Missing Psalms from Liturgy of the Hours

[yellow8yellowM]

Does anybody here know why there are a few missing psalms from the Liturgy of the Hours?

Two missing are Psalm 58 and 109.

I can understand that they are a little edgy, but it seems like out of 150 psalms there might have been more missing. I guess I’m just looking for a little “inside baseball” on how this all came about.

 

[aemcpa]

Does anybody here know why there are a few missing psalms from the Liturgy of the Hours?

Two missing are Psalm 58 and 109.

I can understand that they are a little edgy, but it seems like out of 150 psalms there might have been more missing. I guess I’m just looking for a little “inside baseball” on how this all came about.

Psalm 83 is the other Psalm that was omitted entirely, Verses were chopped out of 19 other Psalms.

The General Instruction for the Liturgy of the Hours, #131, tells us why - basically, because we’re wimps now. ewtn.com/library/curia/cdwgilh.htm#Ch%20III-IV

 

[Edmundus1581]

These are called the Imprecatory Psalms, and Wikipedia has an article on them.

Liturgical reforms by the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council led to the removal of some of the imprecatory psalms from the Divine Office, or the more problematic passages edited for liturgical use.[1]

[1]^ “The Catholic Answer Book”, Peter M. J. Stravinskas, p90, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 1994, ISBN 0-87973-737-9

Psalm 83 is the other Psalm that was omitted entirely, Verses were chopped out of 19 other Psalms.

The General Instruction for the Liturgy of the Hours, #131, tells us why - basically, because we’re wimps now. ewtn.com/library/curia/cdwgilh.htm#Ch%20III-IV

Here’s what the GI says…

1. Three psalms (58, 83, and 109) have been omitted from the psalter cycle because of their curses; in the same way, some verses have been omitted from certain psalms, as noted at the head of each. The reason for the omission is a certain psychological difficulty, even though the psalms of imprecation are in fact used as prayer in the New Testament, for example, Rv 6:10, and in no sense to encourage the use of curses.