Sing a New Psalm:
Communicating with God Through
the Prayers of the Church
Volume I: Lauds & Vespers
Lesson 28 The Just One Will Flourish
Psalm 92 and Psalm 135
Saturday Lauds (Week II)
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ex libris (in our library)
next lesson: Set a Guard on My Mouth
This material coordinates with Lesson 28 on pages 114–117 in Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. 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 published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Wording and numbering of some Psalms and verses in other translations may differ. This new translation of the Psalms in the process of being added to all English-language Liturgy of the Hours books used in the United States. The USCCB also plans a liturgical Bible based on the NABRE translation.
“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 in-depth study of the Psalms
We invite groups and individuals to check out the sample first lesson from this 28-
lesson Turning to 
God’s Word Catholic Bible study. Our online study pages include additional questions, commentary, and prayers based on the Psalm texts. Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers has been granted an imprimatur. A digital version of this study can be purchased from our website shop. Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline is scheduled for publication in 2025. If you have a Bible-study 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.
what would blossoming look like in your life today?
This illustration by Turning to God’s Word co-founder Tami Palladino points toward the purpose behind blossoms on palm trees. In the ancient world, palm trees were the source of dates; in turn, the sugar in dates supplied energy and sweetness. Because dates could be preserved by drying, they were a valuable food source in arid climates. Psalm 92 prophesies a time when the just ones will flourish like palm trees, reflecting the Psalmist’s view of the importance of upright behavior. The location where the trees are planted is significant. Consider ways in which just behavior nourishes society and helps it to flourish. Click on Tami’s illustration (right) to enlarge it. Her original illustration is on page 115 in Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers.
read the Catechism—faith in the future
Psalm 92 looks at the wisdom of a faithful person who trusts that God has a plan to provide his people with a better future. Paragraph 1042 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church sees that future as perfection that will be present at the end of time.
1042 At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. The universe itself will be renewed:
The Church … will receive her perfection only in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the renewal of all things. At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely related to man and which attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ.
WHAT DO YOU THINK—where are your roots?
In Psalm 92, the just are planted in a very specific place—the house of the LORD.
? Consider why the Psalmist felt it important to mention that particular location.
? How might such a location influence the growth and spread of justice?
? What location do you turn to as key to your own growth and survival?
? Where do you look for strength to support an increase in just behavior in your own life?
read the Catechism—liturgy matters
Psalm 135 consists of a litany of the LORD’s marvelous past deeds, continuing an emphasis found in many of the Psalms on the important role that memory plays in worship. Paragraph 1085 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church examines how the liturgy of the Mass differs from Old Testament liturgies, and encourages Catholics to meditate on what the Mass represents.
1085 In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own Paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. During his earthly life Jesus announced his Paschal mystery by his teaching and anticipated it by his actions. When his Hour comes, he lives out the unique event in history that does not pass away: Jesus dies, is buried, rises from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of the Father “once for all.” His Paschal mystery is a real event that occurred in our history, but it is unique: all other historical events happen once, and then they pass away, swallowed up in the past. The Paschal mystery of Christ, by contrast, cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed death, and all that Christ is—all that he did and suffered for all men—participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them all. The event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life.
thanksgiving—you could look it up in our archives
Psalm 92 ends our study on a note of thanksgiving. We at Turning to God’s Word are thankful for your participation and support. To learn about the connection between the Eucharist and giving thanks, read Lost in Translation, an online column in which 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 DO YOU THINK about this Catholic Bible study?
Send us an email to share your experience studying Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. We’d love to hear from you.
? Which Psalm that you studied in Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers did you find to be the most relevant in your life, and why?
? How have your ideas about the Catholic faith changed as a result of studying Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers?
? What’s one unexpected way that this Bible study has touched your life?
? What’s something you’ve learned from studying Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers that you’d like to share with others?
? To whom would you like to recommend Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers?
? What book of the Bible would you like to study next, and why?
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 I: Lauds & Vespers, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson 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 92 in this lesson.
don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a specific Scripture passage, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book or sample lesson. If you want to find a particular commentary, you can look up its title in the topics index. To learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, visit the online study directories to read the commentaries and watch any accompanying videos. 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
Link to magisterial documents referred to in our Bible studies at ex libris—magisterial documents. 
This listing includes 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. A close 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 month can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Psalm 92 (NIV)
Psalm 135 (NIV)
close with a Psalms-based prayer for Saturday Lauds (Week II)
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 created a world designed for growth and change.
Nurture our growth in order that we may blossom
where we’ve been planted
and in so doing call attention to your goodness.
Continue to nourish our spirits
through the prayers of the Psalms—
ancient hymns prayed by your Son, Jesus,
in whose name we now pray. Amen.
or be inspired by Pope Benedict & close with this prayer
Check out “A Prayer for Our Times” on page 117 of Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. Inspired by Psalm 135, Pope Benedict XVI offers this prayer, composed in the 1st century by St. Clement of Rome:
O Lord, make your face shine upon us for goodness in peace.
Grant concord and peace to us in the present day
and to all the inhabitants of the earth,
through Jesus Christ who reigns
from generation to generation
and for ever and ever. Amen.
Lesson 1 Set a Guard on My Mouth, Sunday First Vespers (Week I)—Psalm 141, Psalm 142, and Psalm 119:105–112
Lesson 27 The LORD Remembers Us, Friday Vespers (Week II)—Psalm 115, Psalm 116:1–9, and Psalm 139
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 on the book’s cover to view a sample 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 I: Lauds & Vespers. 
More information about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Bible study can be found on this website at start a Bible study, and Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer questions or discuss concerns. Contact us to start this or one of our other studies or to have your schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer
*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees, as well as some passages in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. The word “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—but the same books aren’t found in existing Hebrew manuscripts, which aren’t as old as the oldest version of the Septuagint. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?
Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except the Psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the 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 I: Lauds & Vespers 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 doesn’t include the deuterocanonical passages.
The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” “didst” in the Psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces those 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.
The Psalms in this Bible study reflect numbering used in The Abbey Psalms and Canticles; Psalms numbering may vary in other translations. Numbering also may vary for a few other passages in this Bible study. Turning to God’s Word studies follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSVCE and RSV2CE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book and the online sample.
The companion to this Catholic Bible study from Turning to God’s Word, Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, will cover Psalms not included in Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline is scheduled for publication in 2025.