Sing a New Psalm:
Communicating with God Through
the Prayers of the Church
Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline
Lesson 6 God Looks Down From Heaven
Psalm 38 (RSVCE) and Psalm 53 (RSVCE)
Tuesday Day Prayer (Week I)
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ex libris (in our library)
glossary for Volume II of Sing a New Psalm
next lesson: The LORD Remembers His Holy Word
This material coordinates with Lesson 6, “God Looks Down from Heaven,” on pages 26–28 in Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline. Our Catholic Bible study is based on
The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, an English translation of the psalms prepared by the monks at Conception Abbey in 2010 and first published as The Revised Grail Psalms. The Abbey Psalms and Canticles is a revision of that work, finished in 2020 and now owned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Wording and numbering of some psalms and verses in other translations may differ. The Abbey Psalms and Canticles is being added to Liturgy of the Hours books used in the United States. While the Turning to God’s Word study book is based on The Abbey Psalms and Canticles translation, all online links to the psalms are to the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. A separate copy of The Abbey Psalms and Canticles is needed to read the translation on which the psalms in this study are based.
“Unlike other prayers in sacred Scripture, the prayers contained in the psalms are not inserted into a narrative story that specifies their meaning and function. Instead, the psalms are given to the believer precisely as a text of prayer. Since they are the Word of God, the believer who prays the psalms speaks to God using the very words that God himself has given to us. Thus, in praying the psalms we learn to pray. The psalms are a school of prayer.”—Pope Benedict XVI
welcome to our continuing in-depth study of the psalms
We invite groups and individuals to check out the sample Introduction and Lesson 1 from this 29-
lesson Turning to 
God’s Word Catholic Bible study. Our online study pages include additional questions, commentary, and prayers based on the psalm texts, plus an online glossary. Both Volume I and Volume II of Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church have been granted imprimaturs. A digital version of Volume I: Lauds & Vespers can be purchased from our website shop. Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline is available in hard copy. If you have a Bible-related question or comment, click on one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons on any online study page.
open with prayer
It’s always wise to begin any Bible study with prayer, whether reading the Scriptures alone or meeting with others in a discussion study group. You can pray using your own words, pray one of the psalms in this lesson, or use one of the opening prayers on our website. We especially like the following:
Lord Jesus, you promised to send your Holy Spirit
to teach us all things.
As we read and study your word today,
allow it to touch our hearts and change our lives. Amen.
think about praying Compline every night
In addition to the sample for this Bible study, Turning to God’s Word is providing a copy of Lesson 29 In Peace I Will Lie Down, which addresses the nightly Compline prayers based on Psalm 91, Psalm 4, and Psalm 134. The monks at Conception Abbey pray these short psalms each evening—Psalm 91 on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday; Psalm 4 and Psalm 134 on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.
about the psalms in this lesson**
Both Psalm 38 and Psalm 53 are laments attributed to David; they’re prayed for Tuesday Day Prayer Week I at Conception Abbey. Psalm 38 is an individual or personal lament, while Psalm 53 is a lament composed by David for his community.
classifying the psalms
The classification of the psalms, though somewhat standardized, retains an arbitrary nature. Some psalms are classified according to form or type; such forms include the hymn, the lament, and the song of thanksgiving. Psalms also may be classified according to subject matter—royal psalms, for instance, portray the political king of the descendants of Jacob as both the representative of God to the community and the representative of the community to God—or they may be classified according to their use; scholars generally think that hymns exalting Zion were part of a ritual reenactment of the great deeds of God in maintaining Mount Zion and Jerusalem as a home base. Turning to God’s Word is indebted to Fr. Felix Just, a Jesuit priest and biblical scholar, for his organized listing of the psalms by classification and author.
the largest number of psalms are laments
Forty-three of the psalms, including Psalm 38 in this lesson, are classified as individual laments. The word “lament” means “a passionate expression of regret.” Besides the 43 individual laments, an additional 18 psalms are classified as communal laments, which means they were written to be used by an entire community. This includes Psalm 53 in this lesson. Refer to the above-mentioned work of Fr. Felix Just for a complete online listing of psalms classified as individual or communal laments.
what is a lament?
Because the word “lament” as a verb means to wail, moan, or sob in sorrow, when the same word “lament” is used as a noun it means an expression of mourning. It is this meaning the word “lament” holds in the psalms prayed for this lesson. In addition to the laments in the psalms, Scripture also includes a book called Lamentations (sometimes referred to as the Lamentations of Jeremiah—although many scholars contest the prophet Jeremiah’s authorship of that work). A lament frequently refers to a funeral dirge, elegy, or burial hymn.
heaven—you could look it up in our archives
In Psalm 53:3 (Psalm 53:2 in Revised Standard Version Catholic Editions), David claims that God looks down from heaven to see if any humans are wise. To learn more about heaven, read Lost in Translation, an online column in which Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps helps readers connect with ideas expressed in the original languages of the Scriptures. New Lost in Translation entries are posted on Mondays, and past entries are archived on our website. Contact us if you’d like to receive Lost in Translation by email every week.
what kind of return are we talking about?
In Psalm 53:7 (Psalm 53:6 in Revised Standard Version Catholic Editions) David announces that when God brings about the return of his people, then Jacob will be glad and Israel rejoice. Israelites living more than 600 years after the time of David’s reign (970 to 1010 B.C.) considered Psalm 53 a prophesy about the end of the Babylonian Exile. (The Exile began around 597 B.C.; the return from captivity occurred in 538 B.C.) Christians interpret the return in Psalm 53:7 to refer to a more spiritual return to God.
an unusual mention of Jacob in Psalm 53
Also in Psalm 53:7 (Psalm 53:6 in Revised Standard Version Catholic Editions) David announces that this return will make Jacob glad and cause Israel to rejoice. Usually in the psalms, the words “Jacob” and “Israel” are synonymous and refer to all of the patriarch Jacob’s descendants. Based on the idea that Psalm 53 was written by David at a time when the word “Israel” represented either the person of Jacob, all of his descendants, or the land where they resided that was ruled by David. “Israel” in Psalm 53:7 can be assumed to refer to all of Jacob’s descendants. It’s redundant for David to specify that “Jacob” will be glad as well as “Israel” if David intends “Jacob” to refer to the land and people under his rule. To refer to “Jacob” being glad suggests that the land of “Israel” is being personified as “Jacob”—or perhaps that even in death the person who was known as “Jacob” is able to observe what’s happening with his descendants.
beware of the word ‘Israel’
In the present day, the word “Israel” refers to a specific nation. In Scripture, however, “Israel” is a term with a variety of meanings, and readers can determine the author’s intent depending on context. Throughout the psalms, “Israel” refers either to the patriarch Jacob, who was renamed “Israel” by God, or to all of his descendants. At the time of David, “Israel” also referred to the kingdom that consisted of all of Jacob’s descendants. Later, “Israel” came to refer to the northern kingdom that includes all of the tribes except Judah and Benjamin. The fall of the northern kingdom to the Assyrians occurred in 722–721 B.C. Afterward, the territory became known as Samaria, the name of the former kingdom’s capital. Following the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah in 587–586 B.C., “Israel” was used to refer to all of Jacob’s descendants. The land of “Israel” may mean the geographical territory of the former northern kingdom of “Israel”, or it may mean the entire area in the land of Canaan settled by all 12 of the tribes of Jacob. In the New Testament, the word “Israel” may refer to the Church as representative of the Christian people of God after the time of Jesus. The name “Israel” means “may God prevail” or “he who struggles with God”; the name “Jacob” means “supplanter.”
read the Catechism—a Christian approach to illness
Few things are more challenging to men and women than serious illness. Paragraph 1502 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers teaching about illness. The Old Testament offers wise advice on how the Christian can deal with sickness,
1502 The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing. Illness becomes a way to conversion; God’s forgiveness initiates the healing. It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to sin and evil, and that faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: “For I am the Lord, your healer.” The prophet intuits that suffering can also have a redemptive meaning for the sins of others. Finally Isaiah announces that God will usher in a time for Zion when he will pardon every offense and heal every illness.
a translation difference: bones vs. limbs
The Abbey Psalms and Canticles translates Psalm 38:4 (Psalm 38:3 in Revised Standard Version Catholic Editions): “There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger: there is no health in my bones because of my sin.” The Revised Grail Psalms translates “bones” in the same passage as “limbs.” Consider what effect this change might have on the psalm’s meaning. (Note that it is not possible to link to either The Abbey Psalms and Canticles or The Revised Grail Psalms; all links on the online pages are to the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE].)
a translation difference: illness vs. pain
The Abbey Psalms and Canticles translates Psalm 38:12 (Psalm 38:11 in Revised Standard Version Catholic Editions): “Friends and companions stand aloof from my
illness ….” The Revised Grail Psalms translates “illness” in the same passage as “pain.” Think about whether the words “illness” and “pain” mean the same thing.
a translation difference: hate me without cause vs. are my lying foes
The Abbey Psalms and Canticles translates Psalm 38:20 (Psalm 38:19 in Revised Standard Version Catholic Editions): “My enemies live on and grow strong, and many hate me without cause.” The Revised Grail Psalms translates “hate me without cause” in the same passage as “are my lying foes.” Consider whether it is more likely that we think of our enemies as those who “hate without cause” or whether we think of them as “lying foes.”
the best Catholic commentary about Scripture
To find out more about how Church teaching is supported by passages in Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) and relevant paragraphs in the Catechism are provided here. Not every passage in the biblical text for this study is referenced in a Catechism paragraph, however, including Psalm 53 in this lesson.
Psalm 38:1–22—paragraph 1502
ways our glossary might prove helpful
In addition to providing extra information about geographical locations, our glossary also points out 
persons or places mentioned in the biblical text under more than one name or more than one spelling. If you can remember a name but aren’t sure in which lesson it shows up, you can find it in the glossary, which lists every proper noun that appears in the biblical text for every lesson in Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline.
don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a passage in Scripture, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book. If you want to revisit a particular commentary, you can look that up by title in the topics index. If you want to learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, you can read the online commentaries and watch any accompanying videos by going to the online study directories. Finally, if you have a question or would like to make a comment about any of our studies, you can use one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons to email our authors.
ex libris—Church documents & books about religious topics
You can find links to magisterial documents referred to in Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible studies 
at ex libris—magisterial documents. This page includes a listing of significant recent encyclicals as well as a number of historical Church documents. Recommended books related to Scripture study can be found at ex libris—main bookshelf.
wondering how to pronounce some of these words?
The following links are to readings from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. To listen, open one of the links and click on the audio icon above the printed text. Although not taken from the translations used in our study materials, the NIV readings provide an audio guide to pronunciation of words in this lesson’s primary biblical texts. An online version of the translation of the Bible used in Catholic liturgy in the United States as well as an audio guide for daily Mass readings for the current three months can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
close with a psalms-based prayer for Tuesday Day Prayer (Week I)
Many of our Catholic study groups like to conclude their discussions with a prayer based on the scriptural focus of their lesson. If you’re uncomfortable composing your own Bible-based prayers, you can follow our four easy steps. If you prefer, you can pray any of the psalms in this lesson, or you can use the following short prayer.
O God, you show your love for humanity in many ways,
but you clearly long for humanity to return that love.
Continue to forgive the times we ignore or forget about you,
and help us to remain on the path of righteousness.
Teach us to recognize that the true measure
of health is spiritual and not physical.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ,
who gave his own life out of love for sinful men and women. Amen.
Lesson 7 The LORD Remembers His Holy Word, Wednesday Vigils (Week I)—Psalm 24 (the Invitatory), Psalm 17, Psalm 25, and Psalm 105
Lesson 5 Awake, O LORD! Why Do You Sleep? Tuesday Vigils (Week I)—Psalm 100 (the Invitatory), Psalm 40, Psalm 44, Psalm 59, and Psalm 60
you also may like our study of the book of Revelation
The Revelation of Jesus Christ: The Faithful Witness, a 23-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, examines ways in which our traditional Christian view of heaven is built on Hebrew apocalyptic visions recorded in the Old Testament. This recently revised study includes maps and additional commentary and takes a close look at the role of the prophets in present-day Christianity. Illustrations by Tami Palladino depict the often-misunderstood images in the book of Revelation. Click here to view a sample of the first lesson.
start a Turning to God’s Word Bible study
Thank you for your interest in Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II. 
Information about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Bible study can be found at start a Bible study. Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer questions. Contact us if you’d like to start one of our studies or have your schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer
*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—Baruch, Judith, Sirach, Tobit, Wisdom, and First and Second Maccabees—and there are some deuterocanonical passages in the Books of Daniel and Esther. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. Deuterocanonical means “second canon”; Catholics use that word to refer to any section of the Catholic Old Testament for which there are no extant, or existing, Hebrew manuscripts. All of the deuterocanonical books appear in the Septuagint, the earliest remaining versions of which date to the 1st century B.C. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was in common use by Jews at the time of Jesus. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?
**You can learn more about the psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church. The first volume covers psalms prayed at Lauds and Vespers; the second covers psalms prayed at Vigils, Day Prayer, and Compline. Numbering of psalms and verses may vary in other translations.
Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except those to the psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and published in 2020 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). All Scripture links for the online study pages for Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline are to the 1966 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. The New International Version (NIV) audio recordings follow the same chapter and verse numbering as the RSV Catholic translations, but the NIV translation doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books and passages.
The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” and “didst” in the psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces these with more accessible English. The few significant translation changes in the RSV2CE include rendering almah as “virgin” in the Book of Isaiah 7:14 and restoring the term “begotten” in the Gospel According to John 3:16.
Numbering for some passages in this Bible study will vary. Turning to God’s Word studies (print and digital) follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSV2CE and RSVCE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book.