After the great acrostic of Psalm 118 (Vulgate), the Psalter deliberately shifts tone and scale. Psalm 119 (Vulgate) is the first of the Songs of Ascents — brief, compressed, and existentially sharp.
— Psalm 120 (Hebrew / English)
Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi
By GRAHAM JOHN
A short psalm of distress and moral dislocation, expressing the cry of a truthful person living among deceit, and the longing for peace in a hostile moral environment.
7 verses total
VERSUS 1–7 (Latin + Literal English + Word Notes)
1
Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi, et exaudivit me.
To the Lord, when I was in distress, I cried out, and he heard me.
Word Notes:
- tribulor, tribulari — to be afflicted, pressed (deponent/passive sense)
- clamo, clamare — to cry out
- exaudio, exaudire — to hear favourably
2
Domine, libera animam meam a labiis iniquis, et a lingua dolosa.
O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips and from a deceitful tongue.
Word Notes:
- libero, liberare — to free, rescue
- anima, -ae f. — soul, life
- labium, -ii n. — lip
- iniquus, -a, -um — unjust, crooked
- dolosus, -a, -um — deceitful
3
Quid detur tibi, aut quid apponatur tibi ad linguam dolosam?
What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, O deceitful tongue?
Word Notes:
- do, dare → detur — be given (subjunctive, passive)
- appono, apponere — to add
- lingua, -ae f. — tongue, speech
4
Sagittae potentis acutae, cum carbonibus desolatoriis.
Sharp arrows of a warrior, with burning coals.
Word Notes:
- sagitta, -ae f. — arrow
- potens, potentis — mighty, warrior-like
- acutus, -a, -um — sharp
- carbo, carbonis m. — coal
- desolatorius, -a, -um — laying waste, destructive
5
Heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est; habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar.
Woe is me, for my sojourn has been prolonged; I have dwelt among the dwellers of Kedar.
Word Notes:
- heu — alas!
- incolatus, -us m. — sojourning, exile
- prolongo, prolongare — to lengthen
- habito, habitare — to dwell
- Cedar — nomadic peoples associated with hostility and violence
6
Multum incola fuit anima mea; cum his qui oderunt pacem eram pacificus.
My soul has dwelt too long; with those who hate peace, I was peaceable.
Word Notes:
- odi, odisse — to hate
- pax, pacis f. — peace, wholeness
- pacificus, -a, -um — peace-making, peaceable
7
Cum loquebar illis, impugnabant me gratis.
When I spoke to them, they attacked me without cause.
Word Notes:
- loquor, loqui — to speak (deponent)
- impugno, impugnare — to attack
- gratis — freely, without cause
MORPHOLOGY EXERCISES (7)
Identify tense, voice, mood, and principal parts:
- clamavi
- exaudivit
- libera
- detur
- app onatur
- prolongatus est
- impugnabant
TRANSLATION EXERCISES (7)
Translate into Latin:
- I cried out to the Lord in my distress.
- Deliver my soul from deceitful speech.
- What shall be given to the deceitful tongue?
- Sharp arrows and burning coals.
- I have dwelt too long among those who hate peace.
- I was peaceable among them.
- They attacked me without cause.
SUMMARY (≈100 words)
Psalm 119 opens the Songs of Ascents with a cry shaped by moral exhaustion rather than physical danger. The psalmist is not persecuted for wrongdoing but for truthfulness and peaceful intent. Deceitful speech is portrayed as violent, its consequences likened to arrows and burning coals. The anguish lies in prolonged exposure: living too long among those who despise peace corrodes the soul. The psalm offers no resolution, only honest articulation — yet even this is prayer. Faith here consists not in victory but in refusing to become what one is surrounded by.
REFLECTION QUESTION
Where in your own experience has the greatest strain come not from overt hostility, but from long exposure to dishonesty, distortion, or moral aggression?