The Psalmes of King David Translated by King James
Lord, in thy wrath rebuke me not, nor chasten me in rage: I am thy sonne, correct me so as may thy loue engage.
What it is
James VI personally undertook a metrical paraphrase of the Psalms from around 1601, intending it to supersede the Sternhold-Hopkins Psalter then in common use. Drafts in the king's own hand survive as British Library manuscript Royal 18.B.xvi; however, the majority of the published 1631 text was completed by William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, after James's death in 1625. Charles I authorized its publication in 1631 and ordered it to be sung in churches, though it was not ultimately adopted as the standard psalter. The project represents documented Stuart royal engagement with the Davidic tradition and the devotional ambition to give England a royally authored Scripture paraphrase.
Why it still matters
Reading James I's personal psalm paraphrases alongside the Hebrew original or the KJV offers a window into early Stuart devotional theology and the royal identification with David; select psalms retain spiritual freshness for private meditation, though the verse is uneven.
Kept alongside
The Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible
James I personally commissioned this translation at the Hampton Court Conference of 1604, set the translators' rules, and ensured publication in 1611; 47 of the 54 appointed scholars are documented as having participated. Lancelot Andrewes headed the First Westminster Company, responsible for Genesis through 2 Kings. The KJV became the Bible of the entire Stuart and Windsor dynasties in royal chapel worship, public proclamations, and coronation ceremonies, with the Bible presented at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation being the KJV. Her Christmas broadcasts routinely quoted from it, extending royal identification with this translation across more than four centuries.
Preces Privatae (Private Devotions)
Andrewes was James I's most admired court preacher and served as Dean of the Chapel Royal from 1618, reputedly spending five hours each day in prayer. The Preces Privatae were written in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin for his own private use across several decades; the manuscript was described as 'slubbered with his pious hands, and watered with his penitential tears.' On his deathbed in 1626 Andrewes gave the manuscript to William Laud, who succeeded him as Dean and brought it into the Caroline court circle. First published in 1647/1648, the prayers draw on Scripture, patristic sources, and the Eastern liturgical tradition to structure an entire week of morning and evening devotion.
Liber Regalis (Royal Book — Coronation Ordinal)
The Liber Regalis is the coronation ordinal held at Westminster Abbey (MS 38) that provided the order of service for every English coronation from Richard II through Elizabeth I. For James I's coronation in 1603, it was translated into English for the first time, and all subsequent Stuart and Windsor coronation liturgies descend directly from that adaptation. The anointing, investiture, and crowning prayers recited over every Stuart and Windsor monarch derive ultimately from this single manuscript. It is now on permanent display in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey, and the coronation of Charles III in 2023 traces its liturgical form through this medieval book.