Fragmenta in Psalmos

These, the people around the letter omega, having grown fat by thinking earthly things and having become material, wearing the image of the man of dust, I will thin down through exhortations, admonitions, threats, and a laborious discipline, so that, having become like dust before the face of the divine Spirit—wind being figuratively named—all the dust-like in them, scattered by them, by the breath of the Spirit, may leave their underlying substance clean of all dust, which had happened to be dust-like. And if they are willingly called to this, to whom the Lord says, as to a whole city: Shake off your dust, Jerusalem. And these very ones, as mud of the streets, he will smooth—either the Lord or his imitator, the righteous man. And this mud, being smoothed, will be able to become an earthenware vessel, useful in the great house in which there are vessels of gold and silver and wood and earthenware; but since the gold and silver are for honor, while the wood and earthenware are for dishonor, the one who purifies himself from these becomes a vessel of honor, sanctified and useful to the master, prepared for every good work, freeing those who for now are mud of the streets—that is, the mire of pleasures and desires—from all the roughness that comes from the passions. He who says these things, producing evenness in them through the smoothing, will presently make them earthenware vessels, so that by their own free impulse they may purify themselves, as having become vessels for honor, of gold or of silver.

For just as some have turned themselves from golden and silver vessels into earthenware vessels (for how were the precious sons of Zion, who were lifted up with silver, reckoned as earthen vessels, works of a potter's hands?), so by their own free choice they will become golden or silver vessels from earthenware ones. Since the name of knowledge has a double meaning, it indicates sometimes understanding, and sometimes that the one who knows is united and mingled with the one who is known. According to the former meaning, God knows all people, and not only the earnest. For the Savior said to the wicked: You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; and in the prophet: For I knew all your sins. But according to the second meaning, he is said to know only the righteous; for the Lord knew those who are his, but the wicked he did not know, to whom the Savior says: Depart from me, workers of lawlessness, I never knew you. And the people from the nations, then, not being known by the Savior—who once served idols and demons and practiced every other evil—having changed through repentance to serve Christ, has come near. And well did he say, Whom I did not know. For he did not say: The people whom I do not know served me. For the one still working the things of evil is not known; but the one who has ceased from sins was not known before, but is known now.

With this agrees the apostolic saying: "But then, indeed, not knowing God, you served those who by nature are not gods; but now, having known God, or rather having been known by God." For while they did not know God, they were not known by him; but having known him, they were known by him. Perhaps it may seem to some that what is said is superfluous: "In the hearing of the ear he obeyed me," since everyone who obeys obeys with the ear. But it is not superfluously nor redundantly that "the ear" is added to "everyone who obeys"—since God does not use human and mortal hearing but a divine ear, by addition, for the one who comes to have it. For "he added to me an ear to hear." Foreign sons grew old, and so on. God, being the beginning and source of good things, becomes the father of those who do good, and insofar as these attain to doing what is required, they are his own sons, partaking of his only-begotten Son. But if, having become careless, they partake of the opposite things (and these are evils), they would be alienated from God, to which will also follow their growing old. For sharing in virtue—bright and unfading wisdom and ageless—they were always growing young; but having fallen away into vice, they would grow old, worn away by their own corruption (to speak thus). And further, since the verse is about the Jews, these sit by the oldness of the letter, not enduring even in the least to follow the newness of the spirit; "foreign sons" and "grown old" have they become. And these, having become double-minded and of two souls, are said to limp from their own paths. For to be double-minded is to limp, as Elijah said, saying:

How long will you go limping on both knees? If he is lord, go after him. And perhaps everyone who has accepted the divine Scripture but does not understand it as one ought is said to limp in it—unlike the one who did not accept it, who neither walks nor limps in it. God is said to live, not as partaking of life but as providing it. At any rate, he himself often says concerning himself: "As I live, says the Lord." But the Savior also, saying, "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father," shows that he lives not by participation in life; for he himself is the life, from which it is concluded that the Son is consubstantial with the Father. For if the Son is life, not by participation in life but as himself giving life to those who partake of him, and the Father also lives, granting life—since the same activity is ascribed to Father and Son—then the essence of Father and Son is the same. And this very phrase shows it: "The Father lives," he says, "and I live because of the Father," as if he were saying, "because I have such a Father, who lives by essence, I too exist as living." The living God himself is also blessed, having blessed the saints with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. He might be called blessed in that every blessing is around him; for everything said and thought concerning him is both said and thought with good reason. The God of my salvation is exalted, when I have received the perception of his greatness; for as his works are great, so are they great. Since, then, the salvation of the rational creature is a lofty work, the cause of it must necessarily be lofty.

But God is exalted, not as changing from a low place to a high one, but because we have resolved to think great things concerning him. For either he gives thanks for their progress and salvation and confesses, or, having taken their sins upon himself, he becomes an advocate of their repentance; for the phrase "I will confess to you" signifies both. But the Son also sings in the name of the Father, doing all things according to the will of the Father. The Father magnifies the salvations of the King, Christ—not those by which the King himself is saved, but those which he provides to those being saved by him. And the King is God's, not as ruling over God himself, but over those consecrated to God. For we say that a ruler is sometimes of those who are ruled, as their leader, and sometimes a ruler of the king according to his laws. He shows mercy to Christ, having mercy on those under Christ, on whose behalf he serves as priest and over whom he reigns; for the name "Christ" signifies both priest and king. If the phrase is about David—that is, every man who is capable with his hand—it shows that God has mercy on practical men, who are capable in their deeds, and on any who happen to be their seed through teaching and imitation of their life; and the mercy he shows to these is not temporary and for a little while, but forever. But if the word is about God, the true David (for "I will raise up for you one shepherd, my servant David"), he shows eternal mercy to him and to his seed, so that his anointing and his priesthood are indestructible; for since the old priesthood is being transferred, the priesthood of Christ is unchangeable.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the glory of God is either the Only-begotten, according to "the effulgence of his glory," or the ordering and preeminence of his kingdom, according to "and the glory of the Lord shall be seen." This, then, the powers proper to the heavens declare, singing hymns and theologizing, named homonymously with those who dwell in the heavens, according to the trope of metonymy. But the making of the active powers of God, which are called his hands, the firmament announces—not so much by words as by deeds themselves. Those who embrace the contemplative life store up treasure in heaven, and having their heart there, they are heavens, declaring the aforementioned glory of God through the contemplation of intelligible things. But those who have accepted the practical life, through the works they perform, are a firmament—that is, steadfast and immovable; they report the making of the hands of God, working the works of God and by them crying out that they too are works of God. But also the day—that is, the luminous understanding—being in harmony with another luminous understanding, belches forth a word, as the old Scripture is a day because it is luminous; for God called the light day. This day, filled with the Spirit's foods, belching forth from the fullness, brings forth a word for the new covenant, being allegorically called a day as well. And the night—the deepest apprehension of things—announces knowledge to another night like itself.

For the Spirit, who searches all things and has the depths of God, when someone searches out any of the deeper mysteries of God, having known it from this, proceeds to things similarly unclear, and will have knowledge of those as well. And "speeches" are those things that prepare beforehand and make a way for the "words," and let "words" be those that set forth the spiritual narratives and perfectly bring forward their proofs demonstratively. Therefore there are no speeches or words toward obedience to God, whose voices are not heard. For this reason it was said by the Lord, that they might be heard to whom they were spoken; whence no word of defense is left to those who neither do nor think the things that the voices of the aforementioned speeches and words set forth. "Their sound went out into all the earth," and the rest. Those who happen to be earth suitably disposed for seed, these receive the sound of the speeches and words, that is, the expression according to the sensible sense of the Scripture; but those who have transcended their condition, so as to be reckoned the ends of the inhabited world, will receive the utterances of the speeches and words, being clearly instructed about all things. Indeed, the foremost of the apostles, hearing not the sound of Jesus but his words, said, "You have words of eternal life"; and the Savior himself: "The words which I have spoken to you are spirit." For those to whom he said these things—the apostles—were no longer earth but also the ends of the inhabited world. And according to the law of anagogy, the church can be a tabernacle of God, set in the sun, that is, as far and wherever the sun shines; for the one [going] into all the earth runs together with the sun's rays.

A sound has gone out, and his words have reached the ends of the inhabited world. And each one of those who have room for the glory of God, being called his tabernacle, can be placed in the sun of righteousness, that is, in Christ; for the foundation and base of such tabernacles is the true light. And perhaps also, since the Savior is called the Light of the world and the true Light and the Sun of righteousness, it is not possible for one who has received the understanding of this light to be ignorant of the perceptible light—the one who has approached the One who surpasses perceptible things. And he is the sun, taking from the understanding of this a representation of the intelligible light, just as he will find the true light dwelling in the perceptible sun. For one must not give heed to certain heterodox persons who say that after the resurrection from the dead the Savior laid aside in the sphere of the sun the body he wore, to be kept until his second and glorious coming. In the sun he set his tabernacle, and the rest. In addition to the wording, you will understand by way of ascent that the sun of righteousness, coming forth from the bridal chamber of the Father's bosom according to "I came forth from God and have come," goes forth as a bridegroom having as his spouse the rational nature, that is, the glorious Church; of which John says: "He who has the bride is the bridegroom." For having emptied himself he took the form of a servant; rejoicing and exulting he accomplishes the course of the dispensation which he willingly undertook, taking up the impulse of a most mighty giant. And this one, having the beginning of his going forth from the end of heaven, arrived at the end of heaven, ascending there from where he also set out. He says, then:

If you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before, and No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. But no one is able to hide from his heat; for all partake of the fire which he came to cast upon the earth, so that some become boiling in spirit. The testimony of the Lord, which he testifies to good works and to the knowledge of the truth, is faithful; it is called faithful not from believing but from being worthy to be believed, just as also the saying Faithful is the word is spoken from its being trustworthy, and it is said concerning God himself: God is faithful and there is no injustice in him, and Faithful is God through whom you were called. For he was named thus because of his being sufficient and worthy to be believed, but also because of his being firm and unchangeable. So then, the testimony of the Lord, being faithful in this way, makes wise those who have turned and become like little children according to the will of Jesus. And it makes wise even the newborn infants, those born through the gospel. And perhaps it makes wise also those simple ones, those not reared in exercises and with trainings in human words, but the unlettered and ordinary. And the statutes of the Lord, being outside all crookedness, are straight, making straight those who receive them, so that the soul, casting off all grief, comes to be in divine gladness. And the fear of God is called pure, not being such as the passionate fear which is cast out by perfect love, but being the same by reverence and divine awe.

This one purifies those who have received it, and extends even to the age to come, not being temporary and short-lived. The judgments of the Lord are true. He who accomplishes all things according to his own truth and judges truly judges; as the apostle says: For we know that the judgment of God is according to truth upon those who practice such things. Therefore, since God judges according to truth, his judgments are true; and they are called true by way of contrast with false and unjust judgments. These true judgments are justified together, so that they come to be at once and together. For perhaps if one wished to see each one by itself, he would not clearly see its truth and righteousness; for they are linked to one another, so that each is attested by what follows it, as is the case. These things, foreknown by him who has taken care of his own mind, are desirable beyond the things honored among men. For he who has withdrawn his desiring power from gold and precious stones will spend it all, in longing for the truly good, upon the truly desirable things, and will perceive them as sweeter than the sweetest of things perceived by the senses, honeycomb and honey. And he will grasp the sweetness of the things aforesaid not by bodily taste but by divine perception. These things the servant of the Lord will guard. For your servant guards them—saying this not about himself alone but about every servant of the Lord. If, then, in guarding these things some temporary and sensible thing meets him, the recompense was not great—

Since the recompense for keeping these is supracosmic and supraheavenly, it follows that it is great. Everyone knows the manifest and actual sins, but rare is the one who will detect the transgressions that occur in secret, in thoughts and reasonings; for the word "Who" here indicates what is rare. Paul, then, though conscious of nothing against himself, knowing that it is rare to understand the aforementioned transgressions, said, "I am not justified in this." Next, then, to "Transgressions, who will understand?" is placed "From my secret faults cleanse me"—the righteous man saying, as it were, this very thing: since in the secret reasonings of the heart there happens to be a stain that not only others but I myself do not know, do you remove it, being the knower of hidden things. For it happens that this stain, if it is not done away with, once intensified becomes an occasion and pretext for my being caught by things belonging to others. Spare your servant, then; do not allow him to be caught by things belonging to others, but cleanse him from his secret faults. For sins committed in secret, if not cut off, might at some point fall into actual sin, on account of which one will encounter things belonging to God—whether things or evil powers. But God will spare his own servant, when he did not spare his own Son, delivering him up for all; for to spare the Son is the destruction of all, but not to spare him is for him to become salvation for all. And the Son himself will be outside all harm, not being by nature such as to receive it at all. And he calls great sin the actual sin.

For if I were not cleansed from my secret faults, these transgressions that remain would carry over into base action, and I would become liable for a great sin. But when these things are granted me by you, then the words of my mouth are acceptable, which I brought forth in praying to you, in hymning you, in giving thanks to you; and the words that are worthy of acceptance are acceptable. The meditation of my understanding, arising in reasonings and thoughts, being outside all blemish, stands always before you. Yet the blamelessness of the meditation has its source from nowhere else than from you, who cleansed me from my secret faults. With you as my helper, O Master, I fall under none of those who war against me spiritually. But if it should happen that I am caught by my own carelessness by the adversaries, do you redeem me from those who have seized me, being found at once my helper and redeemer. Encouraging the afflicted one—either the word that dwells within the soul or the Holy Spirit stirring him—he says: May the Lord hear you in the day of affliction. Through progress the afflicted one learns not to be fainthearted nor to cast down his hopes, but to wait for God through prayers; for he regards prayer as God's hearing. He therefore exhorts the afflicted one to prayers by saying: May the Lord hear you in the day of affliction, may the name of the God of Jacob shield you. The appellation of God that has been made near to Jacob, being a shield, is yours. But one must inquire why, when God was named as the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the name of the God of Jacob, and not of the God of Abraham or of Isaac, shields the afflicted one.

Lest perhaps, since Jacob has come to be in many hardships and painful toils, so that his life is a symbol of the athletic contest, the one who is afflicted, being trained to endure in afflictions and to struggle against them, is defended by the appellation of God—which is that of Jacob—so that, having become a supplanter like him, he might supplant and throw down the afflictions and the evil spirits that work them. And from a holy one he sends help—either from the heavenly temple (for the temple among the Hebrews is called holy), or from a holy one, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, concerning whom it is said: God will come from Teman, and the holy one from the mountain of Paran, thick with shadowy forest. And this interpretation will be confirmed by the verse that follows. For out of Zion may he take hold of you, since from there the Savior shines upon the human race, according to Out of Zion the splendor of his beauty. But the first reading may also be attested—that God takes hold from the heavenly Zion. May he remember every sacrifice of yours, he prays, signifying this to the afflicted one: it will come about that you are delivered from the affliction, so as to offer a sacrifice in thanksgiving, in order that God may remember every sacrifice of yours thus offered, being spiritual. But also, accepting your whole burnt offering, may he make it fat; and it must be noted that a sacrifice differs from a whole burnt offering. For perhaps the name of sacrifice applies to soulless offerings brought to the altar, while the whole burnt offering is a living victim. God gives according to the heart of the one who prays, whenever he asks for such things as are both fitting for God to give and beneficial to the one who receives.

For the inquiry concerning these things, when it is made rightly, will have God providing. And may he fulfill all your counsel—that is, may he fulfill your will, when it is made rightly. And a will is fulfilled when one does not fail in one's deliberations, but those things meet one about which one had previously deliberated. And this is concerning him of whom it is said: "Behold, today a Savior has been born to us, who is Christ the Lord." He is said to speak of a saving act—the salvation by which one is saved—to whom God listens in the day of affliction, at which salvation there will be exultation. And in the name of the Lord our God we shall be magnified. While others are magnified in worldly matters, we shall be magnified in the name of the Lord our God. And "we shall be magnified" signifies progress in the truly good. For he did not say, "We are great." In this way also Isaac, advancing, became greater, until he became very great. And one is magnified in the name of the Lord when he accomplishes the works of a genuine and perfect servant. A great commendation of him about whom the word is spoken is that all his petitions will be fulfilled by the Lord, since he asks nothing that God does not provide. And the fulfillment of petitions is that those things for which one has deemed it worthy to ask come to pass and come into existence. The voice of Christ is sometimes spoken of the priest, sometimes of the king, and sometimes of the economy according to the flesh of the Word of God. One person will say it was spoken of David, another of Hezekiah, concerning whom he also took up the theme of the psalm, and another that it was spoken in a human way with reference to the economy.

Perhaps also, when all the believers together complete the body of Christ, according to "So also Christ is one body, and many members," Christ is said to be saved—when those who have become his body and members have salvation. And well is it said, "Now I have known." For "now"—that is, in the present age—we know Christ being saved, in that from here on he receives the pledge of salvation. He hears Christ according to every meaning previously stated. And the right hand of God—that is, his Word—works salvation, not as it happens but in mighty deeds, as a general or a king of the first rank. By "horses" he means the prancing impulses of the passions, which the opposing powers mount; by "chariots," the concord of the driving passions by which they are equipped against us. But even if these are in such things, our unassailable defense is the name of God. The king established upon Mount Zion is strictly and truly a king, rejoicing with a divine joy from the divine power present to him. But the whole psalm may be interpreted concerning Christ the king and him who reigns together with him, so that we are not compelled to signify this at every word. He who does not fulfill the desire of the flesh walks in the spirit. This man, mingled with the spirit, receives the desire of his heart from God. For he who has abstained from the appetites of the flesh receives from God—who fills his desire with good things—what his heart, that is, his mind, longs for. But also, when one has obtained what he needs, he has not been deprived by the Lord of the petition of his lips.

By using the causal conjunction "For" in "For you have gone before him with blessings of goodness," he showed that he rejoices and exults because he has been preceded with blessings of goodness. And here "of goodness" is added to distinguish it from blessings that are not of goodness. For when Jacob blessed his sons, he said that in the manner of a blessing certain painful things would come upon his sons, as in "Cursed is their anger," and any other such lesser statement. But God goes before the king and his imitator with blessings of goodness, leading them up to the promises that transcend the world, of which it is possible to have a pledge even from here. By his own works and pursuits a person is crowned. Indeed, the one who has justly pursued justice will receive the crown of justice, and the one who has rightly held the opinion concerning the Trinity will obtain the unfading crown of glory. And one who has taken delight in the Lord is protected by a crown of delight, and the one saved by grace receives a crown of graces upon his own head. But also the one who has stored up precious stones along with gold and silver will be crowned with the precious stones by which he has worked, God binding up the head of his soul with the crown made of precious stones; and to the divine power adorned with every virtue it is said, "You have bound every precious stone." Therefore God, who crowns in mercy and compassion, will crown with a crown made of precious stones, just as also with hope those who wait eagerly upon him. For the Lord Sabaoth is the crown of hope, who was fashioned for glory.

Since the apostle writes to his own disciples, "My joy and crown," perhaps also the friends of Christ, being precious stones because of their well-ordered virtue, will be woven into a crown and placed rather upon the head of Christ, as Paul says to his disciples, "My joy and crown." "You asked life of him, and you gave him." If the one of whom the passage speaks is an imitator of Christ, God has given him eternal life when he asked for it; for "the gift of God is eternal life." But if he speaks concerning Christ, that "to him who asked life, the Father gave it," so that he might give life to the dead. "Length of days for ever and ever": in addition to having asked for life, he also asked for length of days, so that he might have it immortally and without end. Length of days is also received by the one who has illuminated for himself the light of knowledge, so as to have each doctrine of the truth illuminated; for each delineation of thought is a kind of day. The salvation of God procures great glory for the king who has risen from the dead and for all who have risen with him. "Glory and majesty you will place upon him"—this glory that is at the resurrection. And "you will place" signifies that even before this glory he had another, according to "I glorified and again I will glorify." And majesty is what is fitting among great things. The fitting, then, in the case of the Savior has come to be among great things. For what is greater than raising the dead and walking upon the sea, or his other similar wonders? But also when he himself rose from the dead, what is fitting for him among great things has been supplied; for he was taken up into the heavens and sat at the right hand of the Father, "Because you will give him blessing for ever and ever.

All these things have existed for him, so that blessing is given to him forever and ever by the Father, according to which he blesses those who draw near to him—then especially when he who became a curse for us redeemed us from the curse of the law, so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles. You will gladden him with joy with your face. Just as the same grace and peace are given from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, so it happens that the same joy comes from God and from his face; and the face of God is the impress of his substance. These things will happen to the king who hopes in God, the Lord, who obtains what is hoped for. For having come to the things hoped for by experience, he is gladdened with the face of God. And otherwise: since your image is a face, and this is God the Word, the king who is with this face is called his temple, and becoming conformed to him, he is gladdened with joy. Having received oil from the Most High by being anointed with the oil of exultation, he has an inviolable priesthood from the anointing, according to the order of Melchizedek, being a priest forever. For his not being shaken shows that he will not have a temporary worth, from which he could be shaken by changing into something else. His hand is found not against some but against all the enemies of God, either bringing punishments upon them or warring against those arrayed against the divine law, according to "The Lord wars with a hidden hand against Amalek." And perhaps he can here mean as enemies those who introduce providence and embrace godlessness.

For if they do not acknowledge God, may the hand that oppresses them and brings punishment upon them be found against them, so that they may then know that God presides over all things. Here he calls those who sin "those who hate God." For if the love of God is perfected in the one who keeps the commandments, according to "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word," it follows that the one who does not keep the word and the commandments of God hates God. And the one who hates in this way is said to have perished. Since, then, there is an expectation that the Savior, who is the right hand of God, will come to seek and save what has perished, it is reasonably said: "Your right hand will find all those who hate you." But one must consider in what way a "hand" differs from a "right hand" in the Scriptures. He assigns the hand to punishments, as in "Your hand destroyed the nations," and "Now, having sent out my hand, I will strike you" (for the hand of the Lord is what has touched me); but the right hand he assigns to salvation and other good things: for "His right hand saved him," and "The right hand of the Lord has done mighty things," and "The right hand of the Lord exalted me," and the like. Reasonably, then, even here he says that the hand is found against the enemies, punishing them, but that the right hand finds those who hate him, so that, having been found, they may no longer be in perdition. I think that "You will make them be carried up against your enemies" refers to certain people whom, because they have been handed over to punishment, he will make like a furnace of fire—not forever and without end, but until the time of the shining forth of the divine face. And here too the "time" signifies not a duration but the kind of state of those who are able to contain the face of God.

I think that the name of the oven has not been introduced without purpose. For just as an oven is not kindled without purpose or at random, but for some good end—either for baking bread or for some other such thing—so also God appoints punishments for the purpose that a fitting season may come, in which they will be able to look upon his face. God in his wrath will confound those who take their rest in wickedness and false opinion, being charmed by pleasure, so that they are troubled by the expectation of punishment. And those who are thus disposed fire will consume—not physical fire by any means, but the fire that follows upon the sickness of the soul: either the soul repenting of the evils it has done, with the repentance itself devouring it like fire, or the discontent generating for it a fire analogous to the diseases of the body. For just as bodily foods, when taken beyond what is due or possessing a disease-producing quality, kindle fevers in those who have eaten them, so also for those who have been nourished on wickedness and base doctrines there will follow from these foods a fire suited to them, which will consume them—not destroying the substance of their soul (for it is imperishable), but the quality according to which they have become wood, grass, stubble, and weeds, so that when the things that have befallen them are consumed, the substance that received them may be shown to be pure. And here it is shown that it is not their substance that is being destroyed, but the things they bore fruit badly; and evil habits and base deeds are these things.

Just as plants that bear perfect fruit put forth seed from the fruit itself once it is filled, so that other plants like themselves may come to be, so those who have borne fruit in wickedness and impiety cast down the seed of teachings, so as to make others base and impious like themselves. God destroys the seed of this one from among the sons of men. They inclined toward him evils—that is, either doctrines about him, or the cause of evil, attaching it to him. The traitors and those shown to be his enemies inclined evils toward the Savior. It should be noted that evils are accomplished by inclination and not by straightness, as good things are. Through all things the base, having been twisted, also attempt what is impossible; for they reason with treacherous intent against one who does not submit to harm. And perhaps every wicked man, through the things in which he sins, reasons out a plan that cannot stand, since wickedness is unstable and does not remain. For you will set them as a back; in your remnants you will prepare their face. Those whom God turns away, these he sets as a back, though they are able to be a face. Or also in this way: those who are not able to see the face of God, because they do not have a pure heart, he sets to perceive his back—the created works that are after him—so that by contemplating his creation they may receive a notion of him, so that even having cast off that through which they were unable to have a pure face, and having approached God, they may see the very face of God. Therefore he says: And in your remnants you will prepare their face. And the remnants of God are the things above his sensible creatures.

Since, condescending to our weakness, you took up something weak—which is stronger than men—having been crucified out of weakness, Be exalted in your strength. The “know” must be understood with respect to contemplation, and the “sing psalms” with respect to acting according to virtue. Contemplating therefore the intelligible meaning of the dominions and acting in accordance with them, We will sing and psalm the dominions of yours, which you ruled as a trophy-bearing king against the devil and the opposing powers. It can also signify: We will strike up thanksgiving hymns to you who ruled against death. The morning help is set right, when the sun of righteousness rises and makes the beginning of day; for the rising of the true light, having put an end to the night of ignorance and error, shone forth a spiritual dawn. And this, when it begins, will arrive at the end of perfect illumination, through which illumination all other spiritual things were perfected spiritually by the fact of being an end, for the sake of which all other things exist, while it itself exists for the sake of nothing, which they also call the last object of desire, because there is nothing above it that one might desire, since it is the most final good. The superscription therefore of the psalm set before us is sung “unto the end” of the morning help “by David,” that is, by him who was born of his seed according to the flesh. And this too must be observed, that the psalm keeps one person speaking from beginning to end, not a single change being found concerning the speaking person. And since the new covenant took words from the psalm as spoken by Christ, it is necessary to interpret the whole of it from the person of Christ.

We will explain the words that the new covenant used, having come to them. 176 It must be noted that he has used the nominative case instead of the vocative; for instead of saying "O God, my God, why," he says "O God, my God, he said." And it is the custom of Scripture to do this in many places. What he wishes to say, then, is this: "You who are the universal and true God, being my God, attend to me as I am warred against and have encountered many hardships. For why have you forsaken me?" And the voice asks the reason for the forsaking. For since he was conscious of his own extreme purity (for he did not know sin), he understood that he had not been forsaken on account of sin but for some other reason beneficial to the whole. This, then, he wishes to make clear—not as one suffering for his own sake but for the sake of those who see him; for when they have learned that he was forsaken for their sakes, they will praise him as Savior. One must speak, then, of the principles of transgressions, not of the utterances concerning transgressions. For just as we speak of the principle of heaven by which it came to be, and the principle of the sun by which it exists, so too we shall speak of the principle of transgressions, and not that the Savior took up the transgressions themselves into his own body. But these principles of transgressions his body bore before the passion; and when he rose from the dead—which is also said to be saved—he kept the principles of the aforementioned sins far from his salvation, having stripped off the principalities and powers that work transgressions, and having triumphed over them in himself, having spoken boldly on the cross.

Not only when painful and gloomy circumstances surround me—which "night" allegorically signifies—do I cry out to you, my God, that I may not suffer anything, but even when my circumstances are bright and splendid I will again cry out, lest something harmful arise from exaltation. The Savior says these things about us in confession: "Thus, while I cry out, I know that you will hear." For the reading should be with a comma: "And by night I will cry out," not that folly is reckoned to me when the circumstances surrounding me are gloomy—since the many are darkened in their afflictions, so as even to be ignorant of this very thing, what one ought to say when crying out to God. For I know for whose sake there is a nighttime condition around me. And the fathers, from whom I am according to the flesh (these are the patriarchs), hoped in you, awaiting my illumination. But even having hoped, they did not fail; for they were rescued from death and the devil, since I redeemed and rescued them. For when they too cried out to you, they obtained salvation through me and from me. For they were not put to shame, having hoped in you; for they obtained the things of hope and expectation. But let those who say these things know, who profess to be learned in the law, that they hold false opinions about providence. For one might say the same words of Isaiah when he was being sawn, and of certain others who suffered for piety's sake. For we say that being rescued and saved from the painful circumstances that surround us is not to be outside them, but to bear them bravely and patiently, so that the mind is not harmed, when right purpose is driven out by toils.

We say, then, that the witnesses of the truth, who suffered countless things and died amid their tortures, were rescued and saved from their afflictions; for those who have come to be outside afflictions through denial were not only not rescued and saved from their trials, but were even swallowed up by them. For perhaps one conceived from seed, once brought to full term in the womb when the time of delivery is completed, is thrust forth by the womb itself into the outside. But the Father alone snatches the Savior from the womb of the virgin, not from seed cast into her from outside, but from herself the divine offspring being drawn forth. For other human beings, hoping and expecting what is to come comes upon them when they have reached maturity in age after the completion of reason. But only the infant from Mary hopes for perfection from its mother's breasts; for it has God as its hope; for it has never been in wickedness, whereas all human beings embrace the good after ignorance and wickedness. And Isaiah, making this clear, said: Before he knows good or evil, he disobeys wickedness to choose the good. Before his incarnation Jesus had only the kinship toward the Father; for God was his Father, and he was the Son of God. But from the time he became flesh and came forth from the womb, he had a relation toward the Father, toward God. Therefore he says: Even if you are always my Father, yet you have begun to be also my God from my mother's womb. When affliction is present, God being with one is able to provide endurance so that the afflicted one plays the man; but when God is absent, the circumstances that surround one are strong.

The one who speaks the psalm prays, becoming a type for us human beings and teaching us to pray in temptations that such things not be done to him in which God may have a place, so that, with God present, he may overthrow those who stir up affliction. For if God should depart from someone, a helper will not exist for that one. And "calves" would be the evil powers that work around earthly and bodily things (for this animal is a toiler of the soil), while those who preside over false opinion through deceptive words and sophisms, butting with their horns, are "fat bulls," being so through the supposedly great learning and refinement of their speech. It is also possible that the Jews, who sacrifice oxen according to the law, are named "calves" from the practices they pursue, encircling the Lord hostilely; and Pontius Pilate and any others in positions of authority are "horned bulls," striving to encompass him. The Savior might say these things also about his body, the church, seeing people who creep on the ground and work the earth hostilely encircling his body: "Many calves encircled me." And seeing the rulers of this age, who profess wisdom, running around his body, he will say: "Fat bulls encompassed me." Setting forth the savagery of their wickedness and their readiness to afflict, he says: "They opened their mouth against me like a lion snatching and roaring." For their opened mouth for snatching those who are deceived would be the sophistical argument.

Perhaps "as a lion that snatches and roars" is referred to the devil, from which lion the good shepherd tore out two legs and a lobe of an ear, since he swallows the ear of the human soul through disobedience, and through the legs its walk. Since those who have believed are the body of Christ, he says that he has suffered these things, taking upon himself the sufferings of those who have believed, which have befallen those who complete his body. Since, then, the sheep endured scattering when the shepherd was struck, he says, "Like water I was poured out"; for water that has been poured out is scattered. But he also says concerning the apostles, "All my bones were scattered"; for they themselves are his bones, because of their firmness and their holding the whole body together. Perhaps someone's heart becomes melted like wax in the midst of the belly, when he sees those who have been in travail and born by him enduring calamity. Since, therefore, the things foretold have also happened to the disciples of Jesus, his heart, disposed toward them in love, being set on fire, received the affection of wax in the midst of the belly, sympathizing with those whom it bore. But also the sweetness of the heart, which was like wax, was melted, and it became food and passed into the belly; for they cast down the thoughts of the heart, nourished like wax, into the belly, melted and made thin through continual meditation, so as to be given up for the constitution of what was nourished. But also the strength, brought into the furnace of life, was dried up like a potsherd.

For after the trial of afflictions, as one set on fire, as it were, from a furnace, he will receive the dryness of a potsherd, no longer being moistened like clay by the moisture of the clay and the fluidity of pleasures. Since the hearers had been scattered and were no longer present, for whom the tongue used to work, teaching and discoursing, it would be inactive, stuck fast to the throat; for the tongue that brings forth speech is moved without being hindered by its sticking to the throat. Perhaps the dust of death must be called that which Paul named the body of death; for this is truly dust molded from the earth. And the dust of death is spoken of as that which will certainly both be born and die. For if to be born is to be entangled with a body, there must also be a dissolution, which is death. Into this body, then, the Savior, who came forth from the virgin, entered. Into the dust of death, he says, you brought me down. Perhaps also into the deadness into which he descended, and into Hades, for our sake, is the dust of death; for he was in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. 187 “They dug my hands and feet” — the phrase signifies the death by the cross of those who come to this, their hands and feet being dug out through the piercing of the nails. “They counted all my bones.” All the bones of the body can be counted when it has been stripped of the flesh that has been compacted together; and of the body of Christ, the bones that were given beforehand are the apostles, but his flesh might be called those who have believed more superficially and more bodily. Whenever, then, the body is together, the bones hold the flesh together, and the flesh is found covering the bones.

If then some fear disturbs them, since those who believed more superficially flee, only the steadfast and vigorous zealots are left, so that they may be counted when, stripped bare, the multitude has fled. But they themselves considered and looked upon me; although they did not prevail over me (for I took these things up willingly), They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my clothing. In addition to the history, in a more allegorical sense the garments and clothing of Jesus can be the readily available words of the Scriptures; for God the Word, subsisting according to the spiritual meanings, is clad and wrapped in these. Therefore the heterodox executioners and the spirit-beings that kill the Lord divide the garments of the Savior, that is, the words of the Scriptures. For each of them accepts some of the Scriptures and not others, although the tunic of Jesus remains undivided because it is seamless; for it has not a forced union but a natural one. And it is woven from above throughout because it is divinely inspired; for the Scripture is from above through every power. But the Church does not divide the garments nor cast lots for them; for she has all things and is clothed with them, standing at the right hand of Jesus as a Queen arrayed in a garment of gold, embroidered and wrapped around. And rising above these garments, she will put on Jesus himself, who is the wisdom and power of the Father, becoming wise and powerful. But while they do these things, Do not remove your help far from me; for when you help and attend to my support, having risen on the third day from the dead, I will show their plot against me to be vain.

Since the enemies who surrounded me, plotting murder against me, have a sword able to wound not the body but the soul, rescue my soul from their sword, keeping it unharmed by disturbance and cowardice. For even if our soul has been sufficiently prepared, nevertheless, when it beholds the devil with the whole phalanx of demons and the swarm of hostile powers and wicked men, who are energized by them, it is disturbed (for it is of a changeable nature) and implores as an ally the one who is able to rescue it from the sword of the enemies. Perhaps the devil himself might also be called a sword allegorically, since he dares to wound every soul, intending to do so; and from this sword, then, it implores to be rescued. Those whom he previously called dogs, in the plural, as surrounding him, he now calls in the singular, on account of their kind. And he called his soul only-begotten because it has been set apart and separated from the other souls. For all those others knew sin, but this one did not. And to those others the divine Word comes and is present at intervals, but to this one he will remain inseparable and undivided and unseparated until the end. These things, then,

Those things that are excellent, existing together with her, he is said to be her only-begotten. And perhaps also the glorious church standing beside him, having no spot or wrinkle, being completed from those who are blamelessly perfect, is his only-begotten, since those who are advancing are divided into many ranks because of the difference arising from their advancement. For though there are sixty queens and eighty concubines and young women whose number is not, she alone is above all a perfect dove, being only-begotten to her mother, the Jerusalem above. From the lion, the devil, mentioned a little before, he now prays to be saved, but also from his humiliation by which he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the Father unto death, even death on a cross. And he wishes to be saved also from the horns of unicorns, that is, of another kind of opposing power that promises a kingdom; for the horn is a symbol of a kingdom. And there are those who think that the cross is signified by the preceding word "horn," since it bears the shape of a horn. And the Epistle to the Hebrews says that this word was spoken from the person of Christ, when he declares to the Father: O Father, your name, that is, your peculiar property and kinship, your meaning I will declare, making it manifest to those who have become my brothers, to whom you sent down my Spirit; to whom it might be said: You are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. And these are those who have received from God the Spirit of adoption, so that they might be sons of God and brothers of the only-begotten.

And after he rose from the dead, having appeared to the women, he says, “Go, tell my brothers that I have risen.” And in the midst of the church gathered from these, he will sing praise to the Father, sending up hymns and theological songs. Since Jacob is named in several ways (for this designation sometimes means the divine man, the son of Isaac and father of the twelve patriarchs; sometimes the twelve-tribed people that came from him; sometimes the ten tribes alone, which separated from the house of David and followed Jeroboam; and sometimes the Savior himself, according to “Jacob my servant, I will help him; Israel my chosen, my soul has accepted him”—for Matthew wrote that this prophecy was spoken concerning the Savior), one must inquire according to which of these meanings it is said, “All the seed of Jacob, glorify him.” And the many will say that he wishes the seed of the patriarch Jacob—the twelve tribes, nurtured in the reading of the law and the prophets—to glorify God both through thoughts and words and good works. But perhaps, since it would be false that many of those born from Jacob were unbelievers and betrayers of Jesus, someone will say that it is the seed of Jacob who supplanted and wrestled down death and the opposing power (and this is Jesus)—his seed that comes from teaching—that will be able to glorify God in every way. And since Israel is also the one whom the soul of God accepted, being his chosen seed, Israel will fear God.

And each of the imitators of Jesus, if he has the wrestling against principalities and powers and the world-rulers of this darkness, is Jacob, tripping up his opponents; but if he has a pure heart and a lucid mind, he will see God, being in this respect Israel. Therefore the seed of every such man will fear God. Since he did not despise the supplication of me, the poor man, nor was he angry, muttering at it, for this reason, becoming thankful that the supplication made on our behalf was heard by the Lord: praise and glorify and fear him. For even if I prayed to him as a poor man, yet you ought to know that I, being rich, being a treasury of the fullness of good things, became poor for your sake, so that through my poverty I might make you rich; for you who are clothed in flesh were not able to receive my wealth, for a time knowing and prophesying in part. Having become poor, then, for your sake, I cried out to the Lord on your behalf, and he heard me, giving you those things by which you were shown to be rich. For when I interceded for you in this way, he did not turn his face away from me, but rather shone it upon me all the more; therefore he also accepted my cry. Men praise on the basis of visible works and pursuits, but God, seeing what is hidden, praises on the basis of perfect virtue and surpassing knowledge. It is a great thing, then, to say with boldness: From you, O God, is my praise—not among ordinary people but in a great church; and a great church is the one gathered from the great individually, as a numerous church is the one collected from many.

Prayer is a confession made in thanksgiving, if one should obtain certain things from God. Since wealth is spoken of in the Scriptures as twofold—some being rich in good works and in every word and all knowledge, while others are rich from false opinions and displeasing actions—it follows that to each wealth there is an opposite poverty. And he who has the divine wealth, being deprived of the worthless kind, would have the poverty opposite to it, so that he is at once rich and poor in a praiseworthy manner; just as he who has the wicked wealth would also have the blameworthy poverty, which is opposed to the true wealth. Concerning those who are praiseworthy in their poverty, it has been said: The poor shall eat and be filled. And you will call poor, in the sense already stated, those from the Gentiles who formerly had no hope and were atheists in the world, who shall eat and be filled as they come to the faith. Those who remember God and turn—the ends of the earth—are either the Gentiles, or those who have passed over from the earth by having their citizenship in heaven. And all the families of the Gentiles shall worship before him. The Jews once thought to worship in Judea before God, coming to Jerusalem and the temple that Solomon built. This typical worship in a place it was not possible for the Gentiles to perform, who dwell as far as the ends of the earth; but they were taught to worship in spirit and truth, remaining wherever they may be, making their worship before God, and conducting their lives as God wills. With this agrees also the prophecy that says:

And they will worship before him, each one from his place, all the islands of the nations, as Zephaniah says. Those who have been nurtured on earthly things can be the fat ones of the earth; these, having been called to repentance by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body so as no longer to mind earthly things, and having eaten the spiritual food that is desired by Jesus, they worshipped God in spirit and in truth. But one may call the fat ones of the earth those among people on earth who are distinguished either by pursuing worldly wisdom or by being rich and ruling in the sensible realm; for these too, having eaten the food from Jesus, which is a remedy for the evils that had previously taken hold, will worship God, having found him to be beyond all the wisdom and wealth and rule they possessed. And if someone should call those who come down from heaven to earth "those who descend to the earth"—all the angels who come down and worship the Master and Savior, according to "Let all the angels of God worship him"—consider whether those who undergo the common death can descend to the earth, who will worship the Lord who for their sake came to be in the lower parts of the earth. And rightly he said that his own soul lives but does not serve him, while the seed serves. For the nature that was taken was united to the Godhead that took it and has partaken of the same glory and honor. The phrase "A generation goes and a generation comes" some interpret concerning the two peoples, and they have said that the generation that goes is those of the circumcision, because they have departed from the Lord by having become a crooked and evil generation. But the generation that comes is the calling from the nations, hastening toward the Savior himself who calls.

Will this not be announced to the Lord by those who act as ambassadors for her, saying: To you the nations will come from the farthest end of the earth, and All the nations that you have made will come and worship before you. For the Savior does not cast out this generation that comes to him, when he says: The one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. And it is well said, "the one who comes" and not "the one who has come"; for the one who is always actively engaged in coming to him by doing the works of virtue, him he does not cast out. And the generation of which the word speaks has not come but is coming to him, cherishing the things of faith. And these very ones who announce to the Lord the coming generation, and the righteousness of God that is worked through faith in Jesus unto all who believe, will announce it to the people who will be born by divine birth, a people whom the Lord made, having obtained them for himself through his own blood, calling the people who were not a people his own people. He who, because he has rightly ordered the gentle and steadfast sheep of Christ, has been called a sheep of the good Shepherd, will say: The Lord shepherds me, and nothing will be lacking to me. For he leads me to the saving pasture, where are the divine plants, concerning which the Shepherd himself says of his own sheep: He will go in and go out and find pasture. And perhaps the place of green grass is divine instruction, where spiritual grass is found, which is moral teaching. In this place, then, He made me dwell, not "he settled me"; for he wants me, to the extent that I progress, to enjoy such pasture perfectly. For I, having become a man from a sheep, will be tested for the sake of a shepherd—no, rather of a trainer and teacher.

By the water of rest he nourished me. For the ethical teaching is not only a remedy for thirst, but also provides release from sins. He converted my soul; for even if I, a sheep, have wandered outside the pasture by sinning, nevertheless the shepherd who converts the wandering one converted my soul. It must be noted that no one is evil by nature, since one is capable of conversion. And a person is converted there where he spent his beginning. Sin, therefore, is accidental to those who have turned away from God; wherefore it shall also be destroyed. Concerning the shepherd he says, He guided me, since he goes before and makes the way, so that we may walk upon the paths which he himself trod, following in his footsteps. For when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and his own sheep follow him. And he calls righteousness the disposition according to which we are practical in righteous deeds, and its paths the things accomplished according to it. Or perhaps righteousness is the universal and general virtue, and its paths are the virtues in their specific forms. For the sake of the name invoked upon me, therefore, he guided me upon the aforementioned paths of righteousness. When God is with us, none of the harmful things can harm or injure, as the prophet says: Behold, the Lord will help me; who will harm me? If ever, then, I walk in distressing and painful circumstances—which are called the shadow of death—I shall not fear the things that harm, having God with me. And here he does not mean evils in the strict sense, but distressing things: poverty, sickness, hardship, and the like, concerning which Job said: We shall not endure the evils.

For no one who has God with him becomes a place where the things opposed to the truly good are evil; for sin is far from everyone who is with God. The rod, he says, rebukes and disciplines, according to "What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod?" But the staff supports through counsel, encouragement, and exhortation. In the beginning we said that the one who is in progress dwells in a place of grass. Since, then, the one making progress has also reached the end, no longer remaining a sheep but shown forth as rational, he has a table of rational foods prepared by the Lord. For to the Lord, who is also Wisdom, having prepared her own table, on which she set forth the divine sacrifices, he says in thanksgiving: "You have prepared a table before me"—no longer introductory and ethical teaching as before, but mystical and the contemplation of truth. Consider also whether, as great as one is in this life, seeing the truth through a mirror and in a riddle, he is a sheep led by a shepherd; but having passed over to the age to come and encountering the truth face to face, he encounters a spiritual table, according to "And I will make a covenant with you to eat and drink at the table of the Father in truth"; whence also "You have prepared" is spoken. For from this God prepared "what eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not ascended upon the heart of man," which God has prepared for those who love him. And "before me" shows that the table has been made manifest to me and known to me, in the presence of those who afflict me, since many wish to be hostile to me and for this reason afflict me.

The Lord, wishing me to stand firmly against them, prepared a table before me, on which solid food is set, so that, filled with it like an athlete, I might be able to resist bravely those who oppress me. For when we attain to perfect goods, we have the adversaries strong and numerous; as the apostle says: "For a great door has been opened to me, and there are many adversaries." That is, pouring out richly upon the mind itself; and this anointing is a priestly myrrh, of which Aaron bore the symbol; for "As myrrh," he says, "coming down upon the head, upon the beard, the beard of Aaron." Since wisdom not only prepared a table but also mixed her own wine into a mixing bowl—wine that came from herself, being the true vine—she mixed this wine, blending divine contemplations with human words. From this mixing bowl, distributing to each, she gives a cup, which cup is most excellent, that is, precious and choice for the one who receives it, just as the Holy Spirit also is called; of the one who received it he says, "And my cup." But if the phrase "Your cup" were understood in such a sense, it is your cup, O Lord, which you have given me to drink. For the aforementioned mixture set forth by wisdom is not human. Not so much does one reap salvation from works as from the grace of a merciful God. For God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love he has for mankind, made the dead alive together with Christ—those who had become dead through sins and trespasses; whence also the saint says:

And your mercy shall follow me, always coming upon me and poured out upon me. For it is not sometimes and sometimes not, but all the days of my life it follows me. And all the days of my life are either the various illuminations of the truth, by which we are given life, or the Christ who is present with us throughout life. In a place of green pasture he gives me rest, and in the house of the Lord he dwells, not for a time but all the days of immortal life, being enlightened without interruption and in succession. 210–2 But more mystically, the earth became the Lord's when, having come down, he freed it from the demons who tyrannically held it, having abolished all the deceptive things performed upon it—magic, sorcery, the oracles of the demons upon the earth, together with the laws concerning idols and sacrifices. But also its fullness belongs to the Lord, that is, all the nations dwelling upon it; the fullness of good things he bestowed upon it, according to "The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord," and "The earth is full of his praise." But also the inhabited world; and this is his Church under the sun, together with those who dwell in it. And those dwell in this inhabited world who think and live in accordance with the Church. He founded it upon the seas, "seas" being understood as the circumstances that arise from temptations, which have great turbulence and saltiness. For then the Church receives a foundation and an unshakable firmness, so that when the waves beat against it, it remains unshaken in the faith. And upon the rivers

He prepared her. He established the aforementioned inhabited world and earth, well-fitted through the legislation that was given, for receiving the Holy Spirit, from whom, as from a spring, the varied charisms flow as rivers of living water. For because they have these rivers, he prepared her, having founded her, as was said before, upon the seas. An answer is brought to the one who asked, interpreting what sort this one is. He is innocent in hands who has blameless and innocent deeds, and he has a pure heart who has taken up the best disposition and is contemplative of the truth. It is to take the soul in vain, whenever someone having a rational soul that knows what is beneficial and harmful does not use this knowledge, so as to flee the harmful and choose the beneficial; as we also say that he has received the law in vain who has learned from it the things enjoined and then does the forbidden things in turn. Therefore the one who follows the judgments of the soul concerning good and evil, so as to withdraw from evil things and to pursue good things, this one did not take his soul in vain. But perhaps also someone who has taken a rational soul, receptive of virtues and forms of knowledge, and has not received these things of which it is receptive, but, crushed by the deceit of life and by worldly care, by pleasures and passions, has taken his soul in vain. But the one disposed in the opposite way to this did not take it in vain. And the whole vanity of vanities is the life of the many. There belongs to the one about whom the account speaks also the keeping of oaths and the not swearing cunningly with deceit against one's neighbor.

He swears by himself, he who is without guile, and everyone who keeps the Yes as yes and the No as no. And he will have as a prize from God his savior a blessing, which comes upon the head of the righteous. And this blessing is spiritual in every way, not earthly. Together with this blessing he will also receive almsgiving from God, who saves him by mercy and grace; for this reason he will also be blessed, because having become merciful and generous, he will be shown mercy. For blessed are the merciful, because they themselves will be shown mercy. Since the question was not about one person going up to the mountain of the Lord and standing in his holy place, neither is the answer about one person but about everyone innocent in hands and pure in heart. Therefore he also adds, This is the generation of those who seek him, instead of: All such people, who have the virtue from the things previously said, are a generation seeking the Lord; and they seek in order to find the face of the God of Jacob, whom they wish to behold, so that, improved by the contemplation and radiance of him, they may say: The light of your face has been marked upon us, O Lord. Divine angels, running ahead, addressed those stationed at the heavenly gates: Lift up the gates, you who are their rulers, those over which you preside and which you guard. For just as when he came down, he came down bending the heaven and not opening it, so when he was taken up, he entered in not with the gates opened but with them being lifted up. Then, since these gates are also rational, the angels say to them: Be lifted up, eternal gates. And these spiritual gates are not temporary, since they are not bodily, but eternal, because they are immaterial and incorruptible.

Moreover, saying that the gates were lifted up and raised, they declare that not one of the glorious ones shall enter, but the King of glory. And the King of glory is the Savior, called so because he rules over all the glorious ones according to God, and because he receives glory from all and possesses the true and enduring kingdom. And providing this to those who are worthy, he is also called its Lord, according to the words, "For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." But since the divine Word did not ascend alone, but was carrying and had taken up flesh animated by a rational soul, the powers above, being astonished, inquired, "Who is this King of glory?" For seeing the one called the King of glory clothed in flesh, they marveled. Again the forerunners said, "The Lord, strong and mighty," crying this out plainly: that this is the one who is King of all and Master of all things, strong and mighty, clothed in a body, who prevailed against those who fell from us and took on a tyrannical condition, the Lord who is mighty in war, shown to have destroyed all who wished to hold opposing opinions and to resist. Hearing these things, the rulers, together with their eternal gates, were not content to do only what was commanded, but also announced to the higher powers that preside and to the very gates of the higher heavens what they had heard, proclaiming, "Lift up your gates, you rulers," and the rest. And when they inquired again, they also gave them an answer, saying, "The Lord of hosts—he is the King of glory." And they called him Lord of hosts as commander of armies.

It should be noted that those who have accurately studied the Hebrew say that the word Sabaoth is found in the Hebrew text. The Seventy, when translating it into the Greek language, rendered it at one time as "Lord of hosts," at another as "Lord of armies," and at another they set down "Almighty." At any rate, they say that in this place too, where Sabaoth is found, the translation into "Lord of hosts" has been made. But if Sabaoth is applied to the Savior, and it is also interpreted as "Almighty," then reasonably the word "Almighty" may be predicated of the Savior. For if all things came to be through him, and he is before all things, and all things hold together in him, and he providentially governs all things that have come to be through him, and he is before all things that hold together in him, then consequently he is called Almighty. At any rate, it is his own person that speaks in Zechariah: "Thus says the Lord Almighty: After glory he has sent me," and "You shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you." For the Son is an Almighty one sent by an Almighty one, sent by the Father. And most plainly in the Revelation of John the Savior is called Almighty; for it says: "Thus says the Lord, the faithful and true witness, the one who is and who was and who is coming, the Lord God Almighty." For these things have been spoken indisputably about the Son. [I pray] that I may not be put to shame, just as those are put to shame who have trusted in certain other things; for "the one who trusts in wealth, this one shall fall." And this must be said by synecdoche concerning all temporary things. For having confidence toward you, I pray that I may not fail in the things I strive for, so that I may not incur laughter among my enemies.

But my enemies are the devil and the other evil powers, and men outside of godliness. For I have taken courage, having learned wholly this: that you will not put to shame all those who wait for you. Perhaps these things fit the saints before the visitation, who expect him and wait for his descent here. For when he has come, the laughter of the enemies has an end, which they laughed against those who hope in God. "In vain" signifies the futile and empty. Such is that in Proverbs: "This is the way of all who accomplish lawlessness," bringing shame to those who are lawless in vain; for not for any good end, as the guardians of the law do, do they accomplish the things of lawlessness. The ways of the Lord must be called his commandments. But also the very paths upon the ways, he says, teach me, so that, having the footprints of those who went before, I may make my journey without wandering. And since the practical life alone is not sufficient for perfect salvation, so that together with this I may also set right the contemplative, "Guide me" instructively "to your truth." And otherwise also the passage will be spoken: since the law and the prophets are ways of the Lord, no one else is able to make them known to the one who longs to experience them than the Lord. For he himself, having made known to us his ways and taught the paths, through having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, "Guide me" to the one who said: "I am

I am the truth, having spoken in the Son at the last of the days. For you also, O God, are my savior; for through the things you taught me, you provided salvation for me. As it is the proper activity of light to illuminate and of knowledge to lead into knowing, so it is God's own activity to show compassion and to have mercy; whence he is also called the Father of mercies. What the saint wishes to say is this: since you are a compassionate Father in that you are the source and origin of these things, remember these your offspring. For even if you were angered for a little while against those who sinned, yet let the anger—which is not according to your nature but was assumed for a useful purpose, to destroy evil—cease, since you take thought of the mercies that are according to your nature. And we too are accustomed, when we are indignant with our own people, even with pitiable men, to say: Remember your goodness and imitate yourself, being reconciled to those under your indignation. Just as, therefore, his compassions come to God as things fitting for him, so also his mercies are present to him according to nature. They are from eternity, whence they also remain forever, according to "For his mercy is forever"; and to a certain person God says, "With everlasting mercy have I had mercy on you." No one who repents confesses sins that are present and still at work, but sins that have ceased and are no longer. This, then, he says also now, declaring: Do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorances. For the things sinned and ignorantly done in youth are no longer at work in one who has passed beyond youth. Perhaps, however, the name of "youth" here does not indicate age but the unstable and unsteady character.

For whoever is in such a state is ignorant and sins, until God gives perception and understanding, as the Scripture says: "That he may give prudence to the innocent, and to the young child perception and understanding." Having therefore asked that he not remember the sins and ignorances of his youth, he immediately added: "According to your mercy remember me." For according to his mercy God remembers him whose transgressions he does not call to mind. Being merciful and good by nature, God has an innate kindness, for the sake of which he remembers the penitent with mercy. And he is upright, either because he has not been inclined by nature to sin, or because he exacts account from those who sin; whence also "He will give law to those who sin in the way." For those still practicing evil he subjects to law, so that, being restrained from sinning, they may walk the saving way. God, who gives the law, will guide those who have meekness and stability "in judgment," that is, in an examined and precise manner. For he who has learned that there are two ways before man, that of life and that of death, and has turned away from the way of death and walks the way of life, "walks in judgment," being led by the Lord, because of the calm and stability of his mind; for the meek have a tranquility of thoughts. And the Lord himself, after guiding the meek in judgment, will teach them also his own ways—either those that lead to him, or those which he himself walks; for he who walks behind the Lord learns his ways.

All the ways that lead to the Lord—which he himself walks in the manner that has been spoken of, being rightly ordered in truth and coming to be with goodness—are mercy and truth. For one must first receive mercy, in order that one may set foot upon them and thus, by the very act of walking on them, arrive at truth itself. But the ways of the Lord are not seen as mercy and truth by all, but by those who seek out his covenant and his testimonies. For the one who is outside the covenant and the testimonies is unacquainted with the goodness and the beauty of the Lord's ways. Therefore one must seek out the covenant that God made with the fathers when he led them out of the spiritual Egypt, that is, out of the polytheistic error. For when we have sought it out and searched it, we shall also know the new covenant that Jesus ratified with his own blood. For every covenant is without force if the one making it has not undergone death, as the apostle says: For a covenant is confirmed over the dead, since it is never in force as long as the one making it lives. Therefore Jesus, wishing to fulfill his own covenant, accepted death. And in the covenant one must also seek out the testimonies of God—the words that have been testified and inspired by him. For the sake of your name, O Master, I, your servant, will seek out your covenant, expecting from it freedom or the inheritance that you have appointed for me as for a son. But also: Be merciful to my sin—not to the sin that is still at work, but to the one that has ceased. For it is great, not in quantity but in comparison with the purity that ought to be present. The one who fears God is lacking, but is not undiscoverable.

To this one the Lord does not prescribe a way—either the way which the Lord himself chose, or the way of the one who fears him. The soul of the devout person, not going beyond the good things, lodges among them, always working them. Therefore also in general his seed will obtain to have an inheritance of the land—not the land under foot, but the land of the meek. He calls himself only-begotten, according to the one who says: And I was left alone, and they seek my soul. Therefore I am also poor, not having the help that comes from those who share my zeal. But one must know that "only-begotten" signifies "only," just as you would also call the sun only-begotten; it is not the same as the only-begotten Son. For where "Son" is added to "only-begotten," or "only-begotten from the Father," it is said of that which is the only one proceeding from him. By "afflictions of the heart" you will understand also the opposing thoughts that trouble it. Out of my necessities lead me out: out of the things that stand around, forcing and compelling me to strike away my purpose—lead me out as from great necessities. One who has taken perception of his own sins, being humbled because of his lack of boldness and growing weary for the fruits of repentance, will say: See my humiliation and my toil, and forgive all my sins. Whenever someone ceases from the sins he previously practiced, he will have as enemies the demons who work them. And these, becoming many against the one plotted against, hate him with an unjust hatred. Unjust hatred is that which arises against those who do nothing worthy of hatred, since the wicked are justly hated. Guard the soul, so that it does not fall under those who hate unjustly; but also rescue it from such deeds, by which they will be able to gain mastery over it.

He calls "innocent" either those who are deprived of evil or the more simple, and "upright" those who have achieved perfect virtue. They did not cling to me (through like-mindedness), because I waited for you, Lord. Perhaps he calls "innocent" the earnest among men, and "upright" the divine angels who cling to him who also becomes divine powers around the earnest person. No one who sins wishes to be judged for what he has done, and especially by the one who sees hidden things. But he who has walked in innocence—that is, who has advanced—deems himself worthy to obtain this; for he will obtain a reward or inheritance. And hoping in the Lord, I shall not be weak: to the extent that I am possessed by hope in God, being strengthened by it, I shall not be weak. A scripture is cited saying: I shall not be shaken. And through this it is made clear: since hope in God provides me with a firm and immovable foundation, hoping in the Lord I shall not be shaken. Since it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends, having testified to himself that he has walked in innocence and has not been weak, he wishes to be approved by the Lord and to be tested through struggles, so that he may appear righteous, and to be tested so that, having given proof of endurance, he may have the approved state. And previously it has been said that the kidneys have a correspondence to the heart. He deems both of these worthy to be purified through toilsome discipline, so that he may be shown approved like gold. I would not have deemed worthy to suffer the aforementioned toilsome things, if I had not understood your mercy

joining with me to bear them. Your mercy, which has been observed by me, being before my eyes, cooperates toward my being well-pleasing in your truth; for the almsgiving of God makes one well-pleasing in truth and not in a fabricated way. The practical powers of the soul, called "hands" figuratively, one washes among the innocent, doing nothing base but rather something earnest in them. And perhaps also one who has defiled them in the working of wicked deeds washes and rinses them, using good works in place of water. He who has come to be outside all the aforementioned harmful things and has washed his hands among the innocent, after the manner of an innocent priest, will encircle the spiritual altar of the Lord, upon which one offers up spiritual sacrifices—either pure prayers or lawful deeds. To hear the voice of the angels and souls and spirits of the righteous who praise you, either I have come to be around the altar, or I have washed my hands among the innocent and have abstained from all the things that come first, but also from declaring all your wonders, which you accomplish wondrously and paradoxically. He who loves the Lord with his whole soul also loves all the things of God, of which the comeliness of his house also consists; and the comeliness of the house of God is the truth of the doctrines and the order of the canons of the church, "house" being understood. In addition to these, he says, he loves the tabernacle of the glory of the house of God. And perhaps the tabernacle of witness, which Moses constructed in the wilderness, is the tabernacle of the glory of God; and this is a symbol of progress.

The house that Solomon built after the journey to Jerusalem is a type bearing the beauty of perfection. And he prays that he may not be disposed in the same way as the impious, lest his soul perish together with them; for one who has a pious disposition will not suffer this. He also entreats that he may not become murderous, so that his life may not perish together with men of blood; for in their deeds injustice is the universal evil. Even though he was conscious in himself of the excellent things previously spoken, fearing lest he is not justified in this—since sins in secret often escape notice—he deems it worthy to be redeemed and shown mercy. Our God is Savior, rescuing us from sins and from death, and illumination, dissolving the mist of evil and of ignorance and shining upon us with the light of knowledge. He, then, who has been thus united and enlightened by the Lord—whom shall he fear? For no one is able to harm one who has obtained such good things and safety. The Lord is the protector of my life; from whom shall I shrink? Since God fights as champion on behalf of his own life—From whom shall I shrink? The phrase From whom indicates the contempt of the one who rises up against him who is guarded by God. For if God is for us, who is against us? Let these things be said both concerning perceptible enemies and concerning a phalanx of invisible foes. For if, he says, war rises up against me, in this heart of mine that does not fear them I hope, having taken courage that I have God as my champion.

There is that which he asks and seeks: to dwell in the house of the Lord, that is, in the church, through thinking the things of the church all the days of his enlightened life. And the phrase "One thing I have asked" can be understood thus: while I am still sojourning on earth, even if I pray to obtain many good things, before all things I have asked this request—to dwell in the house of the Lord by being in order and not suddenly in all good things; or perhaps with "One thing I have asked" one must supply "excellent" or "great." Since also in what precedes he says that he has loved the beauty of the house of the Lord, he who longs to contemplate this prays to be in the house, in order that, being near it and genuinely setting it forth, but also going up beyond, he may visit—that is, look around—his temple, perhaps not even wishing to depart from it any further, imitating Samuel. And he who has understood simply the lower doctrines of the church contemplates the delightfulness of the Lord, but one who applies himself to the things concerning the Trinity will look around his temple. We have often said that there is a difference between tabernacle and house, and they are not named together, since the former indicates progress, the latter perfection. Therefore, whenever the day of evils is still present in someone, he cannot be in the house of God, but is hidden in the shadow by the Lord, who covers the one being freed from evil with progress; for the one who is only now repenting is not able to go on to perfection. And perhaps the name of evils can here signify circumstances. "He has covered me in the secret of his tabernacle," of the discipline by which we make progress.

Some things are manifest, others hidden and withdrawn, namely the mystical. As one advances, God shelters him not in superficial things but in the secret of his tabernacle. The word "His" is added to show that not every tabernacle—that is, every advance—is according to God. "In a rock he exalted me": after the advance, having reached the most solid and unbreakable word of perfection, allegorically called a rock—the Lord himself exalted me. "He hid" fits the advance; "he exalted" fits perfection. It is also possible to call the guidance through the law and the prophets a tabernacle, in whose secret—that is, in the mystical sense—God hides the one being trained, exalting him on a spiritual rock, which is none other than Christ. And now, after passing through the advance and reaching the goal of truth, he exalts my head—either my mind or Christ, who has become the head of the mind—over my enemies, so that I may have them under my feet and subjected. "I encircled and sacrificed in his tabernacle a sacrifice of praise." What follows fits "He hid me in his tabernacle in the day of my troubles": for then he will sacrifice a sacrifice of shouting, accomplished after victory, having encircled in his tabernacle. To shout is to cry out suddenly over defeated enemies. So the one who prevails over his enemies reasonably offers the thanksgiving sacrifice for victory in the tabernacle—that is, in the advance. "I will sing and I will sing psalms to the Lord." Not only will I contemplate the things of truth, which is indicated by "I will sing," but I will also act according to virtue, which is presented by "I will sing psalms," doing both in a way pleasing to God.

For this is what "I shall sing and make melody to the Lord" means. The one who says these things, knowing that God hears the prayers of the righteous, cries out from the same disposition as the righteous and asks to be heard. If you look at worthiness, Lord, you will not hear any mortal; for no one will send up such a great cry as to reach you. Looking to your goodness, "Have mercy on me"; for thus also "you will hear me." But to be both pitied and heard then, they spoke to you not from the surface of the lips but from the heart itself. By this it is established that God hears not altogether the spoken voice but especially the voice of the heart. "My face has sought you"; and this too my heart said to you—the face of my heart being nothing other than the mind—will seek you. And I shall obtain the finding that comes after the seeking, approaching you face to face, when that which is through a mirror and in a riddle has been done away. Having given heed, I knew the face of the inner man, formed according to your image and likeness; therefore I seek to see your face. For having contemplated it, I shall have greater illumination. Then I am able to seek, when you shine your face; for unless this happens, I shall not be able to approach it. Therefore I say: "Do not turn your face away from me." "Give me a law," so that having received such a law from you I may walk the one who said, "I am the way." "And guide me in your straight and unbending way" because of the enemies who lie in wait, placing stumbling blocks attached to my path. Yet further, of virtue's mean

...of your excess and deficiency in keeping to the mean, do you, O Master, guide me, bringing me to the end of it for the sake of my enemies who work evil. Working beyond measure, standing at the door of virtue, through deceit they capture those who do not attend to the difference between the mean and excess. But if you would call the straight road the course of true doctrines, know that without God as guide, those who lead people away from the truth to the false doctrines lying nearby—the rulers of this age—are enemies; for their sake, so that we may not fall into their deceit, we beseech to be guided by the Lord along the straight road. Since I chose to walk the straight road, all the wicked have set themselves to afflict me; but you, Lord, caring for me, do not hand me over into their souls—that is, praying not to be handed over to them, or not to be numbered among the souls that those who afflicted him had, these very ones being witnesses that they chose to be unjust. But the injustice with which they made themselves at home, being unstable and unreliable, lied to itself; for it was not found to be such as it promised to be. For the word "lied" does not always signify the opposite of the truth, as in the prophet: "The wheat and the wine lied to them," instead of: they did not turn out as was promised; for the wheat and wine, when found, lied in that they fell short. The land of the living was the name given to the land promised according to eternal life, since no one in it shares in the death that follows sin. And this land is established among things unseen and eternal, and on it are the truly and properly good things of God. What the saint says, then, is as follows:

I believe that I may partake of eternal life, so that, living according to it, I may be removed to the land of the living, so as to see upon it the good things of the Lord that are laid up, according to the promises, for those who have lived holy lives. And it is well to say both "to see" and not "to eat" and "to touch" or anything else; for the whole matter provides its benefit in the contemplation of the divine good things. Either, then, he says this conversing with himself, or to everyone who hears him. But such an exhortation can also be brought to him from above by the Spirit: since you have believed that you will see the good things in the age to come, wait for the Lord, or wait for the Savior's coming here below; for through it you will be able to ascend to the vision of the good things. Be courageous—that is, take up courage, not according to the strength of the body, but with your heart being strengthened. For in this way you will be able to wait for the Lord in all the ways previously mentioned. And the name of the pit also signifies the place that guards those condemned. Since, therefore, being in need of many things, I knew that these things could be fulfilled by you, I beseech you, crying out to you, that you hear the voice of my supplication when I pray—not to anyone else but to you; for no other can supply the things in which I am lacking. And a temple of God would be both the region above the heavens and the powers in it that contain the presence of God to the extent possible. And it would also be the Word of God, who says: "The Father who remains in me does the works." He prays, then, saying: since destruction certainly follows upon the one who does injustice, granting me righteousness, do not allow me to be found in injustice, so that I may not perish with those who practice it.

The one who sees clearly, approaching things in a scientific manner, turns away from evil things as harmful, choosing good things as beneficial. But the base person, charmed by pleasure, works evils without seeing their harmfulness. Since, then, he does not perceive harmful things rationally, the saint prays that he may repay the wicked according to his works—painful things—so that even through pains he may turn away from the evils that have become a cause of punishment for him. Of the things a man does, some are his own works, and some are of his hands; for he himself works according to his disposition. But the active powers called his hands accomplish the practical aspects of sins. He deems it right, then, that repayment be made according to each, Because they did not understand into the works of the Lord and into the works of his hands. Of the works of God, some are visible and some invisible. Those, then, who did not understand the works of God and the works of his hands—he wishes them to receive back their recompense; for they chose by their own free will not to understand the works, and to this followed their falling under punishment. My heart, having hoped in the Lord as helper and protector, was helped, so that there was in it no shameful thought or base opinion. For it belongs to a heart that is helped to assent to what it ought and to turn away from the opposite. And when my heart was thus helped, My flesh flourished in doing them. Perhaps also the heart that hopes would be helped, receiving at the time of the resurrection the flesh that has sprung up. Similar to this is And our bones shall spring up like grass.

For the present body of ours has the relation of a seed to what comes from the resurrection; for this very thing, sown in corruption, springs up again, being sown in incorruption; whence also Paul used the example of the seed that is sown for the matters concerning the resurrection. And of my own will I will give thanks to him. Many, through fear of punishment or shame before men, refrain from sins while in their disposition taking pleasure in them. But the discerning man, having seen the pollution and harmfulness of sins, turns away from them willingly, giving thanks to God concerning them of his own will. But if "I will give thanks to him" signifies thanksgiving, one does this of his own will, giving thanks for all that happens even if some things seem unpleasant. For those who give thanks only for pleasant things are not moved to this by their own will but by pleasure. The people of God has no other stronghold than the Lord himself, who becomes their rampart and wall. And this same Lord is also the protector of the salvations of Christ. But everyone who partakes of Christ is called christ, sharing his name. Of those, then, who are saved, he is thus the protector of his salvations; but if he is the protector of the salvations of Christ, his true Son, then "salvations" or "salvation" must be understood according to the ways in which he saves. Save this people of yours, for you are their stronghold, blessing your inheritance, which is none other than your people; and bless it with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, having raised and lifted them up through virtue, and also shepherding them for this whole age.

For in the age to come, having surpassed the condition of cattle, they will have you as their instructor and teacher. The psalm set before us, containing the greatest mysteries, is reasonably placed according to the twenty-eighth number, being in power a hebdomad. For if you add together the successive numbers from one up to seven, the twenty-eighth is completed; whence it is also triangular, each of its sides being composed of a hebdomad. It is also a perfect number, the second after the sixth. They call a number perfect which is composed of its own parts, so as neither to exceed nor to fall short. And the present number has as its parts a half, a fourth, a seventh, a fourteenth, and a twenty-eighth; which, when added together, complete it. He commands either the angels or the men who have the spirit of adoption to bring to the tabernacle the things for service; and among the things they bring are also the sons of rams. And rams must be understood to be those who have taken up a life strenuous in piety apart from contemplating the truth rationally. Wherefore they are also capable of ruling, and the sons of rams are those begotten by them through imitation of their manner of life. Those who have rightly and justly and piously formed their judgment concerning the Trinity bring glory, and those who keep the commandments of the Lord bring honor. For if he who transgresses the law through the

To transgress against God is to dishonor him; the one who is contained by the divine law brings honor to him. Bring to the Lord glory to his name; likewise as the one before it. Worship the Lord in his holy court. The one who serves God according to the ecclesiastical doctrines and her blameless canons worships the Lord in his holy court. Someone, applying himself more readily, will say that John, baptizing in the river Jordan, is the voice of the Lord upon the waters. Moreover, John, having taken up a well-toned and austere life, making the flame of the pleasures of life passable, is the voice of the Lord cutting through the flame of fire. 257 9 Therefore the inhabited world has come into being out of the wilderness. The aforementioned voice of the Lord perfects the hinds, allegorically so called. And these are souls, putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit and by the Spirit through lips, in imitation of God, destroying the ungodly serpent. 258 And this voice of the Lord will also work the uncovering of thickets, so that the beasts lurking in them may become manifest, which are called hinds. And a thicket is a place where unfruitful trees grow together; and a thicket is uncovered when the unfruitful trees in it are cut down by the axe of the word and thrown into fire. When the things that overshadow human progress have been removed, then at that time everyone, abandoning the polytheistic error, will speak glory in the temple of God. God's sitting signifies that his establishment remains forever unchangeable and immutable. He distinguishes it, then, from those who are destroyed through change, saying: You are seated forever, and we are being destroyed forever.

And here the stability of his kingdom is presented. For this reason, "And the Lord shall sit as king forever," since his kingdom has no end. 261 However, the one who advocates for the historical sense will say that David the king, having eagerly desired to build a perceptible house for the Lord, was prevented, God having said to him: "You shall not build me a house, because you have been a man of war from your youth; but the one who comes forth from your loins, he shall build me a house." Persuaded by the oracle, David ceased from building, but he made provision for the materials for the building. Just as, then, he says, he prepared the materials beforehand, so also by composing the psalm he left it behind as one of the necessary things, and so that, when the house had been built and consecrated by those appointed for this purpose, it might be sung to the accompaniment of music with thanksgiving by those singing and chanting. And he says "I was saved," either because God did not allow him to descend into it, or because after he had descended he brought him back up. But these things might be said in an economic sense and as from the person of Christ, who came to lay down his soul for us and who both gave it and rose from the dead by the good pleasure of God and the Father, to whom he also speaks in a human way: since "You did not abandon my soul to Hades," which is called the pit, I speak with confidence: "You saved me from those who go down into the pit." The day on which he prepares the true light has drawn to a close for those who weep in the evening, that is, who have come to be at the beginning of night; but for those to whom the beginning of day coexisted when the sun of righteousness rose upon them, they rejoice.

This will apply to both statements: the one from the circumcision weeps when the sun of righteousness has not shone upon them, while the one from the nations exults at dawn when the saving Word has shone upon them. "Prosperity" must be understood as spiritual fruitfulness, when the seed of Jesus becomes a hundredfold and the other produce of virtue is multiplied. Having come to be in this prosperity, I will say by the very facts themselves, remaining firm and unmoved, "I shall not be shaken forever." But the punctuation must also be taken thus: "In my prosperity, I shall not be shaken forever"; for by my deeds I cry out that, if I should come to be in the prosperity just mentioned, I shall be unshaken, not overturned by the adversary. Bodily beauty is displayed as consisting in the commensurability and proportion of the members, while the beauty of the soul consists in the harmony and concord of all the virtues rightly achieved, the activities according to reason having commensurability and proportion, and the powers of the soul being harmoniously proportioned. This beauty, then, O Lord, grant me by your will. For by doing your will and that of the Father in the heavens I received it, since everyone who has been made conformed to the image of the Son of God has received beauty from God, having been united to the Lord's will. But the one who by doing material things and thinking earthly things has become dust and persists in sin will not even confess to God, nor declare his truth, having gone astray in both morals and knowledge. It should be noted that "it became" does not always signify substance, but sometimes also a relation to something.

If ever such a voice should also occur in the case of the Savior, it signifies a relation to something, not a substantiation. You turned my lamentation into joy for me. The voice "lamentation" signifies the inward sense, as the action itself shows, of hands beating the breast. So the one who has come to be in the inward sense of his own sins and has actively stirred up his perception through spiritual hands, having changed from wailing, will receive joy, the fruit of the Spirit. "You turned" makes clear the change from beating the breast and grieving into joy; and "I shall not be pierced through" he says instead of "I shall not repent." And the glory of the one who says these things, singing to God, is a right conduct of life and a sincere knowledge. Instead of: "For all things that happen, not only pleasant but also painful, I give thanks to you, Master." He who has hoped to attain the end laid up for the saints will surely not be put to shame forever, having placed such expectation upon the Lord. "In your righteousness," he says, "rescue me" (not in any other righteousness than that of your Only-begotten) "from those surrounding me, and deliver me from those who wish to wage war against me." And since our cry does not reach your height, "incline your ear to me" by condescending to me; for when this has happened, having received my prayer, you will wish to deliver me without delay. And here too "Be to me" signifies the relation of a protector to the one protected. And he asks that God become for him a refuge of salvation, so that, as if enclosed by an impregnable and unconquerable fortress, he may be saved, remaining unharmed.

I have often experienced this, and indeed always, that you are my Strength and my refuge, since your name has been made my own; for I am called your man and your servant. Even if I am not worthy to obtain what I ask, yet for the sake of your name you will guide me to salvation and will nourish me, providing your heavenly bread. It is the zeal of the good not so much to keep the body unwounded by enemies as the mind and the understanding. Since, then, his warfare is against deceivers and those skilled in deception, and these have set out not to strike the flesh but to wound the mind, he entrusts his spirit into the hands of God, which are able to guard it. And the Savior too, when he was hung upon the cross, his hands and feet having been wounded and pierced through, according to the prophecy, used the words "Into your hands I shall entrust myself." And by the hands of God one must understand none other than his providential and protective powers. And it must be noted that the spirit of man is spoken of in many ways. For whenever it says that the virgin was zealous to be holy in spirit and body, it means the understanding by "spirit." And in James ("For just as the body without the spirit is dead") it means nothing other than the

The designation "spirit" signifies the soul. But in the passage "For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him?" no other spirit is indicated than that which is joined to the soul, being other than it, which is also called conscience; for a man's consciousness of his thoughts is other than the soul; for the soul is the man, not his thoughts. Since, then, the spirit of man has appeared in three ways, consider according to which meaning one ought to take "Into your hands I will commit my spirit." But it pleases me that the present text is also true according to all three modes. He says: Having been seized by enemies and already made a captive, you redeemed me, O Lord, who are also the God of truth and of the truth of the Only-begotten in each of those who partake of it. In general, everyone who keeps vanity does this in vain, either because it is unstable or because vanity comes to be emptily and superfluously. And being hateful to God, it makes those who keep it hateful. But "humiliation" sometimes signifies freedom from arrogance, which custom calls humility, and sometimes the maltreatment under enemies. And it is good that God looked upon the humiliation in either sense. What follows accords with regarding the maltreatment as humiliation; for he says, "You saved my soul from necessities," calling necessities the circumstances from which, when his soul was delivered, it is not shut up into the hands of the enemy who wears it down. And if "spaciousness" is spoken of in the same way as the broad and spacious way (and this is the love of pleasure), he gives thanks to him who granted him firmness and stability in this life.

For what he says is of this sort: "While I was in the place concerning the earth, where living is slippery and precarious because of the pleasures that lurk in their dens, you gave me a standing of the soul, so that I might not be carried hither and thither by the passions." But if he should call the spacious place praiseworthy, he will say: "Since, when I am pressed, I am not hemmed in, enduring hardships—so to speak—being widened because of the glory that comes from circumstances, I will say: You set my feet in a spacious place." Not everyone who is poor is weak (for many poor people are strong), nor is one who falls short of strength poor; but in spiritual matters, since strength is the same as wealth, the one who is rich in good works has strength. What he wishes to say, then, is this: "Since I became poor, having turned away from the wealth that sees (and this is the divine wealth), my strength grew weak." It should be noted that he spoke of the state instead of the one who possesses it; for it is not strength that is weak, but the one who has it, just as we say that it is not knowledge that is ignorant, but the one who has possessed it. In agreement with these things is what Paul said concerning Christ: "so that we might become the righteousness of God in him." For in these words too he called those who have righteousness "righteousness." The enemies, being lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, not only are not ashamed nor do they seem to bear reproach for the evil things they do, but on the contrary they pride themselves, so that it is said concerning them: "Whose glory is in their shame." And they boast in the very things for which they become reproachable: "Be ashamed, then, of your boasting and of reproach before the Lord"; whence these also will rise up to reproach and everlasting shame.

But he, perceiving that he had come to be in the poverty just mentioned, confesses that he is worthy of reproach. Therefore he says: "I have become a reproach beyond all my enemies," and also "before all those who are near me in dwelling," that is, those who share his opinion. Those who assail me with vehemence, perceiving that I have fallen from what wealth I had into poverty, and fearing lest they suffer the same things, hastened to be outside my condition. But also, a vessel once precious and useful to the master, I have become useless, so as to seem to have perished. "Because I heard the reproach of many dwelling round about." Perhaps the teacher, being reproached by those who seem to be around him through their supposed learning, but who dwell near and do not abide in the teachings because they do not dwell in them, [says this]. It can also be understood thus: since "I heard the reproach" with which many of those round about me are reproached, because they do not dwell but sojourn in our affairs, for this reason I have become a perished vessel. To this agrees the saying, "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?" In your hands, which are called covering and guarding powers, my lots are found, that is, all things allotted to me according to your judgment, either to be delivered from them or to suffer; for I think nothing happens by chance. But others explain the expression thus: the authorities given, they say, whether as rulers or teachers or having some other preeminence, are called their lots. These, then, are in the hands of God. For as he himself appoints, so also he removes kings.

And so, if anyone comes against me because of the pre-eminence that is present with me, wishing to remove it, they will not be able, since all that concerns me is in your hands. He does not simply hide his goodness from those who fear him (for they see much of it), but its abundance, so that they may not be harmed. And it is well said: "For those who fear you"—for he treasures it up for them. Reveal it to them, so that those who have come to be in perfect love may cast out fear. But these very things, "you hid for those who fear you," you have already manifested in action to those who have hope more than fear, "before the sons of men." You will call "men" those who have kept the rational and according-to-the-image faculty undeflected, and "their sons" those who have become their rational disciples and imitators. You will call the "hidden" of the face of God that which is now unattainable to knowledge, but which will then be made manifest, when we shall see him as he is. To this "hidden" is contrasted what is said by Paul: "That which is known of him was manifested to men," that is, his creative and providential power. For next after "God manifested" it is said: "For his invisible things from the creation of the world are understood and seen in the things that are made." Perhaps also the Savior has as a "hidden face of God" all that pertains to his divinity, but what pertains to the economy is manifest. Whenever, then, the Word made flesh dwells among us, we are hidden in the hidden of his face, to see it when we shall see his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Consider also whether the manifest works of providence can be his face; for through them we form an image of God. But his hidden face is the ineffable reasons according to which things that come to be come to be, which we shall know at the end of things. From the tumult of men. Those who profess human doctrines are men who put forward a tumult, through which they trouble the unstable. Making those who hope in him to be outside this tumult, God hides them in the hidden place of his face, according to all the ways that have been mentioned. You will shelter them in a tent from the contradiction of tongues. The perfect man, having withdrawn from all progress, contemplates the truth itself, through which he is not deceived; but the one who succeeds in progressing needs God to shelter him in a tent—that is, from the various tongues, or rather the various false opinions. For to the perfect man it is said: And every voice that shall rise up against you for judgment, you shall defeat them all. For every heterodox argument rises up wishing to be judged together with the mind of the church. And the perfect man, thinking the things of the church, shall defeat them all. It is not so worthy of wonder when the mercy of God is displayed in the cities that are relaxed and spread out, as when it shall be wondrous in the city of siege; so that for this reason also God is to be blessed, when those who have been rescued from greater circumstance bless him exceedingly. The word "ecstasy" signifies derangement, but it also indicates wonder that comes with amazement; the present expression signifies the second of the meanings. For what he says

Is such a thing possible? "In ecstasy," that is, having come into amazement, "have I been cast away from the face of your eyes"—that is, far from your contemplative and overseeing powers—"and because I was so disposed, I entreated that I not remain cast away, but that the face of your eyes be shown to me. Therefore you heard the voice of my supplication when I cried out to you." Since there is one truth that said, "I am the truth," many truths are established among those who partake of it, each soul having the truth, the form it received from the only-begotten truth. Since, then, the Lord seeks out all these truths, he wishes to honor those who possess them. For this reason, "his holy ones, seek him out," not dissolving without reward upon the truth you possess. And since the psalm has many hidden things, the one who encounters it needs understanding, so that he may be able to understand each of the things said obscurely. They say there is this difference between lawlessnesses and sins: the sins of those who have accepted no law at all are called lawlessnesses, while sins committed in transgression of the law are named sins. Blessed, then, are those whose lawlessnesses are forgiven—those just now coming to the divine word; and blessed also are those whose sins are covered—when those who once disobeyed the law later repent. Forgiveness is spoken of in the case of lawlessnesses, but covering in the case of sins, since lawlessnesses are forgiven entirely. For those who sin without law are pardonable, whereas hidden sins are not forgiven entirely but are overshadowed out of love.

For love covers a multitude of sins. Some apply the text "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven" to those who have received the bath for the remission of sins, and the text "and whose sins are covered" to those who have hidden their sins through repentance. But there are those who take the first to refer to the believing Gentiles, and the second to those of the circumcision who have received the Savior. The sinless one is called not simply a human being but a man because of his perfection. In this way, then, God does not reckon sin, either by forgiving it or because it never existed at all. For this will fit Christ especially in respect of the economy; and the text "There is no guile in his mouth" is to be understood likewise, either because he had cast guile away or because he never had it. And there is no guile in the mouth of the one who holds the word true and beyond reproach. Being illuminated by the true light, I spent my time in the day, and all that time I cried out, singing and praying. Since, then, through inattention I fell silent from this cry, my strong things grew old and the well-strung chords of the doctrines, called my bones. And he signifies the fall of the one who says these things, in that his bones have grown old and are not old by nature. And in the preceding passages it has been said that in many places of Scripture the punitive power of God is called his hand. This, then, he says lies heavily upon him day and night—that is, continually—because of his change for the worse. The Savior, however, interpreted the cares of life, and the pleasures and deceits of this age, as thorns. Whenever, then, such a thorn is fixed in someone, it immediately turns to misery.

One must know that it is by change and alteration that someone becomes wretched, not being such by nature. And the word signifies the pitiable and the miserable. And the being pierced by a thorn shows that it is not by nature but entering from outside. Being pricked, then, by this, I was turned into misery, the misery that comes through repentance and through the Lord's corrective admonition; for "the Lord disciplines whom he loves, and he scourges every son whom he receives." And we know in the Books of Kingdoms how much he endured, being disciplined by the Lord for this sin, because of his former righteousness, so that, being freed from that sin and from the punishment for it, he might recover his former health. He who has fallen into sin, as far as he wishes it to be active, covers and hides it; but he who has hated it makes it manifest to the one able to heal, confessing it openly through exomologesis. But he also uncovers the lawlessness corresponding to it; for lawlessness is a form of sin. For everyone who acts lawlessly sins, but not everyone who sins acts lawlessly. It can be said in parallel, especially because "everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness," and "sin is lawlessness." And having said in a practical way, "I will confess openly against myself the lawlessness I have committed," I asked for more than I obtained; for God forgave not only this but also the impiety of the heart. And the impiety of the heart can be the discontent with providence that befalls most people, arising from the apparent irregularity of things. Even if the holy are clean from practical lawlessness, they nevertheless often have their thoughts defiled by the aforementioned impiety of the heart.

And yet those who pray not concerning lawlessness, which they do not have, will pray concerning ungodliness, asking forgiveness for it at a fitting time. And a fitting time for prayer concerning the said forgiveness is when one is cleansed from a defiling deed. And just as a wounded man who is whole will not demand a physician's treatment for a scratch, but having the whole body sound and being afflicted only in the scratch—so no one who is filled with polluted deeds will pray concerning purity of thoughts, but only every holy man. When a flood of many spiritual waters comes to be, someone having in himself a spring of water leaping up to eternal life—that is, the waters obliterating all sins and the ungodliness of the heart that is upon them—ungodliness and lawlessness will not come near the one who has prayed concerning them. The one who says these things thinks that release from the affliction that surrounds him is found in no other way than by fleeing to Christ. Just as righteousness and wisdom, so also Jesus is the exultation of the earnest man. For he says to him, as our exultation: Redeem me from those who pursue me; for wicked demons and evil men pursue me; for I shall suffer no evil, since you deliver me. That is, do not, having cast off acting rationally, fall into an irrational condition, so as to be likened to a horse because of its lust for mares, or to a mule because of its being hardened toward evils; for such an impulse belongs to those who have no understanding. The prophet says to God:

Those who have become like horses because of their skittishness and refractoriness, and like a hard-mouthed mule, with your word as a bridle and fitting admonition as a muzzle, taming and dragging their jaws by your goads and by your bridle, which you will draw under your yoke. For those who are docile and well-disposed approach God by a voluntary impulse, but those previously mentioned, who have become like a horse and mule because of their lack of understanding, will be brought to you by the aforementioned compulsion of the horse-tamers. Those who have lived a virtuous life are righteous, exulting in the Lord, and praise is fitting for the upright—those who have fled every crookedness of false opinion. For it is fitting for these to praise God, since praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner. Confession here too signifies thanksgiving. This, then, must be done on the lyre. And if the lyre is the body, its stretched strings are nothing other than the senses; for, struck by divine hearing in the ear and beholding heaven and the things in it with the eye, so as to marvel at the Creator, and using the other senses in a praiseworthy manner, we confess to the Lord on this lyre rhythmically and harmoniously. But if one supposes the soul to be the lyre, its powers—such as the memorative, the assent-giving, the rejecting, and others—being struck according to reason like strings by the mind, will confess to the Lord musically.

Musicians say that the difference between the psaltery and the lyre is of this kind: the lyre, they say, produces its sound from the lower parts, while the psaltery produces it from the upper parts, and is also perfectly straight throughout. Since, then, the soul has been assigned to be the lyre, the spirit of the man within him, which is perhaps not other than the mind, is the psaltery, playing not to any other than God. For when we employ right thoughts and with our own spirit receive the Holy Spirit, then we play upon a ten-stringed psaltery. And perhaps its perfection is shown from its having ten strings. For one can find this number continually hymned in the Scriptures. At any rate, God did not give oracles to Moses the hierophant in more than ten generic words, and the people is commanded to offer tithes. He who hastens to hymn God through all things and will sing to God with his voice, saying a new song, akin to the new covenant and to the newness of the Spirit, so that he may propitiate God not only with lyre and psaltery but also with his voice. And he wishes to play praiseworthily with a shout; and the shout is a voice, the one that arises suddenly and indistinctly against defeated enemies. Well, he says, play, when you have conquered, shout against the enemies. The word of the Lord, which he gives to those who pursue the things of knowledge, is straight, having nothing crooked in it of deceit.

But also the works corresponding to this word are performed by his workers in faith, and the works which the word of God does are in faith, that is, firm and immovable, and the word by which he governs and provides is upright. And if someone should call the word of God himself an upright word, he would find the works wrought in this word accomplished in faith; for the miraculous deeds of Jesus are his works, according to the faith of those in whom they came to be. For according to your faith let it be done to you. Either God himself or his upright word accepts judgment in that the virtues, when outraged by the wicked, must be avenged, and cherishes mercy, in his own goodness helping those brought to judgment. For if he were to watch closely all their works, no one would be able to endure it. Therefore even before judgment he loves mercy. For if it were the other way, the whole would be utterly destroyed. 295 But the heavens were established, possessing the most incorruptible nature; for such is the nature of the heavens. But when the heavens are taken allegorically as all those who think upon the image of the heavenly one, being so called, their firm fixity and stability comes by the word of the Lord, and their power, by which they are powerful, comes from nowhere else than from the Holy Spirit. And pious men support this saying, that the Holy Spirit is creative.

Just as the water held in a wineskin or in another vessel is not permitted to be poured out outside of what contains it, so also the great mass of the sea's water is bounded by a certain boundary, not being allowed to overstep the appointed limits. For if it were not held back by the command of God, it would have flooded the whole earth. Consider whether this also is not made clear: since, when he summons the water of the sea, he pours it out upon all the earth through the rains, his command, as it were acting like a wineskin, draws up the water and makes it to be above the air, so that as if from condensed clouds rain may be brought upon the earth. But allegorically, the life of men is in many places called a sea, because of the unstable and salt-like character of those on earth. When this, then, like a triple wave, had been scattered, he gathered it together—the water called of the sea—and as if in a wineskin the Savior took it up in his body, so that it might become calm and serene. He places the deeps in treasuries. Nothing in creation is borne in disorder; for he holds each thing as it were in treasuries by his own will, and releases and restrains them as seems good to him. At any rate, he is said also to bring the winds out of treasuries, not according to their own motion

Since these things are borne along, but at the will of the Maker are sometimes shut in and sometimes let out. But also, opening the heaven, the treasury of good things, he gives rain to the seed of the earth, and again he holds back the rain by closing the heaven, as in the case of the prophet Elijah; and the abysses, which are not sufficiently able, because of the boundless multitude of waters, to do harm, he places in treasuries, enclosing them, so that whenever he wishes he may use them as is beneficial at the right time. But it is also possible that the incomprehensible things of his thoughts and the unsearchable things of his judgments, being abysses, he has placed in the hidden treasuries of knowledge and wisdom, so that no one attains this of himself unless God grants it. Since at his speaking they came to be, and at his commanding they were created, let them be shaken by him; for the one who made them is also the one who changes them for the good. And "They came to be" signifies the substantiation of those brought into being, while "They were created" signifies the ordering that came about after the substantiation. But if, when God spoke and commanded, all things came to be and were created, that by which he spoke and commanded is nothing other than the creative Word; and this is the Son of God. And elsewhere it is said: "For what the holy God has purposed, who shall scatter?" Just as in other matters we speak humanly about God as having hands and eyes and the rest, so also he speaks of his "heart," so to speak, as his deliberative and intelligent activity.

Of this generation the thoughts, being steadfast and sure, extend from generation to generation—that is, throughout every succession within a generation the divine thoughts remain. Or perhaps the thoughts that he implanted in the generation from the circumcision, these same he implants in the generation from the Gentiles who believe; for the Gentiles have not been called to other things but to those which the men of the circumcision possessed, hidden in a shadow. And they dwell upon the earth—not only humans but also invisible spirits and the other mortal living creatures. Therefore his providence extends to all who are upon the earth, as he watches over them from his aforementioned dwelling place. Since God knows not only the deeds but also the intention from which these things are done, he is said not to see but to understand all their works. And that a king is not saved by great power, you will learn from the history: Pharaoh, then, had a great array, but God cast his chariots and his power into the sea. And all the history is full of such examples. And the giant, who is exceedingly strong, he said will not be saved in the strength that is presently his; and you will see this if you attend to the account of Goliath. And if the name also reveals the one who fights against God, neither will this one be saved in the multitude of the strength of the doctrines of godlessness that he has. The one called "strong," then, one may find in Isaiah, who says, "giant and strong," and the one who fights against God again in the same prophet: "Giants come to fulfill my wrath, rejoicing." And at the same time also in Genesis: "And Nebroth was a giant hunter before the Lord.

A horse is made ready for the day of battle, but help comes from the Lord. Since the illumination that is released from the eyes of God is life, the devout who partake of it and set their hope on it would be rescued from the death that follows upon wickedness, so that their souls might be given life; but they also partake of the heavenly bread (and this is the word of God) and are nourished in famine. By famine he means not the scarcity of perceptible food but the deprivation of divine teachings. In harmony with this is, I will bring famine upon the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Since we are not sufficient to help ourselves or to fight on our own behalf, knowing that God is a helper and a shield, we wait upon him with the soul—that is, from the depth of our thought. Perhaps, too, those before the coming of the Savior, being unable to aid themselves, will wait in expectation for the one who is to be their helper and shield and savior. And in him our heart will be glad. Others are glad over some temporary thing, their soul dissolving whenever these things are present; but we have divine and eternal gladness in the Lord, possessing not a bodily comfort but that of the mind and heart. Therefore, And in his holy name we hope, praying to partake of his sanctification, which will be the cause of sanctification for us.

Just as those cast into the furnace in Babylon, hymning God because they had not been harmed by the fire, took all creation into this, knowing that they were not sufficient for such a great thing (for it is a great thing to hymn God), so too the one who says, "Magnify the Lord with me," wishes either all creation or the meek to run together with him in this. And to magnify God is not to increase His magnitude (for He is without magnitude; this belongs to bodies, but God is incorporeal), but to think and speak great things about Him—not as compared to Himself, but as compared to us. Those who are perfected in the same mind and the same judgment exalt His name together to the same end. And the name of God is exalted by created beings, not as being raised up from a lowly state, but when those who hold it in thought conceive nothing groveling but things high and heavenly. For just as they profane the name of God—not that the name itself is defiled, but insofar as it lies with those who are surrounded by profane deeds and thoughts—so too it is sanctified by our actions. Whence the Savior, among other things, also says this, teaching in the prayer, "Hallowed be Your name," not that the name itself in itself becomes holy from being not holy. For one must pray that it be hallowed in us, who think and act holily. And thus the conception about God—the name of God that we have, precisely according to the notion of God—this we shall have sanctified when we accomplish all things according to holiness. For insofar as some human beings are in error and ignorance, the name of God is in a certain way defiled, being dragged toward things it should not be.

Some, at any rate, called idols "gods," and also their own belly. Since "Because he sought me, he heard me" is rendered in return, it is clear that "to seek" and "to entreat" mean the same thing; or because he accomplishes the things of prayer not by a name alone but also by right understanding and a pure life, having sought the Lord through all these things, he had him assenting. And out of all my afflictions he delivered me. There is also the reading: And out of all my sojournings he delivered me. Since the Lord is the true light, the one who comes to him, partaking of him, is enlightened; and having been enlightened and taken up much boldness, he has a face that is not put to shame. But the Spirit commands us to come to the Lord by our own free choice, so that, having been enlightened in the face of the soul, we may cast off all shame. Here he calls "poor" the one who is not able to save himself from present afflictions. And we all have this poverty, so that he speaks concerning everyone who needs salvation from God. If here he indicates those who fear the Lord as those who have the spirit of slavery, these do not need angels encircling them and delivering them from those who wish to harm them, just as also the little ones of those who believe in the Savior have angels present with them who see the face of the Father in the heavens, while the perfect have the God of the angels present with them. But if we should understand the perfect as those who fear God, we shall say that the angel encamped round about them to deliver them is none other than the Angel of the great counsel of God, the Savior. In keeping with this is also what is said by Jacob: The angel who delivers me from all my evils.

From all evils no angel is able to rescue, but the one signified as Savior. 313 In the case of God, "kindly" signifies the same as "good." Since he is also nourisher, being the bread of life, the Spirit commands those who do not desire to be filled with him, even if they only taste of him. For tasting is sufficient to make them desirous, so that they even wish to delight themselves fully. And "to taste" signifies, in some way or other, to attend to and examine concerning God. For mere tasting, it says, of things beyond man and wondrous instills in souls an incomparable longing for enjoyment. Blessed is the man who hopes in him. He who through hoping perfectly and without fail in God is a man is blessed. We say that fear is twofold. For immediately, when someone approaches God and takes up fear toward him, he keeps all his commandments aright. It has been said, at any rate: "Fear God and keep his commandments." But in the present verse he speaks concerning a fear that has been transcended, to which he calls those who have already become holy; for having accepted the introductory fear, they hastened toward holiness. But now, since they are themselves holy, he commands them to fear God with the fear that fills with every good, so that the one who has it is without lack. One must note that, as with the other goods, so also divine fear is teachable, from which we learn that the passible fear is not what is meant; for this is unteachable by nature and exists not only in humans but also in irrational animals.

317 Since the powers of God that watch over all things, called "eyes" figuratively, look upon the righteous, and his ears also are ready to receive their petition, for this reason he says: If you wish to enjoy these things, turn away from evil and do good. Those who hold that this universe is without providence and who for this reason do evil, as though God does not see, when they encounter punishment will receive understanding, since God is present and exacts justice from them. And in this respect the face of God is said to appear against them, so that their memorial may be blotted out, not once for all but from the earth. And blessed is it for the memorial of certain people to be blotted out from the earth; for in this way his name will be inscribed in the heavens. And those who work wickedness do evil. The bones of the righteous, being either doctrines of truth or powers of the soul, the Lord will guard, not allowing even the least of them to be crushed, so that neither the doctrines of the righteous man nor his powers are overturned. 320 The one who sins is deprived of the life that comes from keeping the commandments, falling into an evil death. And evil death is either that which is opposed to the good life or that which produces pain in the subject; for in this way Job was also struck with an evil ulcer, namely, with that which produces pain. Those who hate what is dear harm not others but themselves. And so the one who hates the righteous man, who is earnest, does wrong and falls into punishment. It should be noted that redemption in the proper sense frees souls from captivity; for if it ever also redeems bodies, it does this not primarily but incidentally.

And souls are delivered, not of others but of his servants. Those who hope in the Lord would not fail of the things hoped for and expected. 324 And he teaches also in other places who those were who warred against him, saying, "For many are those who war against me from on high." So then, those who warred against him were wronging the one who had done no wrong; but he does not pray that his enemies be wronged, but that they be judged by the injustice of the enemies, setting the righteousness of God against it, which is destructive of injustice, as the light is destructive of darkness. So then, injustice, being contrary and opposed to the righteousness of God, would be warred against by it. Therefore also the unjust man would be called an enemy of the righteous. But righteousness makes the righteous man a friend of God, since like things are dear to like things. Therefore it has been said, "The Lord is righteous and has loved righteousnesses." And trusting in his own righteousness, the righteous man would say, "Judge me, O Lord, and judge my cause." Therefore, when the Lord judges those who do injustice, he destroys the injustice in them. And in this way he also wars against those who war against the righteous man, doing this for the good of those who are warred against, so that they might at some point cease doing the things hostile to righteousness. And "to do injustice" signifies harm in the passage, "Behold, I have given you to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you." 326 Since many, through false opinion and the rest of wickedness, purposed to war against me, for this reason do you war against them on my behalf; for they will be undone without contradiction, since you are the Lord who shatters wars.

Having taken up your fitting door and the wealth of truth, Rise up for my help, that is, become my champion. In the same way you will also understand the sword. It should be noted that in the preceding verses he used imperative verbs instead of optative ones: for "Let their way be" instead of "may their way be," and "Let it come" instead of "may it come," and the rest likewise. And he will fall into the trap in it; for each person is punished according to his deed. When these things have happened to those men, my soul will rejoice, seeing by providence that the wicked are punished and the zealous are benefited; but it will also have delight, having gained experience of his salvation, of God himself. Let those who wish to take everything from the bare wording and nothing allegorically be refuted also from the present verse. For nothing is so foolish as to suppose that perceptible bones have a thought of God, so as to hymn him and know that no one is like him. For concerning the bones of the inner man (and these are his powers and true doctrines) it has been said, "All my bones"; for through every thought and true doctrine I was assured that nothing of created things is like the Lord; for he alone is the image of the invisible God and the express stamp of the divine substance. And you will consider whether the poor man is different from the needy man, and whether in substance or in conception, since it is possible for the same person to be poor by having fallen from the wealth he had, and needy by procuring the means of living with toil.

Those who rise up as witnesses not of righteousness but of unrighteousness, and stir themselves up, ask sophistically what I do not know. For the earnest man knows nothing of the base things, that is, he is mingled with nothing wicked. And the testimony is: He who keeps the commandment will not know an evil word. For here too the phrase will not know stands for he has not been formed nor mingled with an evil word. For it is false to suppose that the one who keeps the divine commandment does not understand an evil word; for having discernment of evil and good, he has turned away from all other words and come to keeping the commandment. What he says, then, is of this sort: those who had no experience nor knowledge nor understanding of evils, provoking me, questioned me about them, just as the Egyptian woman did Joseph and the elders did Susanna. 333 While I was earnestly striving to fulfill blamelessly what is due toward all, wishing, if possible, to be at peace with all men, they, in return for these good things, repaid me with evil, showing themselves enemies and hostile in all things; and as far as lay in them, they attempted to destroy the good childbearing of my soul. If, then, persuaded by their questions, I had become such as they wished to make me, my soul would have been made childless, no longer receiving the divine seed of the bridegroom. But if the disciples of the one who taught are called children, then in this way too the soul of the teacher is made childless, falling into errors through its own stumbling block, destroying those who were born from it through discipleship. 334 Since the

Luxury, stirring up irrational pleasures, irrationally lifts up the soul; fasting, doing the opposite, brings down the passions. But praiseworthy fasting also effects the cleansing of sins, and by truly producing freedom from vanity it humbles the soul. The prayer of the one who has prayed well returns to him, bearing the good things for which it was made, and turning back it is gathered into the bosom of the one who sent it up. The bosom signifies their governing faculty. For this is their vileness in the land of Egypt into their bosom, and Into the bosom all things come upon the unjust; and in this way also all the righteous go into the bosom of Abraham, that is, into the same mind and promise as he. I was so well-disposed toward those who wished to harm the things previously said, as one might be well-disposed toward his neighbor and his own brother, or thus, as their neighbor and as their own brother I was well-pleasing to them. Since I was disposed as toward genuine brothers, seeing them being put to death by what they do, as one mourning them and with a gloomy face for them I humbled myself, propitiating the one able to keep me unharmed from them. The present passage can be explanatory of They repaid me evil for good. For while I was mourning for them and gloomy over the deadness they had, they, gathering together against me, had gladness as though they would take me under their hand; and they have done both against me—then to gather together and to rejoice. By the things they attempted against me, they scourged my soul rationally; but I, remaining unharmed, had neither perception nor knowledge of the things brought forward by them.

But if at some time, when the enemies provoked me to sin, a disturbance arose in my thoughts, so that I was scourged, as it were, by the perception of things that come from thoughts, I did not reveal these scourges to the adversaries, lest they take occasion from the shaking of the soul and attack all the more. Having gathered together against me and rejoiced, by divine providence they were split apart; and though dissolved and thus scattered, they were not pricked to the heart—that is, they did not repent of the evil they had plotted, but again attempted the same things. Through all that they did, striving to make trial of me, they were not able to seize me; therefore they also turned to mocking and deriding me. Like wild beasts they gnashed their teeth at me—that is, their angry and passionate power—for though they wished to devour me, they failed. The saint says: O Lord, when will you look upon it? For when you look upon it, all the things previously spoken of will depart, drinking together with those who do them. He calls his soul only-begotten because it alone is his own; for one must not attend to the myth-making about metempsychosis. Or perhaps the only-begotten other than his soul is the substance of the spirit joined to the soul; for this is only-begotten in that it has been separated from all the things in us according to divinity. The great church is the one gathered from many saints; the heavy people is the firm and solid one, set in contrast to what is superficial and fickle. Since you are present with me, the enemies are far off. Do not depart from me, lest they come upon me when I am left alone by you.

Since in many places the longsuffering of God is called his sleep, when the enemies are being worn down he rouses the Lord to indignation, saying, Awake, O Lord, and attend to my judgment—that is, bring your favorable power to bear, so that my cause may be examined against my enemies. For this is for good, since they are my enemies unjustly and those who hate me without cause will certainly be condemned. And this writer took the psalm as referring both to David and to Christ, but rather to Christ; another took it indefinitely as referring to a righteous man; and a third as referring to David only. Concerning the cursing of enemies, one said that these things were spoken prophetically as things that would certainly come to pass; another said that they are spoken for the benefit of the enemies, so that they might be put to shame and turn back and gain a sense of their own sins and retreat from the path they traveled. Another says that David lived a legal and not an evangelical manner of life; for the law, he says, enjoins loving one's neighbor and hating one's enemy, and he speaks badly in saying this; for if David had lived in an evangelical manner, he would have said, If I have repaid those who repay me with evil. Finally, however, even this one said that these things were spoken prophetically as things that would certainly happen. The one who is lawless by habit, reasoning within himself, would say nothing other than sinning. For when a person has first given assent in his mind, he then proceeds to sin in practice. And it is possible also to say that he sins within himself, as in the saying, But you said in your mind, I will ascend into heaven, and the rest.

If he had kept fear before the eyes of the man within him, he would have abstained from every sin; but since, he says, he does not have it in himself, [he has the cause] of sinning. A testimony that the one who has fear does not sin is the verse, So that his fear may be in you, that you may not sin. The one who has become lawless knows that his lawlessness is hateful; if it were observed, he disguises it before himself, so that the shame of lawlessness may not be found out, to the end that it be hated. This is what those do who advocate for sin sophistically, as though it were done as a duty and not contrary to reason. There is another scripture that says, The words of his mouth are lawlessness and toil—that is, burdensome, so as to produce toil for those who pay attention. He did not wish to understand so as to do good. It is clear from what has been said that the lawless man is not such by constitution; for not wishing to have understanding for doing good belongs to free will. And further besides these things: He stood by every way that is not good, and he did not become angry at wickedness. Such is the verse, Woe to those who work evil upon their bed and accomplish them with the day. So then, having reckoned lawlessness upon his bed, he stands by every way that is not good—that is, by every evil deed; not becoming angry at his wickedness, but accepting it as the worst disposition, he begins in practice to walk every way that is not good. And in Isaiah clouds are mentioned in the same way: Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness. But perceptible clouds pour down not righteousness or truth but rain.

The clouds that flow with righteousness are divine men, pouring out the spiritual rain—that is, the word according to virtue. And above these is the heaven that rejoices, either the blessed natures that dwell in heaven, or the Savior, allegorically so named; for this heaven is from above, that is, it is above every created nature, and it rejoices for the benefit of all. And here, then, in the heaven—I mean the Savior—is the mercy of the Lord, who has mercy on all; but his truth, which is set in opposition to evil and to types, is in the aforementioned clouds. For even if the prophets lived under a shadow, they were not ignorant of the truth, of which this was a symbol. That men who keep the image and the rational movement attain salvation is no wonder. But when someone sees those who have become brutish, or have even become horses mad after females and have taken on the character of the other irrational animals, coming to salvation, struck with amazement at the goodness of God he will say: Since you have multiplied your mercy, O God, not only men but also cattle are saved; for great sins need a greater and more abundant mercy. Since the house of God is the church, its richness is the teaching of the church. From this, those who are devoted to it will be drunk with a sober drunkenness. But if the house of God is the Savior, from his instruction, which is richness, those who enjoy it will be drunk. Since with you is the fountain

of life—this is the one who said, I am the one who is—fittingly you will give drink from the torrent of your delight, flowing from the fountain of life, to those made drunk from the richness of your wine. And the fountain of life is the Savior, in that he does not have it from outside but provides it himself to all the living—not to humans only but also to those who have risen above according to the same divine life, inasmuch as he is also called the fountain of wisdom. And the torrent of delight is the Holy Spirit, in that those who have drunk from him delight, receiving his various gifts. 351 In your light we shall see light: the light of God is the true light, the radiance of the eternal light. In this light, then, we shall see light—you, the eternal light, about whom it has been said, God is light. You will compare with this, The one who has seen me has seen the Father. Therefore the divine Word uses what are called changes, just as here he named a foot of arrogance—not of a footed animal but of a state—and in Proverbs: For the feet of folly lead down. What he prays, then, is this: let arrogance not find a place to enter my soul so as to deceive me, nor let the hand—that is, the action—of a sinner shake me; for if I should do the deeds of sinners, I shall be shaken from virtue. There can mean the future life, as in There will be weeping, and There the weary in body rested, and Naked I shall depart there, and anything of the kind. He says, then, that There—that is, in the future life—all those who work lawlessness have fallen.

For even if they seemed to stand and to work the works of lawlessness, yet there at least they fell, no longer being permitted to work as they worked before. But one should not be surprised if he speaks of what is future as already having happened; for many such things might be cited, as “They pierced my hands and my feet,” and “They divided my garments.” For since the prophet, foreseeing what is to come, sees them as altogether certain to happen, for this reason he sets them down as already having happened. 354 But “they were thrust out”: either they were forcibly driven out of the condition in which they were, or they have come to be outside their own activity; because they can no longer stand, their practical powers having been hindered but not destroyed. This very goodness will procure for you to dwell in the holy land, so as to be pastured on its wealth; for you will have the true Shepherd leading you to divine pasture, which is called the wealth of that land. And the rest is similar to what precedes it. Through all things the Lord presents himself as profitable to us and is found to be both food and drink for us. Whenever, then, we feed on him who is the bread of life and are filled with his flesh and blood, which are true food and drink, having delighted in him, we shall have him granting all the requests of the heart, that is, of the mind—not the sensible but the spiritual and intelligible. Delight in the Lord, and having obtained the things foretold, make your own way, which you travel practically, manifest. And when do you do these things? Whenever you work those things which God looks upon. For the one who sins hides from God, hastening to cover his way.

Since you make your way manifest to God, hope in him, and he will accomplish the things you hoped and expected, so that he will bring forth your righteousness, which was worked in secret, as light—as he did with that of Job and Joseph. For theirs, shining forth like light, was spread throughout the whole inhabited world to all generations, but also your judgment. Either he himself judged concerning you, or you judged and approved within yourself, he will bring it forth in the same way at midday, which has a vigorous and pure light. For in this way, when all things concerning you have been made manifest, you will become as a luminary in the world. For now, in the meantime, be subject to the Lord. And how will this happen? By keeping the divine commandments, by entreating him, asking him for forgiveness of sins previously committed, and to obtain the things that have been said. 358 Anger is a destructive passion, such as to destroy even the prudent; for anger destroys even the prudent, but it is also an impediment to the activity of virtue; for the anger of a man does not work the righteousness of God. Therefore cease from anger and forsake wrath, becoming a zealot for meekness and gentleness. And one can cease from the anger of God and forsake his wrath by abstaining from those things which are followed by falling under anger and wrath. 359 Since the works of wickedness will be abolished when a little time has passed, the sinner will not exist, since the state according to which he is such is not found. Therefore, even if you seek his place, you will not find it. And by place one must understand that which is, as it were, in a certain rank, as when there is a difference between teacher and disciple.

There is a place of a teacher and a place of a disciple, until the disciple is filled with knowledge, so that the one who has become a teacher will leave the place of the disciple, since this one is no longer. Since, then, there has also arisen a difference among rational beings from their own choice, so that some occupy the place of the righteous and others that of sinners, when wickedness is destroyed, the place of the sinner will no longer exist. But the meek, having accomplished stability, will be shown to be heirs of a land other than the one we tread, so as even to luxuriate upon it, there being an abundance of peace, when all the enemies against whom we wage war are brought down. It is possible to refer these things to the devil, who is named "the sinner" with the article. But sinners also draw the sword and bend the bow, so that with the bows they may strike the poor and needy, and with the sword slaughter those upright in heart; for they do not wound those who are rich in evils, who are their friends, nor do they slaughter those crooked in heart, having fellowship with them. But their bent bows are evil thoughts, and the sharpened sword is their tongue, or their word, which is destructive of distinctions. Since, therefore, the one who sins dies by his own sin, the sword of these men, which they sharpened against one another, will harm them in their own heart. As for the meaning: it is better for the righteous to have a little knowledge with piety than the wealth of sinners with impiety, in which some think they are rich when they pursue the things of falsely named knowledge. And "arms" here must be spoken of not as those of the body but as the practical powers of the soul.

The Lord knows the way of the righteous and the ways of the blameless he will know. The term "knowledge" must not now be understood as mere information but as intimate union; for the Lord knows all the ways of the blameless that they walk, having examined them by their blamelessness. And there is also the reading: "The Lord knows the days of the blameless." For since the blameless are never in darkness but always in light and day, for this reason the Lord knows such days of theirs—and all the days of their life, as they always act blamelessly and without fault. An evil time is when someone receives the hardships of sins as a consequence. In this time the blameless will not be put to shame, having no deeds for which to suffer. That sinners will perish means not that their constitution is dissolved entirely but that they are no longer sinners. And even if a great scarcity of food comes through a severe famine, at God's command ravens will bring food as they did for Elijah, and as Habakkuk, carried aloft, brought a meal to Daniel in the lions' den. And this is according to the literal sense; but according to the deeper meaning: from a young and unstable character, when I was young and given to youthful ways, I changed and came to old age, having attained a life unstained and a hoary understanding. Yet having advanced thus, "I have not seen the righteous forsaken." The rest is similar to the first. Forsaken, that is, by having God as one who nourishes, and divine breads.

...providing, so that the seed of the righteous—that is, those who have come to be according to teaching—never sought bread. In any case, he works out his whole life as an exact and approved state, known to all; and thus all the day he shows mercy, being generous, and he lends—either divine teachings to those who listen, or to God, in accordance with "He shows mercy to the poor man, he lends to God"—for the gaining of saving interest, so that their seed too may be blessed with every spiritual blessing. The righteous man, having set right every moral virtue, came to contemplation; therefore his word, called "mouth" figuratively, meditates on nothing other than the wisdom that is in contemplation. To this you will take up the saying: "The tale of a pious man is wisdom throughout all his days, but the fool is changed like the moon." And the tongue of the righteous man does not speak without examination nor at random. For having judged and examined the difference between things to be said and things not to be said, some things he will say and others he will keep silent. Such is the meaning of "The lips of the wise are bound by perception"—by speaking and keeping silent perceptively; and he uses perception as a bond of the lips. The law that we have by nature in the heart, by which we distinguish what is to be done and what is not to be done, is none other than that of the God who made us according to his own image. Indeed, whenever we keep our thoughts undistorted by abstaining from the worse things, we lay claim to the better. Using this law as a guide of the way, we cross over without stumbling to the goal toward which we press. It is possible that the evangelical law is indicated by the present expression. It is said that the sinner contemplates the righteous man, seeking to put him to death...

Wait for the Lord. Even if you have many who are plotting against you, receive salvation from God. Wait for him and keep his way, observing his commandments. For when you are so disposed, being exalted will follow, so that you inherit the land that has often been spoken of. And it must be noted that he says the land of the promise lies somewhere in a high place; for no one is exalted for inheriting the land beneath his feet, but rather the land that is established somewhere above. And indeed in Isaiah it is said, "The Lord will bring you up to the good things of the land." And consider that this land itself is in a high place, since God brings one up to it and exalts him, so that he may inherit it—for it is not possible for anyone to come to be upon it by himself. But then, as if from a height, you will look down upon the destruction of sinners, who are handed over to punishment. Passing by, he says, in thought to the life to come, I did not find the wicked man, so as to seek his place and not find it. And it is said that the wicked are not found after these things—not because their substance is destroyed, but their quality, according to which they are such as they are—and it has been shown beforehand concerning the fact that their place, in its order, is not found. But if these things were said concerning Satan, since he is called the ruler of this world (and this world passes away), anyone who seeks the place of this ruler in the age to come will not find it. And if sin is also a place of the devil, according to "Do not give place to the devil," when wickedness is destroyed, the place of the wicked was not found.