“Psalm 151”
From Revised Standard Version w/ Apocrypha
“Psalm 151” is a short psalm found in most copies of the Septuagint (LXX), but not in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. The title given to this psalm in the Septuagint indicates that it is supernumerary, as no number is affixed to it. The psalm is ascribed to David. It is also included in some manuscripts of the Peshitta. The psalm concerns the story of David and Goliath.
The Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Syrian Orthodox churches accept Psalm 151 as canonical. Catholics, Protestants, and most Jews consider it apocryphal. However, it is found in some Catholic Bibles, such as certain editions of the Latin Vulgate, as well as in some ecumenical translations, such as the Revised Standard Version. Psalm 151 is cited once in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Breviary, as a responsory of the series from the books of Kings, the second in the Roman Breviary, together with 1 Samuel 17:37 (Greek 1–2 Kings = trad. 1–2 Samuel; Greek 3–4 Kings = trad. 1–2 Kings) in a text slightly different from that in the Vulgate. Athanasius of Alexandria mentions this psalm as being “especially the Psalm of David,” and as being suited to occasions in which, “weak as you are, you people are chosen for some position of authority among the brethren.”