The Enchiridion of Pope Leo

PSALM 50. Have mercy on me, O God, according to [thy] great [mercy], etc. original: "Miserere mei Deus, secundum magnam, &c." In modern Bibles, this is Psalm 51, the most famous of the Penitential Psalms.

David having taken Bathsheba after the death of Uriah her husband, and the Prophet Nathan having rebuked him—as seen in the second book of Kings original: "second livre des Rois." In the Douay-Rheims and older traditions, 1 and 2 Samuel were called 1 and 2 Kings. This refers to 2 Samuel 12 in modern Bibles., chapter 12—recognizing then his sin, composed this Psalm, which has the power to grant contrition A state of sincere remorse and repentance for having done wrong.; he composed it by the command of God. Saint Jerome says that it causes us to obtain the remission of our sins if one recites it every day from the time they were committed. Saint Augustine assures that they will be forgiven and that we will go to Heaven, which makes it a wondrous thing. Saint Ambrose calls it the glorious Psalm, useful for the health of both body and soul if recited daily, and effective against temptations if one says it three times a day along with its intelligenceIn the context of Western esotericism, an "intelligence" is a specific angelic or spiritual entity believed to govern the spiritual power of a particular psalm or celestial body. over oil of