Expositio in Psalmos

PSALM 72.

"Lord, in your city you will despise their image." He names the city of God the one above and intelligible, which is our mother. For if they had kept your image, they would reasonably have been deemed worthy of the heavenly city as well. "In your counsel you guided me." Since the worker of righteousness, boasting in the grace of God, was saying, "You took hold of," etc., that is, you established me as a guardian of your wills—for this reason the God of all, declaring this great and excellent, as it were cries out and says, "For what is there for me?" etc. "For behold, those who distance themselves from you will perish." Some distance themselves from the Lord not by local intervals, but in disposition and knowledge and manner of life. For the wicked and unjust and those liable for other offenses are said to be far from God. "For what fellowship has light with darkness?" But the good and just and those who are knowledgeable in the achievements of piety are near to God. "You have utterly destroyed everyone who commits fornication from you." Unbelief is the mother of fornication. For who, believing that God is everywhere, and is present at every deed, and observes the counsels of hearts, would either admit the evil thought or accomplish the evil? Whence, supposing that God does not attend to what is done by them, they will reasonably be utterly destroyed. Let us put a stop to the ways of intelligible fornication, so that we may not undergo the destruction that is fitting and owed to those who love sin. And intelligible fornication would be every form of baseness and impurity.

And since sins separate us from God who is near, let us remove this grievous barrier and that which prevents us from becoming near. For "I am a God who is near," he says, "and not a God far off." [But for me, to cleave to God. And let us cleave to God, drawing near to him in disposition, and following his divine ordinances. For thus somewhere the Savior himself also says: "He who loves me follows me, and where I am, there also is my servant."]

PSALM 73.

You gave him as food to the peoples, to the Ethiopians. For by Ethiopians one must understand those who have their mind, so to speak, dark and without light, not yet illumined and not possessing the divine light. But those who fall down before the Son, concerning whom it is said, "The Ethiopians shall fall down before him," are made radiant by him and cry aloud: "Let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us." But those who have an uncleanness hard to wash away, and have remained in their blackness, shall devour the heads of the apostate dragon, and shall be subjected to the sword. You dried up the rivers of Etham. He speaks of the things that happened in the wilderness, when he gave the people drink from the rock. And Etham is interpreted as "south"; and the Jordan lies toward the south of the land of the Jews. Summer and spring you made. Perhaps also, wishing to signify the four regions under heaven, the Prophet cries out to God: "Summer and spring you made," that is, the summer and southern parts of the inhabited world and the northern and cold parts.

As it says, "You created the north and the sea." But he passed over autumn and winter, because summer is set opposite autumn, and winter opposite spring.

PSALM 74.

I said to the lawless, Do not be lawless, and to those who sin, Do not lift up your horn. According to the historical sense, the Assyrians and Babylonians are commanded not to blaspheme against God, nor to be proud on account of their own strength. For the horn is taken as an image of strength, that is, of kingship, according to what was said concerning Christ: "His horn shall be exalted in glory," that is, his kingship, and the strength and authority of ruling over all things. But it also signifies arrogance, as here: Do not lift up your horn. And according to the spiritual sense, the Savior would say: Having established the pillars of the Church, that is, the apostles, I exhorted the others not to be lawless. But these things can be said against the other order of those from the circumcision, who rose up against the Savior and despised him; on account of whom their land melted, and all who were in it. For the Pharisees, as it were, having slackened all the reins with their God-fighting tongue, made their blasphemy against Christ run most smoothly, and they were lawless, wickedly condemning him whom they least ought to have condemned. And they lifted up their horn, insisting that they knew the will of God, in saying: "We know that God has spoken to Moses." Do not lift up your horn on high, do not speak injustice against God. But those from the Gentiles who worship idols also sin and speak injustice against God.

They lift up their horn as it were to a height, and stretch out their neck in pride, clashing with God—those who fight against the doctrines of the truth, and are accustomed to speak falsely, not knowing either what they say or about what they make confident assertions. For horned animals exult greatly in their horns. But the word exhorts them not to increase their lawlessness, nor to move their tongue against God. For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desolate mountains. By these words he signifies the whole world of the inhabited earth: the east, from which the sun comes forth; the west, the evening region; and the desolate mountains, the northern and the southern; for these are uninhabitable because of the immoderateness of cold and heat. Do not transgress the law, then, he says, because none of those who transgress the law in all the inhabited earth would escape the notice of God.

PSALM 75.

You shine wondrously from the eternal mountains. Both prophets and apostles might be called mountains because of the height of the virtue that is in them, and because there is nothing low and groveling in them; and eternal, for the word of God proclaimed by them is preserved and endures continually. We are therefore enlightened by them, that is, we are guided and taught. You are fearful. All those round about him shall bring gifts. Of Cyril, Didymus, Ephrem. He hints at the fearful one through all things. And round about him he calls the saints, who offer the virtues.

PSALM 71.

[With my voice I cried to the Lord. For those who possess earthly wealth often by means of it ward off the attacks of those who plot against them. But God is a weapon for the righteous, and to hope to be saved through help from above.] I meditated, and my spirit fainted within me. The word "I meditated" he says instead of "I have been anxious and have come into subtle cares," so as even to be near to faint-heartedness. Then what happened, or what was the whole matter that persuaded me to meditate or be anxious, he shows forthwith, saying: "All my enemies have seized the watch-posts beforehand." And again, what is this? When enemies besiege a city, if they see the watch-posts or the battlements, those who dwell in it are in hopes of being saved; but if they grow drowsy, and then the enemies come upon them and take the watch-posts and climb over the walls, then they have also conquered. When, therefore, the Psalmist, as from a comparison of such a matter, says: "All my enemies have seized the watch-posts beforehand," he wishes to teach that all my enemies have conquered me, and the foes have prevailed. And after a little. As a city, the enemies have conquered and prevailed. [This change of the right hand of the Most High—the right hand that takes hold of the saints and saves them, and brings down enemies and overthrows those who oppose—he says is the Father's, the timeless and eternal; which is the Only-begotten. For this reason, having struck me again, he adds: I too have been changed, I have henceforth thought rightly. And I am disposed thus because God loves and saves the saints.] (Of Cyril and the Theologian.) But you will understand also here:

Now I began to understand rightly and scientifically whatever God works in his economy: that Christ has become as we are and has changed us into something better. For I too have been changed from disposition into disposition; henceforth I have thought rightly; and I am disposed to believe that God both loves and saves those who are worthy. And let everyone—whether turning from wickedness or remaining in virtue and advancing—say, "Now I have begun"; this is the change which the right hand of the Most High grants, namely to advance always to the greater through the exercises of piety. For the one who advances in virtue is never at any time not being changed. And the Only-begotten is also said to have been changed, in that the divine nature, by condescensions, was changed to our form and appearance, not by casting off but by taking on. God, your way is in the holy place. For he says that the ways of God are the economies of truth, the administrations in each matter—that is, in every just and holy matter. You are, O God, the one who works wonders; you have made your power known among the peoples. For he himself is the one who works wonders, because he alone is God by nature and in truth. You redeemed with your arm. (Cyril, Hesychius, Didymus.) You will understand power and arm to be the Son of God. [For while the Egyptians were being punished and enduring those unbearable plagues, Israel was being instructed, and was being taught by the very events what the power of the one who saves is.] The waters saw you, O God, and feared, and the deeps were troubled. (,,, 181) The saving baptism redeems and swiftly delivers from the greed of the devil.

For it prevails over us through the sin that is in our members. The clouds gave forth a voice, for your arrows also pass through, etc. And by way of figurative adaptation, the multitudes of the peoples gathered together in the Churches of God, likened to waters, having seen God come down to men, took up a saving fear, which is the beginning of wisdom. And the deeps, the order of the unbelieving, were troubled, rising up against the Church. And the clouds that were commanded not to rain upon the former vineyard, Israel—the disciples of the Savior, who minister the gospel word and have distributed the heavenly rain over the whole inhabited world—gave forth a voice; for their sound went out into all the earth. And the saving arrows, and chosen, that wound the souls of those being saved—these again are the apostles themselves, or the fiery oracles of God, and the energy of the Spirit, which passed through everywhere. But also the thunder, the gospel word that crashed down under heaven, from which also certain sons of thunder were named. It was spread abroad in the wheel, that is, in this world, which is spherical and moves in a circular motion; in which there is another wheel, the life of men,

According to what is in Ezekiel, "a wheel within a wheel." But also the lightnings that flash forth for us the intelligible light—the sacred ministers of the Gospel, to whom it was said, "You are the light of the world"—have appeared even to the ends of the earth. For we do not say anywhere that David was making mention of the lightning that comes for rain, but he wished to signify by the name of lightning the illumination of the intelligible and divine light. And one must know that every saint is not garrulous nor has anything crooked, but is a wheel touching the earth with a small part; and the voice of wisdom comes to be in such a one, who has nothing curved. But the sinner is crooked in other respects too; even if he prays, he prays in corners, along inclined straight lines and not the road of his soul that leads straight on. But let even perceptible lightnings turn us toward the God who thunders and lightens; for they have something wonderful—that their rays, appearing suddenly, shine upon the inhabited world, so that the darkness of night is dissolved; for not only does the sun dissolve the darkness, but also the lightning. And if one must linger on the argument here as well, as by some example—being wheels, the loud-voiced apostles of the word according to the Gospel receive the voice; thus they also flash lightning, and their light shines before men, and it is possible to see the lightnings of their thoughts and their deeds.

PSALM 77.

He split the sea and led them through. Our Lord Jesus Christ has saved us in the same manner; for he brought us across and prepared a way, as it were a sea, through the surge of the present life—the uprisings, the temptations, the waves. Through him we have prevailed also over those who opposed us. He has given us to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy. And he brought us into the land of promise, which he recalled when he said: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land. He gave them bread from heaven." The bread from heaven is the Only-begotten of God; clearly this is the true manna—the bread from heaven supplied to all rational creation.

PSALM 78.

How long, O Lord, will you be angry to the end? That Christ receives the intercessions of the saints, and that very readily—the intercessions which they often make on behalf of those who have sinned; for they strive together as for brothers, and share the tear of those in affliction, and make the misfortunes of others their own, and as though themselves suffering out of love, they fall before the good-loving God, saying: "How long, O Lord, will you be angry to the end; will your zeal burn like fire?" Do not, he says, let your anger fall upon those who have sinned forever and without end. You are not such by nature; for the God of all strikes those who have neglected to will to live rightly; but since he is great and incomparable in love for humanity, he has not dealt with us according to our iniquities, nor repaid us according to our sins.

For he always restrains his anger, and does not bring punishments upon our sins in equal measure; and indeed, because of the greatness of the gentleness and forbearance that is in him, some all but accuse him of being angry at all. And indeed the most patient Job came forward doing this very thing, saying: "Why have you not made my lawlessness forgotten, and a cleansing of my sin?"

And why, I say, do you accuse the Master? I do not accuse, he says, but rather I ask for the gentleness that is customary and innate to him. So much, then, from the noble athlete. Pour out your anger upon the nations that have not known you, etc. The prayers of the saints benefit us; for they fall before God on our behalf, and, as it were, transfer the anger that comes against us onto others, saying: "Pour out your anger upon the nations that do not know you, and upon kingdoms that have not called upon your name." Does he then wish the effects of divine anger to be poured out upon others simply, who have not even sinned? How then would God have endured one who urges him to do injustice? Or how would one who makes so harsh a prayer be holy at all? What then is it that he says? For whenever some of those who have come under God, and who have honored the worship under him, go astray, then he certainly chastises them, measuring out the motion and tempering the effects of his anger with sparing; but whenever there are some of those who do not know him who provoke him continually, then he lets loose his wrath upon them unbridled. For we have become very poor.

And it is necessary to see what is the manner of the poverty that is understood in our case, and what sort of wealth we have wholly cast away. The nature of man has become naked of every good, destitute of the gifts from above, outside of familiarity with God. And because of the sin that intervened, we stripped off incorruptibility, having fallen among a savage and unholy robber—I mean Satan. For God did not make death, but created all things for incorruptibility, and the generations of the world are salvific; but by the envy of the devil, death entered into the world. Therefore we became exceedingly poor, but in Christ we have become rich, recovering the things that were in the beginning. For being rich, he became poor together with us, so that we might become rich by his poverty.

PSALM 79.

[Against Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. From the three most distinguished tribes he signifies the whole race of Israel.] Come to save us. For such things were spoken prophetically. But it has come to fulfillment, as I said, in us, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived. For in the last times of the age, the only-begotten Word of God became man. Make your face shine, and we shall be saved. They name the Son the face of God the Father; for he is the image and express stamp of his hypostasis, and in him alone the beauty of God the Father shines forth. —When the face of the Father, that is, the Son, shone upon us, we turned back to the living and true God from our vain conduct handed down from our fathers, and we were saved through him. How long will you be angry at the prayer of your servant?

He no longer blames the one who is delaying, but rather urges that the grace be hastened; yet God, who knows all things, knows also the fitting time of each matter. You will give us to drink in tears in measure. [142.] Lamenting and groaning, we partake of what is necessary. And this you have done, measuring out the punishment in return for our sins. You have set us as a contradiction to our neighbors. And the sons of Israel have been set as a contradiction to their neighbors, and as a mockery to their enemies—in what manner, then? Evidently by being weak and trampled down and fallen beneath the feet of enemies; for it was not possible for them to fare well when they were abandoning [God]. —They do not bring accusation as against one who did wrong, but rather they lament that Israel has become desolate of the help that comes from him. You made a way before it, and you planted its roots, etc. For going before, he cast out the nations from before them. And the root of the Jewish vine is Moses or Joshua. These filled the land with their own piety; for their virtues spread everywhere. Having named the people a vine figuratively, he continued with the figure. And he calls the strength of the neighboring nations mountains; and these covering with shadow, the dominion of Israel resting upon them; and cedars of God, the lofty rulers, those who have received rule from God; and the vines covering the cedars, the kingdom of Israel having become more conspicuous than these; and we have learned that this happened both in the case of the blessed David and in that of Solomon.

For the great David received tribute not only from the Philistines, Idumeans, Ammonites, and Moabites, but also from both the Syrians. And the queen of the Ethiopians looked to Solomon; thus he became much celebrated among all. By "branches" he means the multitude of the people; by "shoots," the proselytes who have come from the nations and received the divine knowledge. Through all these things he made clear the former fruitfulness of the people. And a wild vine. (Of Cyril and Hesychius.) You will understand these things also as referring to the devil. Turn now and look. Stop the turning away; take care of the land that has been made waste, sending down upon it the spiritual rain. Surround it, as with a hedge, with rational powers, and by your own power and grace restore "that which your right hand has planted." The right hand of the Father is the Son; for through him, as through a hand, he works all things. For then the burned vine will sprout again and come back to life, and will yield good fruits; for those who set it on fire will perish. The face of God is the Son; for he is the image and express stamp of his substance, and in him we have beheld the Father. Visit this vine, and restore it, etc. Prepare it in some way for the Son of Man, that is, grant them a good heart, so as both to know and to receive through faith the one who became man. And shortly after:

When, therefore, he says, he shall set this vine in order and prepare its heart to receive through faith the one who became Son of Man, then surely the vine that has been set on fire and dug up and brought to utter worthlessness will sprout again and live again and put forth good fruits; for those who set it on fire and dug it up shall perish at the rebuke of your face. And again he names the Son the face of God and the Father; for he is the image and express stamp of his hypostasis, and in him we have beheld the Father. Upon the man of your right hand, and upon the son of man. We confess that in these words he names the Savior of all, Christ, that is, the only-begotten Word of God; since he has become man, he speaks of the things concerning him in a human way. This is the Christ, this is the Word of God who became man, and endured the emptying for our sake, and remained what he was.

PSALM 80.

When he went forth from the land of Egypt, he heard a tongue he did not know. This is something great and exceptional, and sufficient for every prosperity for the man who has once been most devoted to the contemplation of God. For he was brought out from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and an uplifted arm, as it is written, and escaped the greed of that place. And after a little. Having passed over all these things, the one who brings up the song recalls the legislation at Sinai. For there Israel heard a tongue it did not know. There the first prophecy concerning Christ, the Savior of us all, came to it. And in what manner, I will say. There stood

For it was under Mount Sinai, when God had descended upon it in the form of fire. Then, as it is written in Exodus, the Lord spoke these words: "Hear, O Israel: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." And after a little, the sacred Scripture says: "And all the people saw the voice, and the torches of fire, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And all the people were afraid, and stood afar off. And they said to Moses, saying: You speak to us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die." Do you hear how they cannot endure an unfamiliar voice? They cannot bear God speaking? And after a little, marveling at this, the Psalmist says concerning him: "When he went forth out of the land of Egypt," and what follows. For they heard God giving the law; but since once for all the matter was unbearable to them, they sought a mediator, saying to the blessed Moses: "You speak to us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die." Then what follows from this? God and the Father immediately perceived that we need the one who mediates. But it was not possible for Moses, being mortal like us, to be mediator between God and men forever; therefore at once he made the prophecy concerning Christ, saying: "I will raise up for them a prophet from their brethren like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it shall be that whoever does not hear whatever that prophet speaks in my name, I will take vengeance on him." The Son, therefore, has become mediator between us and God. But how is he mediator?

He emptied himself, took the form of a servant, and lived among those on earth as a man. And after many things the Father said, "I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." But the Son said: "I do not speak of myself, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment what to say and what to speak." And again: "The words that I have spoken to you are not mine, but of the one who sent me." He speaks the Father's words not as a servant of words, but as being himself the Word of the Father. For this reason the prophet Isaiah says concerning him, "A child is born to us, whose government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called the Angel of great counsel." And the great counsel of God and the Father is what the Son proclaimed to us, being, as I said, the Word of the Father. His hands served in the basket. For those who labor at the toils of brickmaking, casting the clay into a basket, carry it on their backs. And even to this day the vessel in which loads are made up is called a basket. Their back, then, he says, he removed from burdens, that is, he freed them from loads. And he freed their hands also from serving in the basket. This, then, briefly stated, is the meaning of the verses, containing nothing difficult at all. And after many things: But Moses was a servant of those freed in the flesh; but Christ has become the mediator of us who are freed in the spirit. For he himself destroyed the spiritual Pharaoh, that is, Satan; he drove him away from his greed against all. He it was who released us, not from bodily slavery rather, but from spiritual slavery.

The enemies of the Lord lied to him. For though it was expected that they would render the fruit of piety toward God in every way and altogether, they became wicked, doing the opposite. From the rock he satisfied them with honey. As if he were also saying: like a newborn child, he said, small and needing much care, God reared them, setting bread before them to satiety, and preparing them to be filled with food through honey—for this is the most fitting food for infants.

PSALM 81.

God stood in the assembly of gods. And here he calls the Savior God beyond dispute—true God, not bastard, not falsely named, nor one who received the title as a share of grace from another, but being this by nature and truly what he was, which he is also called. And again he calls "gods" those who are not this in truth, but have been named so by grace; of whom also the all-wise Paul makes mention, saying: "For even if there are so-called gods and many lords in heaven and on earth, yet for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we from him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him." There are, then, certain gods named by grace. And indeed it has been said also to us through the voice of the Psalmist: "I said: You are gods, and all sons of the Most High." Therefore the only-begotten Word of God, being true God, stood in the assembly of gods. And of what gods? Of those honored by the calling of God with the dignity of the priesthood. For thus Paul also names them, saying: "You shall not speak evil of gods, and you shall not speak badly of the ruler of your people." I said:

You are gods, and sons of the Most High. For since we have become his sons, inasmuch as we have received the true and natural Son into our mind through the Holy Spirit, for this reason we have also been honored with the title and named gods, though by nature we are not this, but for the sake of honor and glory. Nevertheless, even if we are called gods, yet there is one who is by nature and truly, and above all; but we are so by participation, as I said.

PSALM 82.

Behold, your enemies have roared. Behold, the Prophet has set forth another kind of enmity toward God. For those who are hostile to the people of God and to the saints, would choose war against him himself; whose slaves and own friends those men happen to be. And who will be able to plan or arrange or even altogether imagine anything against God, who is unapproachable not only to eyes but also to thoughts? But he reckons the things of those who trust in them as his own; and for this reason the plots against those men are spoken of as against God himself, as the father and protector and guardian of those plotted against. —But who are those who carry out the plots? Those who hate you have lifted up their head. Again, as in the case of serpents and asps, he says the phrase "They have lifted up their head." For just as serpents, when biting, gently raise their head and lift it up from the ground, so too those who fight against the glory of Christ gently raise up their head; but they fall immediately; for they are struck by him, because he is the one who crushes the heads of the dragons. The tents of the Edomites, and the Ishmaelites, etc. But these nations, barbarous and hostile to Israel according to the flesh, were called foreigners in a distinctive sense.

But God was saving them at that time, showing the assaults of the nations to be ineffective. And Assur came along with them. He sins against knowledge itself—the one who compels the natural mind, which is capable of seeing, to sin against knowledge. And those who undertook the war against you are Gebal, and further Assur, and so on.

PSALM 83.

How beloved are your tabernacles. He calls these tabernacles eternal and heavenly. [Since by the grace and love of humanity of God, who has mercy on all, they have been called by Christ, and having opened the eye of their understanding they received the light of truth, they came to know the truth, they learned the ways of piety, they entered the divine courts, and thenceforth they hymn the Savior of all, Christ.] The turtle-dove [has found] a nest for herself. (,, 95,, ) They marvel, as I said, at the beauty of the Church; and they also praise the gentleness of the teachers within them, because like certain turtle-doves they warm their own nestlings at the divine altars. And the nestlings of teachers are those who believe through them; for they are spiritual fathers. It is the custom of divinely inspired Scripture to liken the holy mystagogues to turtle-doves. And for what reason? The turtle-dove is most talkative and sweet-voiced; and for us who love learning, the words of the mystagogues are such. These, then, are spiritual turtle-doves. And not only the soul rejoices and exults, but the body also has shared in the gladness, having received the hope of the resurrection. For this is what the word hints at. For this reason it also called God living, as being the provider of life.

For since the gods of the Babylonians, and indeed also those of our own forefathers, were lifeless and utterly senseless, very reasonably those who have been delivered from them name the true God as living. Blessed are those who dwell in your house. For it is especially in the churches that those who are knowledgeable in holy pursuits gather the occasions of salvation; for the Holy Spirit speaks in them through the holy prophets, through the voice of apostles and evangelists. And just as in a physician's house there are many who are sick, sometimes in various ways, and it is possible for each to obtain the treatment that suits him, so too in the churches we find this. He set ascents in his heart. And what sort of ascents? Those to heaven, clearly. For we consider within ourselves, and we are in hopes that we shall ascend to the city above, the mother of the saints, the Church in the heavens, and there we shall be with the Savior of all, Christ. God of gods, the one who was seen in the flesh. Let us not, then, be eager to follow Jewish ignorances, but let us rather believe that he is truly also Son, and God from God, the one who was born in the flesh from a woman, who for our sake came down into our condition, so that he might bring us back to his own glory, so that in him the servant might be made a son; so that what is in poverty might be enriched; so that what is under corruption might become better than death, and what is under sin might become holy. For all these things we have been enriched with through the appearing of our Savior, Christ, the Savior of us all. Lord, God of hosts.

He names Christ Lord of hosts and God of Jacob, so that no one might think him a newly arrived God because of his birth according to the flesh; rather, I believe that he is the one whom the fathers of Israel themselves also served, whom they beheld in foreknowledge, whose mystery they did not fail to know—God the Father evidently revealing it, and through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. I chose rather to be cast aside in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of sinners. Your people, O Master, always enjoying your care, attend your temple, reaping great benefit from there. For what they gathered in one day of yours, they could not have collected from elsewhere, even after spending many thousands of days. It was fitting to say these things also to those taken captive in Babylon, who were compelled to live alongside impious men and gained no profit from it, but reckoned on the benefit that comes again from the temple of God. [For the Lord loves mercy and truth. The prophet set a noble seal upon the psalm—hope in God, which it is blessed to hold fast; for it becomes an anchor for the storm-tossed and an unbroken wall for the besieged.]

PSALM 145.

I will cry out to you all the day long. "All the day long" is used in place of "throughout the whole day," that is, at every time. For we ought unceasingly to fall down before God and to seek mercy from him.

PSALM 87.

His foundations are in the holy mountains. The God-inspired Scripture likens the Church to mountains, because of the loftiness of the divine doctrines in her. —We therefore understand the mountains to be the Churches, or those who are in them. For we are temples of the living God, and a house of God according to the Scriptures. But what these foundations are that Christ lays in us, Paul will teach, saying: "Faith, hope, love; and in addition to these, courage and endurance, chastity and self-control, gentleness and long-suffering," and, to put it simply once for all, every kind of virtue. The earthly Zion, the one in the land of Judea, is a part of Jerusalem, and it lies high and as it were on a mountain; for this reason it is also interpreted as a watchtower. To this Zion, then, situated as it were on a mountain, the sacred Scripture likens the Church, that is, the multitude of those who have believed. For she is lofty, having nothing lowly; for she does not deem it right to think on the things of the earth, but seeks rather the things above; and the nurslings of the Church, while they walk upon the earth, have their citizenship in the heavens.

PSALM 88.

I will prepare your seed until the age. Christ according to the flesh has been raised up from his seed, and from the tribe of Judah, from which the blessed David himself also was. In the arm of your power. He calls the Son the arm of the Father; for he accomplishes all things through him, just as indeed we ourselves are accustomed to do all things through our own hand. O Lord, in the light of your face they will walk. In the light through the Spirit, which is sent forth through your face, that is, through your Son, they will walk. For the Holy Spirit guides us into each of the things that must be done in the light. In your name they will rejoice. For the good name of Christ, which has been invoked upon us, always crowns us; for we have been named Christians through Christ. [For my hand will assist him, and my arm will strengthen him. The Savior said: "The works that the Father has given me to do—these very works that I do bear witness concerning me, that he himself has sent me." And again: "I speak nothing from myself; but the Father who abides in me, he does the works." And this is what the Father now says concerning him: "For my hand will assist him, and my arm will strengthen him."] I will rout those who hate him. For after the Savior's cross, the synagogue of the Jews has fallen into terrible and inescapable calamities. For they were handed over into the hands of enemies, who also laid waste their whole land; and they were scattered. His horn will be exalted. It is the custom of divinely inspired Scripture to call "horn," in the case of sinners, their arrogance;

But for the righteous, the glory. [By the names that most especially befit the Father, the Son himself is also glorified. What I mean is this: true God—the Father is this, and the Son is this; for he himself is "the truth and the life." And he said this to his own Father: "Because all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine."] [He himself will call upon me, You are my Father.

And God will make him also firstborn, just as Paul the great also says: "That he might be the firstborn among many brothers"; and again: "Firstborn from the dead, and firstborn of all creation." And the Savior also said to Mary: "Go, tell my brothers: I am going to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." For he is only-begotten as God, but firstborn as man; for he has as brothers those who have believed, and he calls God his own Father as God, and again his God as man.] Forever I will keep my mercy for him, and my covenant shall be faithful to him. To the people who have believed through him he says this; and mercy means the forgiveness that comes through faith. And a faithful covenant, instead of sure and firm and abiding; for the first covenant has ceased because of its weakness and uselessness. "For the law perfected nothing." For the first covenant has ceased, having the type of a shadow, and only the form of the truth; but it has become for us an introduction of a better hope, through which we draw near to God, as the blessed Paul writes. His throne is like the sun. ( ετ 151, ) In these words he calls his rule a throne, that is, the Church. And the Church is the throne of Christ.

For it rests upon her, just as also among the holy angels. For it is written: "Heaven is my throne." And the Church in the heavens is a throne; and likewise again the Church on earth is a throne of God who rules over us all. Therefore, he says, the Church of Christ will shine forth and enlighten the whole world under heaven, and will remain continually like the sun and the moon. Just as no one in the heavens will be able to extinguish the orb of the sun and moon, so no one among men will ever dim the rays of the Church, that is, the intelligible brightness; but she shines always like the sun and the moon. But you have thrust away and brought to nothing; you have cast off your Christ, etc. Instead of: you have permitted him to be thrust away and brought to nothing. For the Father did not thrust away and bring to nothing his own Son, but the Jews rather did this, yet by the permission of God the Father. "You have cast off your Christ," that is, you have deferred the fulfillment of the promises concerning him. And how did he defer them? You have overthrown the covenant of your servant. You promised, he says, that he remains forever; for this was the covenant from you concerning him; but the Jews crucified him, he was reckoned among the dead. He suffered, he says, and was crucified. Therefore you have overthrown the covenant of your servant; you have profaned his sanctuary to the ground; you have cast down, he says, his glory to the earth. For insofar as it came to his suffering, he was regarded as a mere man. But he did not remain among the dead, nor did the passion bring upon him any dishonor, but rather he was glorified through it. However, the prophets speak of the things that happened.

You did not help him in battle. For since, being God by nature and true Son and Lord of the powers, he endured to suffer, although he was able not to suffer, if indeed he had wished not to suffer, and you also, O Father, kept silent, for this reason we say that you did not help him. And he names the time of the precious cross a "battle," when Herod and Pontius Pilate with the nations and the peoples of Israel campaigned against the glory of Christ, and certainly Satan himself. You brought him down from cleansing. "You brought him down" is instead of "you cast him down"; for what is dissolved is cast down. You cast him down, therefore, from his cleansing, that is, from being believed to be clean. For he was suspected of being wicked, and he was condemned as a sinner. You dashed his throne to the ground. Since he suffered in the flesh, and became free among the dead, and those who crucified him thought that having suffered he had been brought to nothing and had ceased altogether both to be and to be named—for this reason he interprets the suspicions of those who crucified him, saying: "And you dashed his throne to the ground." How long, O Lord, do you turn away to the end? You see how he wishes to learn the

...economy? "How long, O Lord?" — that is, until when will the audacity of the Jews prevail? They killed, he says, the author of life. Will he then lie dead? Will you turn away in the end, and will your wrath be kindled like fire? But the turning away and the wrath are not against Christ — do not think that — but against us; for we have sinned in many ways, we have fallen from delight, as I say at least in the case of the first-formed. Who is the man who shall live and not see death? It is true, then, that you did not create the sons of men in vain; the very nature of things will bear witness: we died in Adam, but we lived in Christ. Where are your ancient mercies? He calls the ancient mercies of God the restoration to incorruption ordained before the foundation of the world. That which you promised in my bosom of many nations. For in some way we receive gifts into our bosoms when people offer them. They ask God to remember the promise given in the bosom of many nations. For what did the Savior promise to the nations? Forgiveness of sins, release from death, salvation and life. That which they reproached as the recompense of your Christ. That is, the Church, or those who believe in him; for these, we say, are the Church. But why is it called a recompense? Because in place of the Synagogue of the Jews the Father has given to the Son the Church from the nations.

PSALM 6.

My God, and I will hope in him. Do you see what boldness he has before God? For as if he had wholly dedicated himself to him, he has all his hope of being saved in him. Thrice-blessed is such a man, and he will be full of every prosperity. At any rate, blessed David sings and says: "O Lord, God of hosts, blessed is the man who hopes in you." He himself will rescue you from the snare of hunters, and from a troubling word. And what is the troubling word? The one among the impious heretics; for they confuse the hearts of the guileless, blaspheming recklessly, and understanding neither what they say nor about what they make their assertions. For some of them, as far as it depends on them, drag down the Son from his consubstantiality with God the Father, and bring him down from the highest thrones, numbering him among created things, and saying that the creator and craftsman of all things was made, and was brought into existence out of nothing. But others falsely accuse the Holy Spirit, saying that he too is a creature; and they pour fire and punishment upon their own heads. What then does the psalmist say about them? "Sink them, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for they have become accusers of the truth, and shield-bearers of falsehood." Their word, then, is troubling, for it does not have the security of truth. You shall not be afraid of the terror of night, nor of the arrow that flies by day. And what is this? We know two modes of plotting. For either secretly and stealthily, and as those who hide in night and darkness, some prepare snares for whomever they wish and devise treacheries;

or clearly and as in day and manifestly. Therefore he calls "nightly fear" the danger that still lies hidden, and the cunning that is concealed as in night and darkness; "the arrow that flies by day," the plot that is as in light and manifest. "From the encounter and the noonday demon." And he calls the noonday demon accidie, that is, listlessness; and this happens to some at times. And after a little: Some suffer an encounter when the mind grows slack toward pleasure, when the heart loses strength and is borne down toward fleshly desire, when one grows listless toward the works of piety, and grows careless toward labors for the sake of virtue. But even then God saves, for he delivers from the encounter and from accidie, that is, from the noonday demon. "A thousand shall fall from your side." For he says "side" means the left part, that is, the flank. Therefore, he says, even if there be many, more than can be numbered, who plot against those who worship God, yet you will see them falling on this side and on that, while you yourself are wondrously saved because of him who stands before you and fights in your defense. For as the sacred Scripture says, "In a hidden hand the Lord fights against Amalek, from generations to generations." For he will not cease saving those who love him. "Because you, O Lord, are my hope; you have made the Most High your refuge." But it is necessary to note that some understand the present verses differently, badly and adulterously; for they refer them to the person of Christ himself, joining the verses together and saying, "Because you, O Lord, are my hope; you have made the Most High your refuge.

And shortly after: For they say that he has the Most High as a refuge, clearly meaning the Father in the heavens. But Satan became the occasion for them of such a notion; for he himself understood the verses in this way; and let us heal this from the Gospel Writings. For when he was tempting him, he brought him up to the pinnacle of the temple, and indeed he also said: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down here. For it is written, that He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways." For Satan, being a slanderer and a deceiver, attaches what was said about us to the very person of Christ, the Savior of us all. But we do not understand it as Satan is accustomed to understand it. And if the Arians have understood it in this way, it is no wonder; for they follow their own father. For Satan is a liar, and the truth does not stand in him, according to the Savior's voice. And shortly after: For if such a thing is true according to them, we have made Christ our hope, but he has the Father as a refuge; therefore, as one who is helped, we have fled to him, and we call Savior the one who is saved by another. These things are not so, may it not be. We say, then, to those who are accustomed to think in this way: Speak other things to us, and announce to us another deception. Depart from the straight path, having abandoned the royal road, you fall into thorns and pits, you have fallen away from the truth. The Son is equal and like the Father in all things, and he is the express image of his substance, the image and radiance of his glory, and he is Most High in the same respects as the Father.

A scourge shall not come near your dwelling. In the God-inspired Scripture, "dwelling" does not altogether signify the body, but either a city, or a region, or a house. And the blessed David will confirm this, saying: "If I go up upon the couch of my bed; if I give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids, and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the God of Jacob." For he will command his angels concerning you. Satan used these verses, speaking such things to Christ, the Savior of us all, as though of an ordinary man. For since he is wholly darkness, and has his mind darkened, he did not understand the force of what was said: that the psalm was spoken in the person of every righteous man who is helped by the Most High, who is the God of heaven. And in addition to this, he did not know that the Word, being God, became man, and that it was he himself who was being tempted in the economy. But Satan, as I said, supposed that these words had been spoken as of an ordinary man, or even as of one of the holy prophets. But it is most absurd that we, who know the mystery accurately, and have believed that he is God, and the Son of God, and that for our sake he became man like us, should suppose that the verses were spoken concerning him. It does not fit the person of Christ, the Savior of us all, therefore, that it be said: "You made the Most High your refuge"; for he himself is the Most High, the refuge of all, the hope of all,

The all-powerful right hand of the Father. It was necessary, then, that in the case of each of the genuine worshippers it be understood and said by the Father: "You made the Most High your refuge; evils shall not come near you, and a scourge shall not approach your dwelling." For the Most High, that is, Christ, secures those who have trusted in him and those who come to him with faith. "They shall bear you up on their hands," etc. For just as fathers according to the flesh, when they see a road rough and hard to travel, snatch their infants up into their hands, lest somehow they be harmed, having a tender foot and not yet able to walk through a hard road, so also the rational powers do not allow those who are not yet able to labor, but have a mind in some way befitting infants, to labor beyond their strength, but draw them out of every temptation, lest somehow, having grown faint, they come under the feet of Satan and renounce the resolve to serve God. "You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk." And indeed Christ has trampled him down, and even now still tramples him, giving to his disciples authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy. "And you shall trample the lion and the dragon." Now the lion and the dragon and the basilisk would be understood as Satan himself, and the evil angels who fell away together with him, who did not keep their own principality, for whom the gloom of darkness has been kept forever.

Serpent and basilisk" would be understood as the lion and the dragon, and those accustomed to serve his will and imitate the perversity that is in him—the bitter and terrible and utterly wretched, who differ in nothing from wild beasts, and who imitate also the bitterness of venomous creatures. And, if you wish, take "serpents and basilisks" as the inventors of impious heresies. "Because he knew my name." Who, then, is the one who knows his name? The one who serves him and him alone, and worships him alone, and knows no other God besides him; the one who serves him with a pure conscience, and is wholly freed from the charges of idolatry; the one who submits the neck of his mind to him as docile; the one who is enslaved to his will—this one has seen his name. And whenever you hear "name," understand it as "glory." For it is written, "A good name is better than great wealth," that is, glory. "With length of days I will fill him." And whom does he promise to fill with length of days? Let us run back to the beginning of the whole ode. He said, then: "He who dwells in the help of the Most High shall lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven." If anyone, then, is under the help of the Most High, and under the shelter of the God of heaven, this one shall be filled with length of days, and shall also see the salvation of God, that is, the salvation that is through Christ. He promises, then, to those who love him the life into the age to come—the blessed and most painless and blameless life, extending into endless ages.

PSALM 1.

[A psalm of song. The whole purpose of the song is directed to the day of the Sabbath; and the Sabbath is, as it were, an image of the life in Christ and of the gospel way of life, which the Savior himself has newly established for us, transforming the shadows of the law into spiritual worship.] [It is good to give thanks to the Lord. Thanksgiving is a hymn composed with gratitude for the glory of God. And we owe to Christ, the Savior of us all, our gratitude for the benefits we have received; for we have been benefited

by him in many ways. For being God, the Lord has appeared to us, shining around all things with glory befitting God, and granting us the ray of true knowledge of God.] [To declare your mercy in the morning, and your truth by night. Do not suppose that in these words the Psalmist divides the meaning of the song, as though one ought to declare mercy in the morning and truth by night. That is not what he says; rather, we shall read the verse thus: "To declare in the morning and by night, that is, in day and night, your mercy and your truth." And "to declare" means to proclaim, that is, to glorify. And what is declared? The mercy and truth of God the Father—that is, Christ; for in him we have been shown mercy, we have been justified by faith, we have been sanctified through the Spirit, we have been redeemed from the greed of the devil, we have been placed as sons, we have become heirs of the kingdom of heaven. God the Father, then, has shown us mercy in Christ.

He taught us the truth through himself, that is, the worship and service in spirit and in truth.] [In your work. () And the work is most beautiful, that is, the achievement of the counsel of God the Father, and, as it were, a work of his hand—the power of the dispensation on our behalf, as Christ himself taught us: "For God so loved the world," he says, "that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."] The senseless will not understand these things. For it is not simply within everyone's power to understand so deep and venerable a mystery of Christ, but rather it belongs to those to whom the Father himself reveals it. [When sinners sprang up. They sprang up, then, he says, like grass, that is, like vegetation in a field; and having flourished but briefly, afterward they peered out—that is, they were brought low and humbled, and descended into utter destruction, those who work lawlessness against Christ.] [But you are the Most High, etc. For the Most High is the only-begotten Word of God, even if he lowered himself into a voluntary emptying and submitted to the lowliness of humanity, in order to recast human nature toward incorruption, and to exalt what is lowly, and to honor what was dishonored, so that by the grace of adoption he might make the servant radiant; "for he became poor for our sake, though he was rich, so that we might become rich by his poverty." The Word of God, then, is Most High, even if he became man; for he did not cease to be God, but remained what he was.

For you, he says, O Lord, remaining in the same state and in like manner, abide Most High in the heights, throughout all ages not turning, not changing, but remaining like yourself unto infinity; but we, the lowly, and far removed from your power, are borne now from one place, now from another, and are changed. And he shall be exalted as a unicorn. They say the unicorn is an animal on whose forehead a horn has been set, lofty and unbreakable; using it against the other animals, it always conquers and prevails; and it is strong and hard to encounter. To this unicorn the divine Scripture likens the new people. And when I say new people, understand those who are through faith, who have conquered all the nations. And my eye looked upon my enemies. To look upon is to see enemies fallen and weakened, those who are on the opposing side. And these are those who fight against the truth and the glory of God, arming their own audacity. Such were certain of the leaders of the Synagogue of the Jews, scribes and Pharisees; for they have not ceased from leaping upon Christ and impiously fighting against his glory. The righteous man shall flourish like a palm tree. The sacred Scripture deems it fitting to compare those who have been justified in Christ to palm trees and cedars. For the palm is an evergreen plant, well-rooted and tall, and fruitful, having a fragrant and sweet

fruit. And all who possess the righteousness that is in Christ are such; for they stand firm and unshaken, having a white heart. Thus too the Psalmist says: "Create in me a clean heart, O God."] [They shall yet be multiplied in a rich old age. Their prosperity, he says, shall not be temporary—lest anyone suppose this to be said of the Gentiles because they have flourished—but in rich old age they are multiplied and advance; for as time goes on, the piety of the Gentiles is multiplied.] Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. He says that the house of the Lord and the courts are the holy Churches, in which those planted through faith bear fruit in patience. They flourish, clearly, in the individual Churches. For he called the universal Church the house of God in a comprehensive sense.

PSALM 2.

[The Lord has reigned. For the man who is with us, before his resurrection from the dead, when he ascended to the Father in the heavens, then he put on his own comeliness, and girded himself with the power that was his from the beginning; for he has sat down reigning with the Father.] [For although he became man according to us, and was seen on earth as one of us, he put on a power most befitting God; and he has borne the authority which the Father himself also has; for he has brought to nothing the ruler of this age, clearly using a power most befitting God. And the form of the account was shaped as of a king about to engage with enemies, and putting on the equipment of war. "He put on," he says, "power." For he has fought on our behalf;

He abolished through the cross the principalities and the world-rulers of this darkness, and he triumphed over thrones and powers; and he presented us to God and the Father through himself. This power he put on. And in addition to these things he also put on comeliness; and in what manner? Although he became man as we are—that is, he showed us in himself the beauty of the divinity. For we saw him as God even in humanity. The rivers lifted up, O Lord, the rivers lifted up their voices. For great and extraordinary indeed was the word that the saints sounded forth, and their sound went out into all the earth, as it is written, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. For we say that the holy apostles are named rivers in these words; whose voices, that is their teachings, have become known to those everywhere. For when the Lord had reigned and had girded himself with power, and had put on comeliness, then also "the rivers lifted up their voices." For often the sacred Scripture likens the Word of God to a river and a spring and a torrent. And indeed David said somewhere in the psalms: "The river of God is filled with waters." For the God the Word, who was begotten by nature from him, goes forth as a river from the spring of God and the Father. For the blessed disciples did not keep silent, but rather lifted up their own voices—that is, they proclaimed the mystery of Christ to all the earth. From the voices of many waters.

For, he says, as from many waters, and as from the roar of the waves the swellings of the sea, that is, a voice raised to a height, or to an elevated place, is marveled at, so also is the glorification of the nations; for they hymn the Savior of all, Christ. [The Lord is wonderful in the heights. For even if "the Word became flesh," according to John's voice, and bore the form of a slave, and lowered himself into

humiliation; yet even so, in the heights that befit God and in the form of a slave, he is Lord.]

PSALM 3.

[How long, O Lord, shall sinners? And who are these? Clearly the Scribes and Pharisees, who dare to set Christ at naught.] [They have humbled your people, O Lord. For they truly afflicted the lot of God; for they did not permit them to recognize Christ, nor to partake of the good things that come through faith. But when a shepherd plots against the sheep, and the leader of the flock pays no account of the flocks, then the Master of the flock is called to righteous anger. We shall find the Jews to have suffered this together with their own teachers.] [The charge he brings against them is twofold. For they do not only wrong the weaker, and those whom it was fitting rather to pity, surrounding them with unbearable calamities (for this is what "they killed" means), but they also blaspheme against the very highest nature, saying that it does not look upon human affairs, nor indeed visit our concerns.]

Such is the opinion of the godless Greeks, who neither know the God who is by nature and truly exists, nor endure to think that all things are governed by his nod. But some of the people of Israel have fallen sick with such folly. And they said: The Lord shall not see. Understand, then, you foolish ones among the people. The reproof in these words makes clear the rebuke and the indignation. For Solomon said: My son, do not slight the discipline of the Lord, nor grow faint when you are reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. Therefore the power of reproofs signifies scourging. Natural reasoning [shows] that the maker is in no way less than what is made. Foolish, then, and senseless are they who do not know even so much of natural actions, [but are led] into reasonings that are contrary to nature; and by not wishing to submit to judgment for such deeds as these, they even persuade themselves to think that there will be no judgment—which is impossible to suppose—unless one should think that God neither hears what is said, nor sees what is done, nor knows these things. When God reproves their sin, he does not immediately bring on the things that come from wrath, but as one who is good and loves mankind, and possesses a gentleness that cannot be surpassed, he rather grants them the medicine of admonition, and prepares the word of instruction: Understand, then, you foolish ones. As if to say: Even if late, yet now at least be wise, having considered within yourselves that saying: He who planted the ear for others, does he himself not hear? He who formed the eye for us, does he not see? Has he who is the provider of all good things to us himself been deprived of these?

Therefore, setting aside the opinions of the senseless, let us remember what the Proverb-writer says: "Make straight paths for your feet, and direct your ways." For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and he watches all his paths. Being so disposed, we shall live a straight and blameless life, since God oversees it. [He who instructs the nations, will he not rebuke? He wishes those on the earth to depart from vanity and from things temporary and corruptible and perishing, and rather to choose the things that are fixed and abiding and that lead to eternal life. And by "thoughts" in these words he means the inward deliberations, that is, the desires that people form concerning each matter.] [Blessed is the man whom you instruct. Moses instructed the more ancient, fulfilling for them the legal forms of worship, but they were not blessed; for they did not have the righteousness that is in faith, nor the sanctification through the Spirit. But truly blessed are those who are perfected in Christ, and who gain from him the illumination through the Holy Spirit, and who have richly obtained exact knowledge of the mysteries concerning him. And a little later: But in what manner will you instruct? Is it through scourges? He does not say this; but how this ought to be understood here, the Psalmist himself interprets, saying: "And from your law you will teach him."] From evil days. For truly the days of the impartial judgment are dreadful and evil for those who have been wholly cut off and are about to descend into punishment by fire. [Until a pit is dug for the sinner. For those who love sin, the pit will be dug;

For they will be sent down to Hades, to be punished together with Satan. [Because the Lord will not cast off his people. For he has not permitted us to be carried away into the pits of sin until the very end, but he has delivered and saved us, justifying the ungodly by his graciousness that remembers no wrongs, and he has freed those who were defiled from every stain.] For he departed from us, as far as it may be said, in the flesh, after his resurrection from the dead, having ascended into the heavens and sat at the right hand of God and the Father. But since he is God, filling all things, and heaven is full of him, and the whole earth is full as well, we are disposed and believe that even now he is with us, and through him we gain the ability to conquer the schemes of the devil, the tyranny of sin, and the assault of inborn pleasures. And after a little. Is it, then, because we have remained in the world, while he has ascended to the Father, that he has departed from those who love him? By no means; for he himself has fully assured us, saying: "I will not leave you orphans, but I am coming to you." For he has come to us, having sent to us in his place and as himself the Paraclete, that is, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father, yet who is also the Son's own. [Until righteousness returns to judgment. He calls Christ righteousness; and he says that he will return to judgment—

For he was taken up, having trampled death, and ascended to the Father and God in the heavens, but he will return at the appointed times for judgment, and with him all who are upright in heart, that is, the saints.] (, 418) Righteousness is the Savior and Lord of all himself. For thus God and the Father names him through the holy prophets, saying: "My righteousness draws near quickly, and my mercy to be revealed." And shortly after: He will return for judgment, that is, he will come from heaven in the glory of his Father with the holy angels, in order to judge the inhabited world in righteousness. For then, he says, "when righteousness returns for judgment, those who hold fast to it will be near," that is, near and around it, or rather with it, all who are upright in heart, that is, the righteous. [Who will rise up for me against those who do evil? Who, he says, will stand against you for me against those who do evil? Or who will stand with me against those who work lawlessness? And this is the voice not of those who are ignorant, but of those who know well and have believed that in every way and altogether they will have Christ as their helper, and he will deliver them and show them stronger than the perversity of their enemies.] [If I said: My foot has been shaken. And by "feet" in these words he does not mean those of the body (for do not suppose this), but the inclination of the mind and the will of the soul, from which we come to each of our practical actions. For each of us has been entrusted with the helm of his own mind.

Therefore the lover of purity, and he who practices the most God-beloved self-control, is shaken, since Satan often overturns him, fittingly, toward unnatural pleasures; yet God defends and saves. Your consolations gladdened my soul. God consoles those who labor for virtue, those who toil for piety, those who wish to set right the way of life that is pleasing to him, those who put to death the motion of the flesh and fight against their own wills, until they accomplish what they strive for. Shall a throne of lawlessness not be with you? He calls Satan "lawlessness"; for he is the inventor and teacher of lawlessness and sin; and "throne" signifies rule, that is, authority. Is there, then, O Master, he says, anyone so ignorant and senseless as to suppose and conceive in his mind that the throne of lawlessness, that is, the tyranny and rule of the devil, is a partner of your kingdom? God forbid, he says; for you alone are God and Lord of the powers, and you rule over all things with your own Father. For on every divine command Satan fashions toil; for he does not allow those who wish to set virtue right to be able easily to do this, but he plots and attacks, and attempts to drag down into the pits of lawlessness those who wish to set right a life that is pure and most lawful. "He fashions toil, then, on the command," clearly fighting against the divine commandments, and not allowing good men to set them right.

He makes the road of piety more rugged, though it is very smooth and very easy to travel for those who wish to walk in it. They will hunt for the soul of the righteous man. For the wicked and sinful demons plot against the saints, and along with them unjust and most abominable men, hateful to God, whose concern it is to think the things that belong to those demons; and they set traps of many kinds. But, as Solomon says, "The deceitful man shall not succeed in the hunt." For God hides and saves those who are consecrated to him, so that they even say with joy at this: "Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow from the snare of those who hunt; the snare was broken, and we were delivered." And a little after: The wicked and sinful demons have hunted the souls of the saints and set snares for them, and so has Satan himself, their leader. For they plot against every holy man and gnash their teeth against those accustomed to be held in good repute. For it is written, "His foods are choice."

PSALM 4.

Come, let us rejoice in the Lord. Those who say these things call back to union with themselves those who have stood apart from them. For "Come" befits not those who are present but those who have been separated. Now Israel was separated in a certain way—not at all by the intervals understood in terms of place, but by the insubordination of its disposition.

Come then, let us set aside our contentiousness and cast off our insubordination, and "let us rejoice in the Lord"—that is, let us lay hold of faith in him, let us inherit a share in the gifts that come from him, which grants us adoption as sons, a participation in the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, and the kingdom of heaven. The shout is a kind of victory cry, raised up when enemies have fallen and foes have perished. Come then, let us shout aloud to the Savior and Redeemer; for he has redeemed both Israel and those from among the Gentiles from the greed of the devil, from the tyranny of the enemies, from sins and accusations; he has set free from the law that condemns and demands penalties from those who have sinned; and he has justified through faith both Greeks and Jews and the rest of the nations. Let us triumph over Satan, let us raise the victory cry over him as he lies fallen and cast down; let us leap for joy that the unholy beast has been caught in an inescapable snare. For God is a great Lord. Does he then say "great" in comparison with other, small ones? He does not say this, but rather this: that the dignity of majesty belongs to the God by nature alone. For he himself is truly the glory of God and the incomparable majesty. And that Christ is a great God, so he was named also in the God-inspired Scriptures. The blessed Paul will confirm this, saying, "awaiting the blessed hope and manifestation of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." What gods? Does he mean falsely named ones? He does not say this, but those in heaven and on the earth.

that is, the rational and heavenly powers, and also the saints who are on the earth; to whom the name of deity has been given by the one beyond all honor and glory. Thus the Psalmist also makes mention of them, saying: "God, the God of gods, the Lord has spoken," and what follows. And the heights of the mountains are his. What are the heights of the mountains? That is, those exalted in glory, and more conspicuous than those in the heavens: Principalities, Thrones, Powers, Authorities, Dominions, Archangels, and the Seraphim themselves. But all these things are his; for he, as Son, sits together with the Father, while they stand by, ministering to him and crowning him with doxologies. For the sea is his. Do you see how he declares him to be Lord of all things? How do we marvel at the kings on the earth? We call them lords of land and sea; but measuring out our praises to them only up to these things, we no longer say that they became makers of the elements; for this is fitting only for the God over all; for he is himself the creator and craftsman of the universe. Let those who are led astray come, then, and let them come to the light of the truth; let them recognize with us the Word of God who became man; let them confess that he is both God and truly the Son of God. Come, let us worship and fall down. When you see, he says, the King and Lord of all things appearing in form like ours, that is, in human shape—the God the Word, who shares the throne with the Father—do not be ignorant of the economy, do not shrink from worshiping him, do not refuse to fall down before him.

Know rather that he himself is our God, and we are his people. Today, if you hear his voice. And what is "today"? Clearly, in the present time, in which the only-begotten Word of God became man; for then we all heard his voice. For he did not speak to us through one of the saints, nor did he come to us in the rank of prophets, but as God of all and Lord. Forty years I was grieved. For those of Israel did not wish to heed the threats, nor did they wish to dissolve the threat by repentance; for which reason they did not enjoy the land promised to their fathers; for he called that rest his own.

PSALM 5.

Sing to the Lord a new song. All things have become new in Christ, and the old things have passed away; and in us has been fulfilled what is written in the book of Psalms: "Your youth shall be renewed as an eagle's." For we have been renewed in Christ, "having put off the old man, which is corrupted according to the desires of deceit, and having put on the new, which is being renewed according to the image of the one who created him." Proclaim his salvation day after day, etc. But whose? Clearly, of God and the Father; that is, the Son, concerning whom he says to us through one of the holy prophets: "It is near, quickly, the

My righteousness, and my mercy to be revealed; but my salvation shall burn as a lamp. He names the Son both Mercy and Righteousness; for we have been shown mercy through him, and we have learned every way of righteousness. And shortly after: And the phrase day to day is instead of every day; which indeed the blessed disciples accomplished; for they left no season in which they did not go about through every region and city, proclaiming the gospel of Christ and performing the divine preaching. And they proclaimed to the peoples everywhere his glorious deeds, his wonderful works, that is, his magnificent mighty acts, things wondrously accomplished. For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. Truly great is our Lord, and he possesses a preeminence over all things most befitting God; but no one is equal to him and altogether of the same essence. For there is one Son, by nature true, of God the Father, and crowned with the honors of the one who begot him, greatly to be praised, that is, glorified both by the spirits above in the heavens and by those on earth. The new song, then, in addition to what has been said, teaches that the Lord of the new song is one who is great and greatly to be praised, and besides these things fearful above all gods; great as the Word of God and Creator of all things; praised as benefactor and Savior of all; but fearful not to all, but to those formerly thought to be gods, namely the evil demons, whom he brought down, driving them away from their plotting against human beings.

Therefore, so that you might not suppose that he was called fearsome against the saints, who are indeed addressed as gods, he necessarily added: "For all the gods of the nations are demons." But the Lord himself is great and greatly to be praised. The gods of the nations are demons. That is, wicked and unclean spirits, snatching for themselves the glory of God, and, as it were, some dust—the mist of ignorance—laying upon the minds of men, so that they might not look up and see the Creator and Lord of all things. But so that we, who have been enlightened and have grown rich in the knowledge of the truth, might point out to them the one whom they did not know, saying: "But the Lord made the heavens." For from the mighty working of his deeds and from the beauty of creation, their Maker is proportionately contemplated. The Divine is by nature visible, and no one could see what is ever by nature; but from the beauty of creation, and from the loveliness of the visible creation, the surpassing excellence of his glory is contemplated. Confession and beauty are before him. And what is this, "before him"? Or what does the verse wish to say? For he deems no one worthy to look upon him, unless one has spiritual beauty in mind and heart, and knows also how to confess—that is, to glorify magnificently and worthily of the glory of God. This is "Confession and beauty are before him," that is, in his eyes. Bring sacrifices, and enter into his courts. And entering by what paths? Clearly through faith; for this is the entrance of salvation. And shortly after.

And of what sacrifices does the blessed Paul make mention, saying: "Present your bodies as a sacrifice, pure, living, well-pleasing to God, your reasonable service." He will judge the peoples in uprightness. The Lord judged the peoples in uprightness; he saved what is under heaven; he delivered them from the hands of the devil; he set them free from the tyranny of the demons; he justified them in faith; those who once had wandered he placed under his own yokes; he showed them to be holy worshippers; he condemned the destruction of Satan and of his angels. Let the sea be shaken. But when you hear "sea" in these words, do not suppose it to be this sea that is signified, but rather another, that is, this region around the earth, or the whole inhabited world and those in it. [Let the heavens be glad. For Satan, the author of evil, the sower of the tares, the inventor and teacher of all wickedness, snatched the nature of man into death in the beginning through the transgression in Adam; but the Creator of all things restored it again to incorruption, having abolished death in Christ and put sin away from the world. Therefore, on account of these things, the Holy Spirit commands both those who are in heaven and all those upon the earth to keep festival, saying: "Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice."] Then all the trees of the thicket will rejoice. We do not say anywhere that rejoicing belongs to insensible trees; rather, this matter befits the saints, whom he says rejoiced the more when Christ shone upon the world. For he comes to judge the earth. For he came, using a holy and God-befitting sentence.

He will condemn the evil beast and send him into the unquenchable flame. And he will redeem those who have come under him, that is, us, and will justify them by faith.

PSALM 6.

Of David, when his land was established. David was named in many places by the God-inspired Scripture as the Christ who came from the seed of David according to the flesh; just as indeed also Israel, those from Israel, and Jacob, those from Jacob. The psalm, then, is sung to David, the Christ according to the flesh. And when and on what occasions is it sung? When, it says, his land was established. And shortly after: For the only-begotten Word of God has appeared to us, he has stopped the tumults, he has established the land. And in what manner, the psalm will teach, saying: "The Lord has reigned, let the land rejoice, let many islands be glad." Thus our affairs were established; for Christ has reigned. This has become the occasion of the feast. [Righteousness and judgment are uprightness. For Christ has reigned over us, that he might justify by faith those in sins. And he used a judgment both befitting God and loving of goodness; for he has justified not from works of righteousness, but according to his great mercy. And he has saved us also through water. And through what water? The holy mystical water, clearly, in which the many-headed dragon has been crushed and trampled, or rather also destroyed, and the evil powers with him.] [Fire shall go before him. Fire, it says, not at all this perceptible fire, nor the visible flame, but a certain divine power, invincible, and hard to confront, and hard to escape, devouring like fire those who are hostile to him.

These were also, before all others, the accursed demons, and the leader of their herd; the Savior consumed him together with the others. For it was not possible in any other way to rescue those on the earth who had come under him, unless he sent upon him, as it were, a fire—the wrath that consumes and destroys him. Thus, then, he rescued those who had come under him, he saved those in captivity, he delivered those who had gone astray, and he called them into the light of truth. His lightnings shone upon the inhabited world. For the radiance of Christ has been made manifest to those throughout all the earth, and it has enlightened the hearts of all. And shortly after: In these words the blessed Psalmist seems to call the lightnings of Christ those who minister the divine and evangelical proclamation, that is, the apostles and evangelists, to whom Christ himself also said: "You are the light of the world." For the true light is the Son himself, who enlightens every rational creation. But since they have become partakers of the light that comes from him, they too are called the light of the world. These, then, the ministers of the evangelical proclamations, have become like lightnings, [bringing] the light under heaven

Running everywhere and sending the divine and intelligible light into the hearts of those being initiated.] He looked, and the earth was shaken. The word "he looked" stands for "he looked up." For having said beforehand that his lightnings shone upon the inhabited world, he shows at once how great was the benefit to the things under heaven from the intelligible lightnings sent by Christ, by which we said the holy apostles and evangelists are signified, by whose all-wise initiations the earth looked up. And this too is an achievement of Christ, the Savior of us all.] The mountains melted like wax. By "mountains" he means the high and arrogant opposing powers, that is, the rulers of this world of darkness, likened to mountains because of their great arrogance. These the Savior melted like wax, as it were fire applied to wax. [The heavens declared his righteousness. By "heavens" in these words he means not the element itself, but those who are in the heavens, that is, the holy angels; these declare the righteousness of God and the Father. For he has saved those on the earth, having justified them in the faith that is in Christ. For thus the earth has been filled with his glory. But since practical virtue is also often called righteousness, only the heavens—that is, righteous men—truly know how to declare it. For a righteous man will declare faith when it is displayed, their faith being reckoned unto righteousness.] [Worship him, all you angels. To whom are they commanded to worship? To Christ, clearly, that is, to the Only-begotten who became man. "For when," he says, "he brings the firstborn into the inhabited world, he says,

And let all the angels of God worship him. Necessarily, then, he has here introduced the worship of the angels, so that we might not be ashamed to worship God whom angels worship; and at the same time that we may know that those who worship God ascend to the rank of angels. Besides this, that worship belongs to angels, not being worshiped. Therefore the demons, having fallen even from this dignity of the angels, will be able to be worshiped, but by the deception of those who worship them. Zion heard and was glad. It seems, then, that in these words the text wishes to make clear to us the first calling of the Jews, which Christ also made first. This David also said long ago through his voice, saying: "But I was established king by him on Zion, his holy mountain, declaring the commandment of the Lord." That is, he will make manifest the good will of God and the Father. Light has risen for the righteous. He says "has risen" instead of "rises." For everyone, if anyone is good and righteous, upon him certainly the intelligible and divine light rises in mind and heart. For those who are devoted to the best pursuits will not be without a share in the sacred gifts. Therefore for the one who has accomplished the practical virtue called righteousness, the light of knowledge has risen, being nothing other than the true light, about which the Father said: "But for those who fear my name the sun of righteousness will rise." For those who are upright in heart. And what is it to have an upright heart? Such as is straight and not twisted. Rejoice, you righteous, in the Lord.

For it truly befits those who love Christ and are lovers of piety to rejoice greatly in him, and in the good things that will be given to us by him—evidently spiritual things—which have a creation [i.e., motion] both secure and irrevocable. Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Thanksgiving (exomologesis) signifies gratitude. It is necessary, then, to give thanks that he, being God by nature and Lord of all and enthroned with the Father, who is above all and beyond all, has deemed us worthy to make remembrance of him; and having remembered, he also blessed. And the blessed David will teach this, saying: "The Lord has remembered us, and has blessed us."

PSALM 7.

Sing to the Lord a new song. The song is new; for all things in Christ are new, the old things have passed away. And after a little. [And what are these new things? Clearly the things that are through Christ. For long ago, as I said, the God of all redeemed Israel through Moses, and delivered them from bitter slavery; and Pharaoh was drowned in the sea as he pursued, and God was glorified in this very thing. But in these things were the things of those men. Let us see the new things that are through Christ. Not one nation was redeemed, just as formerly Israel alone, but rather the whole earth has been saved. We do not see an Egyptian man drowned in the sea, but Satan himself, the boastful and accursed one, fallen and lying beneath the feet of the saints. For Christ said somewhere: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you." He names serpents and scorpions as the wicked and venomous demons.

[from whose crookedness we have been delivered.] And after a little: For on what grounds, then, and having what occasions for singing, will he teach you again, saying: "For the Lord has done marvelous things." And what are these? The excellent and marvelous things which the Savior and Lord of all has done. [His right hand has saved for him. For the right hand of the Father, that is, the Son, has saved what is under heaven; for thus the Father himself also names him, saying: "For I will lift up my hand to heaven, and I will swear by my right hand," in which I established heaven and founded the earth. [For the right hand of God and the Father, that is, the Son, has saved the inhabited world for his own Begetter, leading it up to the knowledge of God, and delivering from death and corruption the work broken by sin, although it was made in the image of the Creator. [He names the Son the right hand of God and the Father; for through him, as through his own hand, the Father brought all things into being; and the most wise John will testify concerning him, saying: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be." But just as the hand of a man is not alien to the body, but is from it and in it, so then this right hand of the Father which prevails over all, the creator and craftsman of all things, which all works tremble before, has saved for himself and for the Father. And what has it saved? Clearly all that is under heaven.

For he has gathered them in through the gospel proclamations into the knowledge of his glory. The Lord has made known his salvation. He calls Christ both Salvation and Righteousness; for God the Father has saved us through him and in him, and has justified us in faith. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. That is, no one has been left without a share in the salvation that is through Christ. For, as I said, the whole earth has been called through faith. The rivers shall clap their hands. What hands do the rivers have? Or how can they clap? Since, when the nations were being brought into subjection and were being called through faith, the disciples rejoiced, like those who clap, leading off songs of victory out of sheer joy, he likens them to rivers, saying: "The rivers shall clap their hands together." It is the custom of divinely inspired Scripture often to liken the holy prophets, apostles, and evangelists to springs and rivers, and in addition to these the leaders of the holy Churches, who proclaim the divine word to the peoples and are knowledgeable in the sacred doctrines and have a mystical way of life. And indeed he said concerning them through the voice of Isaiah the prophet: "Draw water with gladness from the springs of salvation." And he calls them springs of salvation.

For they pour forth, as it were, the word from heaven upon the peoples under their care, having themselves received it from Christ. For as the saints themselves say: "From his fullness we have all received." When, therefore, you hear concerning the holy rivers that they shall clap their hands, understand this instead as that they shall be glad, shall delight, and shall rejoice, and shall keep festival. For what reason? Because the Lord has saved the things beneath heaven, because the Only-begotten Word has come down from heaven and has become like us, in order that he might abolish the ruler of this age, in order that he might loose corruption, turn back death, put sin away from the world, and make us clean through baptism, sanctify us through the Spirit, and declare us sons of God. This is the occasion of the gladness of the saints; on these grounds they are commanded to clap, that is, to be glad. The mountains shall exult. He calls mountains not these perceptible and visible ones, but the intellectual and lofty powers, that is, the angels who stand around the divine throne. For lofty are the virtues. These rational and most high powers, then, rejoice exceedingly over those saved in Christ; they rejoice on our account, glorifying the one who saved them.

PSALM 9.

[The Lord has reigned. Let them shoot their arrows at Christ in vain, out of their own envy; let them prepare plots that can do no harm to him who knows nothing of suffering.] [The Lord is great in Zion. The Savior was not great or exalted in physical Zion, but rather in the spiritual Zion, that is, the Church, which he presented to himself without spot or wrinkle, but rather holy and blameless, as it is written.] [For he is not known, like one of the falsely named gods, by some and unknown by others; but he is glorified in heaven by the powers above, and worshiped on earth by us. Exalted therefore in glory, and placing his own fear in those who know him—and this too is the salvation of the soul.] [Let all give thanks to your name. The honors, he says, of kings love to have the power to judge and to legislate. For it follows entirely upon the honor of a king that he must judge and legislate. Now God is judge and lawgiver of the universe. For it is written: "That God is a judge." And again: "There is one lawgiver and judge." And, "The honor of a king loves judgment." And the power to judge and to legislate belongs to the Son. And indeed he said to us: "For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father."] Let them give thanks to your great name. For great and exalted is the name of the Godhead, that is, the glory. For the Creator of all things is not one among the creatures, but rather by incomparable excellences he transcends all things.

Nothing is like him by nature, except only the God Word who is from him and in him and of the same substance as him, who is glorified as having become man by the Seraphim. For he himself is the name that is above every name; for in his name every knee bends, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Great indeed and wondrous is the name of the Godhead, if indeed every knee bends to it, clearly creation worshiping and crowning him with honors befitting God. Exalt the Lord our God. That is: believe that the Word of God who became man is the Most High, thinking nothing lowly about him, just as in fact the wretched Jews do. [And worship at the footstool of his feet. Does God then also have such feet, resting on a footstool? Does he also have hands and eyes? Do not suppose this. For the word spoken by him is fashioned as it were from our own conditions and from human affairs; but what pertains to him is understood in a manner befitting God. Since, then, it is the custom of those who worship earthly kings to kiss their feet, from human custom the Psalmist applies the word to God, saying: "And worship at the footstool of his feet."] [For they kept his testimonies. Therefore he has honored them as those who honored him, he has loved them as genuine servants, as those who have become guardians of his divine decrees. Therefore obedience is not without reward, but rather is the cause of the highest honor because of its compliance and docility.]

PSALM 9.

[Serve the Lord with gladness. That is, not sullen, not downcast, nor sluggish toward doing good, but rather eager and cheerful and rejoicing in hope—in the hope, certainly, that is prepared for the saints.] But if anyone would not serve him with gladness, let him not dare to come before him, approaching into his Church with unwashed feet. Know that the Lord himself is God. (176.) This is the Christ, who by his own blood redeemed all the earth. He is the maker of our own handiwork. For we did not come to be of ourselves, but we are the work of his hands. Therefore we are both his people and his sheep. Let the people be those who hold the more rational rank; and the sheep, those who do not have such great discernment, nor experience of the divine oracles, according to the saying: "I wandered like a lost sheep."

PSALM 100.

[A psalm to David. To David a psalm. That is, a hymn and doxology to the Christ from the seed of David according to the flesh. For from Jesse and David sprang up the plant of peace, the divine and noble and supramundane shoot. And after a little: The person of a holy man has been introduced, delineating for us the patterns of his excellent way of life, and not in order to snatch away the patterns of certain others, nor in order to hunt empty glory (for this is alien to the saints), but rather that he might benefit us through this, and that we might learn in what manner those who wish to please God ought to conduct themselves.] [I will sing to you of mercy and judgment, O Lord. I know you, he says, to be a merciful and just judge, and in these very things I will hymn you.

For God and Father has had mercy on us, having justified us in Christ by faith, and having granted us the forgiveness of our ancient trespasses, and having brought forth a just judgment upon us. I will sing and I will understand in a blameless way. "I will sing" to you, he says, O Master, and I will glorify you continually; "and I will understand in a blameless way." That is, with understanding and wisdom I will walk the right and unwavering and blameless way. For it is necessary that we who wish to please God be most understanding, and have our heart filled with wisdom—not the wisdom that is earthly and worldly, but rather that which Christ grants. For in him "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden"; and he makes the blind wise, and is the provider of all understanding. And what indeed is this? For as long as we are in filth and sins, we do not have Christ dwelling in ourselves; but when we wash away the filth of sin, and cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, and also accomplish holiness in the fear of God, then he comes to be with us, and dwells in us, and we are his house.

I walked in the innocence of my heart. What is this, "In the innocence of my heart"? It means: without wickedness and without meddling, not loving the tumults of worldly affairs and vain distractions, but rather having within myself a mind steadfast and at rest, like that ancient Jacob of whom it is written: "And Jacob was a simple man, dwelling in a house." I did not set before my eyes a lawless thing. To nothing, he says, did I attend that was base and unholy, and that called to lawlessness. And these things are many, even among us. For a man commits lawlessness when he falls into desire for things that in no way belong to him, and becomes an unjust lover of what belongs to others. He commits lawlessness likewise who is defeated by bodily pleasures and has become liable to the charges of adultery. He transgresses the law who speaks evil of his brother, and who takes advantage of the weaker, as many as he can. And so that I may not spend time speaking of each one, every kind of baseness and lawlessness carries a charge. And after a little: But perhaps you will say: Was he then without sin? How then is this attainable? For free will has been preserved for sins, and sinlessness befits only the God over all. "For he did not commit sin, nor was guile found in his mouth." And after a little: How then should this be understood: "I did not set before my eyes a lawless thing"? He did not say: I never fell into a lawless thing, but, "I did not set before my eyes a lawless thing." That is: I willed and purposed never to look upon a lawless thing. But if it happened that he missed the mark, he says, as a man, it is no wonder.

because pilots often, even though they know their craft well, are in danger together with the ship when a fierce wind blows violently. My heart has not cleaved to a crooked thing. That is, a man having a crooked heart, which means perverted. From the one turning aside from me, the evil one, I did not know. That is, I did not even pretend to know him. For I did not deem it right to be a friend of such people. Is it then as being arrogant? By no means, he says, but knowing that "evil communications corrupt good manners." It is the fruit of a holy-minded disposition to reject the wicked; but the proof of the utmost wickedness is to speak evil of brothers. With a haughty eye. For there are very many passions of the soul in us; but one is especially more out of place than the others and unbearable to all, against which God himself also fights: this is arrogance, which has as its sister and companion greed, that is, to grasp insatiably. These two are abysses of souls and gates of destruction, and worthy of unquenchable flame. Who does not flee the boaster? Who does not reject the one who gathers gains of money with an insatiable hand and grasps at many things? My eyes are upon the faithful of the land. That is, upon the saints, so as both "to sit down with them with me"—that is, to be with them, and to reign together always, and to bring them to what is useful. For a good counselor is an exceptional good for a man. It makes him venerable and worthy of emulation, to bring him to anything whatsoever of useful things, and it teaches the things that are advantageous for salvation, and suggests what contributes to benefit.

PSALM 101.

[Incline your ear to me. "Incline your ear to me," he says. Why? Because, being afflicted, I cannot pray with boldness. By affliction he means the onset of temptations, whether of the senses or of the mind.]

PSALM 103.

[And wine gladdens the heart of man. Such wine is surely intelligible, and produces the saving drunkenness.] [The trees of the field will be filled. His discourse was not about trees, but rather about the saints who are rooted in the faith and bear fruit in righteousness.] [This is the great sea. He likens the Church to a ship, in the form of the sea of this world as we understand it. He compares human life to our sea because of the instability and constant motion of the things in it; and the countless race of creeping things [signifies] the manifold and, as it were, many-faced multitude of men, the variation being understood as the diversity of their condition. For nature is the same for all, and the manner of generation is not different, but the mind is manifold and the heart in us is of many minds. And someone, knowing this, said: Just as faces are not alike to faces, so neither are the thoughts of men. And we say that ships are those which also traverse this intelligible sea, as it is written, the holy Churches of our Savior, which are in the world, yet above the world; just as one may see the merchant ships, which are in the waters, yet above the waters.]

The Churches, then, in the manner of ships, sailing across this intelligible sea, receive those who believe and carry them over, as it were, to another holy land—the kingdom of the heavens, and the hope that is in Christ, and to sanctification through the Spirit, and to the fatherland of the saints, which is virtue. For being sojourners and strangers, according to what is written, upon the earth, they have no city here that remains, but they press on toward that one whose craftsman and builder is God. The Church, then, will be understood as a hull or a ship, having as its sailors those who have been sanctified; and they, by receiving the faith, have Christ with them always. But a terrible storm also breaks in upon it, and countless waves of circumstances rise up against the holy vessel, and numberless temptations set it ablaze, and indeed the savagery of evil spirits, falling upon it, brings it down to the very terror of death; and Christ is present with his own, yet because he often permits them to suffer in the way of his dispensation, he seems in some manner to imitate one who is asleep. When, therefore, the tumult is truly excessive and no longer bearable by the sailors, and affairs look to the very extremity of evil, then, then it is fitting to cry out, almost saying: "Awake, why do you sleep, Lord? Arise, and do not cast us off to the end. Why do you turn your face away? Do you forget our poverty and our affliction?" For without delay he will arise and put all fear out of the way; and he will rebuke those who tempt, and he will change mourning into gladness, spreading out the gentle and wave-less calm.

For he will by no means overlook those who have put their hope in him. Living creatures small with great. And this is a proof of divine providence, that the small kinds dwell among the great, and are not entirely consumed by them. This is the dragon which you formed. And surely we do not say that his word was about those swimming in the sea, nor indeed did he wish to hint at the differences of fish, nor yet some bodily and perceptible dragon swimming in the waters of the sea, but he reveals, as I said, through these things to us the turmoil in life, and the life in the swell of those in it; and indeed also the dragon, the author of evil, that is, Satan, who goes around all men and circles the inhabited world among us, plotting against the souls of the saints. Let my meditation be sweet to him. He calls meditation praise; for he who sings psalms converses with God. Sinners shall fail from the earth. But perhaps someone will say to this: Does then the blessed Prophet pray or ever pray for those who are in sins? Does he [pray for] all those in sins

Does he want those who have been caught to perish and be destroyed? And yet it was more fitting for a holy and Spirit-bearing man to pray rather than for those who had grown weak. And after a little: Listen, then; for I will speak briefly. For before the coming of the Savior, we were all in sins; Satan held sway over all that is under heaven; there was none who did good, there was not even one; all turned aside, together they became worthless. For the Greeks, the worshippers of idols, did not know the ways of gentleness, they did not understand the path of good living, or rather they did not know at all the very Creator and Savior of all things, Christ. And the Jews again had the law as a pedagogue, but it was not possible for man to be justified in the law. And after a little: Therefore we were all in sins; the earth was full of lawlessness. But when the only-begotten Word of God appeared and became man, the sinners ceased, those who were in lawlessness have failed. How, or in what manner? For he has justified all, he has released them from their transgressions, he has set them free and reconciled. Therefore few have become those who are in sins, but very many are those who have been justified.

PSALM 104.

[Touch not my anointed ones. For it is one of the absurd things to think that while the more illustrious in this life assign all their care to their genuine servants and deem them worthy of the attention that is due to them, the Lord of powers, with whom all things are easily brought to success, makes no account at all of those who love him.]

PSALM 109.

The Lord will send you a rod of power out of Zion. For Christ has become for us a rod of power, he who is out of Zion, that is, from above. For this reason he is also called heavenly. For he is not earthly, of dust, according to the first Adam, but from heaven and from above, according to the voice of the blessed Paul. [With you is the beginning in the day of your power. He calls the day of God's power that day on which he will judge the whole inhabited world, and "will render to each according to his works." He will surely come also then, both being in the Father and having the Father in himself, the beginning without beginning of his own nature, so to speak, according to the "from whom" alone, because he exists from the Father.]

PSALM 113.

Let those who do these things become like them. Even if we make a likeness of God-fearing men, it is not in order to worship them as gods, but so that, seeing them, we may come to emulate them; and if we make a likeness of Christ, it is so that our mind may be stirred up to longing for him. For we do not worship a corruptible image or one of a corruptible man; but since God deigned to become man without change, we make an image of him as a man, even though we know that he is God by nature. We do not, then, call the image itself God, but we know as God the one who is depicted in the image, whose likeness the image bears. But the Greeks, being deceived, glorify the likenesses as gods.

PSALM 114.

I have loved. (Of Cyril and others.) The "I have loved" is not for everyone, but for the one already perfected and passing beyond the fear of slavery. The word "whom" is not added, but we must supply it from ourselves: the God of all. [I will take the cup of salvation. For truly the cup of salvation is to hymn the God and Savior of all. In this God delights, this incense he receives from us. For as Christ said: "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."]

PSALM 117.

This is the gate of the Lord. For it is not, it is not possible in any other way to arrive at the knowledge of God and the Father, except through this very one of whom Christ said: "No one," he says, "comes to the Father except through me." For we enter into intimacy with God, and also into the kingdom of the heavens, as through a kind of door or gate, our Savior Christ. He who comes in the name of the Lord. For some come wearing the form and measure of servitude; but he comes in God-befitting glory and in the name of the Lord—clearly of the Lord who is by nature and true. And what is "in the name of the Lord?" That is, in God-befitting glory and in lordship and in the preeminence that is beyond all things.

PSALM 118.

I have hidden your words in my heart. For just as if someone should store a seed of fire in a bronze vessel, he would surely make it partake also of the heat from it, so the mind that holds fast within its soul and heart the divine and heavenly word, through its longing for every virtue, always warms itself toward these things by means of it. For just as remembering the words of God at all times is not without benefit for life and is a saving possession, in the same way, I think, forgetting them is apt to be the cause of destruction. One must hide the commandments of God in one's heart, because of the demons who snatch them away. Solomon also advises the same in Proverbs:

Son," he says, "if, having received a word of my commandment, you hide it with yourself, your ear will listen to wisdom." Therefore the commandments spoken here, which the Lord in the Gospels called seed snatched by the birds of heaven—this one, then, hides the commandment who works it continually; since those who snatch it, by not permitting us to do it, are said to snatch it. In your righteousness give me life. For God and the Father gives us life through his own righteousness; and this is Christ. Before I was humbled I transgressed. For in the pre-passions of the mind, and, so to speak, the pre-sinewings through natural thoughts, the tyranny of the tempter becomes more unbearable; and before enduring the humiliation from the devil, we transgress beforehand, suffering within ourselves a ruin older than the assault. –For before suffering completely, we, by the consent of our reasonings, both honoring sin and accepting it, and by this giving Satan a place of entry—the passion will be a type and image of the traitor's deed. Your commandment is exceedingly broad.

For God welcomes spiritual manliness, self-control, endurance, and, in addition to these, the other virtues. My soul is in your hands continually. He means by "hands" the practical activities through which God is seen. Nail down my flesh from your fear. "Nail down" is used in place of "fix firmly." Fix firmly, then, he says, my flesh in purity.

PSALM 119.

Woe is me, that my sojourning has been prolonged. Weighed down by the present life, because this sojourning has been prolonged for him, he laments, groaning in wailing and lamentation over the long duration of his sojourning in the flesh. [And all shall be written in your book. By "books" one must understand the knowledge of God that encompasses all things, and the un forgetting memory.] [But your friends have been greatly honored by me. One who is able to recognize the friends of God from their fruits will honor them greatly, since even their principles—that is, what they think about principles—have been greatly strengthened.]