Psalms 16:5
Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: that my footsteps be not moved.
Open Psalms 16:5 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Perfice gressus meos in semitis tuis, ut non moveantur vestigia mea.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- κατάρτισαι τὰ διαβήματά μου ἐν ταῖς τρίβοις σου, ἵνα μὴ σαλευθῇ τὰ διαβήματά μου.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 17:5
- תָּמֹ֣ךְ אֲ֭שֻׁרַי בְּמַעְגְּלוֹתֶ֑יךָ בַּל נָמ֥וֹטּוּ פְעָמָֽי
Haydock's commentary
Perfect. Hebrew, "support" me in these hard ways, where I am in continual danger of falling. (Calmet)
A Deo est incipere, a Deo est finire. (St. Jerome)
God's grace enables us to begin and to perfect every good work. (Haydock)
None can walk right of themselves. (Worthington)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Augustine Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament, On the words of the Gospel, Luke xiv. 16, ‘A certain man made a great supper,’ etc
8. Let us away then with vain and evil excuses, and come we to the supper by which we may be made fat within. Let not the puffing up of pride keep us back, let it not lift us up, nor unlawful curiosity scare us, and turn us away from God; let not the pleasure of the flesh hinder us from the pleasure of the heart. Let us come, and be filled. And who came but the beggars, the “maimed,” the “halt,” the “blind”? But there came not thither the rich, and the whole, who walked, as they thought, well, and saw acutely; who had great confidence in themselves, and were therefore in the more desperate case, in proportion as they were more proud. …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm XVII
5. “To perfect My steps in Thy paths” ( ver. 5 ). That the love of the Church might be perfected in the strait ways, whereby she arrives at Thy rest. “That My footsteps be not moved.” That the signs of My way, which, like footsteps, have been imprinted on the Sacraments and Apostolical writings, be not moved, that they may mark them who would follow Me. Or at least, that I may still abide fixedly in eternity, after that I have accomplished the hard ways, and have finished My steps in the straits of Thy paths.
St John Cassian The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X, Chapter XII. The answer on the economy of Divine Grace, with free will still remaining in us
Paphnutius : This would fairly influence us, if in every work and practice, the beginning and the end were everything, and there were no middle in between. And so as we know that God creates opportunities of salvation in various ways, it is in our power to make use of the opportunities granted to us by heaven more or less earnestly. For just as the offer came from God Who called him “get thee out of thy country,” so the obedience was on the part of Abraham who went forth; and as the fact that the saying “Come into the land” was carried into action, was the work of him who obeyed, so the addition of the words “which I will show thee” came from the grace of God Who commanded or promised it. …
St John Cassian The Conferences of John Cassian. Part II. Containing Conferences XI-XVII, Chapter IX. Of the power of our good will, and the grace of God
Whence human reason cannot easily decide how the Lord gives to those that ask, is found by those that seek, and opens to those that knock, and on the other hand is found by those that sought Him not, appears openly among those who asked not for Him, and all the day long stretches forth His hands to an unbelieving and gainsaying people, calls those who resist and stand afar off, draws men against their will to salvation, takes away from those who want to sin the faculty of carrying out their desire, in His goodness stands in the way of those who are rushing into wickedness. …