The psalm tells of the just man’s trust in God. God, holding a scroll, is seated in a temple (v. 5, Dominus in templo sancto suo: Dominus in celo sedes eius // The Lord is in his holy temple: the Lord’s throne is in heaven). To the right, turning to look at God, a man holding a pair of scales (v. 8, Quoniam iustus Dominus et iusticias dilexit // For the Lord is just and loves justice) addresses a scroll towards a group of men with spears who gesture up to him (v. 2, In Domino confido //In the Lord I put my trust). Flying away from the man is a bird, to which he is pointing (v. 2, transmigra in montem sicut passer // get you away from hence to the mountain like a sparrow). Below the bird are three seated men in discussion, “the upright of heart”, who are being shot at by three wicked men from below, using bow and arrows; a dark cloud is above them (v. 3, Quoniam ecce peccatores intenderunt arcum: paraverunt sagittas suas in pharetra, ut sagittent in obscuro rectos corde //For the wicked have bent their bow: they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the dark the upright of heart). To the right of the archers three men are demolishing a church with a mallet and pick-axes (v. 4, Quoniam que perfecisti destruxerunt // For they have destroyed the things you have made). Stones from the church walls are falling on the ground. At the top right, in a semicircle, is a devil breathing fire and bringing down flames on a group of cowering men, one of them with his cloak billowing in the wind (v. 7, Pluit super peccatores laqueos: ignis, sulphur et spiritus procellarum pars calicis eorum // He shall rain snares upon sinners: fire and brimstone and storms of winds shall be the portion of their cup). The contours of the hillscape frame the various groups.
The psalm tells of the just man’s trust in God. God, holding a scroll, is seated in a temple (v. 5, Dominus in templo sancto suo: Dominus in celo sedes eius // The Lord is in his holy temple: the Lord’s throne is in heaven). To the right, turning to look at God, a man holding a pair of scales (v. 8, Quoniam iustus Dominus et iusticias dilexit // For the Lord is just and loves justice) addresses a scroll towards a group of men with spears who gesture up to him (v. 2, In Domino confido //In the Lord I put my trust). Flying away from the man is a bird, to which he is pointing (v. 2, transmigra in montem sicut passer // get you away from hence to the mountain like a sparrow). Below the bird are three seated men in discussion, “the upright of heart”, who are being shot at by three wicked men from below, using bow and arrows; a dark cloud is above them (v. 3, Quoniam ecce peccatores intenderunt arcum: paraverunt sagittas suas in pharetra, ut sagittent in obscuro rectos corde //For the wicked have bent their bow: they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the dark the upright of heart). To the right of the archers three men are demolishing a church with a mallet and pick-axes (v. 4, Quoniam que perfecisti destruxerunt // For they have destroyed the things you have made). Stones from the church walls are falling on the ground. At the top right, in a semicircle, is a devil breathing fire and bringing down flames on a group of cowering men, one of them with his cloak billowing in the wind (v. 7, Pluit super peccatores laqueos: ignis, sulphur et spiritus procellarum pars calicis eorum // He shall rain snares upon sinners: fire and brimstone and storms of winds shall be the portion of their cup). The contours of the hillscape frame the various groups.
