PSALM OF THE DAY[1]
The following six psalms are recited on the respective days of the week.
On Sundays:
This is the first day of the week, on which the Levites in the Temple used to recite:
Psalm 24
A psalm of David.[2] The earth and its entire contents belong to the Lord, the world and its inhabitants. For it is he who has founded it upon the seas, and established it on the floods. Who may ascend the Lord’s mountain? Who may stand within his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart; he who strives not after vanity and swears not deceitfully. He will receive a blessing from the Lord, and justice from his saving God. Such is the generation of those who are in quest of him, who seek the presence of the God of Jacob. Raise your heads, O gates,[3] raise yourselves, you ancient doors, that the glorious King may come in. Who, then, is the glorious King? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord strong in battle. Raise your heads, O gates, raise yourselves, you ancient doors, that the glorious King may come in. Who, then, is the glorious King? The Lord of hosts, he is the glorious King.
Mourners’ Kaddish.
On Mondays:
This is the second day of the week, on which the Levites in the Temple used to recite:
Psalm 48
A song, a psalm of the Korahites.[4] Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, on the northern slope, is Mount Zion, the city of the great King. God in her palaces has made himself known as a stronghold. For lo, the kings assembled
- ↑ שיר של יום, the Psalm of the Day, was chanted by the Levites each day during the Temple service (Mishnah Tamid 7:4). According to the Talmud, the daily psalms were intended to recall the incidents of the six days of creation (Rosh Hashanah 31a).
- ↑ מזמור a poem sung to the accompaniment of musical instruments in the Temple service.
- ↑ שאו שערים ראשיכם The ancient gates of Zion are poetically commanded to raise their heads, in token of reverence to God whose entrance is an act of condescension. Different parts of this psalm were sung by different choirs of singers at the time when David brought the ark to Mount Zion.
- ↑ בני קרח descendants of Korah, a division of Levites who sang in the Temple.
