μεγας Κυριος

Here's Psalm 144 (a portion of which is in the lectionary for today) from the Douay Rheims translation:

1. I will extol thee, O God my king:
   and I will bless thy name for ever;
   yea, for ever and ever.
2. Every day I will bless thee:
   and I will praise thy name for ever:
   yea, for ever and ever.
3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised:
   and of his greatness there is no end.
4. Generation and generation shall praise thy works:
   and they shall declare thy power.
5. They shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of thy holiness:
   and shall tell thy wondrous works.
6. And they shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts:
   and shall declare thy greatness.
7. They shall publish the memory of the abundance of thy sweetness:
   and shall rejoice in thy justice.
8. The Lord is gracious and merciful:
   patient and plenteous in mercy.
9. The Lord is sweet to all:
   and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10. Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee:
    and let thy saints bless thee.
11. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom:
    and shall tell of thy power:
12. To make thy might known to the sons of men:
    and the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom.
13. Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages:
    and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
    The Lord is faithful in all his words:
    and holy in all his works.
14. The Lord lifteth up all that fall:
    and setteth up all that are cast down.
15. The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord:
    and thou givest them meat in due season.
16. Thou openest thy hand,
    and fillest with blessing every living creature.
17. The Lord is just in all his ways:
    and holy in all his works.
18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him:
    to all that call upon him in truth.
19. He will do the will of them that fear him:
    and he will hear their prayer, and save them.
20. The Lord keepeth all them that love him;
    but all the wicked he will destroy.
21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord:
    and let all flesh bless thy holy name for ever;
    yea, for ever and ever.

This is a psalm meant to be sung by God's people, sung to Him and to each other. (It's also one of the acrostic psalms, with the first letters of each line (v 13 has 2 lines) spelling the Hebrew alphabet.)

It's easy to recite this psalm without praying it. "The Lord is just in all his ways" is the sort of thing we say in church all the time, with perhaps as much religious feeling as when we say "God bless you" after someone sneezes.

But I think it yields fruit with just a little effort. Asking the question, "What frame of mind would I have to be in to spontaneously praise God in these words?" might help me to see the frame of mind I should be in more often.

And some of the language is wonderful:

• the magnificence of the glory of thy holiness
• the memory of the abundance of thy sweetness
• the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom

The words sort of all run together, but in praising God there can be no excess. Each aspect of what is praiseworthy in God is itself praiseworthy.

Also, there's just something I like about verse 3:

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his greatness there is no end.

"Great"/"greatness" are in the Latin ("Magnus"/"magnitudinis") and Greek ("μεγας"/"μεγαλωσυνης"), but the English translators put in the "greatly" to make the point even clearer (the Grail Psalter spoils the fun with "highly to be praised").

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