When it is said
When Matins is served on its own, it opens with this psalm and the next one, read while the priest censes the altar, the icons and the people.
At Holy Unction, the service of anointing the sick, its first verse is sung before the seventh Gospel.
Anyone can pray it over a friend in trouble, at any time.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
Whose words are these?
The psalm’s heading credits it to David in both the Hebrew and the Greek. Its first five verses bless someone who is facing a day of trouble. From verse 6 the psalm turns to the Lord saving His anointed king, and it ends with a prayer for the king.
The King James Version (eBible.org); Brenton’s Septuagint in English (eBible.org)
Why pray it over a friend?
St Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a letter to Marcellinus that matches the psalms to what a reader is going through. He wrote that when you see people in trouble, you should comfort them by praying over them the words of this psalm, which his Greek Bible counts as Psalm 19.
The Scripture in it
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion. May He remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Selah May He give you the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy at your victory and raise a banner in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your petitions.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Ἐπακούσαι σου Κύριος ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεως, ὑπερασπίσαι σου τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ ᾿Ιακώβ.
ἐξαποστείλαι σοι βοήθειαν ἐξ ἁγίου καὶ ἐκ Σιὼν ἀντιλάβοιτό σου.
μνησθείη πάσης θυσίας σου καὶ τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμά σου πιανάτω.
δῴη σοι Κύριος κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν σου καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν βουλήν σου πληρώσαι.
ἀγαλλιασόμεθα ἐν τῷ σωτηρίῳ σου καὶ ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου Θεοῦ ἡμῶν μεγαλυνθησόμεθα.
πληρώσαι Κύριος πάντα τὰ αἰτήματά σου.
From the Greek Orthros (Matins), on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s liturgical texts site.