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Old/New Testament

Each day includes a passage from both the Old Testament and New Testament.

Duration: 365 days

Psalm 140-142

Psalm 140^[a]

Prayer for Deliverance from the Snares of the Wicked

¹For the director.^[b] A psalm of David.

²^[c]Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;
    protect me from those who are violent,
³who plan evil schemes in their hearts^[d]
    and stir up strife continually.
⁴Their tongues^[e] are as sharp as those of a serpent,
    while the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
⁵Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
    protect me from those who are violent,
    who are determined to cause my downfall.
⁶The arrogant^[f] have set a hidden trap for me;
    they have spread out cords as a net,
    laying snares for me along the way. Selah
⁷^[g]I say to the Lord, “You are my God.
    Listen, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.”
⁸O Lord, my God, my strong deliverer,
    you shield my head on the day of battle.
⁹Do not grant the desires of the wicked, O Lord;
    do not permit their evil plots to succeed,
    or they will become proud. Selah
¹⁰^[h]Those who surround me raise up their heads;
    let them be overwhelmed by the malice they threaten.
¹¹May burning coals rain down on them;
    may they be flung down into the miry depths,
    never again to rise.^[i]
¹²Do not permit slanderers to find rest in the land;
    may evil hunt the violent to their death.
¹³^[j]I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
    and upholds the cause of the needy.
¹⁴Then the upright will give thanks to your name,
    and the righteous will dwell in your presence.

Psalm 141^[k]

Prayer for Protection against Evildoers

¹^[l]A psalm of David.

O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to my aid;
    listen to my plea when I call out to you.
²May my prayer be like incense^[m] before you,
    the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
³^[n]Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
    keep watch over the door of my lips.
⁴Do not permit my heart to be drawn to evil,
    or to the pursuit of wicked deeds
in the company of those who do evil;
    let me not share in their corruption.
⁵^[o]If a righteous man strikes me, I regard it as kindness;
    if he rebukes me, it is oil on my head.^[p]
But never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,
    for my prayer is always opposed to their evil deeds.
⁶^[q]When their leaders are flung down in stony places,
    they will learn that my prayers were heard.
⁷As the soil is shattered when the ground is plowed,
    so our bones are scattered at the mouth of the netherworld.
⁸^[r]But my eyes are turned to you, O Lord God;
    in you I seek refuge;
    do not take my life away.
⁹Keep me safe from the traps they have laid for me,
    from the snares of evildoers.
¹⁰Let the wicked tumble into their own nets all together
    while I pass by unharmed.^[s]

Psalm 142^[t]

Prayer in Time of Abandonment

¹A maskil^[u] of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.

²^[v]I cry out to the Lord with my plea;
    I entreat the Lord to grant me mercy.
³Before him I pour out my complaint
    and tell my troubles in his presence.
⁴^[w]No matter how faint my spirit is within me,
    you are there to guide my steps.
Along the path on which I travel^[x]
    they have hidden a trap for me.
⁵I look to my right,
    but there is no friend who knows me.
There is no refuge available to me;
    no one cares whether I live or perish.^[y]
⁶^[z]I cry out to you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my refuge,
    my portion in the land of the living.”^[aa]
⁷Listen to my plea for help,
    for I am in desperate straits.
Rescue me from those who seek to persecute me,
    for they are too strong for me.^[ab]
⁸Set me free from my prison,^[ac]
    so that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will assemble around me
    because of your great generosity to me.

Footnotes

Psalm 140:1 More than once already we have heard the voice of a suffering, righteous person; he is the persecuted victim of the wicked, thieves, and calumniators. He calls down the vengeance of God on his enemies, while retaining his trust in the Lord. The state of the righteous and the harshness of the wicked are expressed in images often used. The opposition that biblical prayer places between poverty and violence, humility and arrogance, simplicity and falsehood is inescapable. To recite this psalm is to bear human misfortune, to become poor.
We can pray this psalm in the name of the Church who is continuously assailed by treacherous adversaries, both material and spiritual. Knowing the futility of earthly help, the Church takes her heavenly Spouse, Christ, as her sole refuge. He provides spiritual armor that is efficacious against the attacks of the enemy (see Eph 6:13-17; 1 Thes 5:8).
Psalm 140:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation.
Psalm 140:2 The psalmist prays for deliverance from evildoers who sow discord with their speech and devise evil schemes, leading to anarchy and continuous agitation. Instead of following God’s way, they have chosen the alternative way of the “father of lies” who was “a murderer from the beginning” (Jn 8:44).
Psalm 140:3 Hearts: see note on Ps 4:8.
Psalm 140:4 Tongues: see note on Ps 5:10.
Psalm 140:6 The wicked seek to entrap the righteous as a fowler catches animals with a snare, net, or trap (see Pss 31:5; 119:110; 141:10; 142:4; Mt 22:15; Lk 11:54). Arrogant: see note on Ps 31:24.
Psalm 140:7 The psalmist seeks protection from the Lord of the covenant, for he alone is God and the Master of the world.
Psalm 140:10 The psalmist’s plea now becomes an imprecatory prayer, which is an expression for God’s just rule. Using metaphors for the divine judgment (burning coals and miry depths), he asks for redress (see notes on Pss 5:11; 35).
Psalm 140:11 Allusion to Sodom (see Gen 19) and Dathan (see Num 16). See also Pss 11:6; 36:13; 55:24; 141:10.
Psalm 140:13 The psalmist is confident that the Lord, the just Judge (see Pss 7:9f; 9:5), will vindicate the righteous poor (see notes on Pss 22:27; 34:7), who will then praise his name (see note on Ps 7:18) and live in his presence (see notes on Pss 23:5-6; 27:4).
Psalm 141:1 Surrounded by the wicked who persecute him in order to drag him with them into impiety, the psalmist offers up an evening prayer, matching the morning prayer referred to in Ps 5:4. The poet begs God to protect him against every defection, to help him refuse all connivance with the wicked, and to enable him ultimately to escape their plots against him.
This psalm is a reminder to us that, impelled by the devil, our greatest enemy, the world hates us because we are not of the world (see Jn 15:19; 17:14). By every available means, it strives to snatch us away from Christ to serve the devil. Aware of our weakness, we should “pray that [we] may not enter into temptation” (Mk 14:38), reciting this psalm when necessary.
Psalm 141:1 The psalmist is in a precarious position, so he hopes his prayer for help will be like a pleasing offering before the Lord.
Psalm 141:2 Incense: literally, “smoke,” i.e., the fragrant fumes that wafted from the altar at the daily burning of sacrificial animals or aromatic spices. The lifting up of my hands: a symbol of dependence on and praise of the Lord (see Pss 28:2; 63:5; 1 Tim 2:8).
Psalm 141:3 The psalmist, like the sages, carefully watches over his heart so as not to give in to sins of speech or action, for he knows that the wicked use their tongues for destruction (see Ps 140:4) while the righteous express love and fidelity (see Ps 15:2f). He begs the Lord to keep his heart from sin and temptation so that he may do God’s will (see Ps 119:10, 36, 133). Let me not share in their corruption: literally, “let me not eat of their delicacies.”
Psalm 141:5 The psalmist delineates the fate of evil rulers at God’s hands, and hopes that the shock may bring their followers to their senses.
Psalm 141:5 Oil was poured on the head in a gesture of welcome and hospitality (see Lk 7:46).
Psalm 141:6 The text of these verses is obscure and their meaning uncertain. As it stands here, the meaning of verse 7 may be: “As a farmer breaks up the soil and brings up the rocks, so the bones of the wicked will be scattered without a decent burial” (see Ps 79:2-3).
Psalm 141:8 The psalmist prays for deliverance and for vindication, for he remains with eyes of faith fixed on the Lord (see Ps 25:15).
Psalm 141:10 God’s vindication comes in the form of retribution; the schemes of the wicked will recoil upon them (see notes on Pss 5:11; 35).
Psalm 142:1 The psalmist issues a prayer for deliverance from powerful enemies. Whether he is King David (see 1 Sam 22:10) or someone unknown, he has been trodden upon by everyone and is undergoing the agony and passion of so many others. He is also an image of Christ, isolated and suffering without protest.
Often we too find ourselves exhausted on our journey through life, strewn as it is with many snares. For some, it is social or political oppression that prevents us from leading a fully human and Christian existence. For others, religious persecution itself intervenes to restrain or destroy our goods and freedom. Upon each one, our spiritual enemies (the world and the devil) impose a continuous struggle, both fierce and treacherous, that each must wage practically without human help. In these struggles, we can make use of this psalm to direct to God an ardent and confident appeal.
Psalm 142:1 Maskil: see note on Ps 32; When he was in the cave: see Ps 57:1; 1 Sam 22:10; 24:1f.
Psalm 142:2 The psalmist uses the formal third person (customary when addressing kings) to pour out his troubles to God.
Psalm 142:4 The psalmist is at the point of spiritual exhaustion (see Pss 76:13; 77:3; 143:4; Jon 2:8), and only God can help for he knows the faithful’s destiny, his present and future life (see Ps 139:24). Yet the Lord is not present to help him along this path of his enemies, which is filled with snares. My right: i.e., the place where one’s witness or legal counsel stood (see Pss 16:8; 109:31; 110:5; 121:5).
Psalm 142:4 Along the path on which I travel: the present path on which the psalmist is traveling, i.e., the path of his opponents, which is covered with such snares as to fill him with dread, in contrast to the path of the Lord, which leads to such salvation as to fill him with hope (vv. 7-8).
Psalm 142:5 No one cares whether I live or perish: the psalmist is like an outcast for whom no one cares and whom no one comes forward to protect. He is alone and extremely vulnerable.
Psalm 142:6 The psalmist reiterates his distress and his plea for deliverance, confessing that the Lord is his refuge (see Ps 91:2; Jer 17:17) and his hope (my portion in the land of the living: see Pss 16:5; 73:26; 119:57; Lam 3:24). In turn, he will give thanks for his deliverance (see note on Ps 7:18), and the righteous will rejoice in the Lord with him (see Pss 22:25; 34:3; 64:10; 107:42).
Psalm 142:6 Hence, the psalmist cries out to the Lord for help. The Lord is his Covenant God; he most of all should be solicitous for his servant. In the land of the living: i.e., here below, during his earthly life (see Ps 27:13).
Psalm 142:7 The enemies of the psalmist are too strong for him. Unless the Lord comes to his aid, the afflicted man is lost. There is no one else who can save him.
Psalm 142:8 Prison: a word that may denote actual imprisonment or may be a metaphor for the psalmist’s desperate plight characterized by adversity and isolation (see Ps 107:10; Isa 42:7). Assemble around me: the Greek and Syriac translate this phrase as “hope [or wait] around me” (see Job 36:2). All the friends of God are united in praise and joy (see Pss 22:26; 34:4; 64:11; 107:42).

1 Corinthians 14:1-20

Chapter 14

Seek the Gifts That Build Up the Community.^[a] ¹Make love your aim, but strive earnestly after the spiritual gifts, especially for that of prophecy. ²If anyone speaks in tongues, he is speaking not to men but to God, and no one understands him, for he is speaking mysteries in the Spirit. ³On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to men for their building up, their encouragement, and their consolation.

⁴Whoever speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but whoever prophesies builds up the Church. ⁵I wish that all of you could speak in tongues, but I would much prefer that you could prophesy. For the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless the latter can interpret what he is saying so that the Church may be built up.

⁶Now suppose, brethren, that I should come to you and speak in tongues. Of what value would I be to you if you were unable to discern from my words any revelation or knowledge or prophecy or instruction? ⁷Even inanimate things produce sound, such as a flute or a harp. If they do not produce distinct notes, how can anyone tell what tune is being played?

⁸Or again, if the bugle call is unclear, who will get ready for battle? ⁹Similarly, if you speak in tongues and your speech is unintelligible, how will anyone be able to understand what you are saying? For you will be talking to empty air.

¹⁰There are many different languages that are used in the world, and none of them is without meaning. ¹¹But if I do not comprehend the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and he will be a foreigner to me. ¹²Since you are eager to acquire spiritual gifts, try to excel in those that build up the Church.

¹³Therefore, anyone who speaks in tongues should pray for the ability to interpret. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit is at prayer but my mind derives no benefit. ¹⁵What then should I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

¹⁶If you are praising only with the spirit, how will the uninstructed person who is present be able to answer “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not comprehend what you are saying? ¹⁷Your thanksgiving may be inspiring, but the other person has not been edified.

¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you, ¹⁹but when I am in the church I would prefer to speak five intelligible words to instruct others rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brethren, do not be childish in your thinking. Be like infants in regard to evil, but in your thinking be mature.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Old/New Testament

Psalm 140[a]

Prayer for Deliverance from the Snares of the Wicked

Psalm 141[k]

Prayer for Protection against Evildoers

Psalm 142[t]

Prayer in Time of Abandonment

Footnotes

Chapter 14

Footnotes

Psalm 140^[a]

Psalm 141^[k]

Psalm 142^[t]