).
Psalm 100:2 Serve the Lord: the psalmist reminds the people that their first duty is to worship the Lord with mind, heart, and voice in complete gladness.
Psalm 100:3 Proclaim . . . God: acknowledge that the Lord is God and be faithful to him; it is a statement of monotheism (see Deut 4:39; 32:39; Isa 43:10, 13). Made us . . . his people: through his choice and the wonders he did for them (see Ps 95:6). Flock he shepherds: see note on Ps 95:7. Christians know that God made us his people through Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for his sheep (see Jn 10:11).
Psalm 100:4 His gates: of the temple (see note on Ps 24:7, 9). Courts: of the temple (see Ps 84:3, 11; 2 Ki 21:5; 23:11f).
Psalm 100:5 The psalm concludes with the reasons why the Lord is to be praised: he is good (i.e., generous), kind (i.e., merciful), and faithful to his promises from generation to generation (see Pss 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 136:1; 138:8; 2 Chr 5:13; Ezr 3:11; 1 Mac 4:24; Jer 33:11; Mic 7:18-20; Mt 19:17; 1 Jn 4:7ff).
Psalm 101:1 The Lord’s covenant comprises a rule of life for every Israelite, including the king. This psalm constitutes the mirror of the ruler in whom it inculcates essential resolutions: personal integrity, choice of loyal counselors, ferreting out the arrogant, the deceitful, and the slanderous from the royal court, and the battle against injustice. The teaching is classic in the Bible, but its application is rarely carried out. Nonetheless, its main ideas continue to be vitally relevant.
We can pray this psalm in honor of Christ the King, constituted by the Father as supreme Head of the Church and of the world (Eph 1:20-23), who alone has perfectly fulfilled the commitments mentioned herein. He is thus the invisible suzerain from whom all visible leaders (both spiritual and temporal) derive their authority (see Jn 21:15-17; Rev 1:5). Since Christ makes them his representatives, all these leaders must be loving and faithful images before their subjects.
Psalm 101:2 In imitation of the heavenly King, the psalmist himself will lead a blameless life. But to do so he will need God’s help, which he prays will be forthcoming (see 1 Ki 3:7-9; see also Ps 72). When will you come to me?: some see in these words an allusion to the awaited coming of the Messiah, who was at times called “The one who is to come” (see Mt 11:3; Jn 4:25). Others offer an alternative translation: “I will attend to the wholehearted man / whenever he comes to me.”
Psalm 101:2 House: the king promises to make his household free of those who abuse power. Heart . . . eyes: in the Old Testament, people were thought to act after inner (“heart”) and/or external (“eye”) influence (see note on Ps 4:7; see also Ps 119:36f; Num 15:39; Job 31:7; Prov 21:4; Eccl 2:10; Jer 22:17).
Psalm 101:3 The psalmist will not desire or do evil himself nor condone it in others and will avoid all evildoers.
Psalm 101:5 The norms of the king’s private life are also the fundamental principles of his governing. He will bring into his service only the “faithful” and those who follow “the path of integrity.” Reduce to silence: i.e., destroy (see Pss 54:7; 94:23). Arrogant: see note on Ps 31:24.
Psalm 101:7 Will . . . companions: another translation is: “will stand in my presence.”
Psalm 101:8 Evildoers will be eradicated from the kingdom. Morning after morning: the customary time for administering justice (see 2 Sam 15:2; Jer 21:12) and for receiving God’s help (see Pss 59:17; 143:8; Isa 33:2). City of the Lord: see Pss 46:5f; 48:2f, 9; 87:3.
Psalm 102:1 Known as the fifth of the seven Penitential Psalms (Pss 6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143), this psalm combines the lament of an afflicted person overwhelmed with pain and the prayer of the community of poor returned exiles waiting to be able to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, their holy city. It shows that humanity and the universe pass away, while God remains (vv. 12-13, 26, 28). This is the proof of the Lord’s power and the reason for their hopes.
It is also the reason for the hopes of Christians, since we know that in Jesus and in his Church, God has built an imperishable dwelling place for his people, a point emphasized by the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 1:10-12) when it comments on verses 26-28 of this psalm.
Psalm 102:1 This superscription is unique, giving neither author nor liturgical or historical note; instead it assigns the prayer to a life situation—when one afflicted is close to giving up, i.e., wasting away (see Pss 61:3; 77:4; 142:4; 143:4).
Psalm 102:2 One day, possibly during a grave sickness, the psalmist reaches the bitter conclusion of the inconsistency of human life. And the supreme outrage is that all who see him attribute his sad state to punishment sent by God, for his prayer and repentance receive no answer. The poor man experiences the depths of anguish where everything is falling apart; he can do nothing except cry out to God.
Psalm 102:3 Conceal your face: see note on Ps 13:2.
Psalm 102:5 Heart: see note on Ps 4:8. Withered like grass: see note on Ps 90:5.
Psalm 102:7 Pelican: a bird that in Christian times became a symbol of Christ all alone in Gethsemane and of the Eucharist. The word is also translated as “owl.” Owl: a symbol of desolateness and destruction (see Isa 34:11, 15; Jer 50:39; Zep 2:14).
Psalm 102:8 I am sleepless: some translations omit the words: “and I moan.”
Psalm 102:9 Enemies revile me: see note on Ps 5:10; see also Ps 109:25. Use my name as a curse: his enemies point him out as an example of divine malediction, saying: “May you become as wretched as so-and-so.”
Psalm 102:10 The Israelites indicated their penance externally by covering their heads with ashes and uttering lamentation accompanied by copious tears. To obtain God’s pity, the sick psalmist does not hold back. He covers himself with such an abundance of ashes that they are interspersed with his food, and he gives way to so many tears that they mingle with his drink. All the same, he is inexorably on his way toward death.
Psalm 102:13 The people thus experience a time of scorn. Uprooted from their temple and their land, they are too overwhelmed by the loss of what they most cherish for them to think of revenge. They have recourse to God’s tender mercies. In their misfortune, they fall back on a single certitude—the goodness of the Lord. At once, hope of restoration begins shining forth, for “the appointed time has come” (v. 14)—so much so that they do not stop at imagining the sole reestablishment of Israel, but their perspective of renewed happiness embraces all humanity.
Psalm 102:14 Appointed time: the time established by God for judgment and salvation (see Ps 75:3; Ex 9:5; 2 Sam 24:15; Dan 11:27, 35).
Psalm 102:15 The psalmist intimates that Zion must be highly cherished by the Lord for she is so dear to his servants.
Psalm 102:16 See note on Ps 46:11. Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 102:17 And reveal himself in all his glory: may also be translated as: “and thus appear in his glory” (see v. 16 and note on Ps 46:11; see also Isa 40:1-5). The ultimate fulfillment of this hope will occur in the “new Jerusalem” (see Rev 21).
Psalm 102:19 Written: this is the only place in the Psalter that calls for a written record of God’s saving deed. The usual reference is to an oral record (see Pss 22:32; 44:2; 78:1-4).
Psalm 102:21 Prisoners . . . those under sentence of death: see note on Ps 79:11.
Psalm 102:22 Name . . . praise: see notes on Pss 5:12; 9:2.
Psalm 102:23 See notes on Pss 46:11; 47:10; see also Pss 96; 98; 100; Isa 2:2-4; Mic 4:1-3.
Psalm 102:24 Here the individual lament and the national supplication are combined. Upon meditating on the precariousness of existence before the God who endures forever, a hope arises, the hope of not being abandoned. The Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 13:8) will proclaim: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Psalm 102:25 Before half my days are done: when the normal life span is only half-completed (see Isa 38:10; Jer 17:11).
Psalm 102:26 This passage is inspired by Isa 51:6-8 and applied to the Messiah (Heb 1:10-12). The restoration of Israel and the coming of the Messiah will be the preface to the eschatological renewal or regeneration that will accompany the end of time (see Isa 65:17; 66:22; Rev 20:11; 21:1).
Psalm 102:27 Both the “foundations of the earth” and the “heavens” (v. 26, which the ever-living God has made) will perish (see Pss 1:6; 90:4; 2 Pet 3:8ff) and be of no use, like discarded clothing (see Isa 51:6).
Psalm 102:28 By contrast, the Lord remains forever the same (see Heb 13:8); he is the “first and the last” (see Deut 32:39; Isa 41:4; 46:4; 48:12).
Psalm 102:29 Because God does not change, the children of his people will be secure in the Lord (see Mal 3:6). Dwell in your presence: another translation is: “dwell in the [Promised] Land” (see Pss 25:13; 69:37; see also Ps 37:3, 29; Isa 65:9).

1 Corinthians 1

Greetings and Thanksgiving

Chapter 1

Address to a Church.^[a] ¹Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Sosthenes^[b] our brother, ²to the Church of God in Corinth,^[c] to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours. ³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I continually give thanks to my God for you because of his grace that has been granted to you in Christ Jesus. ⁵For through him you have been enriched in every way in all facets of speech and knowledge, ⁶as our testimony about Christ has been confirmed in you.

⁷Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸He will keep you steadfast until the very end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful, and it is by him that you have been called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church of Corinth^[d]

¹⁰The Existence of Factions. Brethren, I exhort you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be in full agreement with one another and not permit any divisions to arise among you. Be perfectly united in mind and purpose. ¹¹For I have heard reports from Chloe’s people, brethren, that there are quarrels among you.^[e]

¹²What I mean is that each of you is asserting, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,”^[f] or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” ¹³Has Christ now been divided? Did Paul die on the cross for you? Was it in Paul’s name that you were baptized?

¹⁴I am thankful that I never baptized any of you, aside from Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. ( ¹⁶I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Aside from those I do not know if I baptized anyone else.)

¹⁷The Message of the Cross and Human Wisdom.^[g] For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel—and to do so without words of human wisdom lest the cross of Christ be devoid of its meaning. ¹⁸Indeed, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the understanding of the learned I will bring to naught.”^[h]

²⁰Where now are the wise ones? Where are the men of learning? Where are the debaters of this present age? Has God not shown the wisdom of the world to be foolish? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world was unable to come to know him through wisdom, he chose, through the folly of preaching, to save those who have faith.

²²Jews demand signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³but we proclaim Christ crucified. This is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles;^[i] ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶God Has Chosen Those Who Count for Nothing. Consider, brethren, your calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards,^[j] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷Rather, God chose those who were regarded as foolish by the world to shame the wise; God chose those in the world who were weak to shame the strong. ²⁸God chose those in the world who were lowly and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who were regarded as worthy, ²⁹^[k]so that no one could boast in the presence of God.

³⁰It is through him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom of God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written, “If anyone wishes to boast, let him boast in the Lord.”

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 1:1 From the outset Paul emphasizes his calling as an apostle, because if throughout the Letter he teaches, reproaches, and corrects, he does so in the name of the mission he has received from Christ. See note on Mk 6:30.
1 Corinthians 1:1 Sosthenes: perhaps the same person as in Acts 18:17.
1 Corinthians 1:2 Church of God in Corinth: see note on 2 Cor 1:1.
1 Corinthians 1:10 The divisions in the Church cannot be regarded simply as a phenomenon inevitable in any form of communal life. The divisions here bear on essentials; they show that the Gospel has not been understood and that people had an erroneous idea of the role of the apostles.
1 Corinthians 1:11 The name Chloe probably identifies a Christian woman of Corinth, some members of whose household have brought the news to Paul.
1 Corinthians 1:12 Apollos: one of the important figures in the beginnings of Christianity, and Paul speaks more than once of his sincerity (see Acts 18:24-28; 1 Cor 3:4-5, 22; 16:12). Some scholars think he may be the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. Cephas: the apostle Peter (see Jn 1:42), who may have paid a visit to Corinth.
1 Corinthians 1:17 The most beautiful construction of the human spirit cannot by itself bring salvation to the human race. This section does not oppose faith and philosophy to one another. It affirms above all that people are saved not by an intellectual theory but by God’s intervention in Jesus Christ. Faith does not consist in an ideology.
1 Corinthians 1:19 The citation is from Isa 29:14, where the Lord denounces the “wise” for their policy of seeking an alliance with Egypt against King Sennacherib of Assyria. The wise: the 6th-century B.C. Athenian statesman Aristedes remarked that every street in Corinth had its own so-called wise man, who claimed to have a solution to all the problems of the world.
1 Corinthians 1:23 Jesus was a stumbling block for the Jews, because they were expecting a Messiah who would perform sensational wonders (see Mt 12:38; Jn 4:48); he was foolishness to Gentiles, because he did not act in accordance with human wisdom.
1 Corinthians 1:26 Wise by human standards: literally, “wise according to the flesh,” that is, in the eyes of human beings.
1 Corinthians 1:29 “Boasting” refers to a person’s sin in thinking that one is saved by oneself. The truth is that we live only from God and for God. Hence, the only “boasting” possible is “boasting in the Lord.”

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Old/New Testament

Psalm 100[a]

Processional Entrance Hymn

Psalm 101[h]

Norm of Life for a Good Ruler

Psalm 102[o]

Prayer of an Exile

Footnotes

Greetings and Thanksgiving

Chapter 1

Divisions in the Church of Corinth[d]

Footnotes

Psalm 100^[a]

Psalm 101^[h]

Psalm 102^[o]

Divisions in the Church of Corinth^[d]