God's goodness, justice, and knowledge of all things
Apollinaris is commenting on Psalm 144-146, explaining how God's goodness is joined with righteousness, how praise extends to all people forever, and how God's knowledge encompasses even the stars.
For if, he says, love for humanity is not seen in all things, but many painful and destructive things accompany what is pleasant and saving—such as failure of crops, the birth of deadly beasts, and the onsets of diseases—yet none of these is outside righteousness, which is beautifully interwoven with goodness so that zeal for what is good is not corrupted by the unrebuked cheerfulness of those who break the law (Psalm 145:20).
Again he stretches his praises to a great length and does not stop at one person or his own person, but he will do the same for all people [...] into the endless age, if he too will one day see with those who run, showing that they share in the company of the righteous who have become a beginning for God, according to the apostle (Ps 145:1-2).
He seems to teach that this is the work of life, this is the benefit of existing—if we are joined to true life and to the one who truly is (Psalm 146:2). For this is a provision both for true life and for existing eternally, since we carry with us from this present life a provision for the life to come.
So hope in humans is wretched, but hope in God is blessed. For he is a true helper, eternal and holding power over all things (Psalm 146:5). In him is the authority, as from ungrudging wealth and boundless resources, to do great good easily.
He is so great and so vast that not even the countless stars are outside his knowledge, but having been ordered by him, they are known to him precisely, since he distinguishes the nature and power of each one as by names that mark them off (Psalm 147:4).
Greek
305 Ps 144,17 Εἰ γὰρ μὴ διὰ πάντων, φησί, θεωρεῖται τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, ἀλλὰ πρόσεστι τοῖς τερπνοῖς καὶ σωτηρίοις πολλὰ καὶ ἐπίπονα καὶ φθαρτικά, οἷα δὴ καρπῶν τε ἀφορία καὶ θηρίων γενέσεις ὀλεθρίων καὶ νόσων
καταβολαί· ἀλλ' οὖν οὐδὲν τούτων ἐκτὸς δικαιοσύνης καλῶς συμπεπλεγμένης τῇ ἀγαθότητι πρὸς τὸ μὴ φθαρῆναι τὴν περὶ τὸ καλὸν σπουδὴν διὰ τὴν ἐν παρανομήσασιν ἀνεπιτίμητον εὐθυμίαν. 306 Ps 144,21 Πάλιν δ' ἐπὶ τὸ μακρὸν καὶ ἀνατείνει τὰς ὑμνήσεις καὶ οὐκ ἐφ' ἑνός τε ἴστησι καὶ τοῦ ἰδίου προσώπου, ἀλλὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους τὸ ἴσον ποιήσειν *** εἰς τὸν ἄπειρον αἰῶνα, εἰ καὶ ὄψεταί ποτε σὺν δραμουμένοις, δηλῶν εἰς κοινωνίαν τῶν δικαίων οἳ γεγόνασιν ἀρχὴ θεῷ κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον. 307 Ps 145,1.2 Ἔοικε διδάσκειν ὅτι τοῦτο τῆς ζωῆς ἔργον, τοῦτο τοῦ ὑπάρχειν ὄφελος, εἰ πρὸς τὴν ὄντως ζωὴν συναπτόμεθα καὶ πρὸς τὸν ὄντως ὄντα· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐφόδιον καὶ εἰς τὴν ὄντως ζωὴν καὶ εἰς τὸ ἀϊδίως ὑπάρξαι, ἐπείπερ ἐκ τῆς νῦν ζωῆς ἐφόδιον πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐπαγόμεθα. 308 Ps 145,5 Οὕτω μὲν ἡ εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἐλπὶς ἀθλία, ἡ δὲ εἰς θεὸν μακαρία. ἀληθὴς γὰρ βοηθός, αἰώνιος καὶ τῶν ἁπάντων κρατῶν· ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἐξουσία ὡς ἐξ ἀφθόνου πλούτου καὶ ἀπείρου μεγάλα ῥᾳδίως εὐεργετεῖν. 309 Ps 146,4 Τοσοῦτος καὶ τηλικοῦτός ἐστιν ὡς μηδὲ τοὺς ἀναρίθμους ἀστέρας ἐκτὸς εἶναι τῆς γνώσεως αὐτοῦ ἀλλ' ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ῥυθμισθέντας αὐτῷ δὴ καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἐγνῶσθαι τὴν ἑκάστου φύσιν καὶ δύναμιν διακρίνοντι καθάπερ ὀνόματα τῶν διορισμῶν.