Fragments on the Psalms

The Tree of Life and the Vine of Wisdom§1

1In the new covenant, the testimonies taken from the book of the Psalms are set forth as having been spoken by the Holy Spirit. Paul, having taken a chapter from the ninety-fourth Psalm in the epistle to the Hebrews, writes that it was announced by the Holy Spirit, saying, 'As the Holy Spirit says: If today you hear his voice...' (Hebrews 3:7), and the following. To this, Peter, the forerunner of the apostles, also says in the Acts of the apostles according to the pattern: 'It was necessary for the scripture to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who seize Jesus' (Acts 1:16), and the following, having said a few words, he brought forward: 'For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let his habitation become a desert, and let him not dwell in it; and let another take his oversight' (Psalm 69:25). It is nothing foreign if the apostles write these things, especially since the Savior is sealing these things. For a memory having occurred in the Gospel of the ninety-first Psalm at the beginning, sounding thus: 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet' (Psalm 110:1; LXX 109:1), the Pharisees were eager to ask if David, in the Holy Spirit, says Christ is Lord, how he is his son. If, therefore, the Psalms contain spiritual meanings, it was not by chance that they were composed in their scripture.

2 Ps 1,1 It is the way of sinners for the devil to say, in which the one having become one should not remain, following the deceptive teaching: 'Resist the devil and he will flee from you' (James 4:7). He who does not stand in this way will come to the one saying, 'I am the way' (John 14:6), and if, having become one, running according to the purpose, he will win the prize. 3 Ps 1,3 ab For how must the one testified to by the things said, as being wise, not resemble wisdom? For someone resembles one bestowing such a quality, or does not the righteous resemble the just...

Eternal and holy in holiness; if this is so, then the wise man is also wise in wisdom. Having approached and broken being away from it, the wise man becomes like it, according to what was said by the Savior: 'It is sufficient for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the servant as his lord' (Matt 10:25).

And he who becomes like the tree of life is planted in paradise to be with it; thus it is heard of what is written in Isaiah from the face of God: 'The days of the people of my God shall be as the days of the wood of life' (Isaiah 65:22). This being true, since the wood of life is eternal, it joins and shares in the passion of Him; thus the likeness makes us grow together in the wood, so that we may be made branches and shoots to bring forth divine fruit. For the wood of life is said to be a true vine toward those becoming imitators through goodness: 'I am the true vine; you are the branches; my Father is the gardener; every branch abiding in me, he prunes it, so that it may bear more fruit' (John 15:1, 2, 5).

But also, the mystical and spiritual understanding of the Scriptures is a fruit of the wood planted by the watercourses (this is the wisdom of God), and the ready words are leaves covering the said fruit, intended to do the proper work in guarding the fruits and becoming food for the most pure men, those called simple like cattle, according to: 'You will save men and cattle, Lord' (Psalm 36:6; LXX 35:6).

For if they desire to be in the deficiency of dust through impiety and to bear the image of the swine, similarly they are swept away from the face of the earth by the most meager dust, being scattered there by the evil wind. And you will understand the one sweeping them away and the one punishing them, the angel, and the impulse of the teaching that tosses them about, being carried around by every wind of teaching in the...

The Gospel, Divine Instruction, and the Mountain of God§2

2By the guile of men in cunning. 6 Ps 1:5 The ungodly shall rise, but they shall not be judged, being self-condemned for being. For he who does not believe in me, he says, is already judged, having been shown to be condemned from his own unbelief. Ps 1:6a The deeds of the righteous are owned by God; for by this He knows them here. 7 Ps 1:6b Having been shown that the ungodly are not raised in judgment, it has been revealed how many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth are raised, some to eternal life, and others to eternal reproach and shame. For how is it that those being raised to be judged do not rise to eternal reproach and shame, the judgment itself making their sins manifest? If indeed this has become clear, why is it not said that all those sleeping in the dust of the earth are raised, some to eternal life, and others to eternal reproach and shame? For these things have been written concerning only those sinners coming unto judgment and the righteous being raised unto eternal life; of the ungodly, there is nothing of these being raised, nor will there be an examination of them after the resurrection. 8 Ps 2:8 Of all men moving by choice (for they are free agents), no one is essentially good or bad; and since the one possessing virtue is owned by God alone, and every such one becomes an inheritance of God. The whole of Israel was not good; it was said concerning him, 'He became a portion of the Lord, a branch of the inheritance of Israel Jacob.' It is shown that this nation did not only become an inheritance, but through goodness was so treated from what is said concerning God by the holy men: 'He chose for us His inheritance, the beauty of Jacob whom He loved.' If, however, one keeps the commandments and the faith toward God, one becomes an inheritance of God; the one transgressing the commandments of God and falling away from faith toward Him is cast out from such honor, just as he who turns from evil and does good becomes a lot of God even if he was not so before. This sequence remaining, he who formerly through godliness was an heir of God, Israel, becoming an apostate of God, fell away, not receiving the one who previously went before him in blessing, even as also for all other men, the Savior has come. It is necessary, therefore, that another, being fulfilled from many nations, should be brought in and approach...

It is said regarding the gospel: 'You will not add to me, and I will give you life instead of death' (cf. John 10:28), but it is not said of the Son; for it shows that he adds nothing to himself, but rather to those who are in need; just as to a physician and teacher things are given, so that they may become healthy and knowledgeable from him.

But also the saying 'The ends of the earth shall hold fast to you' is understood more simply: until the ends of the earth, his teaching shall prevail, the gospel being preached in all creation under the heaven. If it is possible for the ends of the earth to be called here, understand those who have passed through the earth in life and wisdom.

Ps 2:10: 'Now receive understanding, you risen from the dead who were crucified; and you, rulers, be instructed, knowing what you honored by surrounding with death, having risen, having loosed death' (Psalm 2:10 allusion); for this will turn you to serve in fear, knowing what is being plotted against you, what God is, through which you have come. This slavery in fear will cease, having produced progress, so that divine exultation may come to you with trembling; for if any joy comes reasonably, it is exultation; but it does not happen before God with mere trembling. With this, 'Shout for joy to God with a voice of exultation, who is the Most High and awesome' (Psalm 47:1 allusion) is consistent; for since the exultation is of the Most High and awesome, it is necessary to have it with trembling.

Ps 2:12a–c: The saying 'Seize instruction' is spoken in an extraordinary way, as if to be the follower of the phrase: 'Seize instruction quickly, and what you are encountering in this life, lest, while you are being sluggish, the Lord be angry and you perish from the way of righteousness' (Ps 2:12).

Ps 3:4: Since it was said that the psalm is proclaimed before the face of the Lord (Ps 3:4), it must be said that his head is also raised, the God who is, or that his divinity becomes manifest to the faithful through demonstration. The name of the head in these things signifies ruler; therefore, Christ, the ruler of men, is rightly their king of those being holy, and in this way he signifies their head.

Ps 3:5: His exceedingly high mountain is able to be a holy mountain of God, from which God hears those praying, his only-begotten Son, concerning whom it was said, 'The mountain of the Lord shall be visible at the end of days' (Ps 3:5), this word indicating the manifestation of what is to come according to...

The Contemplative Aim and the Endurance of the Righteous§3

3The epidemic at the end of the ages. Psalm 3:5. To sleep signifies a reclining, after which sleep immediately follows. Since Jesus voluntarily laid down his soul, for this reason, having slept, he slumbered; for he would not have died if he had not given himself to this, and having been raised from the dead, being grasped by God, he has become the firstborn from the dead. Psalm 3:7. Vainly does one have enemies if he does not provide a pretext of hatred and enmity; such are all those persecuted for living piety in Christ Jesus, to whom it is said by the Savior, 'Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and lie every kind of evil against you on my account,' and the following. With this intention also David had many enemies in vain, such as Saul and Absalom and those with them; for having often shown much gentleness and goodness toward them for the holy one, they were enemies in vain. Psalm 3:7. Concerning such teeth, he often says to God, 'They have set their teeth against me,' and thanking that he was not harmed by them, he says, 'Blessed is the Lord, who did not give us into the prey of their teeth.' It is evident what he says concerning spiritual things. To those spoken of as 'biting,' who use the teeth badly, as the Galatians bite and devour one another, the teeth are called allegorically, being used vainly and sinfully with the powers of the soul. For when the petition is established, instead of enemies, friends and instead of sinners, diligent ones will be. The salvation of the Lord; therefore, let us not seek this from another, but from Him. And your good pleasure is upon your people; but what is the good pleasure coming upon the people, is it the will of the Father concerning the epidemic? Having shown the Savior who became man, he says, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' To this he will take the power, and in your good pleasure our horn shall be exalted. Ps 4:1. An ode is a triumphal song, being uttered with a single voice, but a psalm is a hymn being struck with the instrument called the psalter or the lyre. If the ode, for the sake of leading upward, is an ode having become composed by thought alone, the psalm is a hymn with actions being performed according to the right reason, as if one having the practical life were singing, but the spiritual...

The text ends abruptly mid-clause.

The contemplative. Since now David perceives God and His truth with a pure heart, he utters a song, and he says that things are in the psalms because he has achieved much in a practical way. This song is that which they are accustomed to call the end, the most desired of his own things, while all other things are to be chosen and desired, but not for the sake of another; for it is the perfection of all things, concerning which also Paul says, 'If one has become like God, he will see Him' (1 John 3:2).

What, then, does the author intend by saying the song is for David but not written by David? Some say, then, that the psalm or the song belongs to David, but that he himself, having been inspired by God, brought it forward, while the song or the psalm belongs to David, but the things said have a reference to him. And often what is announced belongs both to him and to him; either that which is being suggested was foretold by him through his ministry of the Spirit, or that the psalm being given to someone who sings was announced to David through them. Whichever it may be of those written in the Scriptures, it is known only to the one who is wise according to God.

But God is enlarged in affliction, not ceasing the pressure, not overthrowing the evildoers, but providing magnanimity to bear the circumstances bravely (Psalm 4:1). This is the mindset that should be heard. And many afflictions of the righteous, and from all of them He will rescue them, granting endurance (Psalm 34:19). And he who also, even outside of circumstances, makes himself a magnanimous man, standing against the circumstances like Joseph and Job, but also himself standing against what lies ahead.

And many such things are borne also in the Scripture, for it is said, 'The mortal is born of a woman' (Job 14:1), and in John 'Among those born of women, none is greater than John' (Matthew 11:11). For these words are spoken instead of 'man.' The saint of God is not to be wondered at if he bears afflictions magnanimously, which seem to be beyond man, but also if he, calling upon God, should immediately have a rebuke, whereas the heavy-hearted man ignores everything, that is, having a mindset with malice; if the word was spoken concerning Christ to the Jews, because the heavy-hearted are not children of God but of men, how...

Inheritance and the Vision of Light§4

4For the Lord did not marvel at the Holy One in him and through him, having fulfilled the prophecies, with extraordinary powers occurring through him, and also having risen from the dead. But you will know, having cast off the heavy heart and having searched the writings concerning the Holy One; for the newness of the Spirit will be found searching for you.

Having received this word, the apostle brought it to it: 'Let not the sun go down on your anger, nor give place to the devil' (Ephesians 4:26). He who has received this apostolic exhortation, being angry, does not sin by persisting in staying angry and calling it monthly anger. This thought is confirmed by what follows: 'For you say' (clearly being angry) 'in your hearts, strike upon your beds, so as to have risen from sleep and to have done or said nothing of those in the heart covered in anger' (Psalm 4:4).

It is possible to call the Light of the face of God the exact imprint of his hypostasis and the icon of the invisible God, through which light it was signaled toward us, having been formed according to Him (Psalm 4:6). It should not be ignored how some read 'Who will show us the good things thus'; the good things are not of many, but it is of one to show; and he is the only-begotten Son of God. By 'thus' they take 'Who' as signifying specifically what is unique and one in number in essence. It is conjoined with the witness 'A certain noble man', for there the 'Who' signifies what is uniquely such.

Even if you do not receive glory from the pleasures of yourselves, but I, expecting an age to come and the reward of upright citizenship, having become free from all disturbance through hope, 'I will sleep and lie down also' (Psalm 4:8), saying the departure from life; giving the reason for having slept and having slumbered in peace, he immediately brought to it 'You have settled me on hope' (Psalm 4:8). It is also said in the Psalms toward the soul from the face of God, 'I will dwell in hope'. God does this, proposing the hope of coming divine good things to those dwelling by Him in intellectual and practical virtue and in doctrines of truth and ecclesiastical laws.

Toward the end, gracious to you...

He prays for the soul being brought forward, that the church might be prepared for a divine inheritance for those who are healers of God; for inheritance belongs to those being healed by the Lord. But this inheritance is not corruptible and does not possess being in sensible wealth; for it is said that the heirs of this are to be brought into an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, kept in the heavens (1 Peter 1:4). Into this, the Savior calls the worthy: 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you' (Matthew 25:34). Having received this, the one speaking the present psalm says he is sending a prayer to the one who has made it favorable to God, that he might be worthy to be shown an heir of it according to the New Covenant, just as he signifies concerning his own soul by the inscription 'For the one inheriting.'

As for 'To enlighten,' it is not used in a common way; in the Scripture, it constantly signifies receiving into the ears the words being announced by the speaker because of their nearness. It is said that the righteous are near to God, that God hearkens to the prayers of the righteous and has them in his heed for their supplication (Psalm 5:2-3). And God turns out to be a King and Creator of those who have not stretched out their hands toward a foreign god, nor are they ruled by sin.

According to theory, then: to whom the sun of righteousness has risen, having come into being at the beginning of an intelligible day, bringing a gift of grace to the cause of illumination. 'In the morning,' he says, 'hearkening to my voice' (Psalm 5:3); for to whom must one confess such a great good, O Lord, regarding the one who caused light to rise for me, existing as the greatest vision? For he always enters into the visions that are to be and desires to see the beauties of the truth. This is also presented from the 'And I shall see.' For just as 'I am coming' signifies unceasing approach, so 'I shall see' manifests an ever-increasing comprehension; for how can he who has obtained the promise not always see, 'The Lord shall be your eternal light, and Light to the righteous always' (Isaiah 60:19; Proverbs 13:9)? And there is another scripture possessing 'I shall present to you and you shall see me,' which does not speak of all, but of those speaking with boldness according to the great Elijah because of their departure from the polity.

Divine Justice and Human Transgression§5

5The Lord presented him before him today (Psalm 5:4-6). Since this is true, evil is not from God, unlike those who make evil their very substance. For from the mouth of the Most High, evil shall not come out, nor the good alone. For He alone wills the good to be; it is impossible for evil to exist in any way.

And those who speak falsehood are lying, so that they might know the truth which they formerly feared. For knowing this is evident: no one, having begun to know something, is said to be 'knowing' it unless he has mastered it. And of all those speaking falsehood who are being destroyed by God, that one also shall be destroyed, as it is said: 'Whoever speaks falsehood, speaks from his own nature.' If this is so, he is not evil in essence; for it is not merely by becoming and entering into hypostasis, but after this, having turned to the habit of speaking falsehood, having once had the truth to be. This is shown by what is written about him: 'He has not stood in the truth, there is no truth in him' (John 8:44). For the liar, because he does not stand in truth, is manifest having been tested by these dispositions.

One must judge the liar by his intention, but not by voice alone, lest those who once acted providentially like Rahab be under the threat; for it seemed to be lying to those searching to kill the spies, who were good men; but having been sent by Joshua son of Nun, they were praised. Since the intention of a man is very important, it is not appropriate to rank it among the being destroyed or among those speaking falsehood. Just as he who kills a man in a certain way is not a murderer, so likewise he who sheds blood is not always a man of that name; for we do not say 'murderers of blood' of men who kill according to divine law those worthy to suffer this, since it is said of Samuel and Elijah, the great men, having been testified to regarding ag...

It is not to lie in unholiness and divine prophecy to be subject to these crimes, but none of these is a murderer or a man of blood, even if he kills someone on account of impiety and greatest crimes. When these are rightly confessed, the man who becomes the cause of the abolition of the law through transgression is to be called a murderer and a man of blood. And the deceitful is reasonably joined to this; for how is he who pours out the blood of men treacherously not loathsome to the Lord?

It must be examined how anyone is led by the justice of God. Lest perhaps he who progresses according to the justice of God (for that is genuine virtue) following God, 'Afterwards you shall walk, Lord, my God' (Psalm 5:8), is led by the one who provides virtue, namely, God himself. And since the 'offending' is human, it must be observed how it is necessary to take what is said about God. God, being unchangeable and immutable, is impassible, though it seems he is surrounded by passions or we experience passions; for our passions, being considered as approaching Him, because of the forgetfulness we have concerning Him, are assumed to be His. Regarding us, indeed, 'Forget the law of your God, and I will forget you, my children' (Hosea 4:6).

What is written by Paul is similar to this word: 'If anyone does not know, he is not known' (1 Corinthians 14:38); it is clear what is meant by the one speaking to the wicked, 'Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you' (Matt 7:23). Thus, he who offends, suffering what is worthy of his character through the most bitter wickedness, which he has done, thinks that God is offended against him. If, indeed, the soul, falling unjustly by the vote of God because of sins, says, 'I, offending, was offended' (Ps 5:5), and thus follows the sequence of the judgment, 'The Lord is just' (Ps 5:6), what did his mouth offend? All who hope in you will rejoice, those whose plots against them are destroyed. And there is joy for those who hope in you (Ps 5:11).

Circumcision and Divine Discipline§6

6It is not short-lived nor temporary; rather, they will rejoice forever, because God dwells in them. For how could they not always rejoice when God is present, tabernacling as if in his own temple? For how could those who have God in themselves, dwelling and walking about, be near to joy, when the distance from God, caused by sin capturing them, is near to wails and lamentations?

The preceding words shall be said concerning the arrival of the Savior, the joy of all those waiting for his human appearance (Psalm 5:11); for the prophets and those who understand the prophecies hoped for this. For the Word of God arrived having become flesh to dwell in those believing in him; for he says, 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us' (John 1:14). Thus, having dwelt, those who received him in themselves will rejoice forever; for they see the glory of the Word having tabernacled among them through the flesh, as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth; those of this time, rejoicing forever, having seen by work the glory of the one as the only-begotten from the Father, say: 'Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, but now we no longer know him, having the vision of his glory as the only-begotten from the Father' (2 Cor 5:16).

The cross is both a weapon and a crown; a weapon for those warring, a crown for those conquering. And again: a weapon for the soldiers, a crown for those reigning.

But he is contained in hymns having a more divine thought, and he himself is such; and he also sees toward the end the most perfect things regarding the eighth. It must be considered what the spiritual circumcision is, which one having God is circumcised, not necessarily one being circumcised according to the flesh. For the prophet says to those striving only according to the flesh: 'Be circumcised to your God, and do not circumcise the flesh of your uncircumcision' (Jeremiah 4:4); and the same prophet says: 'All Gentiles are uncircumcised in the flesh, but the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts' (Jeremiah 9:26). Therefore, he who is sensibly circumcised removes something of that which serves the generation of the member, just as he who casting out every thought friendly to the generation of the intellect circumcises the heart. This circumcision they have, the truly believing...

Those devoted to the things of the Lord, so as to please Him. For circumcision is established on the eighth day; for the circumcised must overcome the world that was created in six days, and this is to become on the seventh day a true, holy, and sweet Sabbath. And since the ceasing from worldly things is not sufficient for perfect blessedness, it is necessary to receive, after the Sabbath, a super-cosmic state as the eighth. He who has been tempted by this desire will not love the world nor the things in it. Toward this spiritual understanding he leads us, and the mixture with the command of the sensible circumcision does not save the Logos if it remains merely in bare histories: 'Every male shall be circumcised on the eighth day' (Genesis 17:12), he says. Regarding the transgression of what was commanded, a threat of destruction is set against the child not circumcised on the eighth day, but not against the parents or the one raising the child otherwise; for the threat seemed to be reasonable, if it were brought upon one of these, not saving the follower of the eight-day child from doing it, and especially the intention to keep the commandment of God.

He is reproved in anger, and his sins are not made manifest (Psalm 6:1); being led by Him according to a bitter and painful guidance, just as one who has fallen under the wraths of God, receiving the sensation of the cause of the evil having happened, is being disciplined in anger for suffering these things. By this thought is said, regarding the wrath led toward the senses: 'I will endure the wrath of the Lord until I do wrong to Him,' so as not to justify my judgment and to turn away my judgment and to drive me into the light. For if one, having been led into such a state, knows that the wrath has been brought upon him from God by a way of healing, he will not at all be unwilling to be subject to it, so that the judgment might be justified on account of Him who judges not thus. For not he who, having endured the wrath according to the purpose of the one who led him, will be driven into the light by God, having turned away the judgment from Him. If, therefore, of those being reproved and being disciplined, some are so through anger and wrath, and others through logical teaching, these things are to be completed, and through toil they come to reproof and discipline. For the recognition of these things is not altogether voluntary, much the...

The Return of the Soul and the New Man§7

7the voluntary application of rebuke and instruction through the word

The same. When such a vision is presented: since my soul, sinning, had turned away toward its own evil, having turned back to itself, calling itself back according to the Psalm, 'Turn back, you sons who have gone away' (Jeremiah 3:22), to ransom itself from the sins that have grown distant and from the evil powers working them.

Those who imply that the upcoming words refer to common death err, but rather they act impiously. For the holy men do not have remembrance of God and the common life only then, but much more so, as they are separated from the corruptible body.

What do you say? Since no one, having remembered you, becomes in death—for sin does not die (and he is not the one separating the sinning soul from a virtuous life)—but I desire to have remembrance of you; for this purpose, having poured out your goodness: save me, so that I may not be overcome by the weakness and trouble that is present against me, and be crushed by death. For it is not said, 'He does not remember God in death' (Ps 6:5), but rather, 'He who remembers him is not in death,' as the Savior says, 'He who hears my word does not see death for eternity' (John 8:51).

Look if it is possible to be made new against all my enemies (Psalm 6:7) and to have another mind. He who lives with righteousness, always living in renewal according to the newness of the spirit and the new covenant; because, having departed from the praiseworthy life through our inattention, having become old according to the antiquity of that man, whom Paul advises to strip off (for his life is vain), that we may put on the new man created according to God in holiness and knowledge of the truth (Eph 4:22-24); such is the unblemished life.

You will understand that these things are said also regarding the invisible enemies and evil powers who have prepared a device against him, who are envious of his progress according to God, and who, after sin, speak wickedly, 'There is no salvation for him in his God' (Psalm 3:2).

He prays with good intention for the enemies; for he wants them to be ashamed because of what I do, since they became enemies of the righteous and of God. And this will be beneficial to them; for he who, being ashamed and troubled by the evil working through him, having recognized it...

The Distinction of Righteousness§8

8He will cease to act in such a way. The interpretation is confirmed by the approaching verse: 'the enemies, having been turned, no longer driving forward toward evil, but turning back into the virtuous life they left behind.' This happens to them for a good purpose, not by chronological succession or slowly, but let it happen very quickly.

Psalm 7:1: 'The son of Jemini was called from the people' (Ps 7:1), who was Saul, and Shimei, who denounced the message to Saul, a son of Arahi from his father, and the high priest was the leader of the friends and an old man according to friendship. He sings the psalm practically, while also bringing it forth theoretically. It is said in the inscription of the fourth that the psalm denotes practice, while the ode denotes theory; and since there are inscriptions having 'Psalm of an Ode' or 'Ode of a Psalm,' it must be said about them that Psalm 8 is a theory concerning practical and moral instruction, while Ode is the practice necessary to be received in contemplating the truth; for many things are done for the sake of the theory of wisdom, and no one will say a 'Psalm of an Ode' without purpose. These things being observed as an ode, it is fitting that David sings the present psalm practically while contemplating theoretically concerning each of the things being done wisely and very Godward, desiring to know what is signified by those things being accomplished in such a sensory way. And the words of the psalm beginning in such a way must also be set forth: 'Lord my God, etc.'

Psalm 7:2-3: 'Who is it that said, Saving is not from me, he who has come to seek and to save the lost, and to give his soul as a ransom for many?' (Psalm 7:1-2). These signify that the Father God saves through the Son, the existing Word of God; therefore, even in the present matters, the divinity of Father and Son must not be divided, as some might suppose.

Psalm 7:7-8: 'I beseech you, Lord, arising in wrath, appear high at the ends of the enemies; for the end of iniquity will consume those things through which my enemies occur.' (Psalm 7:6-9). It is possible to say the ends of the enemies are their arrogance and pride, upon which they have reached and consider themselves to be secure, thinking themselves to be in the best states. The prayer is not defensive; for he does not give back evil for evil.

When God, sparing the enemies who oppose Him, wishes them to know how God is exalted in their borders, He uses wrath not against their essence, but against the malicious intention they possess. Since the Scripture says, 'In the borders of my enemies,' it is revealed that those enemies are the enemies of the Holy and God. Psalm 7:9: 'Bring Your judgment upon me only according to Your wickedness and my righteousness; for I shall be justified when no iniquity is found in my deeds.' Regarding 'wickedness' here, he says, one must not lack goodness according to what is written, 'The innocent believes all words,' but rather the simplicity that cleanses from deceit, as signified by what is said to God by the Holy One: 'But I have taken hold of you through innocence,' and 'In innocence I have gone forward.' In certain copies, 'Judge me, Lord, according to Your righteousness,' the word is to be explained thus: there is a righteousness of God reaching to men, being distributed toward a lower righteousness.

Paul, writing about the difference of these things concerning the Jews, says, 'For I testify to them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; for knowing not the righteousness of God, but seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to the righteousness of God' (Romans 10:2-3). By saying the righteousness of God, he means that which comes to all who believe through Jesus Christ, which He Himself also desired. He says all things were sent so that one might be found having the righteousness from God through faith and not his own. Wishing this to be present also for the disciples, Jesus says to them, 'If your righteousness does not exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 5:20). This distinction between human righteousness and that of God, according to the will of the Lord, is to be judged, knowing how this judgment will lead Him to salvation.

Psalm 7:10–11: 'To God belongs the examining and searching of hearts'; this does not signify merely seeking and tracing, but having a perfect apprehension; for He is a knower of hidden things, and every mind is revealed to Him. And one must not hear 'kidneys' as the bodily ones, but the intellectual powers of the soul, homonymous with the...

The Sword of Divine Judgment§9

9They are called bodily. This is shown from many scriptures, one of which is: 'Near is their mouth, but far from their kidneys.' This is said concerning wicked men, who indeed confess that God exists by word, but do not have Him in their intellect. 'My help is just from God, who saves those upright in heart.' This teaches by power whether He saves those upright in heart. And I demand just help from Him, by which I shall be saved; that I may have an upright heart, free from all deceit; therefore I also pray to be judged according to my goodness (Psalm 7:8-10).

Having brought a prayer so that the wickedness of sinners might be completed and the Lord might be exalted over the edges of the enemies, rising in wrath through love toward neighbors, He does not want anyone to suffer the completion of wickedness by chance, but to know it by choice, knowing God to be a judge. If God is a just judge, it is to be feared to sin; for we approach the Word as a judge seeing the hidden and not being ignorant of anything being done. And just as a judge, so also He is just, bringing the judgment according to merit to those judged under Him. And a judge who is just and has power can without delay punish those stumbling.

If no one receives justice from the ungodly and sinning ones, through the long-suffering of the judge's goodness, there is an overcoming of the retribution; for if a just and powerful judge were only that, all would have been lost immediately, because the intellect of men is flowing toward sin, whereas He has power toward the things said and toward long-suffering. For He is good and does not bring wrath every single day, even though ungodliness and sins are happening constantly. But let us long-suffer not that we should persist in evil, but that we may have time and place for repentance; for He desires the repentance of the sinner so that he may live, rather than accepting death by persisting.

Regarding sinning, what is called being ignorant of what is the good of God for your repentance. However, even if he does not bring wrath on each day through exceeding goodness and patience, for those remaining in wickedness, wrath will be brought upon them in a day of wrath, that is, in a day of judgment. For if you do not turn back, he says, enjoying remaining in sin, he will make his sword shine (instead of being blunt).

And with it also his bow he will make ready, preparing in it instruments of death, having worked out the arrows of the punishments against those being burned from the fire of the sufferings. Often of the divine disciplines, the punishment is found being made manifest by the name of the sword. For that which is in Amos the prophet, 'All the sinners of the people shall be finished with the sword' (Amos 9:10), does not signify a physical knife; for not from everyone are all sinners slain by a hand-slaughter understood. It is not necessary that all the sinners be presented to be finished by punishment, being handed over to perish in Gehenna in soul and body.

The same is made manifest also in the prophet Zephaniah, saying of God: 'And you also, Ethiopians, are wounded by my sword' (Zephaniah 2:12), by which the sword of God is made clear, all the Ethiopian being called out through darkness and wickedness. Most clearly in Exodus, instead of a most bitter punishment, the sword was received; where the scribes of the sons of Israel, those over the works of the tyrant, having been appointed by him, having fallen under most bitter threat and tribulation, meeting Moses and Aaron, were saying, inciting: 'See, God has seen you and will judge; for you have made our stench loathsome before Pharaoh, to give the sword into his hands to kill us.' For they did not say they feared the iron knife, but the bitterness of the ruler, they said this. It is also presented from these words that the patience of God was not used cuttingly against those not repenting in...

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The Vineyard of Life and the Pit of Error§10

10A sword, but it is shining. And the bow has been drawn and prepared to shoot the arrows of punishment, but it has not yet released the arrows, even though it has fashioned them and holds them ready to shoot. It can be said that instruments of death are prepared in a bow, those serving the punishments, often called instruments of wrath. For the wicked are not angels through whom wrath, anger, and tribulation are sent upon the worthy. And if even the fashioned arrows, having been filled with poisonous medicine, are instruments of death for those being punished, one must take heed.

He who has labored in iniquity has conceived pain to give birth to injustice (Psalm 7:14-16). These are the offspring that the one who has conceived will bring forth in secret, he who is to be punished through iniquity and injustice which he did; and appropriately, he will seize both the pain in the punishment and the pain in the sinning. For the work of iniquity is most heavy and burdensome, compared to a talent of lead; for nothing is more inferior than evil, which always brings down the one who does it.

Some say that, because of the order of evil, the labor is spoken of before the seizing of the birth-pangs. For upon those pregnant, after the seizing, is the pain with which they give birth; but there, before the seizing, the pain is named because it lacks the rhythm and order of that in evil. And likewise the precedence of injustice over iniquity. For someone having become lawless from this, is not under the law of righteousness, so as to also set upon other men while he acts unjustly. This is found especially concerning Cain; for having become lawless by not rightly dividing what is due to God, he subsequently gave birth to injustice by attacking his brother lethally. Moreover, these voices belong especially to the devil, who is primeval-evil because he first acted lawlessly and unjustly. And every one sinning first harms himself, if he harms others; for the evil thing is injurious and harmful, first of all to the one participating in it, harming and damaging him. For the folly of a man defiles his ways, as it is said, 'the foolish will flee from evil' (Prov 14:16). Who is the pit into which the liar, who has done evil, will be cast? For it is written concerning a sinning soul, 'As a pit, so is Sheol' (Ps 183:4), just so.

Its wickedness is a pit. And often in the Scriptures, a pit is taken instead of wickedness, just as when the blind man leads the blind, both shall fall into a pit; and for this reason, blind teachers and students, who are under ignorance and other evils, must be avoided.

46 Having begun from hoping in the Lord his God, the Psalm settles into thanksgiving, as is fitting, having obtained the things requested or faithfully awaiting them; for 'I will confess' (Psalm 7:17) declares thanksgiving here; therefore 'I will sing' is joined to it. And he confesses not as if by chance, but according to the righteousness of God; and he sings not aimlessly, but to the name of the Lord the Most High, as he declares having called Him to himself. Therefore also it is high according to holiness and virtue; for no lowly person, but only the one striving for piety, partakes of the Most High's approach.

47 For the life of every man is called a vineyard according to the Scriptures. Concerning such a thing, Naboth the righteous resisted the one demanding tyrannically, choosing rather to die than to give his vineyard to the one who wanted to make it a vegetable garden. For the man is magnanimous and the vineyard is unvanquished, a life most excellent, both practical and contemplative. The wicked desire to take this, not so that it may bear fruit according to its nature, but to tear it down into temporary and quickly withering things, vegetables appropriately named; for he says they will fall quickly like vegetables. This is said concerning those having temporary haste. Near to this vineyard are also those in the 'Aisma' of sins who are named in 'My mother's sons fought against me, they imprisoned me in vineyards; they did not protect my vineyard' (Song of Solomon 1:6).' We have passed over this, using only this expression to show for the sake of demonstration what the name of the vineyard signifies: life. He who bears clusters of truth and brings forth grapes through such a vineyard. Since the offspring of the vineyard have a season for being plucked, it is fitting to reap them and bring them into winepresses, so that they might make wine pressing that gladdens the heart of man. And since the life turns out to be both practical and contemplative, the former are the insights of truth, and the latter the work, which is praised for bearing fruit. And it is not one winepress upon which they are brought...

The Exaltation of Christ and the Maturity of Believers§11

11Not merely fruits, but more; for the ode is not for a single vintage, but for many vintages. Again, since the practical virtues are many fruits, each will have its own particular vintage; some bear fruits upon the vintage of temperance, those who succeed in chastity and maintain a pure bed; others bear fruits upon the vintage of courage, which those are the farmers of; and concerning the other virtues, they speak of similar things.

Since there are more vintages, those who farm the practical virtues bring them into them like the harvests of vineyards; it is necessary also that those who have borne the clusters of doctrines and theorems of truth bring more into them for the contemplative life. Having said these things, let no one neglect the following of the virtues. For they are one and of the same kind, but since those who partake do not have equal measure toward all, they possess measure from which they profit more than others; he who more fully partakes of justice is named from this, and likewise for each of the others. For you will likewise perceive the various beatitudes spoken in the Gospel, one being named from the most powerful grass, another from the merciful, and similarly regarding the rest.

But also in its own number, this ode is composed as the seventy-eighth. For it has much harmony with the resurrection day of the Lord, on which there has become a harvest of many vineyards, as the disciples of the Risen One are sent to make disciples of all nations and to testify to the Risen One to the ends of the earth, so that the proclamation of the Risen One may be spread everywhere, as it is immediately shown from the words of the psalm. 'Great is the name of the Lord in Israel' (Psalm 76:1), which was said in former times when Israel alone was holding to godliness; but now, the prophecy having been fulfilled, 'all nations shall serve him' (Psalm 72:11), (for he is the hope of the nations), 'Wonderful is your name become in all the earth' among those partaking of Christ's proclamation everywhere. For his name has been magnified over all, as it is carried in another psalm. And the cause of his name being wondered at throughout the earth is given in the following verse. For he says, 'Your majesty has been lifted up above the heavens,' so that you...

Having been taken up, rising from the dead, the Christians of the whole earth are called by your designation, O Christ. The majesty of the Savior is being praised; the economy, which received its purpose for the salvation of the world, is above the heavens. For what is it to find remaining in it lacking in greatness what is becoming? His majesty was lifted up above the heavens, having been made to sit at the right hand of Majesty in the high places after the cleansing of sins.

By this understanding, it must also be received that he has become higher than the heavens after the resurrection. But let not all those believing from the Gentiles and those coming to the Gospel from the circumcision—who, even if they should ever reach the age of a man, are infants in wickedness, being made infants through simplicity, not knowing evil—be so. The difference between infants and sucklings is shown from the word: those receiving milk are sucklings, while those having surpassed this age of infants are being called infants. It is appropriate, as the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians, 'I gave you milk, not food' (1 Cor 3:2). One must watch over this differently: the one being introduced, receiving milk, is a suckling; but the one having been perfected according to understanding, yet being an infant in wickedness, remains an infant. Such are all those having turned and having become like children.

For not much remains to them of having attained the knowledge of you, and of becoming like you in holiness and virtue, to take up as far as is possible (Psalm 8:5). But most correctly he said, 'You made him a little lower than the angels,' but 'You have not made him less than the angels' (Ps 8:5). For man, being equal and of equal strength to the immortal rational beings, was made lower than them by the providence of God, through which you alone, the one providing, having been surpassed by mortal life, were struck by the flesh. But even if it has not happened in that way regarding him, he has nonetheless been crowned with surpassing honor and glory by you, because he has become according to your image and likeness, through which image and likeness you have exercised the rational being, having subjected all things to him as being under his feet. Paul writes these words spoken about Christ to the Hebrews, saying, 'What is man, that you should remember him?' (Ps 8:4) and having placed...

The Judgment of Cities and the Error of the Jews§12

12From here he brings in other words of the psalm. We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, being crowned with glory and honor through the suffering of death; for it was necessary for him, through whom all things and through whom all things, to lead many sons into glory, to perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings (Hebrews 2:9-10).

Behold the sequence: it is not set to rule over all mortal creatures, but over the days (Psalm 8:6). For the one-horned does not hold sway, nor does he stand against the others, strong and wild, as to rule the days, from the sheep and the ox and all the cattle of the field, and the following. I think this is not well said. For before these transgressions, man ruled; and the righteous rule even after these transgressions, as Daniel, having been thrown into the den of lions and suffering no harm from any of them, and Paul, having shaken off the viper from his own hand upon the fire. For wild beasts, they say, shall make peace with you; and in addition to these, the beasts of the field are included, as we have learned in Genesis.

It is fitting that the song spoken concerning the resurrection of the Savior should have a resemblance to the end at the beginning (Psalm 8:9); for beginning and ending use the same words, the Spirit teaching the beginning to be the end according to the subject. It agrees with 'O Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth: let all the earth worship you and sing praises to you' (Psalm 66:4).

Since it is not being defined who the Son is, what the Savior is is being made manifest in many ways by being so named. Indeed, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul says, 'Christ, if he is a Son upon his own house, not we are' (Hebrews 3:6/2:13 context); and again, 'At the end of these days he spoke to us in a Son' (Heb 1:2); and the Savior himself writes about himself in the Gospel, 'If the Son does not set you free, you will be free indeed' (John 8:36). And also the proposed triumphal song has a reference to the end. For on account of that end, the Savior arrived, about which the precursor of the apostles writes: 'Having grasped the end of faith, the salvation of souls, concerning which salvation the prophets searched and inquired, and after a little time, testifying to the sufferings toward Christ...'

Regarding the glories that follow these things. Perhaps the Jews, concerning Absalom as the son of the one singing, will say that the inscription is true, being rebuked as they have not rightly received it, and because they are always in error for not searching the Scriptures. For what is it even plausible to say in the work 'On the Hidden Things', if they do not uncover the thoughts of Absalom that occurred in secret, regarding how the hidden things lie? And what is said by them possesses much elegance.

Such a sitting signifies him as a judge, but not that a certain seat has been established. Stand firm, if there is room to say, that after the nations have been rebuked, the impious shall perish in the manner of their ways, so as to no longer profit them. And this shall happen, the previously spoken thing being fulfilled thus: 'The way of the ungodly shall perish' (Psalm 1:6).

But the aggressions of the enemy are, in a sense, the heretical teachings and the vices according to appearance, which some have left as if they could no longer contend super-abundantly as cities, and they themselves shall be destroyed; for cities are collections of people standing together and being governed unlawfully. For it has been written concerning the one establishing them as 'building cities in vain and preparing cities in iniquity'. For their substance is wrongdoing and the shedding of blood of those being scandalized. The Savior, having arrived, pulls these down, pulling down the enemy who wishes to rule tyrannically, having been as it were cities.

Having seen this courage with divine eyes and speaking well, they say he is the best, as if uttering a gracious voice from one voice, beginning thus: 'Lord my God, I will glorify you, I will praise your name, what you have done wonderful things, an ancient and true counsel'; may it be, Lord, that what you have made cities into dust, a city of the ungodly, shall never be built for ever. Stand firm, if it signifies the raised ruin of Jerusalem, of the Savior having been crucified in it, of its citizens being the remainder of the ungodly because of the killing of the Lord (Psalm 9:6). 'The structure after the shout instead of with peace of those conquering has risen' (Psalm 9:6).

It exhorts the things set forth to withdraw indeed from wickedness and impiety, and to approach indeed virtue and piety (Ps 9:8b-9). For what mind, believing these things spoken thus, would not...

The Cry of the Gentiles and the Wages of Sin§13

13He will fear lest he fall before the one judging in righteousness and uprightness because of false deeds and an impious mindset; for the judgment of him will be inescapable. This is shown by the expression 'at an acceptable time God heard you' (Isaiah 49:8), and by the first Psalm: 'Arising, you will have mercy on Zion' (Psalm 102:13)—what a time to have mercy, what a time that is.

Having ascended above all human confidence (for having knowledge of your name they have strong and complete trust), they will hope for nothing of those things; but those who want all things from him seek God, wanting to exist not from themselves, and they are not abandoned by him. It is fitting to hear this word piously and wisely. For if anyone thinks that he who prospers in worldly things is not abandoned by God, he errs. For many impious people live thus. It is not to say that Abel was abandoned (for he was slain), but also the prophets and apostles; for they were continually afflicted, and in the end most of them were slain by men. Because of this distinction, we do not say that one held until the last breath is not abandoned by God, even if he suffers myriad times from enemies. For this is truly the not being abandoned by the Lord. The manner in which one must seek God is shown by those having such wisdom: 'Think about the Lord with goodness, and seek him with a simple heart, who is found by those not testing him, but is revealed to those not being unfaithful to him' (Wisdom 1:1-2).

Those who have practiced singing with spirit and mind are commanded to sing a hymn, but they do not sing thus with pious understanding and thought of the spirit; for they are commanded to sing even dreadfully and to sing with the heart. Those who do not sing thus to the Lord dwelling in Zion according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit receive another command toward him in the...

To announce to the nations his excellencies. These are, namely, what he marvelously did having arrived, both intelligible and sensible things. And the second command is said especially to the apostles having been sent, to disciple all the nations. And what they seek, their souls remembered those having been snatched away by the fiery arrows of the evil one.

By these, he says, the 'He did not forget the cry of the poor' is applied, so that no one will be at a loss saying: how did the poor from the nations cry to God, even though having been snatched away by the prevailing many-minded deception and by the invisible enemies working it? It must truly be said to bring up their cry, just as the blood of Abel cries to God and the reward having been deprived of the workers; for he says, 'Behold, the reward of those who have not sown your lands cries out, that which has been deprived from you' (James 5:4).

And another understanding is said; not entirely the same as those from the nations, of whom the souls remembered, the poor are those of whom the benefactor did not forget the voice. For they are not able to be those concerning the nations having prophetically pre-announced, of whom one says, 'Those from the ends of the earth' (Psalm 22:27) and the other, 'All the nations, all that you have done, shall worship before you' (Ps 86:9). And the poor are also in these, it is said, those lacking much of the wealth of divinity and of the divine knowledge; for they were partially prophesying in the end.

Regarding that one being below death, it is not written, 'Death swallowed up by strength' (Isaiah 25:8); the enemies make those being humbled by it to become, either through maltreatment or through sinning. From this death and from the humbling upon it, it is possible to be outside by the mercy of God. For he who is concerning these things and suffering to the world, finding himself in humbling, if he should receive...

The Nature of the Psalm and the Sinners§14

14The awareness of one's own evils and the knowledge of God's goodness leads to the prayer, 'Have mercy on me and see the humiliation that has come upon me from my enemies' (Psalm 9:13). For they humiliated me by dragging me down; but You alone are able to lift me up from the gates of death through a goodness that is always present.

Regarding the daughters of Zion, those participating in this must hear in harmony with being called sons of light, peace, and wisdom. The gates of the daughter of Zion, being opposite the gates of death, are praiseworthy deeds and contemplations of God's virtue and wisdom to be fulfilled.

Concerning the incorruptible virtue, it is said: 'The grace is with those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption' (Ephesians 6:24), while the opposite, evil, will be called corruption and destruction. It is shown that corruption is called evil from the saying, 'If anyone destroys the temple of God' (1 Cor 3:17), and from what is said to the wicked in the prophet, 'Because of incorruption you have been corrupted by destruction.' This is consistent with, 'Who will help you against your corruption, O Israel?' (Hosea 13:9). The corruption so spoken of, in the doing of what is, is promised to be accomplished by those who possess it. The word says that the mortals have fallen into that in which they practiced corruption (Ps 7:15). For no one else is seized by another's impiety and sin; for each one dies by his own sin.

And since the wicked, having first harmed themselves and others through deceit, attempt to bring the same harm by trial, they secretly prepare snares in their treacherous wisdoms and words to catch the unsuspecting. By that very snare they are punished. For they render justice and through those whom they deceived. And to suffer thus becomes a judgment of the provident God; for how is it not His judgment that, in His works, He seizes the sinner who has used the pretext of acting wickedly to be condemned from without? This is consistent with what was said a little earlier: 'He who digs a pit will fall into it' (Ps 7:15). Having spoken about the psalm of lament, the song of the lament must now be spoken. Having begun the present psalm from 'I will confess to You, Lord,' the proclamation extended as 'The sinner was caught'; after which the words of the song begin...

Since 'Let the sinners be turned away' follows the interlude, the name of the hymn is entwined with the interlude. For if the whole psalm is called a hymn, the preface of the hymn was always arranged in a way and with a power before it, as is demonstrated for many psalms. But since it is not so here, and since the beginning is taken after the interlude, it is fitting that 'Hymn of the interlude' be placed in between. It will be shown how the hymn possesses the thought of the following, with their words being set forth: 'Let the sinners be turned away' etc. Ps 9:18–19: 'Let the sinners be turned away, those imposing judgment against the righteous, into the abyss.'

Interpreting who the sinners are, he brought forward that the things being forgotten are mortal things of God. But sinners and mortals must be understood not as men only, but also as fleshless powers. For if the sinner does not signify essence, but rather what kind of voice the sinner is—a nickname not from the sin itself—then everyone participating in sin would not be called thus. Appropriately to these things, the mortals will also be called. Just as one who is not locally in heaven, but walking upon the earth, is able to possess citizenship and thought there, so also one not dwelling locally in the abyss is able to bear signs of death and of sinning himself, as if he dwells in the abyss, even though he is among those in the life after the body.

And he is called poor, the one impoverishing through sin, and the moderate and the foolish, and the one needing to receive from God; and such a one is born wretched. According to all these ways, the one called poor is remembered by God. For through something advantageous, some forgetfulness of him might occur, but it does not remain entirely so, and for this reason he will not be forgotten unto the end. As for who will be judged poor or needy, we will say as the opportunity calls us to speak about these things. Ps 9:20: 'You, Lord, make those who stagger and those who faint fall from the lofty height, opposing the proud; let them not then be strong, but let them be judged before you; for a surpassing benefit will spring forth for them.'

Let it be interpreted that 'Let man not be strong' as it was said concerning the devil, and it is said in the parable of the tares as being an enemy of man, but also in the prophecy: 'Not man is the one provoking the earth.' And since man was not being strong before the descent of the Savior, saying...

The Provocation of God and the Nature of Sin§15

15I will take the inhabited world in my hand as a disease and as abandoned dust to wipe away; no one shall escape me or answer me.

The human race does not bring the words of its pride as an embassy to the Savior, saying, 'Arise, O Lord, descend to us, so that the human who is proud against us may not be strengthened for long.' For the devil says that 'man' is not a mortal rational animal, but that they have fallen away from divinity just as those to whom God said, 'I am; you are gods and all are sons of the Most High, but you, as men, die' (Ps 82:6).

The prophet asks like a man and inquires of God, saying, 'Why, Lord, have you stood far off?' (Psalm 10:1). If the Word responds to him, what is the good of God for the repentance of sinners? For God has stood far from the sinners, His presence discerning the sin itself and driving the sinners far away according to what has been said: 'Your sins divide you between me and you' (Ps 83:15). Otherwise, God is always present to all and happens to fill all things everywhere. Therefore it has been said in the prophecies: 'I am a God approaching,' says the Lord, 'and not a God from afar.'

But for the righteous who are afflicted in the present life and oppressed by the ungodly, he says, 'As if standing far off, you abandon them, O Lord, and look down from above' (Psalm 10:1). Consequently, the pride of the ungodly increases, while He burns your poor and wretched one, the God-fearing man, who zealously desires and inwardly burns the soul with zeal.

And especially those who are deprived of divine wealth and wisdom and are not precise concerning the doctrines of piety; for they do not stumble upon judgments praising the sinner for that which he desires, it being manifest that the sinner reaches out not for the heretical but for the pleasant and the passionate. Along with these, they consider wealth and human, fleeting glory to be a blessing from the same error, asserting that the wrongdoers are blessed by God; but it is necessary to examine how the blessing of God is given to the righteous.

Even if it has seemed that God stands far off and looks down from above on the afflicted because of being troubled by the pride of the ungodly...

But he does not very much rage against the proud one having stumbled and, if it is said according to the scripture, having set fire to the poor man because of the bad use of the things that were to him by God's providence. For this is shown from the following words: for it is said, 'The sinner provoked the Lord.' And the one provoking is the impious one, praising himself according to his own desires. And he provoked the Lord to such an extent as for the anger to become stretched out, that he himself has stored up for himself according to what was said, 'According to your hardness and unrepentant heart, you store up for yourself wrath in a day of wrath' (Romans 2:5).

However, even if much wrath has been stored up by him, nevertheless there will not be a search according to the abundance and greatness of it on the day of judgment because of the goodness of the judging God. For if a search according to the abundance of the wrath were to happen, the wicked would immediately be lost. Having seen this very thing, they say, regarding the goodness being shown: 'If iniquity is observed, Lord, Lord, who will endure?' (Psalm 130:3). The pretext for the sinner provoking the Lord is not having him before the eyes and in the presence, since he has turned away from God. For every one sinning does this; therefore God says concerning every such one, 'They turned their backs on me, and not faces' (Psalm 130:3).

Cain, having become the father of this impiety, 'Went out from the presence of the Lord God, having turned away from him' (Gen 4:16) clearly. If these things are said concerning sinful men, much more concerning the devil, having provoked God and not having him before him. For especially the following words are said concerning him: 'His ways are defiled at all times' (Psalm 10:5). For whose ways are defiled at all times, except of the impious, habitually performing many, many things? And he walks impiously, not only in single acts seizing men, but also defining unprovidence.

Indeed, he has persuaded many to dogmatize the unprotected world, having first himself fallen from the right opinion concerning God's administration and judgment. This is shown from what is said to God concerning him, 'Your judgments are overthrown from his face; he shall lord it over all his enemies' (Psalm 10:5), not as if he were going to do this always, but because this very thing is set forth; for it is a lie...

The Hidden Danger of the Rich and the Protection of the Poor§16

16He will be Lord over all his enemies. For especially his enemies are those perfect in holiness in whom no one rules. But he rules over only those practicing sin; for it is said, 'Everyone practicing sin is a slave to sin.' And the slave of sin is ruled over by the devil, who has worked sin in him. And according to the insatiable nature of his wickedness, what follows is brought forth: 'For if indeed,' he says, 'I shall never be shaken from generation to generation by evil' (Psalm 10:6). The word reveals his arrogance and impudence. By this voice, one having understood will interpret regarding only those humans who have become his enemies, to say that he will rule over all his enemies. For if indeed from generation to generation one has never been shaken in heart by evil, it is evident that the saying refers only to humans having the 'being' in succession. But even this is not entirely true; for he did not rule over the holy patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; rather, they themselves stretched this authority under the feet of Jesus.

He, having fallen away from his holiness, truth, and blessing, leading himself far away, has a mouth full of curses, through which he says, testing, making a punishment and a curse upon those being deceived. And his word has much wickedness along with the harm; therefore, along with the curse and bitterness and deceit, his word is full, being called his mouth. And since he brings forth none of these things to harm and destroy under his tongue, but the word itself is harmful, pain and toil exist; for nothing is gentle or kind, but if he brings in toil and pain, he brings it forth.

Setting before himself harm and destruction through all things, he chooses men appearing to be rich in word (having false knowledge), and sitting with them, he tries to hide so as to remain unknown, to kill the innocent by wounding him with his burning arrows (Psalm 10:8-11); for these are things scattering death, striking the one being cast from the life with virtue by the arrows. It is possible to pierce and thus: 'He sits in a seat with...'

Of the rich; with the stichoi we bring forward 'To kill the innocent in secret.' For the 'in secret' part causes doubt, being divided in two ways, as we have previously noted by stichoi: 'He sits in the seat with the rich in secret' (Psalm 10:8), followed by 'to kill the innocent.' However, even if he sits in a seat with the aforementioned rich, intending to look and to kill the innocent, it is necessary to oversee that no one of the God-wise may be able to wound one clothed in the panoply of God; for he, obeying the command to turn his eyes toward the poor man, has him captured, the same one acting toward the poor man being scorched by the impiety of the ungodly's pride.

He sits in secret, a fierce lion in his den, to snatch the poor man through deceptive words (and indeed also through deeds), and he will drag him after snatching him into his trap in order to devour him. For he is a fierce beast, rather even a lion. Often indeed, sitting in a seat and seemingly speaking about stewardship, he conceals the matter concerning love of money. As one speaking about temperance, he proposes a manner of intemperance, just as the serpent deceived Eve in the paradise through the transgression of the commandment, setting up equality, and likewise Judas through love of money. The 'looking down' written there shows that, having turned the eye downward, he fell; for how could he not direct his gaze downward, he who rejects Providence, by saying 'God has forgotten' and the following things? (Psalm 10:11)

Being able immediately to humble the proud one who tyrannizes those being shaken by his audacity, for what is the use, being able to help them, if you allow them a certain time to be afflicted, during which you understood not only the pain upon him and through him? And this has happened, so that those who have benefited through the timely affliction may willingly deliver themselves into your hands, having a remaining desire to be disciplined and to be ruled by you. To you, then, the poor man is not abandoned; you will manage the things concerning his salvation, so that you may make him rich by providing good things from heaven. So also he helps the orphan, presiding over and rearing him into the rank of a son. An orphan in these things...

The Readiness of the Ruling Principle§17

17The devil, who once had a father through wickedness, must now be cast out by a manner of repentance. The symbols of these received orphans seeking help by God are Abraham leaving his father's house to follow God when called, and the sons of Zebedee leaving their father after the exhortation of Jesus saying, 'Follow me.'

But who is the sinner and evil, as spoken of with the article, the devil? His arm is broken by the Lord, and his sin, being sought, is not found, having found its end in its fulfillment. For evil is not a certain substance but a quality, and thus the end will be established over all things, not because all other things have become so; for he himself is nothing, as there is no end to his kingdom. For one cannot be under two lords and kings. The one who ruled and reigned was the sin of the one doing it; God is not the lord or king of the one sinning. And since the sin that was ruling the one acting it was sought, it was not found, the Lord reigns forever and unto the age of ages.

It is said of the good heart of the earth of God (Psalm 10:16). From this earth mortals perish, if every vain thought and evil purpose is cast out; for vain thoughts and purposes are mortal, being destroyed by the blessing of God. But if someone wishes to signify even the land of the gentle (for it also belongs to the Lord), mortals perish from this earth. For no one sinning is permitted to ascend into it; for only the saints shall inherit it. For it is said to someone holy: 'I believe to see the good things of the Lord among the living in the land' (Psalm 27:13). And to another God says: 'I will bring you up to the good things of the earth' (Psalm 27:13).

The desire of the poor was to see the one who tyrannically ruled over them fall. Since he has not risen...

Because the desire of the sinful and evil man is worn away at the arm, it is fitting that it is revealed to God, who oversees hearts and knows the hidden thing, as an active prayer. But the Lord heard them, paying attention with his ear to the readiness of their ruling principle; for how would the heart not be ready toward salvation, those having desire for the things foretold? (Psalm 10:17).

In this way, the man must be caught out, either by boasting toward the mortal rational animal, or toward the one saying, 'I will seize the world with my hand, and no one shall escape me or answer me, the deceiver.' For he will not magnify himself while being crushed under the feet of the saints who tread upon his power, Jesus, this one having granted. (Psalm 11:1-2; LXX 10:1-2).

And it should be read also thus: 'In the Lord I have trusted'; how do you say to my soul, 'Behold, the sinners have bent a bow, they have prepared arrows in a quiver,' and the following? (Ps 10:1-2). Upon these spoken things, the soul is urged to be poised like a sparrow with the wings of virtue, so that having passed over the high mountains, it might remain harmless among the spiritual things. And how one should bear the distinctions of the reading, it is fitting to trust in the Lord. (Ps 10:1-2).

According to theory: as if the ruling principle were held ready against many sophistically prepared visible and invisible enemies, resembling a bow drawn in readiness, and also arrows prepared, and persuasive words are used; in order that you might shoot down the enemy, you have a passage through high mountains, and having occurred there, you will not be harmed. It is said that the more divine meanings of the Scriptures are signified by the correspondence of the things seen; toward these, also the wise teachers, apostles, and prophets. It is possible through the Spirit to grasp the saying, 'Repent, go to the mountains like a sparrow,' exhorting one to withdraw, desiring to run from the venomous strike of the archers. And if even invisible powers are...

The Judgment of the Wicked and the Cup of Wrath§18

Deceitful Speech and the Deliverance of the Poor§19

19It is a threat of burning, but the divine thing that awakens is rather the fire as a starting point. Along with these, the Spirit indicates a turning of some kind of storm of temptation. And as to what kind of temptation the storm indicates, it is clearly to be learned from that which is written in Isaiah: 'As a storm passing through the desert, coming near, its appearance is fearful and its hardness was announced to me.' Let us therefore flee from impiety, so that this cup may be far from us, and let us live in piety, so that we may drink the intoxicating cup as strongest; for perhaps even that is said: 'The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup.'

For the Lord is just and loved justice, and straightness is his face. For this reason, he watches his eyes over the poor for his salvation, but also upon the sinners he sends snares. For it does not happen by chance, if it becomes of the providence and the judgment of God; for the Lord is just in essence, not merely in participation of justice. Moreover, even if he does not have it by nature, he does not love the justices that are in the many righteous, accepting the intention of each. It is also possible to say another way that he loves justices; since there is justice in the judgment of each, and the judgments of God are many, about which it is written: 'The judgments of the Lord are true and justified'; on the same basis, it is necessary that many justices also exist. And as he is just, so also seeing straightness; and straightness you say is the opinion being regulated toward the right reason; he sees this rejoicing in those who have it. It may also be said regarding straightness in harmony with the second thought concerning the justiceses existing in his unsearchable judgments, which he sees because of the utterly accepting of his face; for God appears present in the works of providence and in the results of the judgments.

As the fullness of the deceit and wickedness of humanity, as if there were no mercy and truth and knowledge of God on the earth, there has become a need for the arrival of the Savior toward us, for the destruction of the existing harm (Psalm 12:1; LXX 11:1). To this end that which is in Jeremiah shall take place: 'Each will play with his neighbor, they will not speak truth; their tongue has learned to speak lies' (Jeremiah 9:5). Why is it not 'the truth' but 'the truths'? The one reason is because of the...

The various impieties in transactions, and the wrong opinions in dogmas. For it is not necessary to consider the members of the body being destroyed, but their deceitful use and their boastful speech; for even in Proverbs it is said: 'Remove from yourself a crooked mouth and long deceitful lips from you' (Proverbs 4:24). Our lips are with us; who is our master? From this audacity the impious man, prospering in finding what he desires, utters a voice like that in Job (Job 21:14-15): 'Depart from me, I do not wish to know your ways; what is sufficient, what shall we serve him?' For indeed they do not think the prosperity coming to them is due to anything, saying to the Lord: 'Depart; do not make your ways manifest to me; for I do not wish to know them; for what more is of us sufficient, that we may serve you?'

Regarding the impious ones thinking much of themselves as having a boastful tongue and deceitful lips, the poor suffer and the needy groan, not bearing their tyranny (Psalm 12:5). Therefore the Lord says: 'I will arise now, having placed my counsel in salvation; I will speak boldly in it against those swelling up proudly of the lowly; and I will release the poor and the needy from suffering and groaning.' You say 'the poor' and in this also 'the needy' to exhort themselves through the weakness coming to them or through the wickedness leading to such a state. Indeed, they have not become superior to suffering and groaning, because the Lord, at the time of the visitation, has arisen and has come to us so that the salvation of those who have suffered and groaned might be made manifest. It is indeed appropriate to hear the following: 'I am a wretched man; who will rescue me from this body of death?' (Rom 7:24). Upon which, speaking boldly thereafter, he says: 'I thank God through Jesus Christ.' For it is shown through these things how Jesus Christ, who rescued the wretched one from the body of death, is the one who said: 'I will arise now,' says the Lord. It is possible to say that the poor are those fallen from wealth, and the needy are those whose living is made through toil; and according to this understanding, the poor and needy are...

The Light of Knowledge and the Sleep of Death§20

20It is not to be the case that the poor man is not being turned away from necessity. And perhaps what has been said concerning the poor man will be constructed as an argument, for it is said in the Scripture, 'The rich became poor,' and 'We became very poor'; in agreement with these, what was said concerning the Savior will also be taken: 'As He became rich through our poverty, so that we might become rich through His poverty.'

This also agrees with that concerning the needy: the groaning of the needy, always being in distress and wailing because of the hardship of approaching the destitute. 'I will come' in salvation declares 'I will limit and I will make,' just as He also in the Being placed Himself as heir of all things, the word declaring He limited and manifested Himself as heir. Toward these things, God placed first the apostles and the following in the church, and what was said toward the presbyters of the church: 'The Holy Spirit has placed you to shepherd the church as bishops.' For the word 'placed' shows the demonstration of being limited and made into apostles and bishops.

According to this meaning of preserving, the Savior also said to the Father concerning the disciples: 'Holy Father, keep them; though I am not with them, I kept them, and the evil one did not touch them' (John 17:11). But if this is the meaning because of what was said in Genesis concerning Adam to the serpent: 'He shall guard your head, and you shall guard his heel,' is not 'to guard' (φυλάσαι) and 'to keep' (τηρεῖν) the same thing here? For it appears from it: 'He shall guard your head,' and 'you, his heel.'

The one who is praying sends back the prayer: 'You, Lord, will guard us,' after having done all things from Himself, according to the exhortation saying, 'Keep your heart with all vigilance.' And since these things being made right are not sufficient for the things we strive for against the unforeseen (for if the Lord does not guard a city, in vain the one guarding it stays awake Ps 127:1), it is a rule to bring forward a prayer after we have been guarded by ourselves, saying, 'You, Lord, will guard us and will preserve us.' For while He is guarding, let us be courageous, lest we be without counsel for ever; for He is the Most High, O Master, and existing in the high places, according to the approaching height of Your goodness, the ones...

You have grown up as a son of men, judging them worthy to have your protection from your providence (Psalm 13:3-4). Even if these things are spoken by the Holy Spirit in the manner of an embassy, they are not spoken by one subject to the oblivion of God, but by one receiving all things of the petition into himself; and it is clear that the things of his petition are not concerning a sensible light or sleep and death, but concerning the light from the knowledge of God.

For 'enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge, and draw near to the Lord and be enlightened.' This enlightenment becomes not concerning the sight of the flesh (for this is the sight of the sun) nor any other sensible light of those seeing the sun of righteousness; it is the true light of the eyes of the heart, not of the body, for the noetic powers are the eyes of the inner man. To the one being enlightened, there is blessed life. 'For I am the light of the world,' says the Lord; 'he who walks in me,' he says, 'shall not remain in darkness but shall have the light of life' (John 8:12).

When death comes to the one having been enlightened, it is his sleeping into death, while the one sleeping and dying is the one being in the darkness of ignorance. For he who has given up his eyes to sleep through negligence and laziness will immediately die, falling away from the life which is with virtue; therefore, one must flee from this so-called sleep and death, so that, the eyes of the soul having been enlightened, the enemy may no longer be able to prevail against him, he who formerly thought that we had sinned. (Psalm 13:3-4)

Since the enemies, those who afflict the righteous, rejoice (Psalm 13:4-5); if it happens that a stumbling occurs because of sin, it is necessary to be grieved for those falling; but even if they rejoice at someone being shaken, I, O Lord, pity my hope in you, and I will not be persuaded to see in myself the cause. For I await your salvation coming soon, on which my heart rejoices; for how can he not be glad and rejoice who is experiencing the experience of God's salvation? And if prophecy is being declared concerning the coming of the salvation of God, the Christ, visit. For he, having come for the salvation of the world, brought down those who were leaning upon the shaking ones according to the soul, casting down with them the enemy who was exalting himself.

The corruption of the soul and the loss of divine knowledge§21

21He has loftily enlightened the eyes, so that no one might see the death of the soul. He, having come to visit and having looked upon, ceased the pain; but when the psalmist has been made upright, the blessed gift is a victorious song, saying: 'I will sing to the Lord who has done good to me, and I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High' (Psalm 13:6). Having truly learned what is said well by the Lord toward those who pray, while He is still speaking to you, I will say: 'Behold, I am here.' And He says these things to those who are present. Having happened to experience what I requested, therefore, through each goodness occurring to us, let us hymn, and let us also say the set hymn, not by contemplation alone but also by singing; for contemplation signifies the seeing, and singing signifies practical energy.

The foolish one lacks not common concepts, but the companionship of skill, rather the one of the virtues, wisdom, concerning which it is written: 'He who acquires wisdom loves himself, and he who guards wisdom will find good things' (Proverbs 19:8). But what is the natural companionship? The word declares, as if he is not obeying anyone but says in his own heart, 'There is no God' (Psalm 14:1). For no one received the words concerning the denial of God. Almost all men, having an unswerving thought concerning God, the first verse has much familiarity, as has been said concerning the devil. For even he is not to anyone, but 'In his own mind': 'I will ascend to heaven, above the stars of heaven I will set my throne; I will be like the Most High' (Isaiah 14:13-14).

But as he who knows God keeps His word and turns His commandments into work, not so does everyone sinning, who comes to this by not knowing God; for John writes, that everyone sinning is far from having the knowledge of God, that everyone sinning has not seen Him nor known Him (1 John 3:6). Having cast out from the soul the piety which was preceding and ruling the virtues. Text ends abruptly..

Having space for it, one possesses virtues. But if the intellect is weak, it would be clear if it were to happen from the writings concerning the sons of Eli (1 Sam 2); for they, not knowing the Lord, proven plagues, were sinning, but rather they were impious regarding the priestly service, corrupting the duties of both the law and godliness.

The following will be taken and what is announced in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:3) likewise: Offspring upon offspring, deceit upon deceit; all are committing adultery, a gathering of those breaking covenants, what has come out from evil into evil; but 'me he did not fear,' says the Lord. For how will it not be that, having ignorance of God, they are transgressors of his laws? These things being considered generally, it persuades that one has God in memory, so that we may be praised in duties, pursuing them with incorruptible intention.

Among those who have been defiled by corrupting the duties, no one doing goodness is found; for all are wicked, all goodness having been cut off because of hardness of heart (Psalm 14:1-3). As wisdom will not enter into a craftily-made soul, nor does it dwell in a body guilty of sin, likewise he who works lawlessness does not receive divine knowledge; for no one sinning sees or knows God, according to that which is written in the Epistle of John (1 John). But he who desires to be a knower sows into righteousness, reaps the fruit of life, and will thus enlighten himself with the light of knowledge.

And since the enemies of the people of God are workers of lawlessness, as if to devour him, they are deprived of the knowledge of God; and someone, preferring to devour and harm him, acts according to: 'Bite each other and devour each other; see that you are not consumed by one another' (Galatians 5:15). And in Isaiah (Isaiah 9:12) it is written likewise: 'Syria from the rising of the sun and the Greeks from the setting of the sun, devouring Israel with a maw of mouth.' But if ever they are able to devour the people of God delivered to them, they shall suffer judgment through sin; for Holy Israel belongs to the Lord.

Jacob, Israel, and the Tabernacle of the Word§22

22The beginning of his judgments: all those eating him shall be filled with calamity, evil or violence upon them, says the Lord.

Those about to eat the people of God unjustly did not call upon the Lord, thinking to carry out all things by their own power and to tyrannize the people of God. For if they had known that they received him through the judgment of God by sin, they would have feared even more, lest they should fall under the same judgment. Therefore it is said to them, having become more reckless than is proper: 'Though I was angry a little, they themselves pressed on to ving tyrannized the people of God unjustly, they fell into cowardice. Therefore one should not fear a coward; for fear is not present, if having received those delivered by the judgment of God, they approached them humanely and gently. But since they did all things harshly and without mercy, having fallen into cowardice, they laid waste to others. And this has risen up.

'Since God is in the generation of the righteous,' you will say, 'a generation of the righteous,' meaning the harmony of the righteous deeds in which the righteous judge is found, or the concord of righteous men and the commonality toward the same end. For if where two or three gather at his assembly, the Lord is found present, how much more would a whole generation of the righteous be found? And those who fulfill the same mind and life, even if they become a generation in different times, after this it would be said that time has called them to this. One who is cowed by a fear that is not fear; and he who fears man and once simply those killing the body, but not being able to kill the soul. For it is said, 'But do not fear anyone other than God.'

In connection with this passion, the Lord reproves Jerusalem saying: 'Who has not been reverent toward a mortal man?' (Psalm 14:7; LXX 13:7). But as for the captivity of the people, it must first be viewed, so that we may subsequently see its return. He who falls away through his own laziness from the doing of good is taken captive by the law of sin, so as to have the power of death under the tyrannically devouring devil. This one, having been found having surrendered to the enemies outside the fatherland (and this is the partaking of virtue), is called back.

The Lord is submissive to the manner of repentance and to the forgiveness of those who have previously sinned; and this is the redeeming of the captives and the turning back of the captivity. When this has been fulfilled by the Lord's cross, as the people believing from the nations have been redeemed, Jacob rejoices. The same, according to the underlying meaning, is Jacob through thought alone, discerning the difference. For if one, doing good things and working according to virtue, overcomes the passions and evils and the working evil powers as a conqueror of them, he is Jacob rejoicing; but if, after the practical life, having obtained a pure heart, he sees God, he is Israel, a mind seeing God. For he does not receive into the voice of the Greeks a divine joy, being rejoiced; no one is grieved to take from a parallel passage the 'Let him rejoice and let him be glad' to be said.

85 Psalm 15:1 See if the one living according to the law, having become the pedagogue unto Christ, dwells as a sojourner in the tabernacle of the Lord, wandering around the tent of the testimony. But the one having hastened unto Christ, having adhered to the evangelical teaching, dwells in the holy spirit of God, not another, but of the Son of God, concerning which it was prophetically said: 'The light of the Lord shall appear.' Stand firm, if it be rightly understood: the holy light of God is the God the Word, and his tabernacle is what the man took up. And it is necessary to know beforehand according to the flesh Christ, if he is the only-begotten according to the Father. He who says, 'Even if we have known according to the flesh Christ, but now we know no longer,' who has seen his glory, the glory as the only-begotten from the Father, dwells in the tabernacle, no longer a sojourner but dwelling in the holy spirit of God. And to him it is said: 'Ascend upon a high light,' he who evangelizes Zion. Therefore, the prophet, seeking an equal, says of the one able to say, 'Our citizenship exists in the heavens' (Phil 3:20), asks of the one to whom the Lord answers: 'Going...'

86 Psalm 15:3 The one being erased from the appointed things, being a lover of brothers and a companion, hastens to be wise, spending time with the wise, turning himself away from all the weakness of the foolish, lest he be known as one of them. If therefore he turns away from the bad ones, but has understanding with the good (for the wise are good ones).

The Unshakable Foundation of the Saints§23

23He does not accept reproach from those approaching him, those who always reproach those who have evils approaching them as if they were praising their neighbors and having good friends. To this, the speaker is indifferent: 'Walking in an unblemished way, it did not work for my benefit; speaking righteousness, it did not direct itself before my eyes' (Psalm 101:6-7).

And the word of an oath of a man is unsearchable, upon which the 'Yes, yes' and 'No, no' are confirmed. If even at times there is a need for God to be a witness to the word toward the 'No', he does this unpretentiously, just as the prophetic apostle leaves behind a pattern and a guide in the Epistles, who says: 'God is my witness, whom I serve in the gospel of his Son' (Romans 1:9); and 'No': 'I call God as witness upon my soul' (2 Corinthians 1:23); and again: 'God, who is over all, is my witness, I do not lie' (2 Corinthians 11:31). For this is an ungraspable faith; for an oath is nothing other than a word with God's witness, a thing being confirmed by God's witness. And however an oath may be held, it does not invalidate an oath to a neighbor.

And it is also to lend spiritually without offspring, as it is signified by what was said to the disciples of Jesus by the Teacher: 'And do not turn away from the one who wishes to borrow from you' (Matthew 5:42). For how could anyone say this perceptibly to those saying, 'We have left all and followed you' (Matthew 19:27), or those saying with boldness, 'Silver and gold I do not have' (Acts 3:6)? Since, therefore, to lend perceptibly to the saints (whenever it is said they do this) is described, it is necessary to take this spiritually; the one lending must take the intelligible teaching word instead of silver for the sake of gaining something corporeal. For if even those sowing spiritual things receive the fleshly things only to be fed (for worthy is the laborer of his food Luke 10:7), they do not lend in this way; for they do not receive silver according to the value of the logical spiritual things given, but the only food.

And he shall not be shaken forever, because he remained through life having steeled himself in virtues (Psalm 15:5; LXX 14:5ab). For this is the same as what is said here: 'I shall not eat meat forever,' and 'He shall be your slave forever.' He who has heard the words of Jesus and has done them remains unshakeable forever.

For he possesses the houses of his own citizenship, which are named as those having their foundations laid upon Christ, called a rock. They are not as firm as those concerning whom Jesus says, 'Whoever believes in me shall live forever' (John 11:25). There are some such as are standing; and what the apostle writes concerning them: 'Having been founded and rooted in love' (Ephesians 3:17). If that which is not to be shaken for eternity shows a greater endurance of an age, similarly examine the one said: 'And everyone who lives and believes in me shall live forever' (John 11:26).

The saints, remaining unshakeable for eternity, will perfect their life, not being limited by time but remaining always; and this is a symbol of their pillar of victory (Psalm 16:1; LXX 15:1a). And this 'pillar-writing' of David is a prefiguration of the psalm to be set forth. For the deeds of those being destroyed and no longer existing do not turn out to be such; nor do the deeds of sinners have the quality of not remaining. For it is said that the enjoyment of sin is temporary, and that the sin of the sinner and the evil one will not be found. But the life of the saints is not such; for they look toward the things not seen and eternal. It is said, therefore, concerning each of them: 'His righteousness remains for the age of ages.' And since it is called a pillar in another way, as scriptures elsewhere lay down laws calling them tablets and boards, it should be called a 'pillar-writing' of the saints, who have handed down teachings written not on stone tablets but on fleshly tablets, that is, having ears and hearts favorable and well-receiving toward the writing. How he possesses the things of the prefiguration of the psalm, we shall see when God reveals it.

Since I have put my hope in you, O Lord, protect me (Psalm 16:1; LXX 15:1b). For I will not be able to endure harmlessly, with myriads of enemies both visible and invisible attacking. Having prayed these things, he brought forth: 'The Lord is my Lord' (Ps 16:2). Who, sinning, is able to confirm this with his voice? For a slave who makes himself a sinner cannot serve God; for no one, he says, can serve two masters (Matt 6:24). Let it be said also in another way regarding the matter at hand. The apostle writes: 'No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit' (1 Cor 12:3), meaning to say this by deed and disposition. For if it were merely spoken, it would be true...

The Spiritual Inheritance and the Measuring Line§24

24It will not be so, with myriads of heretics and hypocrites saying it is mere utterance and not having the Holy Spirit of God. For the Savior himself says: 'Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord' (Matt 7:22); and I, he says, will confess to them, 'Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I never knew you' (Matt 7:23). And again: 'Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?' (Luke 6:46). Therefore, the one saying 'Lord Jesus' in the Holy Spirit, not in mere utterance but in diligent work and true disposition, is truly a servant, just as when you hear with the apostles, 'You call me Lord and Teacher, and you say well, for I am so.'

Thus, the one announcing the foregone things by a practical and contemplative life has established an unshakeable pillar crying out, 'If you are my Lord' (Psalm 16:2; LXX 15:2). And since you turn out to be my Lord, I offer you gifts from your own dogmas, not as to one in need; for they, as not having need of our good things, receive them in order to grant back something far more excessive and greater. And not only through things presented sensuously, but also through spiritual things must the voice be presented.

For we perform virtues, as we manage our own bodies through complete temperance. We are what God accepts, not for our own benefit, but as those who ask him to give us the good things from heaven; for for whose grace does God seek human virtue, if not so that he might grant higher things instead of those which we offer to him? The holy ones of God dwell upon his earth (Psalm 16:3; LXX 15:3a). And this heavenly Jerusalem is that in which they have a citizenship in heaven, even as they dwell on earth.

He never says 'not to gather their assemblies,' but 'out of blood' (Psalm 16:4; LXX 15:4bc); nor does he say 'not to remember their names,' but 'through my lips' (Psalm 16:4; LXX 15:4bc). Perhaps, when there are some gathering assemblies out of blood, pouring them out to harm those gathered, he is himself benefiting, rather vivifying those who are called, gathering them not out of blood but out of immortality, remembering their characteristics, not out of superficiality but having depth of disposition. It will also be said thus: even if many prophets and apostles were killed, their blood being poured out, it is not in these many blood-offerings that the truth lies.

I will gather the assemblies of them, but only into the one single eye of the spotless and unblemished Christ; for this honor is given, so that they might be liberated from their vain, ancestral conduct. Concerning those who have been thus liberated, he will remember not by word alone, but by deep insight. Ps 15:5a He who has become above all the world possesses no other portion and inheritance than God; for everyone must renounce all things, so that one might be able to say, 'My portion is God unto the age of ages.' And as for the seed of the inheritance, it is also the cup that brings joy to the righteous portion, the Lord.

It is worth observing how the Lord becomes a cup for someone. Never does he provide moral instruction and thereby nourish the man in secret, becoming bread, supporting the heart of the eater; but he is also a cup according to the theory of truth, providing joy to the one drinking through the agreement of the illumination of knowledge. This cup is provided by the true vine so that the mind might be made to drink and be made glad, as one might graciously say, 'Esau has taken joy into my heart.' Ps 15:6 And you will understand thus: he who has God harmoniously and his possessions will enjoy.

For he who has the Lord as a portion of the inheritance and his possessions will enjoy, saying, 'You are the one restoring my inheritance to me'; but he does not restore this, saying, 'Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you'; for if he is the same, he says, 'My portion is in the land of the living.' Regarding this spiritual inheritance, given by analogy to faith and excellent life to the heirs, it is fitting that the measuring line fell upon me among the best; for the cord is a symbol of measure and lot.

Indeed, concerning the sensible earth, into which the Hebrews were led by Joshua the son of Nun, being divided, it has been written many times: 'And the cord fell upon the tribe of Judah, and upon Reuben, the other of the twelve, upon this climate, the eastern one, and another past this.' Having observed these things, he who says, 'The measuring line fell upon me among the best,' demonstrates that good things were distributed to him, having entered into the best parts of the inheritance, which his lot shows through these spiritual geometric cords.

The Unshakable Word and the Human Economy§25

25Such a measuring line an angel holds in his hand to the prophet Zechariah, in order to measure how much the length and width of the true Jerusalem is. Furthermore, it is said: 'For indeed my inheritance is most strong for me,' (Psalm 16:6) signifying through this that my inheritance truly becomes the most beautiful.

According to this, the signified 'strongest' is the God, whom Luke the evangelist writes about. Let no one consider the spoken word unsuitable for Christ (Psalm 16:7; LXX 15:7). For if he needed an angelic measurement to show the human, what time would that be? If he was being wise regarding divinity from nature, being wise as God and source of wisdom, yet being wise as a man.

Since the following are said from the face of Christ (Psalm 16:8; LXX 15:8), and the saying—the face from the Lord is my portion of inheritance (Psalm 16:8; LXX 15:8)—is preserved without any change, whoever takes these verses spoken by the Lord does not sin. But those not having their thoughts about God properly ordered take them locally: that the Son is at the right hand of the Father because of 'Sitting at my right hands,' and that the Savior has sat after the ascension at the right hands of majesty, which is impossible to say. For if the Son is at the right hand of the Father locally, it is impossible for the Father to be at the right hand of the Son according to that same meaning; but the Son says: 'I saw the Lord at my right hand' (Ps 16:8). Therefore, it is not otherwise, according to place, to miss the Son at the right of the Father and the Father of the Son, just as 'I am in the Father and the Father in me' (John 14:10) is.

It must be observed, with the Savior understood as man and God, whether it is necessary to interpret these things according to the divinity or according to his economy according to the flesh. But it is not possible to piously take that the Word of God has spoken from the face of God the Father at his right hand and before himself, in such a way that he might remain unshakeable. For the God Word is unturning, nor is he existing by any amount of turning.

Since he denies the reason for the Word not being shaken, who is in the Father and at the right hand of the Father (for he is being in the Father and having him in himself, existing at the right hand and before him), the reason becomes that he who sees him and has him at the right hand is not shaken. Since therefore he denies this, it is rather impious to take these things regarding the only-begotten Son of God apart from his economy according to the flesh; it must be spoken harmoniously, he who has become truly human and humbled himself and became poor while being rich (2 Cor 8:9). For the human has become his, made like us in all things without sin; but his flesh was not without soul, as some wrongly thought. For how could flesh not having a soul say 'he has at the right hand a God and sees him always' so as not to sin? For a sinning movement arises from being shaken.

If these things are impossible (for the body does not see God, nor does it possess the thought of him who is at the right hand and before him), it remains, according to the economy, to speak these things humanly by the Word of God having become flesh truly, perfectly, and truthfully; for he will speak all things from one person, both the God-befitting and the human, as a man indeed has become, having the God at his right hand, he will not be shaken even if bitter things surround him, or if the kings of the earth stand against him and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Christ. For indeed, not having been shaken in soul, he did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, having been tested in all things according to likeness without sin. Furthermore, it is brought forward how his heart rejoiced and his tongue exulted (Psalm 16:9) over having the Lord at the right hand and before himself always. It is a praiseworthy exultation and gladness, he who does not become so because of chance things, but because of understanding.

David's Prayer and Divine Testing§26

26From these syllables, it is most clearly shown that the Lord became man; for his soul, the flesh having been laid in the tomb, was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, having risen with the flesh, having severed the soul from the body. It is said that the flesh tabernacled in hope because of the resurrection that is to come; for it was not dissolved, suffering any corruption, but having remained unharmed, it was joined again to the soul which was not abandoned to Hades. But if the destined soul, being separated from flesh, stands existing even in Hades, then it is clear that the rational souls of men are not being; for the rational soul, being separated from flesh, does not stand existing, nor does it go into Hades. But truly the soul of Jesus has experienced both; for it has become both in the place of human souls, and having become outside of the flesh, it lives and stands; it is indeed rational and of the same essence as the souls of men, just as the flesh, having come forth from Mary, is of the same essence as the flesh of men. Even if it seemed to have suffered because of the cross, it was not destroyed; the fact that both soul and flesh remained unharmed, having been joined together again, was demonstrated. Again, the holiness of God has not seen corruption, but is also the cause of the resurrection of the others, the dead; for having become the firstborn from the dead, he, our corruptible and mortal being, having clothed himself in incorruption, undergoes death together with the holy of God who has not seen corruption.

The incarnate Word of God, having risen from the dead, sings praises (Psalm 16:11; LXX 15:11), in that he has become man without abandoning even his being as God, having revealed to him the paths leading to eternal life, so that he may be filled with perfect joy, filling the saints with all spiritual joy. His image is the face of God and the exact imprint of his hypostasis. And what follows the one who has walked the known paths of life, to have divine delight in the truth and wisdom of God's right hand? And this is the only-begotten Son of God. And since the delight in the right hand of God is found to be unsurpassed, it will be an end that is not sought by any other; for all things have come to pass not for the sake of another, but for its own sake (Psalm 16:11; LXX 15:11).

Some people, acting with arrogance, judge the one praying as being of moderate character; no one would say, 'Hear, O Lord, my righteousness, and let my judgment come forth from your face' (Psalm 17:2). But David, not being arrogant, while doing all the will of God, but desiring to be judged with goodness, prayed that his judgment might come forth from the divine face. 'Let my eyes see straightness' (Psalm 17:2). One prays to see straightness with the eyes of a man, by which God judges, bringing the judgment forth from his own face; one prays to behold the virtue of straightness. If, however, he prays to see it, he does not yet possess it; thus he is advised not to be arrogant by the way he offers the prayer. These things regarding perfect virtue should be considered, if anyone ever becomes greater than those previously foretold.

And through these things, much boldness of the speaker is manifest (Psalm 17:3; LXX 16:3). For if he says these things concerning God, he manifests much of his own purity; for the heart of everyone who endures in obscurity is tested, and he who is afflicted in everything is not distressed, but enduring until the end, he is proven righteous; such as Job, to whom God said: 'If perhaps I may prove you, you shall be more righteous than I' (Job 40:8). [Or: If it is possible that I may prove you, that you may appear righteous, in the testing of your heart by the Lord and being refined and no iniquity being found in you?]. It is worth following to see what is meant by 'I visited in the night' (Psalm 17:3; LXX 16:3); and indeed, if he calls the state of those in obscurity 'night' because of the dimness and having nothing propitious, in which God, having visited him, left him proven and, having refined through afflictions, showed him clean from all iniquities. It is said, 'I visited in the night' (Psalm 17:3; LXX 16:3) and not thus: because the hidden things of the heart are not manifest to anyone except to Him to whom it is said, 'You alone know the hearts of men'; it was named night, and even those things, although they are dark to others because of the inscrutable, to you, who tested me by visiting me in the night, have been revealed. To this, 'If I had considered iniquity in my heart, do not hear me, Lord' (Psalm 17:3; LXX 16:3) is conjoined.

To declare the works of men and dispositions, even in word, is evil (Psalm 17:4; LXX 16:4a). But what are these works, those about which the apostle writes: 'For where there is jealousy among you...'

The Protection of the Right Hand and Wings§27

27Are you not men and walking according to man? The works of men happen to be a hindrance to speaking, and the failure to find truth in him, having been ignited by God through trials and those nearby (Psalm 17:4; LXX 16:4b).

The paths bearing one toward virtue seem to be hard, having much roughness; for how is the path not hard, which commands the one being struck to a place beyond the jaws, and the rest of the hand to receive insult? In addition to this, a rough path seems to be one through which someone struggles toward death for the sake of the truth. And it is, through injuries, the most bitter of threats, of fire and iron and the assault of wild beasts, the completion of this; except even if these paths and those related to them are hard, they are guarded because of the words of the lips of the protecting God, and they are made smooth as if they were no longer something hard or heavy. For John indeed writes, 'And his commandments are not heavy' (1 John 5:3), and Jesus says to those hearing his words, 'My yoke is good and my burden is light' (Matt 11:30). For from much habituation and training, approaching without interruption, the heavy things appear most light, and the bitter and joyless things are made upright with much ease.

But the paths of the Lord and of his saints happen to be the keeping of the commandments (Psalm 17:5; LXX 16:5a), rather the energies according to virtue, being shown to be smooth and even, having been developed from constantly suffering toil by those hurrying to reach their end; and their end is blessedness and the fulfillment of the promises. Let us therefore run according to them, so that we may find salvation, not wavering in our steps, that is to say, not stumbling. And if the Lord should prepare them in his paths, he says of one having obtained this request: 'I ran without lawlessness and directed myself, and I ran the path of your commandments' (Psalm 119:32), and 'You have enlarged my heart' (Psalm 119:32).

'I have cried out' (Psalm 17:6) is to be heard spiritually; for it is not necessary to have cried out toward the invisible God with a loud voice, but with an attentive mind; this is the cry of the inner man. His mercies are wonderful upon those hoping in him, even if they have something more paradoxical regarding the mercies having become through favor, as the God inclining toward us hears the words of the voice.

Nothing else is our power, but the power descending through goodness to receive our words. For this, the eyes of the Lord shall be upon the righteous, and his eyes toward them for their prayer (Psalm 34:15).

The right hand of God will be no other than his only-begotten Son, as was said a little earlier: 'Delight is at your right hand unto the end' (Psalm 16:11). The devil and his angels, and with them sorcerers and evil men, stand against this, from whom the holy one desires to remain harmless, saying to God: 'Protect me from those standing at your right hand, according to the pupil of my eye, so that my mind may remain harmless; but also cover me in the shelter of your wings from the face of the impious who desire to surround me with misery' (Psalm 17:8; LXX 16:8). It is possible to call the impious and those opposing the right hand of God in various ways, according to the underlying subject. But the voice 'Protect me as the pupil of the eye' does not belong to everyone, but only to the one having been enlightened according to the soul, having the eyes of the heart enlightened. And 'In the shelter of your wings you will cover me' is to be understood spiritually; for the covering powers of God are called his wings, through which he covers and for the sake of good cheer protects the one beseeching to be rescued from the impious who are planning misery against him. For indeed, there are certain invisible enemies making misery for those being caught by them, by bringing them under sin.

The wild and raw nature of those standing against signifies, by saying, that his soul is being enclosed by his enemies who have shut their canopy because of the striving toward matter (Psalm 17:9; LXX 16:9). For the others, through their lusts, are material and fleshy, having been overcome by sin, and they are being shut out from much good cheer and luxury, just as wheat and oil used to be filled. Therefore, the Ally was blocked from their canopy; therefore also their mouths speak pride, not steadily bearing anything friendly or appropriate. For indeed, the enemies, casting out from much arrogance, surround the one saying these things in order to harm and destroy the one who has become sheltered within. For they do not seek anything useful or good, since having become transgressors of divine laws through the...

The Deception of the Unworthy and the Vision of Glory§28

28That their eyes are set upon the earth, turning aside and becoming lawless; for this is shown by having set their eyes upon the earth, wanting to observe the passing things and thinking of earthly things, turning aside from not wanting to walk the straight way, but being tossed about by crooked paths. For, they say, those abandoning the straight ways of going, they go in ways of darkness, whose ways are crooked and winding. Not indeed they set their eyes upon the earth, but those bearing the image of the heavenly are setting their eyes upon heaven in order to straighten the straight way that leads up to the heavens (Psalm 17:11).

Since you are long-suffering, that you might sleep, you do not receive justice from them who were cutting me murderously, Arise therefore, O Lord, that you might cause them to be overshadowed (Psalm 17:13; LXX 16:13). For they will understand having suffered this, so that not always running toward evil they might increase their destruction; for surrounding my soul and doing other things, if not prevented, they harm it most greatly. Therefore overshadow them, so that they may no longer be able against me, you having rescued my soul from each one being such and therefore being named ungodly; for rescue my soul from the ungodly (Psalm 17:13). He will take his sword from their hands; for they received it given unrighteously. And they take it from them not using it as is necessary. Therefore also in the earth they are few, that is to say, they are cheapened. For those becoming about material and worthless things, striving for them, cast away from the soul its dignity and the wealth it possesses, unless they set the material before them. Therefore also they are not called as in the unspecified... Thy rod to those who are not (Psalm 17:14-15; LXX 16:14b-15).

Of those agreeing upon evil and being of one mind, the division of life is useful; for having set to do evil, being of one mind, they cast it away, becoming incomplete, having rebelled against them, as it has happened regarding the building of a tower and a city upon evil for themselves; for God, benefiting them, was holding their tongues together, so that they might no longer know anything said by their neighbors, so that the unspecified...

An ignorance, having taken hold, prepares them to turn back upon themselves, showing their purpose to be incomplete. This is what is made manifest in 'They are divided in their lives' and 'Their bellies were filled with your hidden things' (Psalm 17:14). For the things unworthy of God's remembrance are hidden, whereas He leaves all the remnants to the infants after their bellies have been filled. What is unworthy of God's things that they seize upon is shown by Cain (for he went out from the presence of God Gen 4:16) and by those who do not remain lawful before your eyes. These, having become far from God, have been overwhelmed, and the remnants are left to their infants, having been gorged on filth. For among all those who corrupt, those who harm themselves and become a harm to others are more severe, which is shown by 'And he left the remnants to his infants.' For it is not possible to deceive those who truly are; therefore it is written concerning them: 'Because they wronged the infants, they shall be slain, and the scrutiny shall condemn the ungodly' (Proverbs 1:32). A scripture is brought forward: 'The sons were gorged; through the sons they ate filth.' Having been divided in their lives, they ate a manifold harm. For not only they, but also their infants were satiated with the hidden things of God.

They indeed are not, he says, as it is said, 'But I shall be seen in righteousness before your face' (Psalm 17:15; LXX 16:15); for the virtue of the hidden ones from you is not like their wickedness. And those, being self-willed and thinking they are full of all things, having nothing, it seems they were sent to be gorged; but I, knowing in part, shall be satiated then, when your glory shall be seen standing according to the coming perfection, to face a Person face to face. It is possible to receive the glory of God when the Only-begotten Son is seen, as it is written: 'All flesh shall see his salvation, and the glory of the Lord shall be seen' (Isaiah 40:5). This is fulfilled in this, that we might behold the glory of the Son, a glory as the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. And they were counted among the enemies from whom he was rescued, and they are invisible differences. And the phenomena shall be spoken against each word. To the end.

The Soul's Cry and the Nature of Faith§29

29It says, to the child of the Lord, David. A conclusion to be taken from these things is victory over all enemies; for on account of this both wars and everything contributing to the excellence of a king exist. And it is rightly said that it is not the other things, but this itself, that triumphs. For since victory exists, it is not necessary to give thanks to anyone else but to God who granted it. For it is said to him by Ezra: 'From you is the victory.'

David refers the song to the Lord, as his child and servant, having wisely and faithfully expressed all the words of thanksgiving on that day (that is, in that light), in which all the enemies and Saul the king of Israel were overthrown, and David was rescued unharmed from them. And these things are said as regarding the history.

But since it seems to many of the faithful that the song is present from the face of the Savior, it must be said that the triumphal hymn refers to the resurrection from the dead, his being rescued from all the guarding nations and the empty peoples who studied to destroy him, but also from the kings who stood against him and the rulers gathered against him. And you say that he was rescued also from the hand of Saul, who was then ruling the Jews, in a certain way; for it was not an inaccurate representation of their manner, being wrathful and having with them an evil spirit, saying they did not have a god for a king; for how could they not be about to deny God, to be ruled by some base person? (Psalm 18:4-5).

'Streams of iniquity' were called, as another says, and because of entering into iniquity those who do not bravely stand against the trials. And if the preceding words concern the death that follows those who sin, and the harmony having with it slavery, then the pains of death and slavery are the sins that exist toward death. In accordance with this understanding, you will say 'streams of iniquity' referring to the currents of wickedness, and 'snares of death' referring to those which practically constitute sins toward death.

According to the previous explanation, the present passages fit the economy of the Lord according to the flesh. For 'My soul is greatly troubled, and my soul is very sorrowful near death' (Matthew 26:38) possesses much intimacy with the Now.

Prayer has much boldness from a pure conscience, since to call upon the Lord is not a mere report, but to cry out to God. Lest it be not in agreement with us that God is the Father and Jesus Christ is Lord. We shall call God the Father and the Son Lord, unless both are said of the same one as Father and Son of God and Lord, being through the same divinity and lordship. How then, having said 'He heard my voice from His holy temple?' (Psalm 18:6) It is said metaphorically that his cry enters into the ears of God. To this, one says: that having heard God, the one who prayed will become out of the distress, believing that, having cried again to God, he receives him into the ears and before him the upward-sent cry. Another saying: the one who perceived through the calling from His holy temple that the Paraclete had breathed upon him, is emboldened that he will find the outcome of those things for which he cried, the cry being sent up from a pure disposition into the ears of God and before Him.

These oracles remove from the deceived those having faith like a grain of mustard seed (Psalm 18:7); for if Paul says that faith as a grain of mustard seed removes them. Among these was also the spirit of moon-sickness about which the Savior says: 'If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you say to this mountain, Move from here to there' (Matthew 17:20). 'Smoke ascended in His wrath' (Psalm 18:8); having an analogy with the exhausting of the material, regarding those being built up upon Christ, being the foundation, wood is a brush of reeds by wicked men, and evil deeds and...

Divine Light and the Clouds of Mystery§30

30They sent up smoke, which is consumed by the coming wrath, making coals. Coals were kindled from it. These coals signify, on the one hand, punishments, and on the other hand, the piercing, hot words of God that purify the thoughts of the soul.

Punishments are signified in: 'If your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink; for so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head' (Rom 12:20). And in: 'Coals of fire shall fall upon them, and you shall cast them down; they shall not help you' (Psalm 140:10). The piercing word is shown in Isaiah: 'And he was sent among the seraphim.' Thus, prepared for the virtue of the soul, it warms and fires the thoughts to show them bright and splendid, but it will consume the deeds of sinners while purifying them; those not receiving this fire will be consumed by the eternal fire.

The phrase 'He inclined the heavens and came down' (Psalm 18:9) follows the word concerning the economy and the descent. Since the Savior is said to dwell in the heavens, having become man, he changes his dwelling; for he became lowly and walked among men on earth. He dwells in the heavens not locally, nor does he descend transitively (for these are things pertaining to bodies), but according to the saying 'he dwells in the heavens.' For existing in the form of God, having taken the form of a servant, he descended, without any local change occurring to him.

And 'He rode upon the cherubim and flew' (Ps 18:10). The cherubim are understood as a voice for a multitude of knowledge; there is much knowledge there, but more ungraspable. One ascending from there flies through an elevated and ethereal intellect. It should not be thought that the name signifies the fullness of knowledge possessed by immortal animals. And God, having ascended upon these rational animals, flies through sharp intellect.

'He spread himself upon the wings of the winds' (Psalm 18:10). If the saying is taken regarding the sensible winds, it means God, according to His providential word, mounting the wings of the winds, that is, by their lifting up as He Himself wills; for 'He draws out the winds from His treasuries' (Psalm 135:7). But if one were to take the winds as those blowing like judgments, lifting up wise men being moved by the spirit,

God rides upon the wings of these, which are higher and more lofty thoughts. There are winds of teaching, as the Apostle Paul says regarding heretics, speaking of every wind of teaching in the cunning of men, in craftiness toward the method of error. But not as false teachers are the winds upon whose wings the wandering spirits of the people ride; rather, God, riding upon the wings of every wind of true teaching, blows where He wills. And this is to be spread upon the wings of winds.

Previously and truly, the God who dwells is unapproachable light, the Son who is true light, and the Holy Spirit who is the possession of knowledge and wisdom, just as of this light it is said, 'And the light is with Him' (Daniel 2:22). Secondly, by reason of the incomprehensibility concerning His essence, it is said that His hiddenness is called darkness. For that which is indistinct and incomprehensible because of the depth of the matter is called darkness. In this way, it is said that He perceives a parable and a dark speech; and God, uncovering the deeps out of darkness, makes manifest and clear those things hidden under indistinctness and difficulty of comprehension.

His tabernacle is around Him. Just as he who is contained under a tabernacle cannot be seen unless he has entered into it, so also the God surrounded by indistinctness and difficulty of comprehension cannot be seen unless one has entered into the interior of the covering of that difficulty. Immediately, regarding Moses, it is said how he entered into the cloud where God was (Exodus 20:21). For having understood the thought, the creation, and the providence concerning God, he knew that God is contained by these; thus, having slightly passed through this tabernacle concerning Him, he might behold from the image (which is not the image) the one according to the image, and from the creation and providence, the Creator and Provider.

In many places of the Scripture, we find clouds being carried allegorically. For he who said 'the vineyard of Israel,' speaking of clouds receiving commands not to rain upon it, we find no others but the prophets. It is not only with them that 'Thus says the Lord' and 'The word of the Lord came to me' are found; until these clouds, the truth shines. For these clouds are souls.

The Springs of Water and the Foundations of the World§31

31Flowing as a rain of spiritual words, they belong to the air, not the earth; for having detached themselves from earthly things and no longer thinking of them, they are lifted up and exalted by their own virtue and by the active spirit of the air.

The water within them, before having attained clarity and manifestation through Jesus, is said to be a dark thing, being difficult for the many to see. But when God has spoken in the Son at the end of days, the law and the prophets shall be fulfilled: they shall come together before him in a bright shining (that is to say, his illumination), visible clouds and distinct, because of the presence of what was pre-proclaimed by them (Psalm 18:11-12).

Since no apology remains for those sinning, coming out of dark clouds into light through clarity, there immediately follows the bright shining of the clouds with hail and coals of fire. This is signified by the punishments through the pre-proclamations and having attained the manifestation of what was prophesied concerning Christ.

God immediately thunders from heaven, either through the loud voice of the words being fulfilled by Jesus, or by casting the highest words of theology concerning the only-begotten Son into each mind, not only having cried out this: 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,' but also the Most High gives a voice to those who discourse highly concerning Christ, who did not reveal his own Son to them in flesh, but the Father in heaven revealed his own Son.

Just as for those prepared in mind for the vision of God and the hearing of the Word, the Lord thunders from heaven and the Most High gives his voice, so that, being lifted up by the thunder coming from heaven, they may fall away from earthly things and fly toward heaven, bearing the image of the heavenly, and may receive the high things of the thoughts being given by the Most High; but to those who are of contrary disposition, the Lord sends arrows sufficient to throw into confusion those who previously were of one mind concerning evil.

But now the arrows say the words pre-proclaiming the punishments; for the threats are sufficient to disturb and agitate the soul, and he shall clarify even the threats spoken in enigmas...

He will light up like lightning, and will throw into confusion those scattered by the aforementioned arrows. For those being scattered cast off their agreement toward evil, having become in turmoil and confusion.

Psalm 18:15 When all the aforementioned things have happened, the springs of the waters will be seen. And if someone says that the springs of the waters are those sown among us concerning God and good thoughts, he will say that these will be seen when the ignorance and malice lying upon the soul are withdrawn. For these, having been removed, will not hide the springs of good things in us. But if someone says that every God-breathed scripture, though spiritual, is veiled by ambiguity, he says that the springs will be seen; stand firm! For if we turn now to the Lord, the veil of ignorance and ambiguity will be removed, and the springs of the waters lying within will be seen, so that it is easy to draw from each one, according to Ps 36:9 'Draw water with joy from the springs of salvation.' For this water of gladness is a part of the being of the springs of salvation, which were granted to the discerning one, and now he sees God, according to Ps 34:8 'Bless the Lord in the churches, O Israel, from the springs.'

Ps 17:16bc He acts through the building up of the inhabited world and says, and thinks of certain foundations; he is not speaking of the sins and dispositions of yours when he speaks of the foundations of the inhabited world. For if he scatters the wicked with his arrows and throws them into confusion, by the flashing of his lightning, making the hidden things of men become manifest, by the lighting of God of the secrets of darkness and by making manifest the foundations of the inhabited world, he will uncover the deep things from darkness from the rebuke of the inhabited world by him over all. And if someone says that the foundations of the inhabited world are the divine men, because of the goodness of life and the narrowness of virtue upon which those living according to Christ are built, the uncovering of these foundations too will happen, through the occurrence of a rebuke. For the uncovering and revealing of these foundations will not happen without the punishment of these sinners.

Ps 17:16d God does not delay the punishments for those sinning. For if this were to happen, all would be utterly lost. But by goodness...

The Righteousness of God's Judgments§32

32Because of great human-lovingness, even though a multitude of sins occurs constantly, He does not bring down wrath for every single day. This is what it means for Him to breathe His own spirit of wrath, because He pre-announces the punishments of wrath: 'For I will discipline them in the wrath of their affliction' (Hosea 7:12).

Out of many waters—meaning the turbulent and salty matters of life, called a sea tropically, which are the poured-out and disordered opposing powers—He stands against them; and even if the doctrines of ungodliness are many, they are not able to quench love. God delivers from powerful enemies the invisible ones, as is said, and perhaps also those in high positions and those intending to deceive through pseudonymous knowledge, who are terrible in their sophistry.

No one is without their own private thoughts, and those who are dissatisfied with Providence also bring up impiety regarding others, calling them powerful enemies, and that they might be rescued from those who hate them, and that they might be strengthened above them, which is worthy, while the haters are in vain. For no one, being hated for something trivial, will have the boldness to speak this prayer to God, but rather if he is hated by sinners for Christ and for the upright life, those who loathe godliness, for they consider the conduct of the righteous to be a reproach to their own way of life.

Indeed, those who hate the righteous most vehemently attack then, when a time of affliction is present. For, being ignorant of the judgment of Providence, they suppose that the righteous is being afflicted through sin for no other reason, like those conversing with Job. For when God had subjected him to afflictions, so that he might be shown to be righteous, they said that this man had fallen into these things because of impiety and sin; but even against the one stumbling, all the predatory demons and the devil are strong, as they now think sin to be an evil.

For in the day of affliction, whoever takes refuge toward God, He becomes his support (Psalm 18:18), meaning, supporting him so that he might not be shaken and fall. And concerning the perfection of the soul, those who accept the ascent and the brightening of it say marvelously: 'Who is she that ascends...'

Has she been whitened, leaning upon her brother? For the Lord becomes a support for someone, leading him out of the narrowness of afflictions, giving him breadth according to 'In affliction he enlarged me' (Psalm 4:1). But one is enlarged in affliction not by becoming outside of the affliction entirely, but by being courageously and piously stretched toward it.

He will rescue me from my strong enemies and from those hating me (Psalm 18:17), since they possess no power at all, for all His wills were doing me. Truly, the boldness of the pure and perfect is such that he condemns nothing of himself, even the shortest thing; therefore, those who wish to speak this psalm in the presence of the Savior, and who apply this word to Him, find Him having been tested in all things according to likeness, without sin. He speaks of righteousness as the general virtue of practice, and of cleanness of hands as the practical actions becoming pure and unstained by being fulfilled from the best of ways; for often hands are said to be upon the practical powers.

And he does not say these things arrogantly, as some are, but having placed the cause of the successes upon God. He who walks in His commandments keeps the ways of the Lord, and he who has correctly grasped the doctrines of truth does not act impiously toward his own God, conceiving blamelessly concerning God, speaking holily concerning Christ, remembering piously concerning the Holy Spirit, and glorifying in the proper manner concerning the other doctrines.

For even if His judgments are unsearchable and seem like an abyss because of the incomprehensible, it is not possible for those having them not to be displeased with Providence, nor to act impiously toward the one who provides. For even if we do not grasp, but having resolved that these things are fulfilled by God's judgment, we are well-pleased with them. And the very name 'Judgment' signifies the rectitude of the administration; for it contains and is heard to be that which has happened according to righteousness, as opposed to judgments of the unrighteous and the perverted which are performed apart from the right. Because of this, he says, a perverted judgment will come forth. 'I hold fast to the rights of God,' he says (Psalm 18:22).

The Turning of the Face and the Light of the Soul§33

33For they depart from those things which are not contained by them. And the rights and statutes must be spoken of which have been legislated according to equality and justice, such as 'If a Hebrew acquires a child' (Exodus 21:2), and the following. For all these things, the judgments are arranged as side-notes, and the following.

The judgments, being named with the rights, can signify the tested and examined words of God; for they are not called judgments because they are not being checked or being overturned. In this way even the thoughts of the righteous are judgments, that is, having been accurately examined and tested, and being this very thing similar to a rule.

Perhaps those who, not through God but through glory or something else, find fault and call something unblemished, are unblemished indeed, but not with God; but those who have embraced the good through God and not for the sake of anything else, are unblemished with God; for this union toward God preserves one unblemished and good. But those being uncoupled and separated from God become immediately unblemished children, unblemished children becoming through the act of sinning.

He who has accomplished all the aforementioned things, how does he speak of his own lawlessness? It is to say that he does not wish to understand at any time; this is it: 'The mind of man leans toward evil things with care from youth' (Gen 8:21), as it flows toward sin, being enticed by pleasure. He who has given himself to the law of God protects himself from the lawlessness that overshadows men.

Perhaps also that which is called among us the mindset of the flesh, which is enmity toward God and does not submit to His law, is the lawlessness of man, from which one preserves the deeds of the body of death in the spirit and abstains from the works of the flesh. There he calls righteousness here, that which is established from the faith of Jesus Christ. For the righteousness of God has been revealed to all who believe (Rom 3:22); for to the one believing rightly, 'the faith is reckoned as righteousness' (Rom 4:3/5). And together with purity...

For you say the works of faith, which operate brightly and without stain, without which faith is dead (James 2:26). Regarding the change of face in Psalm 17:26–28, someone says these upcoming verses are to be spoken toward God, because he does not say to another, 'That you will save a humble people and humble the eyes of the proud,' but to God. Another will say that these are not spoken toward God but toward a man: that the one spending time with the holy should imitate their virtue, and the one spending time with the wicked should undergo perversion, as the divine writing of Proverbs says: 'He who walks with the wise will be wise, but he who walks with fools will be destroyed' (Prov 13:20). The interpretations are thus: 'With the holy man, O Lord, he shall be made holy,' providing him the holiness supplied from you so that, having been perfected according to it, you may bring him into the fitting promise, and the others following the one before it. He also says, 'You will pervert,' for it is possible to say, 'He perverts with a crookedness'; this is not said, but 'You will pervert.' For God perverts the one running toward evil things, blocking his way with stumbling blocks and rebuilding his paths; for to be prevented from evils is the beginning of blessing. But he who wishes to be taken toward a man says that the one associating with a holy man becomes holy from the holy things being done, as Elisha with Elijah and Timothy with Paul; and the one hastening with the innocent, having seized that one's virtue, will be innocent. Likewise, the one spending time with an elect man, but the one associating with the crooked, desiring to become like him, will pervert his own life. And he, having clarified the verses thus, turns his face toward God from 'That you will save a humble people.'

Regarding the receptive part of the soul's light, the power—that is, the mind, which some call the reasoning faculty—it is said to be its lamp, not being itself...

Confession and the Wall of Sin§34

34In essence it is not light, but it is capable of receiving light. But its darkness is the passionate and desiring part.

If the mind is now enlightened by the Lord, sharing with it His own rays, the victorious movements and the irrational movements of the soul are enlightened through knowledge being perfectly accomplished; not that the irrational parts themselves participate in light (for they are incapable of knowledge), but that which is under an enlightened mind is guided by knowledge and virtue without needing a way. If the mind, which is said to be a lamp, is now enlightened by the Lord, then the darkness we have spoken of must necessarily follow being enlightened.

And this is what the Savior says: 'If the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!' (Matthew 6:23). For if the eye of the body, that is, the mind, which ought to be a lamp, is deprived of light, then the other is much more so; in this way, the body of the soul becomes darkness, but it is not a human body, rather it is that which happens according to its irrational composition.

Perhaps also those enlightened in the knowledge of the truth have the lamp exhausted, the Lord having given this to them; and having performed actions rightly from the enlightenment of the mind, they have their darkness being enlightened. And this too should not be said of the basket. Those having possessed scientific contemplation concerning intelligible and invisible things have a lamp being enlightened by the Lord, but also regarding sensible things, being well-disposed according to opinion, they have the sense perceiving things luminously, which is darkness because it is not by itself capable of being enlightened, that is, receiving knowledge; for would the senses, even if they received knowledge, receive the irrational parts?

It is not otherwise possible to be saved from the surrounding bitter things by becoming in God; for someone becomes in God partaking of Him. Just as one having come to be in knowledge is saved from ignorances, so one hastening to be in God will be saved from temptation, not by not entering into temptation, but by not being caught by its snares.

For he who confesses Jesus before men is in him; for whoever confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father who is in the heavens (Matt 10:32-33). For one partakes of him and confesses Jesus, and is confessed by God as being in him. But the multitude of things being done toward us irrationally separates us from God and discerns a gap, as the prophet says: Is not the hand of the Lord able to save? Did his wrath grow because they did not listen? But your sins discern a gap between you and God. And he who now becomes in God, clinging to him and being toward him, surpasses the wall of sins by a little and casts them before and behind, so that, not being pierced through by anything, he may face God face to face.

Perhaps also the sense of bodily and sensible things, standing between our thought and God, separates us from him. But if we now, scientifically as much as possible, through the thought concerning God, grasp him above all bodies and senses, desiring to be united with him, we withdraw from the sensible and bodies as if to leap over the world and all visible things, so that we may be able to present ourselves to God. Our God is faultless in the way toward him (Psalm 18:30). And this is virtue, through which, traveling by practice and discipline, we shall be shown faultless coming toward him. But especially faultless is the way of God, he who said: I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). For through this way it is possible to come to the Father.

The word of the Lord, having been made fiery, is in the one who is truthful and pure, or is a fire that consumes the weakness of the matter of those partaking. He is a defender of all who hope in him. Those who know the weakness present to them, if they make those attacking them stronger, by casting hope upon God, are worthy to have him fight for them, saying, 'Fight, those who fight against me.' And thus God fights for them with his own shield, according to: His truth shall surround you with a shield (Psalm 91:4). For no one is truly and principally God except the God of the Word, who is called the only-begotten God (Psalm 18:31).

Symbolic Interpretation of Psalm 17§35

35Because he alone is as the Father God. For all the others are made gods by the presence of the Word of God. For those are gods by participation, toward whom the Word of God came. But the Savior, not possessing divinity, is God, a maker of gods.

In Psalm 18:31 (Εἰπὼν μηδένα θεὸν κυρίως ειναι πλὴν τοῦ κυρίου), having said that no god exists in the strict sense except the Lord, he says that no god exists in any way like our God. For none of those who are gods by participation can be like the Lord Jesus Christ, or like our God as the one of the only-begotten Father; for to us is God the Father and is Lord Jesus the Christ. And if even the two verses can be said to be parallel, he himself will understand.

In Psalm 18:32 (Ἐνταῦθα Περιζωννύων με δύναμιν λέγεται), 'He girded me with strength' is said. But according to Paul, the truth is that those having put on the armor of God are girded, from which it is gathered that the Christ is the power of God; for the Savior says, 'I am the truth' (Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀλήθεια), but Paul says, 'Christ the power of God' (Χριστὸς θεοῦ δύναμις). And he set my way blameless, that is, he demonstrated. For to demonstrate now means to have demonstrated, just as it is said 'He has appointed him heir of all things' (Ον εθεκεν κληρονόμον πάντων). It is also good from this verse to proclaim the whole psalm from the person of Christ.

He who says these things, having refuted the serpent-like evils and the evil powers that worked them, has the feet of his own man prepared by God (that is, the walking powers), so that he may be able to say, 'I have run without lawlessness and have directed my course' (Ἀνευ ἀνομίας ἐδραμον καὶ κατηύθυνα); and having fulfilled the course, he will be heard in the high places by God: 'You yourself also stand with me' (Σὺ δὲ αὐτὸς στῆθι μετ' ἐμοῦ). And to stand in the high places is not something one has from himself, but from God.

In Psalm 18:34 (Ωσπερ τὰ ἄλλα καλά), just as other good things, so also we are taught by God to fight against the opposing powers. For he strikes the hands of the soul (I mean the active powers of it), and teaches how to skillfully hold the mental shield and the sword of the spirit and other spiritual defenses, and how one must use such things. For even the Savior, having become man, having fought on our behalf, taught us to overcome and to fight against the opposing power; and he says that stretching out his hands in prayer: 'I am surrounded by the difficulties...'

Remaining. 139 Symbolically, he set a bow called bronze upon the arms (Psalm 18:34); for because of the bronze, it represents the unpierceable or the strong, and because of the bow, the ability to release arrows from our own arms to wound those set against us.

140 Besides these, you have given to me a shield of salvation, having sent your Son to fight for me with his own shield (Psalm 18:35). But also your discipline, he says, has perfected me to the end—that is, the disciplinary teaching and the strenuous training. He has brought me to the end, that is, unto a perfect resurrection and standing. For discipline signifies the disciplinary aspect, as in 'Take my discipline, do not let go' (Prov 3:11), but also the strenuous aspect through 'Do not despise the discipline of the Lord' (Prov 3:11). And thus, in both ways, your discipline has become a teacher of good things to me.

141 Having been aided by ten thousand through God, confidence arose to pursue the enemies; and the end of the pursuit is their falling to the end (Psalm 18:37). For neither toil nor fear caused me to stumble.

142 Sparing those who were envenoming, he crushes them, so that they might become unshakeable and immovable in the enmity (Psalm 18:38). For, not intending to destroy them, he surrounds them with tribulation, so that, having perceived they are evil, they might cease from the intention of hatred.

143 The falling of the enemies under the feet of the holy one signifies nothing other than the submission of the various kinds (Ps 17:39b). For as it is trivial to stand in the hand of the law, the beginning of salvation is to fall from it. For one falling from it does not oppose it, but lies down and submits.

144 You caused all those rising up against me to stumble, not permitting them to advance in the face of evil (Psalm 18:39-40). For, being hindered from the impulse toward evil, they will fall down beneath me, regarding me as nothing other than their ruler and head, so that, instead of hating, they might become friends; for such are they whom you have destroyed; for you do not destroy their essence, but only that which has happened to them. For it is very fitting for the goodness of God to make the evil vanish, but not the essence of that which has happened to them.

145 For he says to some: 'And if you multiply the prayer, I will not listen to you' (Isaiah 1:15), because of your hands—that is, your deeds—which are murderous.

Recognition and Participation§36

36And the eyes are full. Regarding those of whom the Word speaks, having become thickened by thinking of earthly and material things, bearing the image of the earthly, they are thinned through exhortations, admonitions, threats, and painful discipline, so that, as having become dust in the face of the Divine Spirit, which is called the tropical wind, all that is earthly, being dispersed by them by the breath of the Spirit, may become pure dust as their underlying substance, for whom it has happened to be earthly.

And if they also willingly follow this calling, the author says as if to a filthy city: 'Shake off your dust, Jerusalem' (Isaiah 52:2). But the Lord, or His imitator, the just, licks these even as mud in the streets. But this mud being licked will not be able to become an earthen vessel useful in the great house in which there are golden and silver and wooden and earthen vessels; but since the golden and silver are for honor and the wooden and earthen are for dishonor, the one cleansing himself from these becomes a vessel of honor, having been sanctified and made useful to the Master, prepared for every good work, while those who remain such mud in the streets—that is, the mire of pleasures and desires—are being freed from all roughness from the passions.

He who says these things, by instilling a uniformity through the licking, is now making them earthen vessels, if they should cleanse themselves by a spontaneous impulse as if to become vessels of honor, golden or silver. For just as some have become earthen vessels from golden and silver ones (For the precious sons of Zion, exalted with silver, how were they reckoned as earthen vessels of the work of hands? Lamentations 4:2), so from their own domestic choice they shall become golden or silver from earthen ones.

Regarding the second meaning of the name of knowledge, he shows both the knowing and the being known and being recognized by the one knowing the one being known. According to the former meaning, God knows all, and not only the diligent ones. For toward the lowly the Savior says: 'You justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts' (Luke 16:15); and in the prophet: 'Because I knew all your sins' (Amos 5:12). And according to the second meaning...

It is said that he recognizes only the righteous. For the Lord knew those who were his, but he ignored the wicked. The Savior says to them: 'Depart from me, workers of lawlessness, I never knew you' (Matt 7:23). And the people from the nations, not being known by the Savior, though he healed both demons and idols and practiced all manner of evil, having changed through repentance to serve Christ, came to him. And even the saying 'He did not know' is true. For it is not said: 'A people I do not know served me' (Psalm 18:43). For he who is doing the works of wickedness is not known; but he who has ceased from sins was not known before, but is known now.

To this the apostolic word agrees, saying: 'But formerly, not knowing God, you served those which by nature are not gods; but now, having known God, and even more having been known by God' (Gal 4:8). For they did not know God, and they were unknown by him, but having known him, they were known by him. Perhaps it will seem to some that the spoken thing passes by: 'To the hearing of an ear I obeyed' (Psalm 18:44), meaning to obey with an ear that obeys all things. But the ear is not intended to pass by or to be superfluous for the one obeying all things, so as to use a non-human and mortal hearing, but a divine ear added to the one approaching; for he added to me an ear for hearing.

'Alien sons have grown old' (Psalm 18:45), and the following. God the Father, becoming the beginning and source of the good, becomes the source of those doing good works, and those who are found in doing what is necessary are truly sons of God, partakers of his only-begotten Son. But if those who did not draw near participate in the opposites (and these are the evils), they would be alienated from God, and the growing old would follow. For participating in virtue, in bright and imperishable wisdom and incorruption, they were finding constant renewal; but falling into wickedness, they would be growing old through their own corruption (if indeed it is so), being worn out.

And since the verse is about the Jews, they are not sitting by the oldness of the letter, nor are they falling by quantity, enduring the newness of the spirit, 'Alien sons and having grown old have become'; but they are also said to be double-minded and double-souled, reeling from their many tribulations. For to be double-minded...

The King and Priest Christ§37

37To limp, as Elijah says: 'How long will you limp with double inclinations?' (1 Ki 18:21). 'If he is Lord, go after him.' And perhaps everyone who has clung to the divine scripture, not meditating upon it as is necessary, is said to be limping in it, because he has not accepted it, neither walking nor limping in it.

Regarding Ps 17:47a: It is said that God lives, not by taking life but by providing it. And He himself indeed often says concerning Himself, 'I the Living am, says the Lord.' But also the Savior, saying, 'Just as the living Father sent me, and I live through the Father,' demonstrates that he lives not by a participation in life; for He himself is the life, from whom the Son, being consubstantial with the Father, is drawn. For if the Son is life, not by a sharing of life but by himself being life-giving to those who partake of him, and the Father also lives by providing life according to the same manner, the Son being given to the Father by the same energy, the same essence of the Father and Son exists. And this is what the word demonstrates: 'The Father lives,' he says, 'and I live through the Father,' as if he were saying that because of such a Father, he himself, living, exists by essence. He is the living God and is blessed, having blessed the saints with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3). It is said that he is blessed if all blessing is in him. For everything said, thought, and spoken or thought blessedly is about him.

Regarding Ps 17:47b: 'The God of my salvation is exalted, having taken my senses to his greatness; for great are his works, and they themselves are great.' Since the salvation of the rational animal is not a small work, it is necessary that the cause of this be great. And God is exalted, not by changing from a lowly place to a high one, but by those having recognized great things concerning him.

Regarding Ps 17:50: For he confesses thanks for this progress and salvation, having taken their sins into himself, becoming an ambassador of their repentance.

For the voice 'I will confess to you' signifies both. For the Son also sings in the name of the Father, doing all things according to the will of the Father. The Father exalts the salvation of the King Christ (Psalm 18:50); it is not that the King himself is saved, but he provides salvation to those being saved with him. And God is the King, not as reigning of the God, but of those reclining with God. For when we say ruler of those who are ruling, we mean as a leader of them; but when we say ruler of the king, we mean according to his laws.

The voice of Christ signifies priest and king (Psalm 18:50). If the word is about David—that is, all who are capable by hand—it shows God showing mercy to practical men, being capable in their activities, and if some of their seed happen to be from the teaching and imitation of his life; then he does mercy to these not for a passing moment or for a little while, but for an age. But if the word is about the true David regarding God ('For I will arise for you a shepherd like my servant David' 1 Sam 2:25/2 Sam 7:12), he provides eternal mercy to him and to his seed, and his anointing and his priesthood are to be indestructible; for the old priesthood being transferred, the priesthood of Christ is inviolable.

The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1); and the glory of God is the only-begotten according to the radiance of glory, the order and the supremacy of his kingdom, according to 'And the glory of the Lord shall be seen' Isa 60:1. These the heavens declare by singing and theologizing, the powers dwelling in the heavens, named homonymously as dwelling in heavens according to the manner of metonymy. And the firmament announces the work of the active powers of God, called his hands, not only by words but by the works themselves (Psalm 19:1-4). Those who are the contemplative...

The distinction between sounds and spiritual words§38

38Those grasping life treasure in heaven, having their heart there; the heavens are narrating the previously spoken glory of God through the contemplation of intelligible things. But those who have accepted the practical aspect accomplish a firmament through works, that is, they become stable and immovable; they announce the making of the hands of God, working the works of God and through them crying out as works becoming the works of God.

But also the day, that is, the luminous intellect, being not in harmony with another luminous intellect, searches out a word, which is why the Old Scripture says the day is luminous: for God called the light Day (Gen 1:5). This, having been filled with the nourishments of the Spirit, being searched out from the fullness, a word is brought forth in the New Covenant; allegorically also this day is so named.

And the night, the deepest discourse of things, announces knowledge to another such night. For if anyone searches the Spirit who searches all things and has the depths of God, he searches some of the deeper mysteries of God; having known it from this, he proceeds to the similarly obscure, and will come to the knowledge of those.

And the pre-preparations and those making the way forward are mere babblings, but the words were those setting forth the spiritual narratives and fully bringing their faiths demonstratively. The sounds and words for the obedience of God are not, since their voices are not heard as Being. For this reason it has been said by the Lord, so that they might be heard: therefore no word of apology is left to those not doing nor thinking; the voices of the previously spoken babblings and words are being narrated. Their sound has gone out into all the earth (Ps 19:4), and the following.

You are a land suitable for seed (Matt 13:23), but you do not receive the sound of the babblings and words, that is, the word according to the sensible aspect of the Scripture; but those having surpassed the state of these will receive the words of the babblings and the words, being clearly instructed in all things. Even the precursor of the apostles is not hearing the sound of Jesus but words; 'Words,' he says, 'you have of eternal life'; and the Savior himself: 'The words I have spoken to you are spirit' (John 6:63). For those to whom he was saying these things, the apostles, were no longer earth but ends of the inhabited world.

But according to the law of anagogy, the church can be the tabernacle of God, set in the sun—that is, wherever and as far as the sun shines; for the sound that has gone out into all the earth runs together with the sun's rays, and his words have reached the ends of the inhabited world.

And each one of those who contain the glory of God, being called his tabernacle, can be set in the sun of righteousness, that is, in Christ; for of such tabernacles the foundation and base is the true light.

And perhaps also, since the Savior is called Light of the world and True Light and Sun of righteousness, it is not possible for the one who has applied himself to what transcends the sensible to have received an understanding of this light while ignorant of the sensible light.

But the sun, receiving from the understanding of this an image of the intelligible light, will find the true light as if dwelling in the sensible sun.

For no attention should be paid to certain heterodox who say that after the resurrection from the dead the Savior laid aside in the solar sphere the body he wore, to be kept until his second and glorious coming.

'In the sun he set his tabernacle' (Psalm 19:4), and the following.

Alongside the letter, the understandings according to anagogy: 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' (John 8:42), comes forth as a bridegroom having the rational nature as spouse, that is, the glorious church;

to whom John says: 'He who has the bride is the bridegroom' (John 3:29).

For having emptied himself, he took the form of a servant (Phil 2:7);

rejoicing and exulting, he accomplishes the course of the economy which he willingly undertook, taking up the impetus of a most mighty giant.

And this one, having the beginning of his going forth from the end of heaven, descended to the end of heaven, ascending there whence he also began his course.

For he says: 'If you see the Son of man ascending where he was before' (John 6:62), and 'No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of man' (John 3:13).

But also from his heat no one is able to hide;

for of the fire which he came to cast upon the earth all partake, so that some become fervent in spirit (Luke 12:49).

Ps 18:8-10: [...].

The Hidden Sins and Divine Cleansing§39

39The Lord's testimony, which testifies through good works and the knowledge of truth, is faithful. It is called faithful not from the act of believing, but from the worthiness of being believed, just as the Word 'Faithful' is said of the Faithful One, and concerning God it is said, 'God is faithful and there is no injustice in him' (Deuteronomy 32:4) and 'God is faithful through whom you were called' (1 Cor 1:9). For because of worthiness and the being worthy of being believed, it was so named, but also because of the certain and unchangeable nature. Thus indeed the Lord's faithful testimony makes wise those who have turned and become like children according to the will of Jesus.

And it makes wise even the newborn infants, those born through the gospel. Perhaps it also makes wise those little ones who have not been trained by disciplines and with the exercises of human words, but the unlettered and the laypeople. And the commands of the Lord, being outside of all crookedness, are straight, making straight those who receive them, so that they might cast off all sorrow and become in divine joy the soul.

And the fear of God is said to be pure, not a passion that casts one out from perfect love, but the same one that is characterized by piety and divine reverence. It does not work out the state of those who are merely fittingly pure, but it extends even unto the age to come, not being transient and short-lived. The judgments of the Lord are true. He who performs all things according to His own truth and judges, judges truly; as the apostle says: 'For the judgment of God is according to truth upon those practicing such things' (Rom 2:2). God judges according to truth, and the judgments are true—it is said 'true' in contrast to false and unjust judgments.

These true judgments are justified in the same way, whatever may happen, and in the same way it may become. For perhaps if anyone wished to see its truth and justice by itself, he would not clearly see it; for they testify to one another as whatever is, is to be held as testifying. These things, having been foreseen by the one who applied his own mind, are desirable, more precious than those among men. For he who has turned away his own desiring power from gold and precious stones, with longing toward the...

...

He will consume all of it into truly desirable things, and he will perceive the sweetness of these things more sweetly than the sweetness of a garden and honey in the senses. He will not taste it bodily, but by a divine sense he will perceive the sweetness of the things mentioned before. The servant of the Lord keeps these things. For indeed your servant keeps them; he is not saying this about himself alone, but also about every servant of the Lord. If one turns toward the guarding of these things something temporary and sensible, the recompense is not great; but since the recompense for the guarding of these things is supra-cosmic and supra-heavenly, it follows that it is great.

Everyone is aware of the manifest and effective sins, but the transgressions occurring in secret in the thoughts and reasonings, the one who sees them is rare; for who declares what is rare here? Paul, therefore, not being aware of anything to himself, knowing what is the rare thing to understand the aforementioned transgressions, says, 'Not in this I am justified' (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:4). Furthermore, regarding the transgressions, who will understand? It lies to say, 'From my secret things cleanse me' (Psalm 19:12). This is said only by the righteous, since defilement occurs in the secret reasonings of the heart, which not only others but I myself am ignorant of; you, remove it, being a knower of those things which happen in secret. For this defilement, if it is not destroyed, becomes an increased starting-point and pretext to be captured by others; sparing your servant, do not let him be captured by others, having cleansed him from the secret things. For the sins occurring in secret, if not being cut off, may at some time pass over into practical sin, through which one might be involved with the things of God or with evil powers. God will spare his own servant, but if he does not spare his own Son, having handed him over above all, it is the loss of the Son for all, and not sparing leads to being lost for the salvation of all. And the Son himself will be outside of all harm, not receiving this even by nature.

He says it is a great sin, the effective one (Psalm 19:13). For if he is not cleansed from my secret things, these transgressions remaining carry over into bad practice, and I become responsible for a great sin. If these...

The Beauty of the Savior and the Fulfillment of Prayer§40

40If the words exist from you, then the words of my mouth are for acceptance; for I have previously prayed to you, praising you and thanking you; and the words of acceptance are worthy. The study of my intellect, occurring in thoughts and notions, is found always before you, free from all reproach. However, the praiseworthy study is not from another but has risen from you, having cleansed me from my secret faults. With you helping, O Lord, I fall not to any who fight against me spiritually. But if, through my inattention, I should be seized by the adversaries, you redeem me from those who have seized me, as you are found to be my helper and redeemer.

The one who is afflicted, making him joyful, is the word that exists in the soul, or the Holy Spirit who awakens him, he says (Psalm 20:1): 'The Lord will hear you in a day of affliction.' Through progress, the afflicted learns not to be meager nor to cast down hopes, but to pour out himself to God through prayers; for prayer leads to hearing God. He does not urge the afflicted to pray in order to appear pious; 'The Lord will hear you in a day of affliction, and the name of the God of Jacob will protect you' (Psalm 20:1). The presence of God, which has been made to dwell in Jacob, being a shield, is from you. One should seek why, God having enriched Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the name of the God of Jacob, and not the God of Abraham and Isaac, protects the afflicted. Perhaps it is because, since Jacob has become in many sufferings and hardships as if his life were a symbol of the athletic life, the afflicted, practicing to endure tribulations and contending against them, is protected by the presence of God, which is that of Jacob, so that he, having become a wing-beater because of that, may flutter and strike down the afflictions and the evil spirits working them.

And from a holy place the help is sent, that of the heavenly temple (for the temple is called holy among the Hebrews), which is from the holy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is said concerning: 'God from the heights and the Holy One from the strong Pharaoh shall overshadow like a dense cloud' (Habakkuk 3:3). But the explanation will be mastered from the approaching verse. 'For from Zion shall He take hold of you, from there...'

The splendor of the Savior's beauty shines upon the race of men according to 'Out of Zion'. The first reading is understood as 'Out of the heavenly Zion of God'. 'May all your sacrifice be remembered', he prays, signifying this for the one being afflicted: that he will be released from this affliction as if he had offered a sacrifice thankfully, so that God may remember all your sacrifice, which is not such a sacrifice as is being approached, but a spiritual one. 'But also accepting your burnt offering, let it ascend'; it should be noted that a burnt offering differs from a sacrifice. For perhaps the name of sacrifice is laid upon the soulless things brought to the altar, whereas a burnt offering is a living victim.

Ps 19:5: God gives according to the heart of the one praying, whatever such things he requests; and it is proper to give to God, and it is beneficial to the receiver. For the prayer concerning these things, being done rightly, satisfies God. And 'to fulfill all your counsel'; counsel, that is, to fulfill the counsel being done rightly. And a counsel is fulfilled if it does not fail in its intentions, but meets those things about which it was pre-counseled.

Ps 19:6: And this is what is said concerning it: 'Behold, a Savior was born to us, who is Christ the Lord.' It is said that to speak of salvation is to speak of the salvation which is being saved, to whom God hearkens in a day of affliction, in which salvation there will be rejoicing. And 'we shall be magnified in the name of the Lord our God'. Unlike those being magnified in worldly things, we 'shall be magnified in the name of the Lord our God'. 'We shall be magnified' signifies progress in such goodness. For it does not say: 'We are great'. In this way, Isaac, as he went forward, became greater, as he became very great. And someone is magnified in the name of the Lord by performing the work of a genuine and perfect servant. A great encomium regarding that about which the word is: 'all his requests shall be fulfilled by the Lord, asking nothing which God does not provide'. And the fulfillment of requests is to emerge and come into abundance regarding those things for which someone was worthy.

Ps 19:7: The voice of Christ, sometimes upon the priest, sometimes upon the king, and sometimes upon the economy of the Word of God according to the flesh; one will say it was spoken upon David, and another upon Ezekiel regarding...

The Crown of Precious Stones§41

41The hypothesis of the psalm is taken, and it is spoken regarding the human economy. Perhaps it is also for all those believing, fulfilling the body of Christ according to the teaching that not even Christ is one body, but many members; Christ is said to be saved, and those who have become his body and members may have salvation (1 Cor 12:27). And also to say 'Now I know'—for 'now' means in this present age we know Christ is saving, receiving the earnest of salvation from hereafter.

He hearkens to Christ according to every foretold repayment. And the right hand of God, that is, his Word, makes salvation, not by chance, but with power, like a best general or king. Regarding Ps 19:8, thinking of horses, the skittish powers of passions that ride upon them; and chariots, the concord of the rushing passions prepared against us. But even if not in these things, the unvanquishable defense of us is the approach of God. Regarding Ps 20:2–3, the one established as king upon Zion is truly and certainly king, rejoicing in divine joy from the power of God present to him. And let the whole psalm be interpreted concerning Christ the king and the one co-reigning with him, so that we are not compelled to signify this for every single word.

He does not fulfill the desire of the flesh, but walks by the Spirit (Gal 5:16). One strengthened by the Spirit receives the desire of the heart from God. For he, having abstained from the cravings of the flesh, hungers—that is, the mind hungers—and receives from God, who implants his desire in good things. But even if someone happens to be in need, he was not denied by the Lord because of the prayer of his lips. Regarding Ps 20:4–5, from 'Because you have preceded him in blessings of goodness'—by the causal connection of 'Because,' having used it, he showed what rejoices and exults in having been preceded in blessings of goodness. And regarding the contrast of blessings, not of goodness...

Here, goodness is set forth; for Jacob, in blessing the sons, will answer the sons in a manner of blessing who have some toil, as their anger is the accursed one. And if such a thing is to be lacking, God foretells a king and his imitator in blessings of goodness, lifting them up to the supra-cosmic promises, which are sent to be a pledge.

One is crowned from his own works and practices. Without doubt, he who has justly pursued the just shall receive the crown of righteousness (2 Tim 4:8), and he who has rightly glorified the Trinity shall bring the incorruptible crown of glory (1 Pet 5:4). And one having been satisfied by the Lord's crown of luxury protects himself, and he being saved by grace receives a crown of graces for his own head.

But also he who has treasured precious stones with gold and silver, from which he worked precious stones, shall be crowned, God restoring to him the head of the soul with the crown of precious stones; and being adorned with divine power in every virtue, he is called, 'All a good stone you have bound.' God crowns not in mercy, but will crown with precious stones a crown made of them, as also in hope he crowns those watching for it; for the Lord Sabaoth is the crown of hope, spread with glory (Isaiah 28:5).

And since the apostle writes to his own disciples, 'Joy and my crown' (Phil 4:1), perhaps also those who are known to Christ, being precious stones through virtuous character, having placed a crown, will be set upon the head of Christ, as Paul says to the disciples, 'Joy and my crown' (Philem 1:21). He asked life from you and you gave it to him. If the imitator of Christ is the one concerning whom the Word is, God has given eternal life to him who asked life from him; for the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23). But if he speaks concerning Christ, regarding the one who asked life from him, the Father gave, so that he might vivify the dead (Eph 2:5). Length of days unto the age of ages; toward the life...

The Hand of Judgment and the Right Hand of Salvation§42

42He asked to have obtained the length of days, so that he might have them immortally and without end. The length of days is received also by the one who has enlightened himself with the light of knowledge, as if he had a doctrine of truth enlightened within him; for each description of thought is a certain day.

The salvation of God acquires great glory for the king raised from the dead and for everyone rising together with him (Psalm 21:5). You will lay glory and majesty upon him, this glory which is according to the resurrection. And 'you will lay upon' signifies that even before this glory he had another, according to 'I glorified and again I will glorify.' And majesty is that which is becoming in great things. The becoming in great things has not happened concerning the Savior alone. For what is greater than to raise the dead and to walk upon the sea and his enormous miracles among those nearby? But even from his rising from the dead, the becoming in great things has exceeded for him; for he was taken up into the heavens and sat at the right hand of the Father, 'For you will give him blessing unto the age of ages.' All these things have exceeded for him, that blessing is given to him for the age of ages from the Father, by which he blesses those approaching him; then especially the curse having been turned for our sake, he redeemed us from the curse of the law regarding becoming mortal, through the blessing of Abraham (Galatians 3:13-14). 'Rejoice him in joy before your face' (Psalm 21:6). Oh, the same grace and peace are given from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed from God, such that the same joy from God and from his face comes to be; for the face is the exact imprint of his hypostasis. And these things shall happen concerning the king, hoping in God the Lord, finding himself being of those who hope. For having approached the expected things through experience, he rejoices before the face of God. And otherwise: since your image is a face, and this is the God the Word, the king becoming with this face makes his temple profitable and, becoming conformed to him, rejoices in joy.

Having received oil from the Most High to be anointed with oil of exultation, he possesses an impassable priesthood from the anointing, according to the order of Melchizedek, a priest unto the age (Psalm 21:7). For that he shall not be shaken shows that he will not soon see the worthiness from which he is shaken.

Changing into something else. His hand is not found for a few, but for all the enemies of God, bringing punishments upon them and warring against those set against the divine law, according to 'The Lord fights with a hidden hand against Amalek' (Exodus 17:16). And perhaps he means by enemies those bringing in thoughtlessness and embracing ungodliness. For if these do not set God before them, the hand would be found distressing them and bringing rebuke upon them, so that then they might know what God stands over of those who sin. He says 'hating God' here regarding those committing sin. For if in keeping the commandments the love of the perfect God is completed, according to 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word' (John 14:23), he who does not keep the word and the commandments of God hates God. And he who hates thus is said to be perishing. Since there is no expectation of the Savior coming, the right hand of God, to seek and save the lost, it is fittingly said: 'May your right hand bring all who hate you to prosperity' (Psalm 21:8).

But by what does the right hand differ according to the writings? One should consider the hand set upon punishments, as 'Your hand has utterly destroyed them' (Psalm 44:2), and 'Now having sent the hand, I will strike you' (Exodus 9:15) (and indeed 'The hand of the Lord has laid hold of me' Job 10:1); but the right hand is upon salvation and other good things; for 'His right hand saved him', and 'He made the right hand of the Lord a power', and 'The right hand of the Lord saved me' (Ps 18:35), and such things. It is fitting, then, that even here he says the hand is found punishing the enemies, but the right hand is found for those who hate Him, so that they might be found no longer in destruction.

Regarding Ps 20:10a, I think it is meant that they shall be cast upon the enemies; not that anyone is handed over for punishment to be cast as a furnace of fire always and continually, but as at the time of the shining of the divine face. And there also, 'the time' signifies not a duration of time but the kind of state of those capable of receiving the face of God. And I think also that the mention of the furnace was not in vain; for just as a furnace does not burn in vain or by chance, but for some useful purpose in baking bread or something similar, so also God sets punishments at the time to encounter such people as may be able to behold His face. Psalm 21:9 The...

The Face of God and the Morning Perception§43

43Those being disturbed by wickedness and false glory, being agitated by the allurements of pleasure, God shall shake in His wrath, and those being disturbed by the expectation of punishment.

But these are not consumed by a fire that is entirely physical, but by that which follows the disease of the soul; rather, when the soul repents for the evils it has done, a penalty of fire pierces it, or when dissatisfaction arises in it, a fire analogous to the diseases of the body is generated.

For just as bodily foods, when consumed beyond what is necessary, having a disease-causing quality, raise fevers in those who have eaten them, so too, from these foods, a fitting fire will follow the wickedness and the worthless doctrines; it consumes them not by destroying their soul's essence (for it is indestructible) but their quality, according to which wood becomes hay, stubble, or weeds, so that when the things that joined them are consumed, the pure essence that was bound remains visible.

And here it is shown not that their essence is perishing, but that they bore fruit badly: 'for your works are weary and worthless' (Psalm 21:10). Just as plants bearing perfect fruit project seed from that fulfilled fruit to become plants similar to themselves, so those having borne the seed of teachings in wickedness and impiety are cast down to make others like them, worthless and impious. God destroys this seed from among the sons of men.

'They turned evil toward him' (Psalm 21:11) referring to the false doctrines concerning Him, attributing the cause of wickedness to Him; and the traitors and enemies of Him, having been proven, turned evil toward the Savior. It should be noted that evil is accomplished by turning aside, and not by straightness, as the good are seeds.

For all the worthless, having turned aside, act against the incapable; for they deliberate treacherously against the one who will not suffer harm. Perhaps also every evil man, through whom one sins, deliberates a plan that is unable to stand, because wickedness is unstable and not abiding. 'For you will set them low; with the remnant you will prepare their face' (Psalm 21:12). God does not turn away; He sets these low, making them capable of being a face. And just as those who do not see the...

The silence of God allows one with a pure heart to contemplate His works and those following Him, so that observing His creation they may grasp His mind, and having cast off weakness to have a pure face, they approach God and give Him the face of God. Therefore he says: 'And in your remnants you prepare their face' (Psalm 21:12), for the remnants of God are those things above His sensible creations.

Since descending with our weakness, you took up something weak, O He who is stronger than men, having been crucified out of weakness, 'Exalt yourself in your power' (Psalm 21:13). It is terrible to take up through contemplation, but to sing is to act according to virtue. Contemplating the intelligible of the powers and acting according to them, we see and sing of your powers, you who ruled as a triumphal king against the devil and the opposing powers. It is also possible to declare the graciousness: we cry out to you, having ruled against death.

Morning perception is made straight by the rising of the sun of righteousness and the making of the beginning of the day; for the rising of the true light has laid an end to the night of ignorance and error and has shone a spiritual illumination. And that which begins toward the end of perfect illumination will arrive, through which all other spiritual things were spiritually completed at the end, not because of all other things, but it itself is nothing, which they also call the last, because no one desires anything above this, this being the ultimate good.

The prophecy of the present psalm points toward the end of the morning perception of David, that is, of him who was born of his seed according to the flesh. And this must be kept: he who guards the face, saying from beginning to end, no single change is found regarding the saying 'face'. And since the New Testament has taken words from the psalm as if spoken by Christ, it is necessary to interpret all of it from the face of Christ. Let us declare the words which the New Testament used, having reached them. It is to be noted that instead of 'calling', 'falling' has been used correctly; instead of...

The Nature of Salvation and the Divine Origin of Christ§44

44For to say, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'—that God, my God, is what he does in many places in the Scripture (Psalm 22:1). He does not wish to say this specifically: that the general and true God, being my God, is encountering me while I am being fought against and experiencing many afflictions; for why have you forsaken me? The voice is inquiring about the cause of the abandonment. Since he possessed a great purity with himself (for sin was not necessary), he did not believe he was being forsaken because of sin, but because of something else that is beneficial to the whole. He does not wish this to become manifest through himself suffering, but through those seeing him; for having known what was forsaken for their sake, they will praise him as Savior.

Therefore, let us speak the words of the transgressions, not the pronunciations concerning the transgressions. For just as we say a word of heaven by which it has become, and a word of the sun by which it has risen, so also we shall say the words of transgressions, and not that the transgressions themselves drew the Savior into his own body. But his body brought these words of transgressions before the passion, and having risen from the dead—he who is also said to have saved—he held the words of the aforementioned sins far from his salvation, having stripped off the ruling principles and powers that work the transgressions, and he triumphed over them in himself, speaking boldly upon the cross.

It is allegorical that the cry 'O how I suffer something' to you, my God, is not only regarding those surrounding him in affliction and darkness at night (Psalm 22:2), but also regarding those who are bright and shining, to whom I will again cry 'O how something harmful might come from the snare.' The Savior, confessing these things concerning us, says: 'O how will you hear when I cry to you?' For it is to be read with an undertone: 'And at night I will cry out,' not being considered by me as madness; the ones surrounding him are the dark ones, those darkened by many circumstances, just as he himself says 'Why must I cry out to God?'—is he ignorant? For I know what kind of night-state is around me.

The fathers from whom I am according to the flesh (they are not the patriarchs) have hoped in you, desiring my illumination (Psalm 22:4). But having hoped, they did not fail; they were rescued.

For they were delivered and rescued from death and the devil by me. For they themselves, having cried out to you, abstained from the salvation which is through me and from me. For they did not become despondent toward you, hoping; for they abstained from the things of hope and expectation.

Those saying these things are law-learners, being promise-givers, falsely glorifying regarding providence. For the same things would be said by one being struck by Isaiah, and others have suffered for the sake of piety. For we do not say that to be rescued and saved from those standing around as oppressors means to become something outside of them, but to bravely and through toil endure them, so that the mind might not be harmed by the right intention being cast out by the pains. We say, indeed, that the witnesses of the truth, having suffered ten thousand things and having died by tortures, were rescued and were saved from the tribulations; for those having come to be outside of the tribulations through denial were not only not rescued and saved from the temptations, but were also exhausted by them.

For perhaps he who is conceived of seed, having been brought to completion in the womb, having been filled with the time of birth, is thrust forth from that womb to the outside. But the Father alone thrusts the Savior out from the womb of the Virgin, not having been cast into her from the outside by seed, but having been thrust out from her, from the divine offspring. To other men, hoping and expecting the things to come happens after the fulfillment of the word has come to pass with ages. But the child from Mary alone hopes for perfection; for God holds the hope; for he was never born in wickedness, unlike all men who grasp at the good through ignorance and malice. And Isaiah says this: Before he knows good or evil, he disobeys in wickedness to choose the good. Before the becoming-man, Jesus alone possessed intimacy toward the Father; for his Father was God, and he himself was the Son of God. But after becoming flesh, he came forth from the womb having a relationship like the relationship to God. Therefore he says: 'Even if you are always my Father, you are also my God, I will rescue you from the womb of the mother.' When the tribulation is present, God is with him who is...

The Body of Christ and the Dissolution of the Soul§45

45To provide endurance as if to bring forth the one being afflicted, but in the absence of God, those surrounding him are strong. He does not rejoice, the one saying the psalm, which becomes a type for us humans and teaches us in trials not to pray that such things might happen to him, so that God might be absent, since in the presence of God he would strike down those raising up affliction. For if God were to depart from someone, there would be no helper for that person (Psalm 22:11-13).

And if calves and the evil powers working around earthly and bodily things (for this animal is a tiller of the earth), and those presiding over false doctrines through deceptive words and sophisms, they turn out to be fat bulls with horns, being so because of being ostensibly learned and adorned in phrasing. And it is also possible for the Jews, diving into the law from which they find calves, named as such, to surround the Lord hostily; and Pontius Pilate and if there are others existing in the pride of horned bulls, are striving to enclose him.

The Savior says these things also concerning his own body, the church, seeing men as low-dwellers and working the earth, hostily surrounding his body: 'Many calves have surrounded me.' And setting aside from them the thing awakened to evil and the preparation for affliction, he says: 'They opened their mouth against me like a lion seizing and roaring' (Psalm 22:13). For their mouth is opened to seize the deceived; the sophist is the word. Perhaps 'like a lion seizing and roaring' refers to the devil, from whom the good shepherd was torn by two legs and an earlobe, consuming through disobedience the ear of the man of the soul, and through the legs its course. Since those who have believed are the body of Christ, the things of those who have believed...

Taking upon himself the suffering, he says these things: it has happened to those who complete his body. Since the sheep did not remain scattered when the shepherd was struck, he says, as Hosea says, 'a gift was poured out' (Hosea 14:7); for the gift having been emptied is scattered. But also concerning the apostles he says, 'All my bones were scattered' (Ps 22:14); for they themselves are his bones because of the good tension and the holding together of the whole body.

Perhaps someone's heart is melting like wax in the midst of the belly (Psalm 22:14), and the soul sees those who have suffered labor pains and those bearing calamity born by it. Since, therefore, the things foretold concerning the disciples of Jesus have happened, his heart being divided toward them lovingly, he endured the passion of wax, burning in the midst of the belly, sympathizing with those he bore. But also the sweetness of the heart was like wax that was melting, and the food became and entered into the stomach; for the thoughts of the heart, having been eaten like wax, descended into the belly, melting and thinning through continuous study, in order that the substance of the eaten might be restored.

But also the strength, having been brought into the furnace of life, was dried up like an earthen vessel; for after the experience of tribulations, as one coming out of a furnace, he will receive the dryness of an earthen vessel, no longer being moistened by the moisture of the clay and the flux of pleasures. Of the scattered listeners, no longer being present, the tongue is not active in teaching and conversing, being inactive if it is stuck to the throat; for the one bringing forth a word moves, not being hindered by the sticking to the throat.

'Dust of death' perhaps is to be said, the 'body of death' being named by Paul (Romans 7:24); for this is truly fashioned from the earth. And 'dust of death' is said regarding the one who is born and will die. For if the being laid up is to be entwined with the body, it is necessary also that a dissolution take place, which is death.

The Soul's Defense against the Sword of the Devil§46

46This is not the body which the Savior, having entered into the womb from the Virgin, says, 'You have brought me into the dust of death' (Ps 22:14). Perhaps he also descended into mortality and the Hades, which for us is the dust of death; for it happened in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Ps 22:17c–19: 'They pierced my hands and my feet' signifies the death of those coming to this, having their hands and feet dug out through the piercing of the nails. 'All my bones were counted.' All the bones of the body can be counted, if they are stripped of the joined flesh; and regarding the body of Christ, the apostles declare the bones, but his flesh is spoken of by those believing more superficially and more bodily. For the body is not the same thing: the bones hold the flesh together, and the flesh happens to be around the bones, covering them. If some fear should disturb those fleeing, the superficial believers, only the hard and zealous ones are left, as if they were counted as remaining having been stripped after the fleeing of the crowd. 'They understood and looked upon me; even though they did not cause my death to happen (for I took these things willingly), they divided my garments among themselves and cast lots upon my clothing' (Ps 22:18).

Regarding the history, the words of the Scriptures are more allegorical concerning the garments and the clothing of Jesus; for the God-Word, subsisting according to spiritual meanings, both wears and is surrounded by these. The heterodox, the executioners and the spirits of the slayer, divide the garments of the Savior. For each of them receives the words of the Scriptures, and receives those not of the Scriptures, even though the seamless tunic of Jesus is seamless because it is woven; for it does not consist of joined parts but has a unified nature. And it is also from above because it is divinely inspired, woven through the Spirit; for the Scripture is from above by all power. But the Church does not divide the garments nor casts lots upon them; for she has and puts on, standing at the right hands of Jesus, a Queen clothed in golden attire, variegated. Having ascended above these garments, she will clothe herself with Jesus himself, becoming wise and powerful, possessing the wisdom and power of the Father. Ps 22:20: And doing these things...

Regarding his words: 'Do not withdraw your help from me; for if you do not help and attend to my understanding, I shall rise a third time from the dead to show the vainness of the plot against me' (Psalm 22:19).

Since the surrounding enemies, seeking to kill, possess a sword capable of wounding not the body but the soul, he asks to be saved from these blades, kept unharmed from disturbance and cowardice (Psalm 22:20). For even if our soul has been sufficiently prepared, seeing the devil with the whole phalanx of demons and the swarm of opposing and evil human energies acting through them, it becomes disturbed (for its nature is changeable) and calls upon the One capable of saving from the enemy's sword.

Perhaps even the devil himself is allegorically called a sword, since he dares to wound every soul by pre-meditation; thus, he asks to be saved from this sword.

He does not previously call the dogs surrounding him in the plural, but now calls them in the singular because of their kind (Psalm 22:20). And his soul is called 'only-begotten' because it is isolated and separated from all other souls; for all those there have known sin, but this one has not. And while God the Word visits those others at intervals, this one remains unseparated and indivisible without distinction until the end. Because of these exceptional qualities, he is called his only-begotten.

Perhaps also the glorious church standing before him, having no flaw or wrinkle and being filled by the blameless and perfect, is his only-begotten, though progressing into many ranks divided by the difference in progress: sixty indeed of queens, and eighty of companions and maidens whose number is countless; one of them is a perfect dove above all, an only-begotten one to her mother, the upper Jerusalem.

He asks to be saved now from the devil, previously spoken of as a lion, but also through his own humiliation, by which he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the Father unto death, even the death of the cross (Psalm 22:21). And he wishes to be saved also from the horns of the unicorns, which are an opposing power promising a kingdom; for the horn is a symbol of a kingdom. And those who consider the...

The Two Kinds of Wealth and Prayer§47

47To signify a cross from the preceding word, having the shape of a horn (Psalm 22:21).

The Epistle to the Hebrews says that this word is spoken from the person of Christ, as he says to the Father: 'O Father, your own name, that is, your own property and peculiarity, I will declare, making it manifest to my brothers who were born of me, to whom you sent my spirit; to whom it will be said, What you are, God sent the spirit of his Son into your hearts. For they are not those who have received the spirit of adoption from God, so as to be sons of God and brothers of the only-begotten. And having indeed risen from the dead, having appeared to the women, he says, "I have gone to my brothers." And in the midst of this gathering assembly, he will sing praise to the Father, sending up theological thoughts and songs.'

In many ways he is called Jacob (for the typology signifies this: when he is the divine man, the son of Isaac, the father of the twelve patriarchs; when he is the twelve-tribed people proceeding from him; when he is the ten tribes alone having split from David and having followed Jeroboam; when he is the savior himself, 'Jacob my servant, I will take hold of him'; 'Israel my chosen one, my soul has received him'; for Matthew wrote this prophecy concerning the Savior), it should be sought why it is said, 'O all the seed of Jacob, glorify him' (Psalm 22:23). And one might say: the twelve-tribed seed of the patriarch Jacob, having been immersed in the reading of the law and the prophets, wishes to glorify God also through thoughts and words and good works. But perhaps, since this is a falsehood, many of those descended from Jacob being unfaithful and traitors to Jesus, someone will say: what is said of the seed of Jacob the 'plucked-up' and 'beaten-down' by death and the opposing power (and Jesus is that seed), his seed who came from teaching, will be able to glorify God. And since Israel is also the one whom the soul of God has received, the chosen seed of his, Israel will fear God. And each of those imitating...

If Jesus has a struggle against the principalities, powers, and rulers of this darkness, Jacob is one who beats back the opponents; but if he has a pure heart and a clear mind, he will see God, Israel being such a person. No seed of such a person will fail to fear God.

Since he did not reject the prayer of me the poor man nor crush it (Psalm 22:24), for this reason, becoming thankful that the prayer for us was heard by the Lord, you praised, glorified, and feared him. For even though I prayed to him as a poor man, but you ought to know what I am: a rich man, a treasure of the fullness of goods; through you I became poor so that through my poverty I might make you rich; for those who are surrounded by the flesh did not receive my wealth, knowing and prophesying only a part of it. Having become poor for you, I cried out to the Lord on your behalf, and he heard me, giving you those things by which you were found rich. For in my interceding for you, he did not turn his face away from me, but rather he shone it upon me; therefore he also applied his attention to my cry.

Men indeed praise based on visible works and conveniences, but God, seeing the hidden, praises based on perfect virtue and surpassing knowledge (Psalm 22:25). It is not for anyone to say with boldness: 'O God, my praise is from you, not based on chance things, but on a great assembly'; for a great assembly is the one gathered from the great according to their kind, just as a great assembly is the one gathered from many (Psalm 22:25).

A prayer is a confession made in thanksgiving, if one should obtain these things from God (Psalm 22:26). Concerning the two kinds of wealth, as the Scriptures say, to be the one rich in good works and in every word and in all knowledge, and the other to be rich from false-glorious dogmas and unpleasant deeds, being a poverty contrary to each kind of wealth. And he who possesses the divine wealth, being deprived of the worthless, possesses the contrary poverty, yet as a rich man and a poor man, I praise him as being such; just as he who possesses the laborious wealth possesses also the false poverty opposed to the wealth that...

The Spiritual Worship of the Poor§48

48Concerning those who labor not in a praiseworthy way, the saying 'The poor shall eat and be filled' is spoken. But you say 'the poor' according to the saying, meaning those from the nations who previously had no hope and were atheists in the world, who are coming to faith and shall eat and be filled (Psalm 22:26). Remembering God at the ends of the earth and turning from the nations, those who have passed from the earth shall have their citizenship in heaven. And all the families of the nations shall worship before Him.

The Jews also seemed to worship before God coming to Jerusalem and the temple which Solomon built. This typical worship in a place, however, is not what the nations dwelling even unto the ends of the earth are to perform; rather, they were taught to worship in spirit and truth, remaining where they are, performing worship before God, as God wills them to live as citizens. With this, the prophecy also agrees, saying: 'And all the islands of the nations shall worship before Him, every place from its own place,' as Zephaniah says (Zephaniah 2:11).

Those nourished in the earth can be 'poor of the earth' (Psalm 22:29), those who, having been called to repentance in spirit, are killing the deeds of the body so as to no longer think of earthly things, having eaten the spiritual food offered by Jesus, worshipped God in spirit and truth. And it is possible to call 'poor of the earth' those on earth who are departing from worldly wisdom, those becoming rich and ruling sensually; for these, having eaten the food from Jesus, being not a remedy for those foreseeing evils, shall worship God, finding Him above all wisdom, wealth, and rule.

But descending into the earth, if anyone is like those angels descending from heaven to earth and worshipping the Lord and Savior, according to 'Let all the angels of God worship Him' (Ps 97:7); but He stood ready if those receiving common death can descend into the earth, some of whom shall worship the Lord on behalf of them, having become in the lower parts of the earth (Psalm 22:29). But he said well that his own soul lives for him, and not that it serves him; but that the seed shall serve him. For the nature that was taken was united to the divinity that took hold of it, and partook of the same glory and honor.

Ps 21:31b-32: 'A generation goes and a generation comes' (Eccl 1:4)—some take it of the two peoples: they have called those of the circumcision the departing generation, because they have turned away from the Lord, having become 'a crooked and perverse generation' (Deut 32:5).

And the coming generation is the calling from the nations, hastening to the very Savior who calls.

This one, then, will be announced to the Lord by the ambassadors on her behalf, saying: 'To you nations shall come from the end of the earth' (Jer 16:19), and 'All the nations, as many as you have made, shall come and worship before you' (Psalm 86:9; LXX 85:9).

For the Savior who says, 'The one coming to me I will not cast out' (John 6:37), does not cast out this coming generation.

And it is well said 'the one coming' and not 'the one who has come'; for he does not cast out the one who is always effecting his coming to him by practicing the things of virtue.

And the generation of which the discourse speaks has not come but is coming to him, cherishing the things of faith.

And these same ones who announce to the Lord the coming generation also announce God's righteousness through faith in Jesus, effected in all who believe, to the people to be born, a divine offspring, whom the Lord made, having acquired it through his own blood, calling the not-people his people (Hosea 2:23; Rom 9:25).

Ps 22:1b-3a: The one who, through attaining the meek and well-ordered, has been named a sheep of Christ will say concerning the good shepherd: 'The Lord shepherds me, and I shall lack nothing' (Ps 22:1).

For he leads me to the saving pasture, where there are divine grasses, concerning which the shepherd himself says of his own sheep: 'He shall go in and go out and find pasture' (John 10:9).

And the place of green grass can be the divine instruction, where spiritual grass is found, being ethical teaching.

In this place, then, 'he made me dwell'—not 'he settled me'; for he wants me, as far as I progress, to use such pasture perfectly.

For having become from a sheep a man, I shall be tried no longer by a shepherd but by a trainer and teacher.

'He nourished me by water of rest' (Psalm 23:2; LXX 22:2). For the ethical lesson is not only a cure for thirst, but also provides release from sins.

'He converted my soul' (Psalm 23:3; LXX 22:3); for even if, being a sheep, I have strayed outside [...].

The Table of Spiritual Food§49

49It has happened through wandering to sin, but the shepherd turned my soul back to the strayed. It should be noted that no one is inherently bad if they are open to returning. One returns to where they began. Since sin has happened to those turning away from God, it should be abolished.

Regarding the shepherd, he says, 'He led me' (Psalm 23:3; LXX 22:3bc), leading forward and making a way so that we may step into it, himself treading the paths, following his own tracks. For if he drives out the sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him. He speaks of righteousness, that by which the practitioners are righteous, and the paths of it are the things performed according to it. Perhaps righteousness is the general virtue, and the paths of it are the specific virtues. Because of this, the one called upon me led me onto the aforementioned paths of righteousness.

When God is with one, nothing harmful can harm or injure, as the prophet says: 'Behold, the Lord will help me; who will harm me?' (Isaiah 50:9). If indeed one has walked in tribulations and pains, which is called the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4; LXX 22:4c), I will not fear the harmful things, having God with me. The evils here are not the strictly evil things, but the painful ones: poverty, sickness, distress, and the like, concerning which Job says: 'We shall not suffer evils' (Job 2:10). For no one having God with himself encounters evils that are the opposite of the strictly good; for sin is far from all that is in union with God.

He speaks of the rod to rebuke and to discipline, according to the question 'What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod?'; and the staff to support through counsel, exhortation, and advice.

In the beginning, we say that the one in the progresses dwells in a place of grass. Since the one progressing reaches even to the end, there is no remaining sheep.

But having been shown to be rational, a table of rational foods has been beautifully prepared by the Lord. For the Lord, being the one who prepared His own table with wisdom, upon which He set the holy sacrifices, says, 'I have prepared a table before me' (Ps 23:5), which is not an inductive and ethical teaching as before, but a mystical one and the contemplation of the truth.

But consider, even if one is, in this life, seeing the truth through a mirror and through an enigma, being a sheep led by a shepherd, having passed over to the coming age, approaching truth face to face, he approaches the spiritual table according to the promise: 'And I will make a covenant with you to eat and drink at the table of the Father in the truth'; therefore, 'I have prepared' is said. For the God prepared from that place—'Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and it has not ascended into the heart of man' (1 Corinthians 2:9)—God prepared for those who love Him.

And 'Before me' indicates that the Table has been made manifest to me and known to me in the presence of those distressing me, many desiring to contend with me and therefore distressing me. The Lord, wishing to establish me strongly against them, prepared a table before me, upon which solid food is set, so that, having been strongly equipped with this, I might be able to stand bravely against those distressing me. For we do not only attain to the good and perfect, but we have strong and many opponents; as the apostle says, 'For a great door is opened to me, and the opponents are many' (1 Cor 16:9).

This is to say, applying the mind lavishly to it; and this is the priestly anointing, the ointment which Aaron bore as a symbol; for he says, 'Like ointment which descends upon the head, upon the beard, the beard of Aaron' (Ps 133:2). Since wisdom prepared not only a table but also mixed her own wine in a bowl, having been made from a true vine, He mixed this...

The Cup and the Fullness of the Earth§50

50The Holy Spirit, having mixed divine decrees with human words, divides from this vessel a cup to each; and the cup that is strongest for the one is the most precious and exceptional to the one receiving it, for it is said that the Holy Spirit makes this a matter of profit. To the one who has received, He says, 'And my cup' (Ps 23:5). If your cup were to carry such a thought, it would be the cup of you, the Lord, 'whom you have given me to drink' (Ps 23:5). For the aforementioned mixture proposed toward wisdom is not human.

No one reaps such a salvation from works, but from the grace of God being merciful (Psalm 23:6; LXX 22:6a). For God, being rich in mercy, through the great love approaching Him toward men, has made alive in Christ the dead who had come to be through sins and trespasses; therefore the Holy One says: 'And your mercy shall pursue me, always coming and overflowing for me' (Ps 23:6). Not indeed at times or sometimes, but all the days of my life it pursues me (Ps 23:6). And all the days of life are the various illuminations of the truth through which we happen to be made alive, namely the Christ who is present with us through life.

He settles in a place of pasture, and in the house of the Lord he dwells (Psalm 23:6; LXX 22:6b), not for a certain time but all the days of immortal life, being illuminated unceasingly and repeatedly.

The earth has become more mystical of the Lord; how greatly he descended and liberated it from those who tyrannically hold it, the demons, destroying all the deceits being performed upon it: magic, sorcery, the divinations of the demons upon the earth along with the laws concerning idols and sacrifices. But also its fullness is of the Lord, namely all the mortal things dwelling upon it; the fullness of goods He cast upon it according to the Psalm, 'The earth is full of the Lord's mercy, and full of His praise' (Psalm 33:5). But also the inhabited world; and this is His church under the sun, apart from those dwelling in it. But this inhabited world is inhabited by those who think and live ecclesiastically. He himself established it upon the seas, and the seas being understood as the many storms and salt-spray of the trials that occur. For then the church receives a foundation and a steadfastness, and the...

Against the onslaught of the three-fold waves

The Lord of Powers and the Pantokrator§51

51The inquiry has become directed toward a holy place, not as an answer concerning a single person, but concerning every pure person with clean hands and a pure heart. Therefore, the text also brings forth the generation of those seeking him, instead of saying 'All such are'; and the generation having possessed the virtue of the aforementioned are seeking the Lord. They seek in order to find the face of God, as Jacob, whom they wish to behold, might be improved by the understanding and the illumination of it in some way: 'The light of your face has been signaled to us, Lord' (Psalm 4:6).

Running forward, divine angels were addressing those standing at the heavenly gates: 'Lift up your gates, O rulers; you are leaders and you are guards.' For just as he, bowing, bent the heaven and did not open it, so having been taken up, he did not enter through opened gates, but through those being lifted up. Since these gates also are spiritual, and the angels say toward them: 'Be lifted up, eternal gates.' But these spiritual gates are not temporary, because they are not bodily, but eternal because of the incorporeal and unblemished nature; yet they say that the gates should be lifted and be lifted up, not so that the glorious ones might enter, but that the King of Glory might enter.

And it is said that the Savior is the King of Glory to rule over all the glorious ones according to God, and as one bringing glory from all and possessing the true and lasting kingdom. Providing this to the worthy, and he is its Lord, it is said according to: 'For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory' (1 Cor 2:8). But since not God the Word alone ascended, but coming forth he was taken up in flesh, being animated by a spiritual soul, the powers above were astonished, asking: 'Who is this King of Glory?' For seeing the one spoken of as the King of Glory surrounding himself with flesh, they marveled.

Again, those running forward said, 'Lord, mighty and powerful,' shouting contrary to this: 'Not the one surrounding himself with a body, but the one having excelled against those who fell from us and having taken on a tyrannical power, the Lord who is mighty in war,' having seen that he had utterly defeated all, to contradict and to wish to stand against them. Having heard these things, the rulers along with the eternal gates...

They were not satisfied with doing only what was commanded, but they also stood over the higher powers and the gates of the higher heavens, as they reported, proclaiming the gates of the Most High, your rulers, and so on. And when they were questioned again, the angels answered them, and this was their answer, saying, 'Lord of Powers,' He is the King of Glory. But they call Him 'Lord of Powers' as a commander of armies.

It should be noted that those who have been precise regarding the Hebrews say that the voice of Sabaoth is lying in the Hebrew. The Seventy translate into Greek either 'Lord of Powers,' 'Lord of Armies,' or 'the Pantokrator.' They say, indeed, that in this place where Sabaoth is located, the translation into 'Lord of Powers' has occurred. But if Sabaoth lies concerning the Savior, it is also translated into 'the Pantokrator,' so that it is fitting the voice of the Pantokrator should be attributed to the Savior; for if all things came into being through Him, and He is before all things, and all things consist in Him, and He holds providentially all things having come into being through Him, and He is before all things consisting in Him, it follows that He is called Pantokrator. For it is His face speaking in Zechariah: 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have been sent after glory' (Zechariah 2:8), and 'You shall know what the Lord of hosts has sent me to you' (Zechariah 2:11). For the Son is the Pantokrator being sent by the Pantokrator, being sent by the Father. And most clearly in the Apocalypse of John, the Savior is called Pantokrator: 'These things says the Lord, the faithful and true witness, the one who was and the one who is and the one who is coming, the Lord God the Pantokrator' (Rev 1:8). For these things have been said about the Son without dispute.

Let me not be put to shame, as those who trust in others are put to shame; for he who trusts in wealth shall not fall (Psalm 25:1-3; LXX 24:1-3). This is to be said synecdochically concerning all temporal things. For I pray, having trust toward You, not to contend with those who are striving, lest I should be made a laughingstock by the enemies; and my enemies are the devil and the other evil powers and men except the God-fearing. For having learned this through all, I am emboldened, not to be put to shame by all those...

Divine Mercy and the Two Ways§52

52Enduring you. Perhaps these things suit the saints before the arrival. They await him and endure his coming descent. For when he has come, the laughter of the enemies will reach its end, those who mocked against those hoping in God.

The way through emptiness, the vain and empty, signifies this (Psalm 25:3; LXX 24:3b). Such is that in Proverbs 14:12: 'The way of all those who work iniquity, bringing shame to those who sin in vain'; for they do not perform the things of iniquity toward any perfection like the guardians of the law. The paths of the Lord, his commandments one must speak (Psalm 25:4-5; LXX 24:4-5). But he also says that one must teach them as paths worn by foot-traffic, so that having trodden the tracks, I may make my course unerring. And since the practical life alone is not sufficient for perfect salvation, so that with this I might also perfect the contemplative life, 'Guide me pedagogically upon your truth.' And furthermore, according to the place, it will be said: of the law and the prophets, encountering the paths of the Lord, no one else will make them known to the one desiring to be tested by them, who is the Lord himself. For having made known to his paths and having taught the foot-traffic, through having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, 'Guide me upon the one who said: I am the truth' (John 14:6), having spoken in the Son at the end of days. And indeed you, O God, are my savior; for through whom you taught me, you will provide salvation to me.

As the proper energy of light is to illuminate and of knowledge is to know (Psalm 25:6; LXX 24:6), so it is the proper energy of God to have mercy and to show mercy, and 'God and Father of mercies' is said. The saint does not wish to say it is such a thing; being a Father who is a source and beginning of them, he says 'Remember these, your offspring.' For even if you were angry for a little while with those who sinned, but the anger is not according to your nature, but having come into being usefully for destroying evil, let it cease, taking memory of your mercies which are according to your nature. And we also have become accustomed, being indignant at our own, and to speak to weak men, 'Remember your goodness and imitate yourself, reconciling with those under indignation.' Just as the mercies fittingly belong to God, so also his mercies, present to him according to nature, are 'from the age' (Psalm 25:6), whence they also remain unto the age according to 'For his mercy is unto the age'; and to someone God says, 'With eternal mercy I have had mercy on you' (Isa 54:8).

Ps 24:7ab: No one confesses upon those present and actively committing sins, but upon those having ceased and those no longer being sinners. This indeed he says even now, asserting, 'Do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorance.' For those having sinned and acted ignorantly in youth are no longer actively committing them to the one having passed through youth. Perhaps the term 'youth' does not signify age here, but the unstable and uncertain state of that period. For anyone who is in such a condition, he is ignorant and sins, as the Scripture says, 'That I might give cunning to the guileless,' whereas a young child is given perception and understanding. Having deemed it worthy that he should not remember the sins and ignorances of his youth, he immediately brought forward: 'According to your mercy, remember me' (Psalm 25:7; LXX 24:7c). For according to mercy, God remembers; he does not recall the faults. By nature, being merciful and God being good, he possesses kindness by nature; he remembers the one repenting with mercy (Psalm 25:8; LXX 24:8). And he is straight because he is not disposed toward sin, and because he requires the sinners to be straight; therefore, he will legislate for those sinning in the way (Psalm 25:8; LXX 24:8). For he subjects those actively committing evil to law, so that, having been prevented from sinning, they might walk the way of salvation (Psalm 25:9; LXX 24:9).

The God who legislates will guide those having gentleness and stability in judgment—that is, having been examined and scrutinized (Psalm 25:9; LXX 24:9). For having learned the two ways before the face of man, the way of life and the way of death, and having turned away from the way of death and walking the way of life, he walks in judgment, being led by the Lord, because of the calmness and stability of the mind; for the gentle possess tranquility of thoughts. The Lord himself, after having led the gentle in judgment, will teach them and his own ways, which are the ways leading toward him; for he himself travels them; for one traveling behind the Lord learns his ways (Psalm 25:10; LXX 24:10). All the ways leading toward the Lord, he himself walks in the manner having been said (Psalm 25:9-10).

The Monogenes and the Guiltless§53

53Those things established according to truth and becoming present with goodness are mercy and truth. For it is necessary to be shown mercy first, lest anyone fall upon them and, through this, outpace the one traveling upon the truth. But the ways of the Lord are not viewed as mercy and truth by all, but by those seeking His covenant and His testimonies; for he who is outside the covenant and the testimonies is a stranger to the goodness and the beauty of the Lord's ways.

One must seek the covenant which God set forth for the fathers, leading them out of the spiritual Egypt, that is, of the much-willed wandering. For having sought and having searched it, we shall enter into it and also the new covenant which Jesus confirmed with His own eyes; for every covenant is powerless if death has not overtaken the one establishing it, as the apostle says; for a covenant is established upon the dead, lest perhaps the one establishing it were not living. Therefore, to fulfill His own covenant, Jesus, willing, accepted death. And one must seek in the covenant also the testimonies of God, those having testified and having been inspired by Him with words.

For the sake of Your forgiveness, O Lord, I, Your servant, will seek Your covenant, expecting freedom from it and the inheritance which You appointed as if I had become a son (Psalm 25:11; LXX 24:11). But also, be propitiated toward my sin, not toward the sin being worked, but toward it being ceased. For the required purity is great, not according to quantity but according to the comparison of that which is owed to be offered.

He who fears God is indeed rare, but is not unfindable (Psalm 25:12; LXX 24:12). By this, the Lord does not legislate a way which He Himself preferred, but the one who fears Him. The soul of the devout, if it does not go further into the good things, is satisfied in them, always working them (Psalm 25:13; LXX 24:13). Therefore, the seed will generally obtain the inheritance of the land, not the one under the feet, but that of the gentle ones (Psalm 25:13). His only-begotten self...

He says according to the one saying: 'I also was left alone, and they seek my soul.' Therefore also I am poor, for I do not have the support of those of the same mind. And it is to be known what the 'monogenes' means: the only, just as you would say the only sun; it is not the same as the 'monogenes' Son. For what pertains to the monogenes Son, the only-begotten from the Father, is said to be the only one from Him.

And you will perceive the tribulations of the heart and those driving through with opposing thoughts. 'Bring me out of my necessities' (Psalm 25:17); from those surrounding, forcing and necessitating the departure of my intention, just as 'bring me out of great necessities' (Psalm 25:17). One, having taken the perceptions of his own sins, humbling himself because of the lack of boldness and suffering because of the fruits of repentance, says: 'See my humiliation and my labor, and forgive all my sins' (Psalm 25:18).

When someone ceases to have previously been active in sins, he will hate the demons who are active in them. And indeed many, becoming against the one being plotted against, hate him unjustly; but unjust hatred is that which happens against those doing things not worthy of hatred, while justly hating the evil things. 'Preserve the soul, lest it fall to those who hate unjustly' (Psalm 25:20); but also to rescue it from deeds such as those which they will be able to hold onto.

'Guiltless' he says, either referring to those being deprived of malice or the more simple, and 'upright' to those having accomplished perfect virtue. 'Not clinging to me (through unanimity), what I endured, O Lord' (Psalm 25:21). Perhaps also 'guiltless' refers to the diligent among men, and 'upright' to the divine angels clinging to Him and becoming of divine powers concerning the diligent. 'No one sins and wishes to be judged for those things which he has done, and especially before Him who sees the hidden things' (Psalm 26:11; LXX 25:11). And he who has walked in guiltlessness, that is, having progressed, is worthy to obtain this; for he shall not receive a wage of inheritance, but upon the Lord...

The Tabernacle, Divine Protection, and the One Thing§54

54Hoping, I shall not be weak; for I am contained by the hope toward God, being strengthened by it, I shall not be weak. Scripture is carried forth saying: 'I shall not be shaken.' And through this it is not made manifest: because the hope toward God provides for me something firm and immovable, 'Hoping in the Lord, I shall not be shaken' (Psalm 26:1).

Since it is not the one recommending himself who is proven, but the Lord establishes, having testified to himself that one should walk in integrity and desiring that one should not be weak, he wants one to be tested and tried by struggles, so that the righteous may be revealed, and one may be tried so that, having received a trial, he might have endurance that is proven. And previously, having an analogy between the kidneys and the heart, it is said. That these two things should be purified through painful struggle, so that they might be shown as proven gold (Psalm 26:2).

I would not have been worthy to suffer the aforementioned painful things, unless your mercy had considered me, coinciding with me so as to enable me to endure them. Your mercy, which has been seen by me in front of my eyes, works together to please in your truth; for God's mercy makes one please according to truth and not by affectation (Psalm 26:3).

One washes the practical powers of the soul, called hands tropically, in innocence, doing nothing trivial but something significant in them. Perhaps also the one who stains them in the work of evils washes and cleanses them, using good works instead of water. Having become outside of all the aforementioned evils and having washed my hands in innocence, I shall surround with the justice of an innocent priest the spiritual altar of the Lord, upon which someone offers up spiritual sacrifices, namely the pure prayers or the lawful acts. To have heard the voice of angels, souls, and spirits of the righteous praising you, to have become around the altar, to have washed my hands in innocence and to have abstained from all those leading astray, but also to perform the narrating of all your wonders in a vast and paradoxical way (Psalm 26:7).

He who loves the Lord from his whole soul and all the things of God, to whom also the decency of his house belongs, loves; and the decency of God's house is the truth of the dogmas and the command of the canons of the church, being considered his house. Toward these...

And he says that even the tabernacle of the glory of God is loved. Perhaps the tent of witness which Moses constructed in the wilderness is the tabernacle of the glory of God; this is a symbol of progress. But that which Solomon built after the journey to Jerusalem is the temple, bearing a type of the beauty of perfection.

However, he does not wish for the ungodly to possess it, lest his soul be destroyed along with them; for one possessing a pious intention will not be persuaded by this. He also exhorts one not to become a murderer, so that his life may not be destroyed along with men of blood; for in the practice of these things there is injustice and total wickedness.

Even if he is conscious of the most beautiful things foretold to him, fearing to sin, he is not justified by this alone, through many hidden sins; he deserves to be redeemed and to receive mercy (Psalm 26:11; LXX 25:11b). God our Savior is the one rescuing us from sins and from death, and a light that dissolves the darkness of wickedness and ignorance, and illuminating with the light of knowledge (Psalm 27:1; LXX 26:1bc). He who has thus been united and enlightened by the Lord, whom shall he fear? For no one is able to harm such good ones who have attained security. The Lord is the defender of my life; from whom shall I dread? (Psalm 27:3-4; LXX 26:3,4). These things shall be said, and concerning perceptible enemies and concerning a phalanx of invisible enemies; for if he says, 'war rises up against me,' in this heart which does not fear them, I hope, having become bold, in a God who fights for me. It is also requested and sought to dwell in the house of the Lord, that is, in the church, through thinking on ecclesiastical matters all the days of his enlightened life. 'One thing I asked, which I sought: to dwell on earth, even if I should find many good things, I beseech you, before all things I asked this one thing, to dwell in the house of the Lord (Psalm 27:4) in order, and not in confusion, in all the good things that become one;' perhaps the 'One thing I asked' is to be heard as the exceptional or the great. Since he also says in the beforehand that he has loved the beauty...

Sacrifice of Victory and the Seeking of the Face§55

55Regarding the dwelling of the Lord, he who desires to behold this rejoices in becoming a dwelling, approaching it closely and genuinely, not only approaching but also surpassing, as if the Lord visits and surrounds his temple, perhaps not even wishing to depart, imitating Samuel. He who simply, having grasped the established dogmas of the church, beholds the delight of the Lord, differs from one who approaches the Lord by surrounding his temple regarding the Trinity (Psalm 27:4).

Many times the difference between the tabernacle and the dwelling is called 'we have said,' signifying indeed progress, but the latter perfection. Therefore, the day of evils that has come upon someone cannot be in the dwelling of God, but it is hidden in the shadow, the Lord covering him to shield him from evil, for the one now repenting is not yet going to perfection. Perhaps the name of evils signifies circumstances, and here it is possible.

'He covered me in the secrecy of his tabernacle' (Psalm 27:5; LXX 26:5), which is the instruction by which we progress. The manifest things are the former, but the secret and withdrawn things are the mysteries. In progressing, God does not cover in the obvious things, but in the secrecy of his tabernacle. His action is set forth as a representation that not every tabernacle is, that is to say, progress according to God.

'He lifted me up on a rock' (Psalm 27:5), having reached progress, me upon the narrowest and most unyielding word of perfection, a rock called allegorically; 'the Lord himself lifted me up.' It is appropriate for progress to be 'He hid me,' and for perfection to be 'He lifted me up.' It is also possible to call the guidance through law and prophets a tabernacle; in the secrecy, that is, in the mystical way, God hides the one being instructed, lifting him up on a spiritual rock, not another, but one that is Christ's.

And now, after having passed through progress and having reached the goal of truth, to lift up the head, to understand my Christ having become the ruler of my mind, over my enemies, so that I may see them under my feet and having been made subject (Ps 27:6). 'I encircled and offered a sacrifice of praise in his tabernacle' (Ps 27:6). It is appropriate to 'He hid me in his tabernacle in the day of my evils' and the following: for then a sacrifice of shouting with...

A victory being completed is offered as a sacrifice, having encircled the enemy in his tent. To shout aloud is to cry out amidst the defeated enemies. He who, being surrounded by the enemies, rightly offers a gracious sacrifice of victory in the tent, that is to say, in progress. I will sing and I will praise the Lord. Not only will I contemplate the things of truth which are clearly manifested through the 'Singing', but also I will act according to virtue which is presented through the 'Praising', doing both in a pleasing manner to God. For this is what it means, 'I will sing and I will praise the Lord' (Psalm 27:6).

Knowing these things, he who says these things, hearing God through the prayers of the righteous, from the same disposition, having cried out to the righteous, deems it worthy that he will be heard. If you, Lord, were to consider according to merit, you would not hear a mortal; for no one would send up such a cry as to reach you. Having looked toward your goodness, have mercy on me; for you will also hear me. Both to be shown mercy and to be heard then happen not from the superficiality of lips, but from the heart toward you. Through this, it is presented that God hears not entirely the spoken voice, but above all the voice of the heart. 'Seek my face'; and this, if my heart is toward you, the face of my heart, which is nothing other than the mind, will seek you. And I will find, after the seeking, the face, approaching you face to face, the vision through a mirror and in a riddle having been done away. 'Having understood, I knew the face of your servant, imprinted according to the image and likeness of yours; therefore I seek to see your face.' For having understood it, I shall perceive a greater light. Then I am able to seek, if you appear, your face; for if this does not happen, I will not be able to approach it. Therefore I say: 'Do not turn your face away from me' (Psalm 27:9).

Instruct me, Lord, so that having received such a law from you, I may walk in the word spoken (Psalm 27:11). And guide me in the straight and unbending way of yours, escaping the enemies lying in wait, those placing stumbling blocks for me. For what is the virtue of the mean, of not being an excess or a deficiency, but keeping the proportion; you, Master, guide me, bringing me to the end of it, escaping my enemies who are working evil.

The Pit and the Works of God§56

56Acting excessively, standing by the door, they receive through deception those who do not stand by the distinction of moderation and excess. If you say that the path of true dogmas is a straight way, be careful that, not being led by God, the adjacent false dogmas are enemies of this age, who are its rulers; so that we may not fall into their deception, we pray to be led by the Lord on the straight way.

Since I have chosen to walk the straight way, all the wicked have set to trouble me (Psalm 27:12; LXX 26:12); but You, Lord, my guardian, do not deliver me into their hands. He prays not to be delivered to them or to be numbered with their souls; those troubling him are witnesses that they are unrighteous. But injustice attributed it to themselves; being unstable and unsure, it lied about itself; for such as it promises to be, such it was not found. For the voice of a lie does not always signify the opposite of truth, as in the prophet Aloinos, who lied to them instead of as he promised; according to the finding of Aloinos, they lied having been diminished.

The land of promises was called the land of the living, according to eternal life (Psalm 27:13; LXX 26:13), since no one in it participates in the following death of sin. But this land is in the unseen and eternal things, and upon it are the truly and properly good things of God. Therefore the saint says such a thing: I believe to participate in eternal life, so that by it, living, I may be transplanted into the land of the living, to see the Lord's good things which lie according to the promises for those living holily. And it is possible to say both to see and not to eat or taste something else; for the whole benefit is provided in contemplating the divine good things.

He says this, reasoning with himself, or to everyone hearing him (Psalm 27:14; LXX 26:14). And such an exhortation may be brought to him from above by the Spirit, since, having believed to see the good things in the coming age, wait for the Lord, or wait for the descent of the Savior here; for through it he will be able to ascend to the vision of the good things. Be manly, that is, take up manliness, not by the strength of the body but...

while your heart is being held firm. For you will not be able to endure the Lord according to all the ways previously foretold (Psalm 28:1; LXX 27:1c). The name of the pit and the place that guards the condemned signifies this.

Since you are not lacking in many things, that you might be able to have these things replenished toward you (Psalm 28:2; LXX 27:2a), I am worthy to cry out to you, that you might hear the voice of my prayer when I am praying to no one else; for no one else is able to replenish what I lack. The temple of God is the one, and the super-heavenly space and the powers within it, hosting the presence of God as much as is possible (Psalm 28:2; LXX 27:2b). And the Word of God is also the one who declares: 'The Father who dwells in me performs the works.'

He prays, not saying: 'Since destruction certainly comes to the wrongdoer (Psalm 28:3; LXX 27:3b), do not let me, providing justice to me, fall into becoming an unrighteous one, lest I perish with those practicing it.'

The discerning one, approaching things with scientific knowledge, turns away from the harmful useless things, choosing the good and profitable ones (Psalm 28:4-5; LXX 27:4). But the foolish one, being enticed by pleasure, performs evils, not seeing their harmfulness. Since he does not rationally perceive the harmful things, the saint prays that the foolish one might be repaid according to his painful works, so that through those pains he might turn away from the evils having become causes of punishment for him.

A man does, his works indeed, but they are the works of his hands; for he works according to a disposition (Psalm 28:5; LXX 27:5). And the active powers, being called his hands, perform the practical aspects of sins. They deserve to receive a retribution in kind, because they did not comprehend the works of the Lord and the works of his hands; they turn out to be the visible works and the invisible works of God. For those who do not comprehend the works of God and the works of his hands, he wishes to receive the retribution of them; for they themselves having chosen the non-comprehending, the punishment followed them to fall into it.

Hoping in the Lord, the helper and defender, my heart was helped (Psalm 28:7; LXX 27:7), so that there is nothing in it of a shameful remembrance or a foolish opinion. For the helping of the heart is to agree with what is necessary and to renew toward the opposites. But not like that of the...

Numerical Symbolism and the Lambs§57

57My flesh has sprouted in doing these things, aiding my heart. Perhaps also the hoping heart will be aided, the flesh having risen according to the time of the resurrection, enjoying it. Near to this, even our bones sprout like herbs. For our body now holds the word of a seed toward the resurrection; for this very thing, having been sown in corruption, sprouts in incorruption, being sown. Paul also used the example of that which is sown regarding the things of the resurrection.

And I will confess to him according to my will. Many, through fear of punishment or shame, or because they are being reproached by men, forbid sins by disposition, enjoying them. But the critical man, having seen the mystery and the harm of sins, voluntarily turns away from them, confessing them to God of his own will. And if 'I will confess to him' signifies thanksgiving, someone does it according to his will, being thankful for all things that happen, even if something seems unpleasant. For those thanking only in things that please, they do not do it of their own will, but are driven to this by pleasure.

The people of God have nothing else as a stronghold except the Lord himself being their refuge and fortress (Psalm 28:8; LXX 27:8). He himself is the Lord and the defender of the salvations of Christ. And every partaker of Christ is called 'Christ' homonymously with him. He who is not saved of the salvations, his Christ is not a defender; but if he is a defender of the salvations of Christ, the Son of the one who is, then salvation is heard through him by which he saves.

Save this your people, for you are a stronghold, blessing your inheritance; not like any other people (Psalm 28:9; LXX 27:9). Bless it with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things, lifting them up and suspending them through virtue, but also shepherding them into all this age. For in the future, having surpassed the state of being fed, they will be a pupil and a teacher to you.

The preceding psalm, containing greatest mysteries, is rightly arranged according to the twenty-seventh number, the power of the seven (Ps 28,1a). If indeed you combine the six numbers from unity as a seven, the twenty-seventh is composed; and it is a triangle, each of its sides being composed of seven. It is also a perfect number, second after the ten. For they say a perfect number is one composed of its own parts, so as not to exceed or fall short. And the present one is a number having parts: half, fourth, seventh, fourteenth, twenty-seventh; all being combined, it completes itself.

Protect then those who have the spirit of adoption by the angels, to bring upon the tent those things for healing (Ps 28,1b–2); and they carry glory, and they are also sons of the lambs. Lambs ought to be considered those who return to a life of godliness according to piety, without logically contemplating the truth. Therefore they are also sufficient to rule, and sons of lambs are those born of the imitation of their way of life. Those having correctly and justly and piously received the Trinity carry glory, but those guarding the commandments of the Lord carry honor. For he who transgresses the law, by transgressing, dishonors God; honor he offers to Him, the one who is contained by the divine law. Bring glory to the Lord in His name; likewise to Him before Him. Worship the Lord in His holy court. He who worships God according to the ecclesiastical doctrines and the blameless canons of it, worships the Lord in His holy court.

Someone, imposing a more superficial interpretation, will say of John baptizing in the Jordan river, 'A voice of the Lord upon the waters' (Ps 28,3a). Yet John, having taken up a more pleasant and austere life, making the flame of the pleasures of life manageable, is a voice of the Lord cutting the flame of fire (Psalm 29:7).

On Psalm 29§58

58It has not become a desert the inhabited world (Psalm 29:8; LXX 28:8). The previously mentioned voice of the Lord prepares the allegorically called deer. And these are souls, to kill the acts of the body by the spirit and to strip the impious one by the spirit through the lips by imitation of God.

And the voice of the Lord will work for her and a revelation of woods (Psalm 29:9; LXX 28:9), so that the beasts lurking in them might be made manifest, they are lifted up as deer. And a wood is a natural place of fruitless trees; and the wood is revealed when the fruitless trees in it are being cut down by the axe of the Word and are being thrown into fire.

When that which overshadows the progress of men is removed, then everyone, having ceased from the manifold error, will speak glory in the temple of God (Psalm 29:10; LXX 28:10). The sitting of God signifies his strength to remain unshakeable and incorruptible forever (Psalm 29:10; LXX 28:10). For indeed he distributes it to those perishing through turning: 'You sitting for the age, and we perishing for the age.' And here the permanence of his kingdom is presented. For this reason, 'And the Lord King is established for the age' (Psalm 29:10; LXX 28:10), having no end to his kingdom.

But he who speaks according to the history says that David the king, having been eager to build something tangible for the Lord, was forbidden by God speaking to him (1 Chronicles 28:3): 'Not you shall build for me something, because you are a man of war from your youth, but he who comes out of your loins shall build for me something.' Having been persuaded by the oracle, David ceased from building, but he pre-arranged the materials for the building. As he says, he prepared the materials, and also having composed the psalm, he left it as one of the necessary things, and how, after the temple having been built and dedicated, it might be struck with singing and chanting by those appointed to this.

He says that he will be saved (Psalm 30:3) if God does not let him descend to him, or after descending, having brought him up. These things are said economically and as from the face of Christ, who having descended his soul on our behalf and having given it and having risen from the dead by the good pleasure of God and Father, toward whom he says humanly: '...

"For You did not abandon my soul to the pit, a pit called by name; I say with confidence: You saved me from those descending into the pit" (Psalm 30:3).

The end of the day prepares the true light; they weep in the evening—that is, having come into being at the beginning of the night—while the beginning of the day rejoices, having occurred for them with the rising of the sun of righteousness (Ps 29:6d). This applies to both: the weeping of the circumcised when the sun of righteousness rises for them, and the joy of the Gentiles when the saving word shines upon them.

One must hear prosperity through spiritual fruitfulness, so that the seed of Jesus becomes a hundredfold and the other generations of virtue are multiplied (Psalm 30:6). In this prosperity, having been evidenced through these things, I will say that I remain firm and immovable, never to be shaken for ever. And one must cry out thus: "In my prosperity, I shall not be shaken for ever" (Psalm 30:6); for through his works he cries out, "If I were in the aforementioned prosperity, I would be unshakeable, not being turned aside by the adversary."

Bodily beauty appears through the symmetry and proportion of the limbs (Psalm 30:7), but the beauty of the soul is in the harmony and symphony of all perfected virtues, having symmetry and proportion in all activities according to reason, and the harmony of the soul's powers in proportion. "Grant this beauty to me, O Lord, according to your will." For having done your will and that of the Father in heaven, he took it up, since everyone having become conformed to the image of the Son of God has received beauty from God, having been united with the Lord's will.

He who, through doing material things and thinking of earthly things, being as dust and persisting in sin, will not confess to God, nor announce the truth to Him, being led astray through morals and knowledge (Ps 29:10c-d).

It is to be noted that "became" does not mean "always being," but also signifies a relationship toward someone. If such a voice were ever to occur regarding the Savior, it signifies a relationship toward Him and not merely being (Psalm 30:10-12). "You turned my weeping into joy for me." The voice of weeping signifies the emotion, just as the very act of the hands placing them on the chest demonstrates it.

The Multiplicity of the Human Spirit§59

59One who has not become aware in the consciousness of his own sins, and who has not actively awakened his sensation through spiritual hands, changing from being consumed by grief, will receive the fruit of the Spirit as joy. The phrase 'You have turned' signifies a change from cutting and grieving into joy; and 'I shall not be confounded' (Psalm 30:12) is said instead of 'I shall not know'. He who sings glory while saying these things to God possesses a right conduct and sincere knowledge.

He who has hoped to reach the end of what is laid up for the saints, and who will not be put to shame for ever, has placed such an expectation upon the Lord. 'In your righteousness, he says, save me' (Ps 30:3) (not by any other than your only-begotten Son) 'from those surrounding me and bring me out from those intending to fight against me' (Ps 30:3). And since our cry may not reach your height, 'Incline your ear to me' (Psalm 31:2) so that you may descend to accompany me; for the existence of this means that, having received my prayer, you will immediately deliver me by your wills.

And here 'Make me a hiding place' (Psalm 31:2-3) signifies a protector for the one being protected. It is also worthy that those near a refuge should have God become a salvation for them, just as one is saved unharmed while remaining enclosed by an impregnable and unassailable fortress. This I have often and always attempted, as the Psalmist says, 'You are my strength and my refuge, since your name is my stronghold; for I am your man and your servant' (Psalm 31:3; LXX 30:3). Even if I am not worthy to receive what I ask, because of your goodness you will guide me toward salvation and sustain me, providing me with your heavenly bread (Psalm 31:3).

Diligence belongs to the good; the body is not so much to be wounded by enemies, for the war does not seek to deceive him with phantoms and terrors, but rather it seeks not to strike the flesh but to wound the mind from before; the spirit places itself into the hands of God, being able to guard it. And the Savior, having been hung upon the stake, his hands and feet having been pierced according to the prophecy, 'Into your hands I shall commit myself' (Psalm 31:5), has used the hands of God, which are none other than his providential and protective powers, to be exercised.

It should be noted that the spirit of man is spoken of in many ways. For in the prophecy of the Virgin, where it is said she is to be holy in spirit and body, spirit refers to the intellect. But according to James (as the body without spirit is dead), the designation of 'spirit' signifies nothing other than the soul. And in the passage 'For what are the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him?', it is shown to be nothing other than the spirit joined to the soul or being part of it, which is also called conscience; for the conscience of man is the inward thoughts, which are something other than the soul; for the soul is the man, not the inward thoughts.

Regarding the Psalm 'the spirit of man having been set in your hands', stand firm to grasp in what way it is meant: 'Into your hands I commit my spirit' (Ps 31:5). And it pleases me that the present text is true according to the three ways. 'Having been seized by enemies, as having become a captive, I will redeem, O Lord, you who are the God of truth and of the truth shared by each of those participating in the truth of the Only-Begotten' (Psalm 31:5). In general, everyone guarding vanity for no reason does this, making the uncertain to be, or making vanity to happen emptily and superfluously. And he who hates this makes those guarding it hateful to God.

The humiliation, on one hand, shows blindness, when it calls for humility, and on the other hand, the harm by enemies. And it is good to see God in both kinds of humiliation. What follows, he considers to be the harm following the humiliation: 'For you have compressed my soul by necessity' (Psalm 31:7), saying 'necessities' regarding the circumstances from which the soul, having been rescued, is not enclosed into the hands of the harming enemy. If the 'spaciousness' were to say the same regarding the wide and spacious way (which is the love of pleasure), it would thank it for its stability and for desiring a standing in this life. For it says something like this: being in the place of the earth, where living is slippery and unsafe because of the sliding pleasures, you have given a standing to my soul, so that I might not be carried away there by the passions. But if it were to praise the spaciousness, it would say: 'Since being afflicted, I am not constricted, being more strengthened by pains', or perhaps, 'being widened by the...'

Divine Providence and the Hidden Face§60

60Glory comes from circumstances, I will say: 'You have set my feet in a wide place' (Psalm 31:8). Not every poor person is weak (for many poor people are strong), nor is one lacking in strength poor; but in spiritual matters, since strength is the same as wealth, the one who is wealthy has strength in good works. He does not wish to say 'I am such a thing'; since, having turned away from the visible wealth (which is not the divine), he says, 'My strength has grown weak.' It is to be noted what it means to say 'is' instead of 'has'; for it is not strength that is weak, but the one who has it, just as we do not say one is ignorant of knowledge, but that one is ignorant. This is in agreement with what was said by Paul concerning Christ: 'That we might become the righteousness of God in him' (2 Cor 5:21). For in these things, he called those having righteousness 'righteousness.'

Those enemies who are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, not only do not feel shame nor seem to suffer reproach for the evil they do, but on the contrary, they take pride, as it has been said concerning them: 'The glory is in their shame.' And they boast over those who become objects of reproach. Therefore, turn away from your boasting and reproach against the Lord; otherwise, they shall rise to reproach and eternal shame. But he who perceives himself to have become in the aforementioned poverty confesses that he is to be reproached. Therefore he says: 'I have become a reproach to all my enemies, but also to all those who draw near to me according to the proverb—that is, to those who hold the same opinion.'

Those who attack me with persistence, perceiving that they have fallen from wealth into poverty, fearing that they might suffer the same, hasten to be outside of my stability. But also, a vessel which formerly was precious and very useful to the master, seemed to have been lost. Because the ear hears the slander of many dwelling around. If a teacher is called a liar by those who seem to be his disciples because of the necessity of learning, yet they dwell around and do not remain in the lessons, they do not abide in them. And it is possible to not be so; since the ear hears the slander of many around me, because they do not abide but merely dwell around our things, for this reason I have become a lost vessel. With this,...

Is it that someone is weak and I am not weak? Is it that someone stumbles and I am not being burned? (Psalm 31:15) My lots fall into those things which are covering and guarding by your hands, being profited by them; that is, all things allotted to me according to your judgment, either to flow from them or to suffer; for it does not happen to them by chance. (Psalm 31:15)

Others clarify the word not thus: the powers given, they say, are called their lots, as if they have superiority over teachers or others. They are not in the hands of God. For just as He establishes, so also He distributes kings. Therefore, because some are coming to move this superiority which is present to me, wanting to do so, they will not be able, since all things concerning me are in your hands. (Psalm 31:15)

He does not merely hide his goodness from those fearing him (for they see much of it), but the abundance, so that they may not be harmed. (Psalm 31:19-20) And it is also good to say: To those fearing you, it is stored up for them. Reveal it to them, so that those having become in perfect love might cast out fear. 'You have made it known to those fearing you' means you have revealed it by energy, so that those having more hope than fear possess it.

Regarding 'Against the sons of men': You say 'men' regarding those having preserved the rational and incorruptible image, but 'their sons' regarding those having become their rational disciples and imitators. And 'hidden from the face of God' you say, meaning that which is not attainable now to knowledge, but will be revealed then, when we shall see Him as He is. With this 'hidden' thing, that which is said by Paul is contrasted: 'made known to men,' that is, His creative and providential nature. For after the 'God revealed' it is said: 'For his invisible attributes, from the creation of the world, are understood and perceived through the works.' (Rom 1:20)

Perhaps also the Savior has the face of God hidden, all that is according to the divinity, but that which is according to the economy is manifest. And since now the Word having become flesh dwells among us, we are being hidden in the mystery of His face, so that we may see Him as we shall see His glory, a glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) But stand firm, if...

Divine Providence and the Shelter of Truth§61

61The manifest works of providence can serve as his face, for through them we perceive God; but his secret, private words are the basis of all things, though we do not perceive them in the perfection of reality.

From the disturbance of men—those human doctrines promising things to men while causing disturbance, through which they trouble the uninstructed—God, making those who hope in him outside of this disturbance, hides them in the secrecy of his face in all the ways mentioned. He will cover them in a tent from the opposition of tongues. He who has reached the perfection of all progress, having withdrawn from it, understands the truth through which it is un-deceivable; but he who encounters it while still progressing needs the covering of God in a tent, that is, of various tongues, or rather various false doctrines. For it is said toward the perfect: 'And every voice that shall rise up against you for judgment shall defeat them all' (Isaiah 54:17). For every heterodox word rises up desiring to be judged alongside the ecclesiastical opinion. But he who thinks the things of the church will defeat them all.

Not such a great wonder is worthy of being shown by the mercy of God in the hostile and smoothed-over cities, which would be wondered at if it occurred in a city of dominion; just as for this reason God is most blessed, being praised by those who have been rescued from greater disturbance. And the name of ecstasy signifies madness, and also denotes the wonder occurring with astonishment; the present word signifies the second of these meanings. For he says such a thing: 'In ecstasy,' that is, having occurred in astonishment, 'I have been cast away far from the presence of your eyes' (Psalm 31:22), that is, far from the glory of your supervisory and inspecting powers; and since I have thus arranged, I pleaded not to remain cast away but that the face of the Lord might appear to me.

Ps 30:24: Since the truth that said 'I am the truth' (John 14:6) is one, many truths come to be in those who partake of the one, each soul having the truth, the type of which it received from the only-begotten truth.

Since, then, the Lord seeks out all these truths, he wishes to honor those who have them for these truths.

For this reason, his holy ones, seek him out, not without reward, resting upon the truth you have.

Ps 31:1a: And since the psalm has many hidden things, the one encountering it needs understanding, that he may be able to understand each of the things said obscurely.

Ps 31:1b-c: They say the difference between iniquities and sins is this: the sins of those who have not received any law at all are called iniquities, while those committed by transgression of the law are named sins.

Blessed, then, are those whose iniquities are forgiven, those now coming to the divine word; and blessed are those whose sins are covered, whenever, having disobeyed the law, they afterward repent.

For 'forgiveness' is said of iniquities, but 'covering' of sins, because iniquities are forgiven altogether.

For those who sin without law are pardonable; the hidden sins are not forgiven altogether but are overshadowed from love: 'For love covers a multitude of sins' (1 Pet 4:8).

And some apply the 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven' (Psalm 32:1; LXX 31:1) to those who have received the bath unto forgiveness of sins, and the 'And whose sins are covered' to those who from repentance have covered their sins.

And there are those who take the first of the believing nations, and the second of those of the circumcision who have received the Savior.

Ps 31:2: The sinless one is called not simply a human being but a man, on account of perfection.

Thus, then, God does not reckon sin to him, either by forgiving it or by its not having happened at all.

For this will be fitting [...].

Forgiveness of Heart-Impurity and the Flight to Christ§62

62Especially regarding Christ according to the economy; and that there is no deceit in his mouth is likewise to be understood as the fact that he has not possessed deceit. For there is no deceit in the mouth of the Word, being true and unsearchable.

Glancing from the true light in the day, I ran and in this day I cried out to you, praying Ps 31:3. Since I did not fall silent from this cry due to inattention, my bones were struck, both the strong and the soft of the dogmas, which are called my bones. And he means by saying these things the falling away, that his bones are becoming old, but are not old by nature.

And in those things that lead forward it is said, as in many places of the Scripture, that the punishing power of God is called his hand Ps 31:4. That this lies heavily upon him day and night—that is, he says continuously—is because of the change that comes upon the hand. The Savior interpreted the cares of life, both the pleasure and the thorns of deceit of this age. And if one is pierced by such a thorn, he is immediately turned into misery. It must be understood what one becomes miserable through change and turning, not being such by nature. The word means the wretched and the pitiable. And to be pierced by a thorn signifies not being such by nature, but it approaching from without. 'I was turned into misery' through repentance and through the instructive admonishment of the Lord; for the Lord loves whom he disciplines, but he scourges every son whom he does not receive Heb 12:6. Let us know in the Kings who endured because of this sin, being disciplined by the Lord because of his former righteousness, so that, having been freed from that sin and the punishment through it, he might take back his former health 1 Kings 15:3-5.

He who has fallen into sin, if he wishes to work it, provides a cover and hides it; but he who has hated it makes it manifest to the one who is able to heal through confession, declaring it Ps 31:5. But he also reveals the lawlessness appropriate to this; for the sight of sin is lawlessness; for everyone who acts lawlessly sins, though not everyone who sins acts lawlessly. It can be said by analogy, especially because everyone who does sin also does lawlessness, and lawlessness is sin. But having spoken truly, 'I confessed my sin against myself' Ps 32:5 which I have done...

I did not ask for more lawlessness than what I had; for God has forgiven not only this but also the impiety of the heart. And impiety of the heart is able to be the dissatisfaction of providence occurring to many through the irregularity of things as they seem.

If even the righteous cleanse themselves from practical lawlessness (Psalm 32:6; LXX 31:6a), they still often have impure thoughts from the aforementioned impiety of the heart. Even if those who pray do not have thoughts concerning lawlessness, they will pray concerning impiety, asking for its forgiveness in a favorable time. And a favorable time of prayer concerning the aforementioned forgiveness is when one cleanses himself from practical filthiness. And just as one who is wounded in a small scratch will not demand a physician's treatment, but having the whole body intact, only suffering in that single scratch, so no one filled with the guilt of actions will pray concerning the purity of thoughts, but only every righteous person.

When a flood of many spiritual waters comes (Psalm 32:6; LXX 31:6b), having had a spring of water within himself changing into eternal life—that is, the waters vanishing all sins and the impiety of the heart upon them—impiety and lawlessness will not approach the one who has prayed for them.

He who says these things thinks he finds deliverance from the standing affliction in no other way than by fleeing to Christ (Psalm 32:7; LXX 31:7). Just as righteousness and wisdom are, so also is the joy of the diligent Jesus. For he says to Him as our joy: 'Deliver me from those pursuing me; for lawless demons and evil men pursue me; for I will be persuaded that nothing evil can happen, You saving me.'

That is, not having cast away acting logically, you do not fall into an irrational state (Psalm 32:9; LXX 31:9), such that through being headstrong you become like a mule because of being deficient toward evils; for such an impulse does not have understanding. The prophet says toward God: He brings those who have become like horses because of being skittish and unruly, and a mule, hard-mouthed, subduing their bits with nails and drawing them with Your suitable bridle, with which You lead them under Your yoke. The compliant and gentle ones approach God by a voluntary impulse, but those previously mentioned as horses and mules because of the lack of understanding...

The Straightness of the Word and the Nature of the Heavens§63

63Having become subject to the aforementioned necessity of the afflictions, they will be drawn toward you (Psalm 33:1; LXX 32:1). Those who have accomplished an ethical life are righteous, rejoicing in the Lord, and it is necessary that those who flee from all the crookedness of false doctrine be upright. For it is fitting to praise God with these, since praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner (Sirach 15:9).

Confession and here thanksgiving are expressed. This ought not to be made on a lyre. And if the body is a lyre, the stretched strings are none other than the senses; for being struck by divine hearing, they perceive the hearing and the heavens and those in them, seeing them as to marvel at the Creator, and using the other senses praiseworthy, we confess to the Lord rhythmically and harmoniously with this lyre. But if one should conceive the soul as a lyre, its powers—which are the mnemonic, the assentive, the productive, and others according to reason—being struck like strings by the mind musically, will confess to the Lord. Musicians say there is a difference between the psalmtery and the lyre, such as this: they say the lyre is composed of the lower parts, while the psalmtery is from the upper parts with the strings, and it is more straight through strings. Since the soul is given as lyres, the spirit of man, which is in it, is perhaps something other than the mind, is a psalmtery, singing not to anyone else but to God. For we use right thoughts and with our own spirit we receive the Holy Spirit, and we sing victoriously in a ten-stringed psalmtery. And perhaps from the ten strings its perfection is shown. For such a number is found continually being hymned in the Scriptures. And God used only ten general terms for the high priest Moses, and the people are commanded to offer ten.

He who hastens to praise God through all things and through voice will sing to God a new song (Psalm 33:3; LXX 32:3), saying an anthem kindred to the new covenant and the newness of the Spirit, so that he might praise God not only with lyre and psalmtery but also with voice. And he wishes to sing praiseworthy with a shout of triumph; for the shout is a voice. He who makes a shout without distraction and without insignificance against the conquered enemies, then he says, 'You have sung well,' while those having conquered say, 'Shout!'

Because of the enemies. The word of the Lord, which he gives to those pursuing knowledge, is straight and not a crooked deception (Psalm 33:4; LXX 32:4). Moreover, the workers perform the appropriate things for this word, being fulfilled in faith; and the works which the word of God performs are in faith, that is, they are firm and unshakeable, and the word by which he governs and provides is straight.

If someone were to call the word of God a straight word, the works he performed in this word, being fulfilled in faith, would be easy; for the paradoxical works of Jesus are his works according to the faith of those, becoming things for them: 'Let it be done to you according to your faith' (Matthew 9:29). He himself is God, or his straight word, accepting judgment in that he must avenge the virtues being insulted by the wicked, but loving mercy, helping those being led to judgment by his own goodness. For if he were to observe all their works, no one would be able to endure. Therefore, even before judgment, he loves mercy. For if it were not so, all would suddenly be lost.

The heavens were made thin, having the most corruptible nature (Psalm 33:6; LXX 32:6); for such is the nature of the heavens. But when taken allegorically, of all those who think upon the image of the so-called heavenly, their firm grip and stability becomes theirs through the word of the Lord, and their power, by which they are able, is not produced by anything else but by the Holy Spirit. And by this spoken word, pious men discourse that the Holy Spirit is the creative force.

Just as water held in a skin or in another vessel is not permitted to pour out outside of the container holding it, so the vastness of the sea's water is limited by a certain boundary, not being allowed to exceed the appointed rivers. For if it did not hold back by the command of God, it would have overflowed the whole earth. But stop, unless even this is made clear: since, calling the water of the sea, he pours it out upon all the earth through the rains, his command, practicing justice, makes the water ethereal, as if composing a cloud of mists to be carried over the earth. Allegorically, the life of men is often called a sea.

Divine Providence and the Folly of Human Strength§64

64Because of the still and salty nature of the waters upon the earth, the sea, which is called the abyss, gathers them together—not as if they were scattered by a storm—as if in a skin, so that the Savior might take up the body to become calm and drinkable. He places them in the abysses of treasuries.

Nothing in creation is carried out disordered; for as a seed is held in its own treasuries by its own will, so it is released and held as it seems fit to it. It is said, moreover, that He brings the winds out of the treasuries, not by their own impulse, these being carried, but by the will of the Creator, sometimes closing them and sometimes bringing them out. But He also opens the treasury of the good heaven and gives rain to the seed of the earth, just as a seed is held, and He holds the rain by closing the heaven, as regarding the prophet Elijah. And the abysses, because they are not able to harm through the unlimited multitude of the waters, are placed in treasuries, enclosing them, so that if anyone wishes to use them, it is as is profitable according to the season (Psalm 33:7; LXX 32:7).

It is also possible for the ungraspable of His thoughts and the unsearchable of His judgments, which happen to be abysses, to be placed in the hidden treasuries of knowledge and of wisdom, so that no one might attain to this from himself unless God should grant it (Psalm 33:7). Since they came into being by His speaking and were created by His commanding, let them be shaken by Him; for it belongs to the Creator to change things toward the good (Psalm 33:8). 'They came into being' signifies the essence of those things regarded as being, and 'they were created' signifies the adornment having come into being after the essence. If all things came into being and were created by the speaking and commanding of God, then no one other than the creative Word spoke and commanded; and this is the Son of God.

And elsewhere it is said: 'For who has counseled that God the Holy should scatter?' (Isaiah 14:27). Just as in other places it is said of God in a human way—as having hands and eyes and other things—so also He speaks of His heart, meaning His deliberative and intellectual energy. The thoughts of this energy, being unlifted and certain, extend from generation to generation, that is, through all the generations.

Divine thoughts remain as a conviction. Perhaps he did not cast thoughts upon the generation of the circumcised, but he casts these upon the generation from the believing Gentiles; for he has not called out against others, but against those in whom the shadows of the circumcised are hidden.

They inhabit the earth, not humans alone, but also invisible spirits and the other mortal animals (Psalm 33:14; LXX 32:14b). The care of God, overseeing all, extends to everyone upon the earth, bringing them out from his aforementioned dwelling-place.

Since God understands not only the things accomplished but also the intention from which these things are activated (Psalm 33:15; LXX 32:15b), it is said that he sees not, but understands all their works.

For that a king is not saved by much strength, you shall learn from history (Psalm 33:16-17; LXX 32:16-17a); Pharaoh did not have a great array, but God cast his armor and his strength into the sea. And all history is full of such things. And he says that the one who is exceedingly strong will not be saved in the strength present to him; but having understood this, he speaks concerning Goliath. And if the allusion also indicates the god-fighter, no one shall be saved in a multitude of strengths of impious dogmas. The one called 'not strong' is to be found in Isaiah saying, 'Giant and strong,' but the god-fighter again by the same author: 'Giants come to fill my wrath, rejoicing.' And also in Genesis: 'And Nebroth was a mighty hunter before the Lord.' A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the help is by the Lord (Prov 21:31).

Since the departing light from the eyes of God is life (Psalm 33:19; LXX 32:19), the pious, participating in this and having hope upon the lion, would be saved from the death that follows wickedness, as if their souls were being made alive; but participating in the heavenly bread (and the word of God is not bread), they are nourished in famine. For famine he speaks of not the scarcity of edible foods, but the deprivation of divine teachings. Accompanying this is the saying, 'I will send famine upon the earth' (Amos 8:11), 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 for ourselves, knowing God as a helper and...

The Divine Calling and the Protection of Angels§65

65We wait for a protector upon it with the soul, that is, from the depth of the intellect. Perhaps even those unable to benefit themselves before the arrival will wait with expectation for the coming helper and protector Savior. And in him our heart will rejoice.

Others are gladdened by something temporary, pouring out the soul, while others of these are absent; but we possess divine and eternal joy in the Lord, having not a bodily well-being but of mind and heart. Therefore we also hope in his holy name, praying that he might take part in sanctifying us, becoming a cause for us.

Just as those cast into the furnace in Babylon, praising God for not being burned by the fire, received all creation into this, knowing they were not sufficient for something so far off (for great is the praising of God); so also he who says 'Magnify the Lord with me' (Ps 34:3) wants all creation to join in this with the gentle ones. But to magnify God is not to increase his magnitude (for he is immeasurable; this is a matter of bodies, but God is incorporeal), but to think of the great things not as being toward him, but toward us, and to speak about him.

And those prepared with the same mind and the same purpose exalt his name. And the approach of God is exalted toward the created things, not rising from the lowly, but rather those who think of it do not fall to the ground, but contemplate high and heavenly things. For as they profane the name of God, not by the name itself becoming unholy, but by those surrounding it acting and thinking profanely, so also it is sanctified from our actions; for God the Savior says this also, teaching in the prayer 'Hallowed be thy name' (Matt 6:9), not of his name itself becoming holy by itself from being not holy. For it is necessary that it be hallowed in us by those who think and act holily. And so also the discourse concerning God...

The calling of God is a precise thing according to the thought of God. We possess it being sanctified, performing all things according to holiness. For most sons of men are in error and ignorance, the calling of God seems in a way to be pulling them in a way they should not. Some have called idols gods and their own belly.

Since 'I sought and He answered me' (Psalm 34:4) is given, it is clear what seeking and calling implies; since not only in name does one fulfill the things of a prayer, but also having sought the Lord with right mind and pure life through all these things, He found him answering. 'And from all my troubles He rescued me' (Psalm 34:4) is carried as 'And from all my wanderings He rescued me.'

Since 'The Lord is true light, he who approaches Him partakes of His light' (Psalm 34:5), having been enlightened, having taken on much boldness, he possesses an unashamed face. The Spirit commands one to approach the Lord volitionally, so that having been enlightened, we may cast away all shame from the face of the soul.

Here he calls 'poor' the one not able to save himself from the present troubles (Psalm 34:6). And all of us possess this poverty, so that he speaks very much about one needing salvation from God.

If he here denotes those fearing the Lord who have the spirit of slavery (Psalm 34:7), we shall not say that angels are not surrounding them to rescue them from those intending to harm, just as even the little ones of those believing upon the Savior have angels, seeing the face of the Father in the heavens, having God, the perfect, in communion. If we take the perfect ones who fear God to have an angel placed around them to rescue them, we shall say nothing other than the angel of the great purpose of God the Savior. Following this is that which is said by Jacob: 'The angel who rescues me from all my evils; from all...'

The Preservation of the Righteous and the Nature of Divine Justice§66

66He is not an angel sent to rescue from evils, but the indicated Savior (Psalm 34:8). Regarding God, the good means the same as the good. Since he is also the bread of life, the Spirit commands those who do not have desire for it not to be overwhelmed by it, but only to taste it. For the tasting is sufficient to make them desirous and to make them desire to experience it. And to taste signifies, as if by a little, to know and to examine concerning God. For he says that a pure tasting imparts to the souls an incomparable enjoyment of those things which are above human and wonderful (Psalm 34:8).

Blessed is the man who hopes in him (Psalm 34:8). The man who exists by hoping in God completely and without fail is blessed (Psalm 34:9). We say that fear is twofold. For immediately, someone coming to God, having taken up fear toward him, makes straight all his commandments. For it is said: Fear God and keep his commandments (Psalm 34:9). But in the present verse, concerning a fear that has ascended above, he speaks of that on which he calls the saints to have become; for having taken on the introductory fear, they hurried toward holiness. But now, he commands those saints not to fear God, but to have the fear that fulfills all good, so that the one having it may be unceasing (Psalm 34:11).

It is to be noted that, just as other good things are taught, so also the divine fear is taught, from which we learn not to signify a passion-driven fear; for an undidactic fear exists by nature not only in humans but also in irrational animals (Psalm 34:11). Since those looking upon the whole of God—powers called eyes in a figurative sense—look upon the righteous, but also his ears are ready to receive their petition, for this reason he says: if you wish to enjoy these, turning away from evil, do the good (Psalm 34:14-15).

Those placing all this thoughtlessly and doing evils as if God were not watching, will encounter punishment, receiving a reminder that God is present to exact judgment upon them (Psalm 34:16). And according to this, it is said that the face of God shines upon them, or that how their remembrance shall be destroyed not ever, but from the earth. But blessed is the one whose remembrance is destroyed from the earth; for thus the law shall be written.

His protection in the heavens. But the workers of iniquity do evil. The Lord will preserve the bones of the righteous (Psalm 34:20), not allowing even by chance for them to be broken, nor for the doctrines of the righteous nor for his own powers to be overturned.

He who sins is deprived of life (Psalm 34:21) as he approaches the keeping of the commandments, falling into evil death. And evil death is that which is contrary to the good life, which inflicts pain upon the subject; for Job was also struck with evil, as it is evident that it was inflicting pain. Those who hate what is loved harm not others but themselves (Psalm 34:21). And indeed, the one who hates the diligent righteous man errs and falls into punishment.

It is to be noted what the redemption truly is: it frees souls from captivity; for if bodies are ever redeemed, it is not beforehand but this happens by consequence (Psalm 34:22); and souls are saved, not of others, but of his slaves. Those who hope in the Lord will not be disappointed of the things hoped for and expected (Psalm 34:22).

He also teaches in other places those who fight against him, saying, 'Many are those fighting against me from below' (Psalm 56:2). Those who were not fighting against him were acting unjustly toward him who had done no injustice; but he does not wish for the enemies to be unpunished, but rather that they be judged by the injustice of the enemies, opposing the justice of God, being destructive against the injustice, just as the light is destructive to the darkness. For injustice, being contrary to and set against the justice of God, will be fought against from it. Therefore also the unrighteous man would be called an enemy to the righteous. But justice makes the righteous a friend to God, just as the just are friends to the just. Therefore it has been said, 'The Lord is righteous and loves righteousness' (Psalm 11:7). The righteous, trusting in his own righteousness, says, 'Judge me, Lord, and judge my case' (Ps 34:1d). The Lord is therefore judging those who do injustice, destroying the injustice within them. And he also fights against those who fight against the righteous, doing this for the good of those being fought against, as if they might at some time cease by practicing righteousness (Psalm 35:1; LXX 34:1b).

The act of doing injustice signifies harm in the words: 'Behold, I have given you to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon...' (Luke 10:19).

The Integrity of the Soul and the Power of Prayer§67

67He will protect you from all the power of the enemy, and he will not wrong you in any way. Since many have set out to fight me through false doctrine and other evils, fight them instead on my behalf; for they shall be irrefutably destroyed, since you are the Lord who crushes wars (Psalm 35:1).

Taking hold of your companion's shield and the wealth of truth, 'Arise to my help' (Psalm 35:2), that is, become my champion. In the same way, you will think of the sword. It is noteworthy that in the upcoming verses he used imperative words instead of optative ones; for 'Let their way be made' (Psalm 35:6) instead of 'May their way be made,' and 'Let him come' instead of 'May he come,' and the rest similarly. And 'he shall fall in the snare' (Psalm 35:8; LXX 34:8); for according to their actions, each one is punished.

When these things happen to them, my soul shall rejoice (Psalm 35:9; LXX 34:9), seeing by providence the wicked being punished and the diligent being benefited; but it will also experience delights, having gained experience of his salvation, of God. Let those who desire to take everything from the bare word and nothing allegorically be rebuked, even from the context of the verse. For it is not foolish to think that the bones possess the thought of God, so as to praise him and know that no one is like him. For concerning the bones of man (and his powers and true doctrines are these), it is said, 'All my bones' (Psalm 35:10; LXX 34:10); for through every thought and true doctrine, I was established that nothing of the created is like the Lord; for he himself is the image of the invisible God and the exact imprint of the divine hypostasis.

Furthermore, whether the poor man is more distinguished than the laborer, and whether in hypostasis or in conception, the one who is poor and remains poor, and the one who has fallen from wealth, and the laborer who acquires things through toil to live. Those who, rising up and stirring themselves up as witnesses of injustice rather than justice, ask sophistically, 'I do not know.' For the diligent knows nothing of the wicked, that is, he has not been mixed with any of the evil ones; and a testimony: 'He who keeps the commandment shall not know an evil word' (Ecclesiastes 8:5). And in

For here the 'will not know' stands instead of 'has not trusted' or 'has not been tested' regarding an evil word. For it is a falsehood to think that one who guards the divine commandment does not know an evil word; for having a discernment of evil and good, he has turned away from all other things to keep the commandment. He does not say such a thing: 'They, interrogating me, seeking to distinguish my lack of experience or knowledge or intention regarding evils, questioned me about them, just as the Egyptians did to Joseph, and the elders to Susanna.' (Psalm 35:11).

When I, desiring to perform my duties toward all people blamelessly, wishing to live in peace with all men if possible, they instead returned evil to me for these good things, enemies and ill-wishers appearing through all things; and they attempted to annul in themselves the good fruitfulness of my soul. If, indeed, being persuaded by their questions, I had become such as they wished to make me, my soul would have been rendered barren, no longer receiving the divine marriages of the Bridegroom. But if the disciples of the Teacher were to say, 'and thus the soul of the Teacher is not rendered barren, falling into errors through its own stumbling block, annulling those born from it through discipleship,' this would be an error.

Because luxury, stirring up irrational pleasures, irrationally exalts the soul, while fasting, doing the opposite, cuts down the passions; but also praiseworthy fasting effects a cleansing of sins, truly working blindness and humbling the soul. For him who has prayed well, the prayer returns to him, bringing back the good things for his sake, and having turned back, it is drawn into the bosom of the one who sent it. And 'the bosom' signifies their ruling principle; for their humiliation was into their bosom in the land of Egypt, and all things come into the bosom of the innocent; and in this way all the righteous go into the bosom of Abraham, that is, into the same mind and promise as he. (Psalm 35:13; LXX 34:13).

I did not lie so pleasingly toward those wishing to harm the things previously mentioned, as if one were pleasing to a neighbor and a closer brother; but not so, as they were not pleasing to me as a neighbor and a closer brother. (Psalm 35:14; LXX 34:14). Since I lied as if concerning genuine brothers...

The Nature of Sin and Davidic Conduct§68

68Seeing them through whom they act as if dying, I humbled myself by mourning them and frowning upon them, seeking to preserve the one able to keep me harmless from them (Psalm 35:14).

The present text is explanatory if it is possible for God to repay me evil for good. For while I mourn and frown over them, through which they possess death, they gather together in joy against me, as if they were to take me by the hand; and they have plotted against me, so that they might gather and rejoice (Psalm 35:15; LXX 34:15c).

Because of those who attempted against me, I was logically scourged in my soul; but I remain harmless, neither perceiving nor knowing those approaching them. If ever, when the enemies were dividing, a disturbance in the thoughts occurred toward sin, so that I was to be scourged by sensations from the thoughts, I did not reveal these lashes to those opposing me, lest they, not taking a starting point from the branch of the soul, should rather attack me (Psalm 35:15-16; LXX 34:15c-16).

Having gathered and rejoiced against me, they were split apart by divine providence; having been dissolved and scattered in such a way, they did not repent, that is, they did not recognize for whom they had advised wickedly, but instead they attempted the same against others. Because of all those who were striving to make an attempt upon me, they were not able to see or take hold of me; therefore, they turned to mocking and sneering at me. Watching like wild beasts, they bared their teeth, that is, their angry and wrathful power, against me; for wanting to devour me, they failed (Psalm 35:15-16).

The holy one says: 'Lord, how long will you look?' (Psalm 35:17; LXX 34:17). For when you look, all the aforementioned things will be gathered together with those doing them. And he says 'only begotten' because his soul has it alone; for one must not pay attention to the myth-making regarding metempsychosis. Perhaps the only begotten besides his soul is the essence of the spirit joined to the soul; for it is only begotten in its separation from all those in us according to divinity (Psalm 35:17).

A great assembly is gathered from many saints, a heavy people, the steadfast and solid, praying and interceding (Psalm 35:22; LXX 34:22b). Since you are present with me, the enemies are far; do not depart from me, lest they come upon me alone (Psalm 35:22; LXX 34:22b).

Because God's long-suffering is often called his breath (Psalm 35:23; LXX 34:23), the Lord is driven to indignation by the pressing of enemies, saying: 'Arise, Lord, and take up my judgment,' that is, stand up with the power of your strength, so that the things concerning me against my enemies may be examined. For this is for good, since they hate me unjustly and those who hate me without cause shall certainly be condemned (Ps 34:27-28).

And not everyone, the writer, took the psalm toward David and toward Christ, but rather toward Christ; another took it indistinctly toward the righteous; and the third toward David alone. Regarding the overcoming of enemies, one says it is spoken prophetically of things that will happen, while the other says it is for the benefit of the enemies, that these things be said so that they might be ashamed, be trapped, and receive sensation of their own sins and retreat from the way they feared. The third says that David lives a legalistic and not an evangelical life; for the law, he says, forbids loving the neighbor and hating the enemy, and speaking badly; for David, living evangelically, says, 'If I repaid evil to those repaying evil to me' (Psalm 7:4). Finally, not everyone says these things were spoken prophetically as that he would certainly be.

He who considers himself lawless in himself says nothing other than that he sins. For someone, having first agreed in thought, proceeds to sin in practice. He can also say in himself that he sins, which is 'But if all in your mind...' 'I will ascend into heaven,' and the following. 'If fear is held before the eyes of a man, he abstained from every sin,' but since he does not have it in himself, he says, 'to sin.' A testimony of not sinning for one who has fear is 'That how your fear may come upon you, so that you may not sin' (Exodus 20:20).

He who has become lawless, knowing his lawlessness to be hateful; if he were to be observed, he would deceive before Him, so that the shame of the lawlessness might not be found, lest he should hate it. This is what those who reason sophistically do, agreeing with sin as if it were a duty and not something contrary to reason. There is another scripture (Psalm 36:2).

The Fountain of Life and the Light of God§69

69Saying: the words of his mouth are lawlessness and toil, that is, prideful as to bringing toil upon those who attend to them. He did not will to have understanding to do good. It is clear from the things said that the lawless one is not such by nature; for not willing understanding upon doing good is by his own choice.

And in addition to this: He stood in every way not good, but did not attend to wickedness. Such is the 'Woe to those working evil on their bed and completing them by day' (Micah 2:1). Thus, one standing in every way not good, having reckoned lawlessness while on his bed, that is, in every evil practice; not attending to his wickedness, accepting it as if it were his own hand, he begins practically to walk every way not good.

And in Isaiah, among the clouds, it is remembered thus: 'Let the heaven rejoice anew and let the clouds rain down righteousness' (Isaiah 45:8). But perceptible clouds do not rain down righteousness or truth, but rain down water. The clouds raining not righteousness are divine men, pouring forth the spiritual rain, that is, the word according to virtue. And above these, a heaven rejoicing, meaning the blessed natures inhabiting the heaven, or the Savior is allegorically so named; for the heaven above is, that is, above every generated nature, and it rejoices for the benefit of all.

And here, not in the heaven, I say, but in the Savior, is the mercy of the Lord, pitying all; and his truth, which is set in opposition to wickedness and types, is in the aforementioned clouds. For even if the prophets lived according to a shadow, they did not fail to know the truth which is this symbol. It is no wonder that those who keep the image and the rational movement find salvation. But even having acquired...

If anyone is coming toward salvation, being astonished at the goodness of God, he will say: 'Since you have filled your lion, O God, not only men but also cattle are being saved; for great sins require greater mercy' (Psalm 36:6).

Since the Church's doctrine participates in God, it participates in His potency; those contained by it will be intoxicated with a sober drunkenness. If the Church is God or the Savior, those enjoying His instruction will be intoxicated from the potency of His teaching (Psalm 36:8).

'Since with you is the fountain of life' (Ps 36:9), and He is the one who said 'I am the Being', it is fitting that you also water the torrent of your luxury coming from the fountain of life, those who have been intoxicated from the potency of your goodness. The fountain of life is the Savior, who does not have it outside but provides himself to all living, not only to men but also to those who have ascended above, the same divine life, just as he is called the fountain of wisdom; and the torrent of luxury is the Holy Spirit, to luxury-drench those who have received from Him the various gifts of Him (Psalm 36:8).

'In your light we shall see light' (Psalm 36:9); the true light is the light of God, the radiance of the eternal light. In this light we shall see light, regarding you as the eternal light, it is said: 'God is light' (1 John 1:5). He who has seen me has seen the Father.

If the divine word is to be used with the said changes, as the seed here of pride, not of a living creature's foot but of an unliving foot, it is named in Proverbs; for in Proverbs the feet bring down the foolish. For 'do not let pride take place in my soul to deceive me' (Psalm 36:11), but also let not the hand, that is, practice, shake me as a sinner; for if I should practice the things of sinners, I shall be shaken from virtue.

'There' may signify the life to come, as 'there shall be weeping' and 'there'...

Anger and the End of the Sinner§70

70Those imprisoned in the body will be released there, and if something like that. He says not where, but in the future life, for all those working in lawlessness have fallen. For even if they seemed to stand and act in lawlessness, they no longer fall there, no longer permitted to act as they previously acted.

One should not be surprised if he speaks of what will be as if it has already happened; for many such things are spoken, such as 'They stretched out my hands and my feet, and they divided my garments' (Psalm 22:16); because the one prophetically foreseeing what is to come does not see the things to come as if they were certainly happening, but for this reason, he speaks of them as if they had already happened.

They were driven out, that is, they were forced to become outcasts, or they became outcasts through their own actions; because they can no longer stand, having been actively hindered, but not having had their practical powers destroyed.

Surely goodness will bring you to dwell upon the holy land, to be a shepherd upon its wealth (Psalm 37:3; LXX 36:3), for you will find the true Shepherd leading you to a divine pasture, which is named the wealth of that land. And the others are likewise to what preceded it.

The Lord, providing himself for us in all things, is found to be both food and drink for us (Psalm 37:4; LXX 36:4). We do not feed him, finding him to be the bread of life, and let us be filled with his flesh and his blood, being true food and drink; Having feasted upon him, we will find him satisfying all the longings of the heart, that is, of the mind, not the sensible things but the spiritual and intelligible ones.

Feast upon the Lord, and having attained the things spoken, make your way, which you practically walk, manifest (Psalm 37:4-7; LXX 36:4–7a). But what are you doing? For those things which you do, God looks upon. For the one sinning hides God, hastening to cover his way. But making your way manifest to God, place hope in Him, and He will do the things hoped for you and expected for you, so that your righteousness, which was worked in secret, may emerge as light, like that of Job and Joseph. For the likeness of their light, having shone forth, was distributed throughout the whole inhabited world to all generations, but also your judgment. For the same one judged concerning you, as you judged and...

You have tested in yourself that at noon, having a bright and sharp light, it will be equal to the same. For all those revealed in you will become as a star in the world. But now the end is: 'Submit to the Lord' (Ps 37:7). How will this happen? Through guarding the divine commands, entreating Him, asking Him for the forgiveness of sins already committed, and through obtaining the things spoken.

Anger is a destructive passion, even as it destroys the wise (Ps 37:8). For anger destroys the wise, and it is also an obstacle to the activity of virtue; for the anger of a man does not work the righteousness of God. Therefore, stop from anger and leave behind wrath, becoming a zealot of meekness and gentleness. For someone is able to stop from the anger of God and leave behind his own wrath, abstaining from those who follow anger and fall by wrath.

Since the things of wickedness will be done away with after a short passing of time (Ps 37:10), the sinner will not exist, for in the time when such a thing is not found, he will not be. Therefore, even having searched for his place, you will not find it. But a place is to be heard of as being in a certain order, where a difference exists between teacher and student. There is a place for the teacher and a place for the student; if the student should be filled with knowledge, just as the teacher having become so will leave the place of the student as if it were no longer there. Since even among logical things there has been a difference by its own nature, such as the place of the righteous exceeding that of the sinners, when wickedness is vanishing, there will not be a place for the sinner. But those the gentle ones having made steadfast, heirs of the earth, we ask for another from whom we shall be shown, as they shall be shown to enjoy an abundance of peace upon it, if all the enemies against whom we have war should be dissolved.

It is possible for the devil to raise these things up with a breath, the one called a sinner (Ps 37:14). And the sinners themselves break the sword and bend the bow, so that with bows they may strike the poor and needy, and with the sword they may slaughter those who are upright in heart; for they do not wound their friends who are prospering in evil, nor do they slaughter their companions who are crooked in heart. But their bows being stretched...

The Righteous Man's Wisdom and the Heavenly Inheritance§71

71Thoughts are evil, but the tongue having been unsharpened, indeed their word is destructive in its differences. Since therefore the one sinning by his own sin dies, and of these the sword which has been dulled against others will harm them into their heart (Psalm 37:15). Regarding understanding: it is better for the righteous to have a little knowledge with piety than wealth with impiety of the sinners, who are some coming from the things of false knowledge (Psalm 37:16). Regarding arms, now it is not to be said of the arms of the body but of the practical powers of the soul (Psalm 37:17; LXX 36:17a).

The Lord knows the way of the righteous and the ways of the blameless (Psalm 37:18; LXX 36:18a). That of knowledge is not to be said now regarding information but regarding restraint; for the Lord knows all the ways of the blameless, judging them by their blamelessness. And it is also carried forward that the Lord knows the days of the blameless. Since the blameless are never in darkness but are always in light and day, for this reason the Lord knows such days of theirs, and all the days of their life, as they work always without reproach and blamelessness.

An evil time is, or some hardship, when one enjoys the fruits of sins (Psalm 37:19; LXX 36:19a). In this, in this time, the blameless will not be ashamed, not having deeds for which it is to suffer (Psalm 37:20; LXX 36:20a). For the sinners will be destroyed, not by the dissolution of their constitution from the outside, but by no longer being sinners (Psalm 37:20; LXX 36:20a).

When much scarcity of food comes because of a great famine, according to the commandment of God, ravens feed them as they did Elijah with foods, and as they did Daniel in the den of lions, the best being carried to him by the meteor of Abamuk (Psalm 37:25; LXX 36:25ab). And this toward the literal, but toward the thought: from a young and uncertain mind, as one being younger than a youth, having changed into an old age, having come to a life without blemish and having acquired much prudence, such one, having progressed thus, is not a righteous man left abandoned. And the others are similarly to the first. They are left abandoned to him who has God feeding them and providing divine bread, so that the seed of the righteous—that is, those who have come to be according to the teaching—may never seek bread (Ps 36:25c.26). For indeed, he takes his life according to...

He does not produce a disturbance that is neither precise nor tested and known by all; nor does he spend the day in idleness, but he is a sharer with God, lending divine lessons to those who listen, just as one lends to God according to the saying 'He lends to the poor,' in order to gain salvific interest and so that their seed may be blessed with every spiritual blessing. The righteous, having perfected all moral virtue, has arrived at contemplation (Psalm 37:30; LXX 36:30); therefore, his word, which is figuratively called 'mouth,' meditates on nothing other than the wisdom found in contemplation. To this end, the discourse of the pious possesses wisdom throughout, while the fool changes like the moon. And the tongue of the righteous does not speak haphazardly or by chance. For having judged and examined the difference between words to be spoken and words not to be spoken, he will say some things and keep others silent. Such is the lip of the wise, bound by perception, to both speak and be silent; for he uses the perception of the lips as a restraint.

We do not possess by nature a law in the heart by which we discern what is to be done and what is not to be done, but it is not other than that of the Creator, who made us according to His own image of God (Psalm 37:31; LXX 36:31). Let us take care that we save our thoughts from being unswerving, avoiding the evil and imitating the better. Using this law as the leader of the way, we pass without stumbling toward the goal toward which we hasten. And it is possible for the evangelical law to be made manifest through the present word. The sinner, understanding the righteous man and seeking to kill him, is told: 'Wait upon the Lord' (Psalm 37:34; LXX 36:34). Even if you have many who kill against you, receive salvation from God. But wait upon Him and keep His way, observing His commandments. For in this way, being prepared, you will follow the one who is exalted, so as to inherit the land often spoken of. It should be noted, however, what the Gospel says regarding the land that is to be 'in the heights': for no one is exalted to inherit a land that is in many places, but rather the one established above. And in Isaiah, it is said, 'The Lord will bring you up to the good things of the earth.' And since the land itself is found in that height, observe how God brings one up upon it and exalts him, so as to inherit it, by having someone become something for himself upon it. Then, O seed...

The Weight of Sin and the Call to Repentance§72

72From on high the destruction of the wicked shall sweep away, being handed over to punishment (Psalm 37:36; LXX 36:36). Having passed by, he says, in thought toward the coming life, the ungodly is not found, just as seeking his place and not finding it.

It has been said that the worthless ones are not found after these things, not by the vanishing of their essence, but by the quality according to which they are such; and regarding the not finding of their place in order, it has been demonstrated. If one were to say these things about Satan, since he is called the ruler of this world (and this world passes away), having searched, someone in the coming age will not find the place of this ruler.

And if even sin is a place of the devil according to 'Give no place to the devil' (Eph 4:27), the place of the ungodly was not found with the vanishing of evil. If you wish to understand according to the word the difference between iniquity and uprightness, if there is such a difference: if iniquity is the non-practice of the evil, uprightness is the state according to which we perform all things impassively; but if iniquity means the achievement of character, uprightness is the unbending contemplation of the dogmas of truth.

Either way, it commands to guard iniquity and to see uprightness as a remaining legacy for the coming life for the peaceful man, the hope that is not being shamed, of the ungodly being destroyed altogether at the same time according to the time of judgment. But the salvation of the righteous becomes by the Lord protecting them in the time of tribulation. To this is joined: 'But our salvation in the time of tribulation shall be' (Psalm 37:39). And there shall be for them also the finding of help from the Lord and to be rescued from enemies, but also to be taken out of the hand of sinners, that is, the practice of evil powers; because they hoped in Him (Psalm 37:40).

Therefore also this psalm is arranged in its own number of the things said in it. For it is the thirty-sixth. And this number is both triangular and square. Using the triangular, it is the side of the octagon, and the octagon is the resurrected day of the Savior. And the square has the number sixty as its side, for six times ten is sixty. And triangular according to this: for if from the unit six times eight is a number...

You will find no other number. A confessing person is introduced in this Psalm (Psalm 38:1). For he says, 'If they have struck me, what kind of thing is it that I should be reproved by passion and instructed by anger, but having repented, I ask to be reproved by word and not by passion, and to be instructed by teaching and not by anger.'

The metaphor of the arrows and the beatings sometimes makes clear, as it is said in those things that lead forward (Psalm 38:2). He says therefore: 'Since I have committed sins, punishment follows: Your arrows have pierced me' (Psalm 38:2). 'My sins being laid bare' (Psalm 38:3); for it is a sign that they are present that their face is seen.

He says that iniquities have raised their head above his own (Psalm 38:4), so as to press and weigh down his ruling principle, which is called the head, and that these have also, in a way, burdened him like a weight; for since the nature of evil is inferior and most heavy, it is compared to a talent of lead, only the one repenting perceives the weight of it, supposing it to be lighter when it is acting with pleasure. But Jesus calls those who toil and are burdened toward himself through repentance, those having felt the heaviness of sin and having toiled from it. He says that the sores, having been taken from the burned arrows of the evil one, have become rotten and putrid from the face of having had sores; for evil does not consist with mere folly, as it acts with wisdom according to virtue.

And the following perhaps should not be read thus: 'Since, as an end, that is to say, through a lifetime, I was brought low, thinking of low things and looking toward the earth, the pitiful and miserable state followed me,' the 'I was brought low' stands from 'I was brought low' (Psalm 38:6). 'The arrows of my thoughts, of the evil spirits; from this I went about for a lifetime in darkness, all propitiation having been taken away (Psalm 38:6-7). And since the Scriptures say, 'My soul, and my hares were filled with mockeries' (Psalm 38:7), it must be said that, since the seeds of the sheep and the hares are intended for upbringing, these things fall into mockeries if they are not accomplished for upbringing, but are accomplished in a profligate way.' Because of this

The Danger of Listening to Sophists§73

73For they say that it is not possible to be in my flesh, because my soul has been played with by the mockeries of the present; for the flesh, flowing and lacking self-control, is very weak, and so he who commits fornication in the body sins (Psalm 38:7).

From the depth of repentance, bringing forth groans through repentance, not from superficiality or pretension like the hypocrites of repentance; therefore also, daring, he says: 'To you, Lord, as truly the desire of my heart is before you' (Psalm 38:9; LXX 37:9b,10); for indeed all the vile impulse is far from you and is hidden from you, but the desire of my heart, desiring to pass from wickedness into genuine virtue, possesses a good desire, which one does not find in dreams. He may also speak concerning the vile desire: since the evil desire lying within me has not eluded you, confessing concerning this I groan, as if the groan concerning it, being bold, would not be hidden from you; for it is praiseworthy to groan over evils (Psalm 38:9).

Of my heart—that is, of my intellectual power—undergoing turmoil, my strength according to common understandings has abandoned me, but also the knowledge of the truths, the light of my eyes—that is, being the mind—is not with me; for having determined according to reason, I will not be able to conceive clearly or to think strongly. There may be strength in him saying this, and the light of his eyes is the right reason according to which it is rational. The right reason did not abandon him, and it no longer seems to be with him, the strength of the heart being called so according to the guidance of the practical sciences, and the light of the eyes according to the illuminating by the clarity of those seeing.

And he lived, he says, loving friends and neighbors, having found these standing warily and as enemies, having rushed to turn away from evil and to do the good. But also they were previously near me in relationship and disposition, from afar enemies...

One should speak thus: if anyone falls by various circumstances, he is abandoned by all those who were previously near him, both friends and neighbors, just as he is also accused by the one he formerly loved. These images are found in Job. And those who, seeking my soul harmfully and through strife, came forward and wished to surround me with violence, thought they were leading me down with coercive words as if they were proofs; but they hurried to subject me to the investigation of evils, through which vanity spoke to me. For the argument was not as a proof, but as a vain and deceptive sophistry. And the vanity through which they sophistically argue all day long, that is, through life, they practice deceit, not bringing proofs to the things, but deciding to seize the mind sophistically.

He who judges to guard himself will be deafened, not receiving vain hearing toward the deceitful and deceptive words, not wishing to have their sense from hearing (Psalm 38:13-14); and much more, he would not wish to answer or to refute such words, like a senseless person. For it is said in other places that it is foolish to refute very gentle words. 'I became, he says, toward such men as if not hearing and not having reproaches in my mouth.' For there is much danger in hearing defamatory words and in conversing about proposed problems which lead to punishment. Therefore, it is blessed to be deaf to such things and to be considered as if one were not refuting them.

Since, having despised all others, I hoped in you alone, O Lord, and You being God, will hear me; having prayed, I began, O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger (Psalm 38:15). For often those who associate with me, even if they sinned, bring the past deeds as insults, as if through this to hinder my repentance.

The struggle of the repentant against the accuser§74

74Having been tested and having experienced the despair of salvation, I myself am being subjected to such thoughts, being deaf and unable to hear, not wishing to refute them, lest by being found guilty of this, I should lose the brief readiness for repentance. For, O Lord, not hoping, I do not dare to assume I will be heard. For, being unable to defend myself, I endure the defense, knowing: 'Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for the wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord' (Romans 12:19).

I am ready and well-disposed toward the lashes of the senses. Indeed, even my pain, through which I suffer for past deeds, is before me, wounding and scourging me. And it can be so; since my pain is such that, while I suffer for the evils I have done, it is necessary to receive lashes besides the sins, I am ready for these, that is, I am ready to be struck for the sake of returning.

The clear sympathy toward us is the memory of the one's own suffering throughout. For, as Paul says, since he himself has suffered, he is able to help those being tempted. Just as according to the law, he who commits sin was mindful of those being offered as a sacrifice for it, so it is to care for one's own sin, hurrying to make the work of repentance right.

While I care for my own sin, those who hate me because I have repented live according to the bad life, being strong and powerful to make me weak according to this life. If even they cast me off as a dead thing to be loathed, but You cover me under Your mighty hand; for when You are present, the enemies are weak and feeble.

Since I am surrounded by enemies, both evil men and invisible powers, I need help; I do not require help from another, but from You, Lord; for You also are found to be the God of my salvation, and the cause of this salvation is God.

King David, having brought the ark of God into Jerusalem, arranged certain men as singers for its liturgy and order, so that the hymns of God might be heard.

Regarding these, even Jeduthun, as in the list and numbering of the previously mentioned songs in the Chronicles, carries something like this. He who composed the present psalm himself on behalf of David, or having received it from David, proclaimed it. And in the present psalm, the one proclaiming is introduced from repentance into virtue.

Since almost every beginning of sin occurs through speech, he intending to guard his ways through actions sets covenants with himself, so that he might not sin with the tongue. For if the sinless state regarding speech is kept by him, the cleansing from sins according to action will follow; 'For by your words you shall be justified,' he says, 'and by your words you shall be condemned' (Matthew 12:37); and 'Amen I say to you: regarding every idle word you shall give an account on the day of judgment' (Matthew 12:36).

After the verse, the sinner and there the devil and the evil angel present with the man are called. If anyone, intending to guard his ways for himself so as not to sin in tongue, sets a guard for his mouth, the sinner, representing himself as such in opposition to the one repenting, reminds him of former things, bringing them into the midst as a reproach, wishing to mock through the reminder, so as to drag back into the former sin the one who has turned away from it.

Not so, he says, the one standing as a sinner before me, I was struck dumb toward the words from which I began to speak good things; for having begun not to speak concerning sinlessness, having understood from good doctrines what one must not answer toward provoking words, I was silent, having said nothing to them, so as, the one saying the aforementioned things, not the pain, but having been freed from sins through sense, being renewed and made new, having been pained again by those whom he reproached, saying the things done to me (Psalm 39:2).

From the words of the one standing as a sinner before me, my heart was heated, being consumed by fire. But since I said nothing from such thoughts within me, the heating was guarded, and 'In my meditation fire shall be burned' (Psalm 39:3). He who meditates on the divine things not casually but earnestly and with fire will say the...

Participation in the Image and Divine Discipline§75

75With the verse set before him, the fire of such study consumes the pre-existing exhaustion.

Regarding the sinner he says: 'I was deaf and humbled and was silent' (Psalm 39:3); but regarding God: 'I spoke in my tongue' (Psalm 39:3). He who brings forth words in his own tongue from genuine desire and intention is different from him who speaks deceitfully in a foreign tongue. And since we have a tongue even within the human being, which is strictly our own tongue, by which it is possible to speak from a disposition.

Since I have begun to live according to human life and expect its end, this is not clear to me; make known to me my end, so that having learned the multitude of the years of life in the flesh, I may know whom I must aim for (Psalm 39:4). What have I accomplished, and what is lacking to me for the completion of perfection? And so it is: since every wise man acts and works toward a certain perfection and goal, it is necessary to have knowledge of this, to know what the end is set for living and what is the number of the days according to the decrees of truth. For one is not wise if he does not know what he lacks for the fulfillment of the goal; just as one intending to take up a certain science asks the teacher: 'Show me how many the decrees of the science are, so that I may know which they are, and by which I lack the peak.'

Having passed from life into the struggle, I was enrolled to contend, as at the beginning having the wrestling match against blood and flesh, but having surpassed the child and becoming a man, I am at the beginning against the rulers of the powers of this darkness, so that the struggle may be mine (Psalm 39:5). This signifies that the Wrestler is the same as 'In the struggle, set my days' (Psalm 39:5). Now it is possible for hypostasis to be said instead of Essence, such that the saying is this: my existence, being compared to yours, does not seem to be anything.

Another scripture contains: 'Behold, you have set my days of old, having a familiarity toward the old man whom I clothed' (Psalm 39:5). Therefore also my hypostasis, by which I existed in things prior to faith, is that nothing is before you except all things are vanity. All things on the earth—animals, plants, and the like—say all is vanity. Man alone living...

By these things, he is a participant in immortal life. As Psalm 39:6 says, he who, as he progresses, is being led through an image, makes this his work, being one conformed to the image of the Son of God.

But indeed every man lives being led through an image, either through that of God, observing what is according to the image, or through that of some other animal, becoming female or irrational according to its nature. And indeed the sensible and apparent world is an image of the intelligible and invisible. Man is not led through this world, which is an image, by his own will.

Having said these things concerning the common man, he says concerning each individual that they are in vain, being tossed about in the strivings concerning mortal things. For regarding each one, he says, 'He stores up and does not know for whom he gathers them' (Psalm 39:6). For the one storing up upon the earth does not know who will inherit the wealth for which he himself labored; but the one storing up in heaven, having stored up for himself and not for another, knows the wealth that is inexpressible and unremovable from him.

If essence is said instead of hypostasis, it is also from God as from a Creator; just as we exist, so this hypostasis of ours is from Him, imparting to us the existence of things happening by necessity. Since, having hoped to be delivered from all my iniquities, I have not attained this (Psalm 39:8), the fool reproaches, as if holding your handiwork in his hand: 'From the strength of the power of your hand I have been cut off' (Psalm 39:10). For if the striking hand lashes strongly, the one being lashed is cut off by such a thing.

And from the present word we learn that the things being said are not other than the lashes of God, not rebuking us. For after saying, 'Remove your lashes from me,' they have come to be in reproofs concerning iniquity. For man is disciplined by reproofs offered concerning iniquity, his soul having been stretched out to cast away all fleshy thickness. Then indeed he is able to weave according to the spider, not having matter lying outside him, but bringing forth this from where and from himself. The word is able also to make manifest the unsubstantial nature of the evil thoughts of the soul, just as it is said in Isaiah concerning the sinners, 'They weave a spider's web' (Isa 59:5).

True Madness vs False Divination and the Fulfillment of Sacrifice§76

76Let the spider-like webs of the reproaches against lawlessness be destroyed; the soul of the one reproached is spun like a spider's web (Psalm 39:11).

Since he is not himself asking for much, he prays that he might be granted something to spend his life in, so that he might find refreshment after being worn out by perfect goods. For if he departs not as he should but as one lacking, he shall no longer exist—not in the sense of being destroyed into non-existence (for the soul is both immortal and indestructible), but in the sense of no longer being in participation of Being. For this is what truly is being: to participate in the One who says, 'I am the Being,' meaning that those not having this participation do not exist according to what was said in prayer to God: 'Do not give your scepter to those who are not' (Esther 14:11). Longing to participate in this existence, he prays that time might be given to him to find refreshment in the participation of Being, so that he may truly exist.

He calls idolatry a pit of misery, as those drawing from it are being miserable; for they draw nothing from that which is useful for life, just as Jeremiah, reproaching the Jews, said: 'They have dug for themselves broken pits, in which no water can be held' (Jer 2:13). Pleasures are a mud of clay, since they are dust and corruption of bodies and mere pits; whereas on the other hand, Christ saved the mortals through the faith in him and through the preaching.

Those who think that nothing is made manifest in the Scripture apart from the Word say: 'As one having attained a small good, he set the feet of the body upon the sensible rock, and thus he thanks the one who gifted this.' But we say that he who, having been freed from the aforementioned pit and mud, has been established upon the unshakeable and immovable perfection according to virtue, proclaims the things to come; for he follows the one standing on the rock, and his steps are directed by the passing Lord from evil to virtue and from mortal things to immortal things, and indeed according to every progress (Psalm 40:2).

It is fitting that the moral discourse is new by the novelty of the spirit, and perhaps even new by Aisma, while theology is a hymn. He says that life's pursuits are to be called vanity, and false teachings and false prophecies are to be called madness. It should be noted, however, that as...

He added 'false' to 'madnesses' in contrast to true madnesses; for perhaps those seized prophetically possess a true madness, while false diviners possess a false madness.

Regarding Ps 39:6b, he speaks of the thoughts of God, meaning the deliberations occurring according to God's providence. To these, he says, no created thing shall be found resembling the mind of the Lord which knows all. Regarding Ps 39:6c, 'Your wonderful works and your thoughts'; for if anyone wished to examine something regarding depth, he would find it even more obscure than before: 'If I said, I will act wisely, but it has escaped from me far away, and a deep depth, who can find it?'

Regarding Ps 39:7, the Epistle to the Hebrews says that these upcoming verses are spoken from the face of the Savior concerning the Savior: 'Therefore, entering into the world, you said, a sacrifice and an offering you did not desire,' and the rest. This provided an occasion for him to speak the whole psalm, maintaining the same person until the end of what is said. Now, having passed the time of the shadow, according to which sacrifice and offering were brought, God, not wishing for worship through these things, perfected a body from the Virgin for the Son, so that whole burnt offerings and sacrifices concerning sin would no longer be pleasing. When the Savior said to the Father, 'Behold, I have come to do your will,' according to the will by which He removes the sin of the world, He himself, having been taken and brought forward for the sin of all, so that once remission has occurred, there is no longer a need for the sacrifice concerning sins.

Regarding Ps 39:8b-9a, he says the heading of the book calls all the God-breathed writing both legal and prophetic: 'For in this it is written concerning the coming conduct of the Savior.' And it is a heading because it summarizes all into one. And it is the becoming of the Savior a man, so that the will of the Lord might be done. It should be noted, however, that the concurrent will, from another to another will, is indicative of the deliberative hypostasis being consubstantial with the essence of the One who wills.

Regarding Ps 39:9b, 'You have written it upon my leading principle.' And everyone who does according to the spiritual law has the law in his heart, that is, in his own disposition.

Repentance and the Care of God§77

77Regarding Psalm 39:10, 11a: A great assembly is being filled from many and perfect ones. In this, the righteousness established through the faith of Jesus is being preached. Proclaiming this unceasingly and continuously, he says: 'My lips I shall by no means restrain.' He himself says: 'I knew my righteousness, having accepted this and being at home in it.'

Regarding Psalm 39:11c: He speaks of a great gathering collected from all nations, in which he says he is proclaiming the lion of God and the truth with boldness, saying these things are not hidden. Perhaps he proclaims the lion by declaring the forgiveness of sins occurring according to the lion, and the truth by being set in opposition to the shadow.

Regarding Psalm 39:12, 13: While I am doing the things foretold, You, O Lord, do not let Your mercies be far from me; have mercy on those who benefit through me. For the greater part of salvation does not arise solely from the working of God's mercy, but also the truth, taking hold, preserves one lest they be caught in a deception or some other error. For lawlessnesses pursue the judgment of enemies against the one fleeing them; if they do not grasp them, the visual power of the soul is hindered so as not to be able to see the one catching them. Perhaps the lawlessnesses are being pursued by the evil powers working them. And they have multiplied beyond the hairs of my head; that is, the evils surrounding us are multiplying unperceived. With these many things having happened, being deprived of thinking rightly, we have been left abandoned from the heart.

Regarding Psalm 39:15, 16: Since the psalm is single-personed and is said of Christ, it must be said that those who have only the body saying, 'You used the Body for me, what also the soul confesses to have sought,' are lost—those who wrongly think this, praying lest they also be ashamed and fall into error. Just as those hurrying toward virtue have a command not to turn to the rear (for this is destruction), so the...

As evils rush upon them, let them hasten to turn back to the things behind, setting aside the bad intention; for then they are able to be shamed even in the sense of perception. Let those saying to me 'Well indeed, well indeed' immediately bring upon themselves shame. He who accepts sinlessness desires that no one should come into sin. But if anyone should go astray, 'well indeed', how he is immediately shamed for the bad and arrogant things he is doing, saying 'Well indeed, well indeed' (Psalm 40:15).

Those seeking the Lord have an end to the seeking, which is to find him; and upon having found him, they rejoice and are glad with rejoicings and gladness. For someone having sought and having found God, and desiring to magnify him, wants to love the salvation of God, either the salvation from him or the Savior himself. And he loves him through all things and not for a little while. Toward the possession of good things, having confessed himself to God as weak, poor, and needy, he entrusts the care concerning himself to God, casting his care upon the Lord as upon a guardian (Psalm 40:17).

An evil day is the day of judgment, in which the God who pitied may pity the one pitied, and he is saved from every punishment; and perhaps even the whole existing life is an evil day, in which the Lord himself saves from those standing around (Psalm 41:1-2). Let the evil day and the day of punishment be understood. But he says 'to live' him the true life in the land of the gentle (Psalm 41:2-3).

And he who is prevented from being delivered into the hands of his enemies is such as these, namely the souls of the enemies. And he will add to the one who understands concerning the poor and the needy, and these things following: 'For the Lord will help him at his bed of pain, and will turn his whole bed in his sickness, delivering him from human sickness, also granting him the health of the soul, even if there should happen to him some sickness of the soul (of which many things happen, as the apostle teaches, saying: 'Because of this among you...')

The Thirst of the Soul and the Divine Springs§78

78the standing of the apostles

Having come to be. Psalm 41:13 Blessed indeed is the one whom the Lord blesses, and blessed means that which is worthy of being blessed eternally. Since the one is being blessed by the God of Israel, the 'may it become' prays 'may it become'; not that the prayer makes God blessed, just as neither the name of God is sanctified by the prayer of those saying, 'Hallowed be thy name.' This was said concerning these things in the previous parts.

Ps 41:1 But the three sons of Kore were arranged with others to sing the awesome psalms, which the Scripture also calls hymns, in which also the names are carried in Chronicles. So not the three, being equipped with the same mind and the same judgment, having been united in that which agrees concerning all things, in a unified way pronounce all things in the present psalm.

Psalm 42:1 The deer, a creature warring against the eyes and eating them, if ever, having eaten, were to burn from the approaching venom of the serpent, seeks with haste the springs of water to quench the thirst. But those saying that she who wishes to see herself in the waters traces the springs, so that she might know the pollution having happened to her from the blood of the eyes, so that she might cleanse it; for in the scattering of the eyes, they sprinkle the divine blood into it. And the holy one, not lifting up the eyes against serpents and scorpions by which he received authority from Jesus, but also avenging every disobedience, being a spiritual deer, hastens to track out divine springs of water, since the God says, 'You abandoned me, a spring of living water' (Jer 2:13), and concerning the savior it is said to someone, 'You abandoned the spring of wisdom' (Baruch 3:12), and the Holy Spirit concerning whom the Word announced, 'I will cause him to drink from the water, I will give to him; there shall be made in him a spring of water springing up unto eternal life' (John 4:14). Perhaps also every inspired Scripture proves to be a saving spring.

Psalm 42:2 The intention of the diligent toward God is like that of the deer toward the springs of water with longing. And since they, in the present life, through a mirror, present him to God, having the face to face set aside for the things after this, pray that a time may be established through which, having come, he might appear before the face of God. And it is: since a shadow...

The Sea of Life and the Mercy of God§79

79As it is said that the law contains the things of the future, the festivals according to the flesh were seen as shadows and symbols of future festivals; one longs to enter the spiritual festivals, so that the face of God may be seen perfectly, being nothing other than the icon of the invisible God.

He who does not toil in vain with tears but from a disposition for the sake of virtue, his own tears shall be fed as a just reward; he calls the day not only in the bearable circumstances but also names the night in the accidental circumstances (Ps 41:4a-b). Those deceived in all things stumble, and concerning the thinking that God is in a place; mocking indeed they say, 'Where is your God?' (Psalm 42:3). For after this desire, you comforted my spirit and the being mocked by those holding me as if there were no helper; and besides these, the memory of the things being performed in those places is for my healing. And 'These things I remembered, and I poured out my soul' instead of 'From despondency I was dissolving' (Psalm 42:4).

Since I am progressing and not yet perfect, and the tabernacle is a symbol of progress as it is often said, for this reason I am troubled; but the tabernacle according to God wonderfully bears upon His own dwelling, that is, the perfection through which we dwell in God (Psalm 42:4). I shall pass through a wonderful place of tabernacling, as the dwelling of God, in a voice of rejoicing and holy confession according to the manner of those celebrating spiritually; for those celebrating spiritually hear themselves rejoicing and confessing (Psalm 42:4).

If I were in the land of the Jordan, that is, if I were made worthy of the holy baptism, I will remember your victories (Psalm 42:6). And they also interpret 'Hermon' as the way of the lamp, as the holy baptism opening for them a way of light and radiance into the mind and heart.

The deepest words about Him are the waterfalls of God, or the divine prophets (Psalm 42:7). The teaching of this Jesus calls upon the abyss, calling upon the abyss from the Old Scripture. Perhaps also, since the judgments of God are a great abyss, it is presented what is said of the judgments of others as judgments, and even those of all others are from the word of God, which is said to be a small stream (Psalm 42:7).

Having the cause; for the God Word is a great sea, but a small sea through which he voluntarily remained in a state of emptying for our sake. All your billows and your waves have passed over me. The sea, which is tropical to human life, not shipwrecked in it but sailing uprightly, having experienced storms and the swellings from the winter of the sea, having arrived at the harbor of salvation, will say the verse: 'For they did not pass over me, but they passed over' (Psalm 42:7).

We have all deeply sought God manifestly as merciful, but not all of us see how he shows mercy; for often, those things occurring according to his mercy, those experiencing them painfully and not sweetly, we think they are not mercy. But he who has deeply sought, whatever God brings, he brings advantageously, that one will not say such a thing as 'Why have you forgotten me?' (Psalm 42:9), unless he is discussing his own repentance.

As a dejected one goes gloomily, I inquire what the cause of this is, whether it is from myself or if I shall lift it up through repentance. For we have all deeply sought God manifestly as merciful, even if not all of us see how he shows mercy; for often, those things occurring according to his mercy, those experiencing them painfully and not sweetly, we think they are not mercy, and because of this we say: 'Why have you forgotten me?' (Psalm 42:9). The one who has deeply sought, whatever God brings, he brings advantageously, and he will not say such a thing, unless he is discussing his own repentance (Psalm 42:11).

Through the advancing bones of the soul, its pleasant doctrines and powers are said to be. Since it often happens to be crushed by terrible sophists, the deceivers reproach, not saying 'Where is your God upon whom you prosper?', but saying to his wisdom that it has been educated, and also concerning this suffering he reasons with his own soul, saying 'Why are you dejected? (Ps 42:5/11) For you hoped to confess upon the Lord; for certainly his face will shine upon you (Psalm 42:5/12)', nothing other than the truth, as you are able to loose the deceits of those crushing your set-before bones through the truth from God. If the Lord's face is this, saying: 'But a nation not...'

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The Ears of the Saints and the Horns of Strength§80

80not righteous

They are not the ears of God but the ears of men themselves, just as musicians are said to be men. Musical instructions are heard by the ears of musical men. Therefore, when they say 'to our ears' (Psalm 44:1), they are not saying it for any other reason but by distinguishing the common things, they say 'to our ears.' The command 'let the one who hears, let him hear' agrees with this.

Our fathers announced to us; those fathers according to instruction announced the divine things, and the ancestors announced what was done through them. 'Your hand has destroyed and planted them' (Psalm 44:2). Regarding the thought of Israel, after the betraying of the Savior from the hand of God, those from the nations, having been destroyed, were planted by divine instruction in the God-breathed writings. God, having maltreated the people of the circumcision, cast them out from the holy training of the law. But the ones from the nations, having conquered not by a law of war, inherited the land spoken of as peaceful. Nor did their own arm save them, that is, their own work. For they have obtained salvation by grace under your right hand and the arm, that is, of the only-begotten Son. 'And the light that finds your face is illumination' (Psalm 44:3); what you have been pleased to save in them by grace, not by their work, so that they should not boast.

The salvation of Jacob, which shakes off the worthless things, is commanded by God to the holy spirits sent for ministry, for those intending to inherit salvation, so that they may quickly arrive at understanding and give help through themselves. Just as God has granted a horn of protection to certain irrational animals so that they may escape those able to harm them, so the horns of Jesus are powers for the saints, goring their enemies. Therefore, also all animals using horns are considered clean, and the food is brought up upon the divine altar.

'God has turned away from himself' (Psalm 44:10; LXX 43:10), not entirely because of sin, but also because of other things for which He is not the cause. And not everyone turning toward the things behind experiences this; for if someone, leaving the worthless things, flees far away by withdrawing from them, not everyone having turned toward the things behind has left what he left behind.

Allegorical and Tropological Interpretations of Psalm 43§81

81One falls into destruction. If someone, having left Zion, that is to say, virtue, rushes toward the evil called Babylon, turning back to the things behind, he receives a blessed thing; but those saying the things set forth, since they have become among the enemies, having turned back to the things behind, fell into filth (Psalm 44:10).

Those saying these things are like certain sons who, similarly to a sheep being led to slaughter, are given to be food for those approaching them for their own benefit with words and life; but even among the Gentiles they were scattered by God, sowing the seed like farming, so as to change the Gentiles into the same quality as themselves. For one must not pay attention to those saying that God's portion was scattered among the Gentiles in the manner of captivity.

Not for honor, he says, having taken the people, he sent them away, but because of their sins they have been made submissive to enemies (Psalm 44:12); for through their sins they were given over according to the prophet.

Since we have fallen away from the aforementioned things through a life fearing destruction, we face our own disgrace (Psalm 44:15), the shame of our face covering us so that we no longer have boldness, with the face of the soul uncovered to reflect the glory of the Lord.

From the voice of the one reviling and acting unjustly and speaking wrongly, he sees that the day of ruin is before him (Psalm 44:16). And from the one displaying his terrible face, driving out an enemy, the shame of it covered his face.

The voice, having taken up perfect courage (Psalm 44:17): for having heard many and various afflictions upon them and being coerced into forgetting God, they say, as it were, 'In the affliction of the Lord I remembered' (Psalm 44:18). God turns away some of the troubles from...

He abandons his own way, handing himself over to the desires of his own heart and to an unproven mind (Psalm 44:18). The earth and the underworld are a place of affliction; thus those having experienced the body of death are humbled (Psalm 44:19). The impressions in the heart must be addressed and examined (Psalm 44:21).

If one speaks these things tropically, what is meant is this: since we are currently surrounded by the composite of pleasure and other passions, because of this, 'Our soul was humbled to the earth, having become low-minded, and also our belly was stuck to the earth, feeding on nothing heavenly but eating all things according to the nature of earth all the days of their lives.' But if the present text is explained allegorically, the soul stepping into the body says, 'Our soul was humbled to the earth.' Having fallen away from itself and from the blessed life of the heavenly, while thinking of the lower things, it says, 'Our belly was stuck to the earth,' for it feeds on nothing other than earthly things (Psalm 44:25).

These say that they are worthy to receive help and deliverance, not by the grace of another but by His name. And these things are also said regarding the Savior, being worn down in the heart of the earth according to the season of passion, so that having risen, He might provide help and giving deliverance, giving His soul as a ransom for many. And He does these things for the glory of His name.

A goal for those making progress and changing from quality to quality is that the one at the summit of qualities should hasten (Psalm 45:1; LXX 44:1), by which the corruptible and the immortal might be proven. Concerning this, the end being attained. Concerning those who shall be transformed, that is, those who are changed and have become eager from evil, sons of Kore turning all things into a song concerning the beloved, bringing forth and shouting. And the beloved here is the only-begotten Son of God. Concerning this, the triumphal song is sung, through whom He transformed, having given incorruption instead of corruption.

The Arrows of Christ and the Rule of Virtue§82

82If the person is the Father, he says: 'Since I alone am good' (Psalm 45:1), 'it is necessary that the one becoming the word of my own essence also be good.' But if the prophet is the one saying: 'Since a good man brings forth good from the good treasure of the heart' (Psalm 45:1), it is necessary that one having much good, having been fed with fornication foods, also brings forth a good word seeking it. For just as one having eaten an apple sends forth a scent of apple breathing, so one having eaten good things, having accustomed his soul to good things, brings forth a good word seeking it. Just as the quality of these foods is what becomes, so also regarding spiritual teaching, such things were sought and eaten.

Writing also certain instructions (Psalm 45:1). For just as the word of the gospel, being compared to a grain of cinnamon, if it should happen to be agriculture, becomes greater than human words of vegetables because of the temporary names given, so the word of God writes with his own pen and timely demonstrates these things, touching the thoughts and piercing the souls, apart from human writings.

Those hearing the words of Jesus, being full of grace (Psalm 45:2), will say the upcoming text: 'He has poured out abundance' shows the grace; this agrees with 'I will pour out from my spirit upon all flesh' (Acts 2:17) and 'The love of God is poured out in our hearts' (Rom 5:5); for in these the abundance of the spirit and the wealth of the love from God is shown. Because of this poured-out grace, 'God has blessed you with your lips' (Psalm 45:2), testifying of blessedness to you for all eternity.

Since regarding the testicle the things of generation are at work, and shameful desires grow around these, there is a need for the divisive word called a sword, in order that, having been made alive regarding the testicle, the unrestrained pleasures be cut away. The Savior, descending according to the human pattern, girds a sword around his testicle for the sake of self-sufficient purity, possessing beauty and loveliness because of the virtue coming forth in sinlessness; and what the symbol of the testicle of the aforementioned things is, let it be clear. For even Abraham, when sending the child for a bride, says his hand...

[...] upon my thigh, and I adjure you, the God of heaven. Perhaps, because of Him who is to become Savior through it, the Word who became flesh is able according to the flesh. The Word is understood and believed as a sword, while the flesh is a thigh from which the beginning of the flesh comes from there. But the Word, having escaped all weakness, is powerful, possessing the brightness, beauty, and splendor of divinity.

As for Psalm 44:5, the archer directs his best bow, wounding those who are thrown into divine arrows. It must also be read that he directs them to provide joy; and along with these, 'reign, O King, among the wounded' (Psalm 45:4-5). The reason for your reigning is the perfection of virtue, not in practice alone but also in knowledge, because of truth, gentleness, and justice; for he says, 'reign, because it is necessary for the truth, gentleness, and justice to be known and established by those under your rule.' And 'your right hand shall guide you marvelously' (Psalm 45:4). He who does all things according to God is marvelously guided by the right hand of good practice, using that path toward the Savior. And the Savior, performing paradoxical powers by his right hand, is marvelously guided.

As for Psalm 44:6ab, the words of the mighty Christ are like arrows that strike those who hear, so that they may judge the following of those toward Him. The apostles, being wounded by these arrows, having sent all things into the world, fell well to judge Him. And the peoples, who previously held a bad position, were struck by these arrows to be established in good, falling under Him; that is, they were made subject to Him and have become His.

As for Psalm 44:6c, the enemies of King Christ are all those who sin. If these spoken arrows do not exist in the hearts of these sinners, they fall from the throne, prostrating themselves before the King. Perhaps the peoples who stand in the hearts of the King's enemies, being confirmed according to the will of their enmity, fell by the arrows under Christ, falling into the heart of His enemies.

As for Psalm 44:8, if these things are toward the only-begotten Son of God, the Son of God, having hated the life lived before His coming...

The Change of Face and the Daughter of Tyre§83

83Having loved iniquity, but having been granted righteousness through faith which comes from his presence by a paternal good pleasure, a man becomes and is anointed with the oil of gladness, that is, with the Holy Spirit. The garments of Christ breathe the scent of kingship and hierarchy through the death he undertook (for this is the fragrance imposed upon the buried dead), but also a continuous, unceasing scent of myrrh because of having something more than Christ's death for the salvation of others and the destruction of the devil, and of cassia because of his word being fiery; for this ointment is warming. The garments of Christ are those which are reasonably theologized about him. Since he did not take up along with the others that which is praised as being like a corpse, it is fitting that from his garments the aforementioned things breathe; with this, 'The fragrance of your myrrh is above all ointments' (Psalm 45:8) accords.

Kings are spoken of here as those co-reigning with Christ, while he himself is King reigning over them. Their daughters have become, according to teaching, educators of souls, or rather of the church; these daughters, in honor of the one being praised, have glorified the King, Christ. From ivory. But 'ivory' you say, meaning the high things of theology; for ivory, it happens, is a symbol of the Word, since the musical instruments and the teeth are vocal; and the great houses are heavy. Since they did not magnify their own word as the greatest of contemplations concerning God, many of the kings' daughters, from the aforementioned rich ivory, have glorified Christ.

The soul, having truly become a spouse to the true King Christ, is the church, and is named queen because it is the bride of the king, standing at his right hand to hold the right position, possessing its foundation in virtue and faith. And she also holds golden garments, having wrapped herself in Christ; and she is also draped and variegated, embracing the manifold wisdom of God. And one should not stumble because he himself is both bridegroom and clothed; for in one relation and another, and in one thought and another, these things exist, just as shepherd and lamb, and ten thousand other things are found in the Gospels.

A change of face appears to have happened (Psalm 45:10); for God is the one calling the church from the Gentiles and naming her his daughter. He says: 'Having received my words, O daughter, listen and see their mind, having understood it for them; for what more will you desire to incline your will more fully toward them and to hear and long for them more effectively? And the forgetting of your kin will follow you, no longer desiring to restrain those same things and your fatherland; and the memory of your father who begot you according to the malice of the devil will also come upon you.'

Because of this I call you, daughter, says God to her, on account of the doing of the things commanded to you; since my son the king has desired the beauty existing in you according to the image and according to likeness having been made mine, and he, the king desiring your beauty, is not among your equals (Psalm 45:11-13). For he is your Lord; for he is not an angel or an archangel or any other created being; for all worship him. Since it is not of God to be worshiped, be a god, the king desiring your beauty, who is also your Lord. Toward this also you undergo much change. For you, daughter of Tyre, because of which you had fear, have been made my daughter, so as to bring all the rich of the people as suppliants to your face. For all of the people from circumcision are becoming rich for you according to faith and are coming to you the truth of the gospel, beseeching your face to become a spouse to the king. For just as formerly those from the Gentiles, coming to the Godly service of Israel, were adhering to his face entreating him, so now those from the Jews, repenting, flee to the church of the Gentiles, deeming themselves worthy to be received by it. All the glory of the daughter of kings is Asbos. Asbos is interpreted as 'thoughts'. And the king of the thoughts being righteous is the Lord. The glory of the daughter of Tyre, which is being praised, is not other than that from the king of the thoughts. And it is to be understood that often in the Scriptures instead of the intelligible essence, gold is taken, as it will be timely shown. Since

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Christological Interpretation of the Psalms§84

84Virtues are not merely found in the garments of the bride, nor is the discourse concerning the intelligible realities, especially that concerning the Trinity, adorned with golden embroideries; rather, it is made diverse through the varied and multifaceted teaching of Christ. Regarding Psalm 44:15a, since the word has an obscurity, we shall take its meaning from another. The discourse says that in the Vision of the Souls, it interprets the differences of the souls approaching Christ: 'There are queens and concubines and maidens without number; my dove is one, my perfect one' (Song of Solomon 6:8-9). As it has been said concerning this: 'Her daughters have given her, and they shall bless her; queens and concubines shall praise her' (Song of Solomon 6:9), from which it is shown to one another that through the daughters they have been called maidens, concubines, and queens. It is made manifest from these words that the souls approaching Christ are such that some, having not yet the time for marriage, are maidens; but those coming to him after having been restored, some are noble and have ascended far above the world that became existent in six days. 'Sixty are queens,' referring to those having received the eight-day circumcision and possessing the spirit of the maturity of slavery. 'Eighty are concubines;' but the one surpassing them all according to the Spirit, having been perfected, to be a perfect dove of the Word, is the glorious Church, which has no nest, no wrinkle, or anything of that kind. The psalmist, in the verses preceding this, says that he hymns this Church, that she shall be brought to her bride with those others being embraced by him, the queens being the maidens who formerly did not have the time for cohabitation, but now, because they have been perfected, are being led into the bridal chamber, so that, having slept with the king, they might be taken up to become members of the one perfect bride, no longer being such as they happened to be when they were imperfect.

Regarding Psalm 44:15b, even if many are incorruptible, it is a custom to call souls virgins, but not all are brought to the king, but only those having become near and close by the disposition of the perfect bride. And also 'they shall be brought'; for those not having experience of the Word of the bride are not such as they are to go to him by themselves; but those handing the preliminary educations to them bring them to him; for they are not law and prophets.

Since almost everything of the psalm is said toward Christ, this verse says that although you have children according to the flesh from fathers, that is, those from circumcision, there have been born to you from the same race sons resembling the evangelical word. And these you also have established as rulers over all the earth, saying to them, 'Having gone, make disciples of all the nations' (Matt 28:19), they are his witnesses, having become the beginning of the king, even to the end of the earth.

Because of this, peoples will confess with thanksgiving (Psalm 45:17), not for the sake of the second age, but even unto the age of ages. For we do not permit the confession concerning sins to be named now. For it never happens even unto the age of ages; only in this age is it possible to repent and to confess. But if they shall be remembered, according to another writing, instead of 'Those having been bequeathed to rule with you,' they shall be remembered by your name in all generations and generations, by extending your kingdom unto all the ages.

It is customary to call the things said unclearly 'hidden' because of a certain economy; for according to this also the wisdom of God is hidden in a mystery. Just so, 'The treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden' (Colossians 2:3) have been said. And the end or purpose of these hidden things is not to let the unworthy find the knowledge of divine things, so that those having a desire for the attainment of divine knowledge, having given themselves to labors and exercises, might attain the purpose.

God is not the God of all, nor of those who have renounced all human refuge and power (Psalm 46:1). For those fleeing toward God have all safety and power to partake of him, as the apostle says: 'I am able through him who strengthens me to do all things' (Phil 4:13). A help in the tribulations that find us intensely. The 'intensely' lies uncertainly; for the help is intensely in the tribulations that find us, or it is a help in the intensely finding tribulations.

Mountains being moved in the hearts of seas (Psalm 46:2), one should not consider the sensible parts of the earth being moved, but evil powers being moved into the souls disturbed by storms, a salty drink of wickedness and bitterness of character. Even the Savior toward the disciples...

The Stability of God and the Shaking of Nations§85

85a mustard seed

The Lord is in the midst of her, in the midst of threats (Psalm 46:5). There is another scripture saying, 'God will help her with His face.' For He preserves her beauty, which is both vulnerable and incorruptible, the intelligible beauty; clearly, the intellect will receive disturbance from opposing things. For when the soul holds faith within itself as unassailable and assigns to itself the refinements of all virtue, the intellect possesses beauty and Christ Himself is revealed to it. Since the immediate, visible, and unchangeable is set aside, the Church, he says, will not be persuaded by this; for He preserves her beauty.

He calls the nations the hordes of demons warring against her (Psalm 46:6). And when these see the incarnate appearance of the Savior, they are troubled against His Church and are filled with dread. Furthermore, the falling of the seven kingdoms over which death and sin reigned will follow. Even if you call those reigning 'kingdoms,' they too have fallen, flowing from error into the knowledge of truth and from wickedness into virtue.

Regarding the silence of God, the earthly and material things seem to have stability and standing, being shaken by God's having given a voice (Psalm 46:6). For if God assists the intellect, immediately everything earthly is moved. And upon God having given the voice according to the Gospel, the earth has been shaken, with all customs, local laws, useful things, and even the impious deception being changed; the nations are troubled and the kingdoms are falling. While the earth is shaken, we are courageous, having the Lord of powers with us, the God of Jacob taking hold of us (Psalm 46:7). Just as he who does the works of Abraham is His child, so he who imitates the asceticism of Jacob becomes His son, having an understanding from the God of Jacob.

And the Holy Spirit calls upon the acute minds for the understanding of these things.

The Calling of Apostles and the Nature of Psalmody§86

86Seeing them through the 'Second' to draw them near, and through the 'Behold' to dazzle them with the truth, he prepares them. 481 Psalm 46:8 The apostles also filled the inhabited world, running everywhere and recounting what had happened through him and performing wonders in his name. The Word is able also to call the nations to know the Creator of this world from the wonders seen concerning creation. 482 Psalm 46:9 Having come and having destroyed the devil, the holder of the power of death, and the other evil powers, he has abolished wars even to the ends of the earth, that is, those passing from the lands; smashing the bow, the burning arrows of the evil one which were being shot, but also consuming with fire the door of unbelief opposite the door of faith. 483 Ps 45,11a No one sinning and being occupied with wandering is able to know God; for everyone sinning has not seen him, nor has he known him. He who desires to know God, having renounced every occupation, will know who God is, as the present saying says: 'Be at leisure and know.' This, therefore, the tyrant of Egypt, having perceived, subjects the Hebrews to occupations so that they may not attend to God, saying, 'Be at leisure' [as in, 'you are mere laborers']: for this reason they say, 'Let us go forth and serve our God.' 484 Ps 46,2a Since hands are often said to be instead of deeds, and the nations perform various things according to diverse customs before the visitation, the Savior, having visited men, commands a tumult to occur, that is, a harmony of the practical powers of the nations, tropically called hands. 485 Ps 46,2bβ Not only is a harmony of deeds sufficient for salvation, but also a right mind with these things. Therefore, he commands the nations to shout aloud in a voice of rejoicing along with the tumult. 486 Ps 46,3a And he is fearsome and worthy of reverence to those who hold piety toward him. 487 Ps 46,3b It is not doubtful that he reigns over the super-celestial beings. Concerning those wavering about the earth, even if he holds even it, the preceding verse is spoken, and especially because those describing providence even unto the lunar sphere do not wish to admit those under the earth to be under providence. 488 Psalm 47:3-4 He also perceives thus: he has subjected...

He ordained the holy apostles as rulers and teachers of all peoples, both the circumcised and the Gentiles, under their feet, having chosen for himself an inheritance not other than that of Israel; he himself chose the election of Jacob. And he says of the whole people of the Hebrews, Jacob. From this the impartiality of God is known, that he loved nothing other than the beauty of Jacob; for in every way the one fearing him and working righteousness is acceptable to him. A voice is made significant by the shout of falling enemies, in which he rejoices (Psalm 47:5); and it rises above our understanding when it is found.

The loud voice and the piercing of the dogmas are called the voice of a trumpet; for in the manifest and in the Gospel, a trumpet is taken up, as in the saying, 'When you do alms, do not sound a trumpet before you' (Matt 6:2), which is, do not make it manifest. Sing not only sensually according to the shadow of the law, but also spiritually according to the Gospel (Psalm 47:6). Perhaps it commands doing this unceasingly and continuously through doubling. And this same doubling of singing must be raised up to the King Christ; for he is indeed Creator, God, and indeed Providential, King. Therefore, it is necessary to sing unceasingly to the same God and King.

He who sings must also understand the things being brought forth in the song (Psalm 47:7). It is not necessary that the thing happen primarily concerning the rhythm and the tone of the voice, but concerning the understanding of the things being sung. For God spares those who do not sing thus, but only make a noise, saying, 'Turn away from me the noise of your songs, and I will not hear the sound of your instruments.' But he sings intelligently, the one practicing according to the divine teachings and understanding them.

The rulers of the peoples are the apostles or the leaders of the churches, gathered with God Abraham, so that they might bring in the peoples who benefit through him; for their God is the God of children having become of Abraham. But stand firm, if the rulers of the peoples can be angels, concerning whom it has been said, 'He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the angels of God' (Deuteronomy 32:8), who also are gathered with God Abraham, since through faith they were made children.

The Transformation of Souls and the Shipwreck of Bodies§87

87Regarding Abraham, the portions which are found are rulers (Psalm 47:9). The mighty ones of the earth are men who have lived rightly, exalting themselves by thinking of the things above and seeking the things above. For they, having been greatly exalted, being suspended by divine knowledge and virtue, have become of God; for the mighty ones of the earth, having become the possession of God, were exalted.

The joy of all the earth is a deep-rooted and good-rooted thing (Psalm 48:2); perhaps there is no other one of him who said, 'I am the true vine' (John 15:1). For he himself is the joy of all the earth, being also the provider of joy.

It does not seem that some, having moved from wherever, were heard to have suffered, to signify from the appointed word; for they say that the Savior was crucified on the northern sides of Zion, there being the place of the skull (Psalm 48:2).

But we say, following many writings, that the north is not anything other than the devil, according to the 'Exert yourself, O North, and come' (Song of Solomon 4:16). This side is wicked men, just as they say the retainers of a ruler are his side. The wicked men who serve the devil, having previously been his side, transformed so much in virtue that they did not merely plunder Zion, but became its mountain (Psalm 48:2). Paul, then, being a traitor, being a side of the north, plundered the body of the church which is Zion as it was transforming. And since the woman is called the side of the man, and the souls that became spouses to the devil, being his side through fellowship with him, became the mountain of Zion through transformation, just as the city of the great King Christ was plundered. For this word intends this, saying Zion is the mountain, which was formerly the side of the north or of the great king, we understanding it again as a great king by excellence of power but not of size. And in this city there are certain heavy and great dwellings in which God is known and the care of the city is grasped. These dwellings are of the same kind as the house which he builds upon the rock, he who heard the words of Jesus and did them (Psalm 48:3). In the city the kings have come and into it...

Having been gathered together, having become the same, prepared by the same mind and the same judgment; but the kings are not those ruling according to God, such as Abraham was to someone, although not perceptibly ruling: 'You are a king from God in our midst' (Genesis 23:6).

Not having seen the ancient ones who rose to such height from the north side, they marveled at the sight of Zion, being struck by the change occurring in the rational nature. And if one sees the bad becoming diligent and wise, marveling at the change, if he considers what might happen again—that those able to fall might be the diligent and wise—having thought this, he will cause trouble and shaking even to those who have greatly progressed in virtue, as if they were to seize the terror of dread.

Accompanying this is: 'The righteous groan in the places of the ungodly' (Proverbs 28:28), for when they fall, they become terrified. There are pains like those of a woman in childbirth. In the city of the great king, it is likely that souls have become pregnant from the bridegroom, and they have a time for delivery to form the offspring cast upon him, as if to labor to bring forth the mother's offspring.

The name of pains may signify those who are troubled and shaken, whom terror has seized. 'A mighty wind shall break the ships of Tarshish' (Psalm 48:7). The bodies are often called the ships of the souls in the Scripture, as also in 'Those going down into the sea in ships' (Ps 107:23). These bodies are not being crushed by the Divine Spirit striking them violently in essence, that is, being dissolved, so that at the time of the resurrection, incorruptible, strong, and promising spiritual things might come forth from corruptible, weak, and dishonorable, psychic kinds.

But these ships are not simply so, but are 'Tarshish,' changing the voice of Tarshish into the joy of discovery. For then the bodies, being crushed and dying, are praiseworthily broken, so that those nearby may discover the divine joy. While experiencing this in this life, we hear much concerning the heavenly city of God and the spiritual goods in it from prophetic words and other inspired Scripture. If, having been relocated...

The Instruction of the Power of Zion§88

88Let us become from the earth in the upper Jerusalem, weighing together the things seen in it which we have heard of long ago, saying: Just as we heard, so also we shall see. For it is also the city of our God, since He Himself established it for eternity (Ps 47:9c-d). And the Savior is not spoken of in these things; for the Father shows Him, saying: I will build my city. He is the artisan and creator, while God is the one having the foundations of the city which all the righteous receive.

Just as your name is wonderful in all the land, so is your praise, since the earth is full of His praise (Psalm 48:10). One must consider the ends and the borders of the earth, those who have passed from the earth into heaven, upon which the name of God and the praise have reached. Of the assembly named Zion, its Lord is the one whom those trusting in the Lord resemble (Psalm 48:11). 'Judah' is interpreted as confession, and the souls participating in the exercise of confession are the daughters of Judah. Perhaps also all the God-breathed Scripture is homonymous with the place in which Judah is given, in which God is known. The daughters, not of the Judah being given on either side, but approaching as much as possible the judgments of the Lord, are true and justified, and they will rejoice in the same way. And since the judgments of the Lord are unsearchable, they do not rejoice at the present, but they will rejoice face to face, approaching the truth then.

Regarding the ecclesiastical opinion, being a scrutiny of the truth and for this reason called Zion, it is fitting to take it up with wisdom, so that having reflected upon the doctrines of the truth, we may describe them in a circle to their own intellect. And since the city of God is surrounded on every side by the approaching enemies, and has towers constructed from which the approaching enemies can be scouted. And since the enemies of the city are now warring, it is necessary also for those in its towers to give guidance. It also agrees: 'Upon your walls I have set guards by day and by night, who will never be silent until the end' (Ps 47:12bc/13-15).

Being islands of the Lord; in this way even Wisdom is proclaimed upon the battlements of walls. Set therefore your heart, that is to say your mind, having scientifically attending to the power of Zion (this is the ecclesiastical teaching), and divide out analytically to each one attending to it.

For just as it is logical to divide things into essence and what has become, and genera into being, so also to divide the power of Zion into its weighty parts as much as possible; and its weighty parts are the individual contemplations in which the doctrines of piety dwell. Do this, so that you may narrate to another generation what our God himself is.

Since the former generation, having received the city and its power, was reproved as evil, adulterous, crooked, and perverted by its own heresy, having attended to the power of the city and dividing its weighty matters, you shall know the things concerning the calling of the Gentiles, which is another generation besides the former, in which you shall also narrate that this is not the God who, having done the aforementioned paradoxical things, cast away the former generation and called another and others. But this God, concerning whom the proposed theology is always the same and likewise has, unto the age and unto the age of ages; and He himself will shepherd us unto the ages according to what has been said: 'And the Lord shall shepherd his flock in strength' (Isaiah 40:11).

Prepare your hearing, not the common one toward other animals, but the one of the inner man through which we comprehend what is heard, as the Savior says: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear' (Matthew 11:15).

Since among the called Gentiles, some are dull of the matter and of the earthly mindset, but having been born sons of men, they rise up through knowledge and instruction, through lessons and examined words; and He calls not only the herd-like and grazing ones, but also the prudent, saying: 'Hear these, you who are born in the Gentiles and are sons of men.' For teachers are debtors not only to the wise but also to the foolish.

I bring forth wisdom from my mouth, having previously meditated understanding in my heart (Psalm 49:3). For then one will be able to speak wisely.

The Folly of the Unwise and the Eternal Home of the Wicked§89

89To bring forward a word, one who has trained the mind according to understanding. He who has learned the divine things and is able to hand them over well (Psalm 49:4). Therefore, even after falling into a parable, he promises to open his own riddle in the Psalter; for he set forth for himself, proclaiming in a rhythmic and patterned way according to theory, he opens his own riddle in the Psalter. And the word is patterned as one who must speak the truths. Perhaps also he who shows the divine words as being riddles, opening each of the riddles in a Psalter composed of sensation and power.

If iniquity should surround me with its wing (Psalm 49:5), no other vision of the ancestral tradition has reached the wing of Adam. All the born are of one kind and brothers, but no one is able to redeem his own brother who is sinning. For that one man alone shall be redeemed, concerning whom it is said, 'I will send a man to them who will save them' (Isaiah 19:20), who also says concerning himself, 'Now you seek to kill a man whom I have spoken the truth to you' (John 8:40). But that man, since he did not know sin nor did he do sin, will not give to God an expiation of himself which is given for the sake of those sinning, nor will he even attain the price of his own soul's redemption; but having lived according to virtue, he will live forever.

And it can also be said concerning the one being redeemed, 'He will not give to God an expiation of himself.' For not everyone is one who is able to give an expiation, Christ propitiating all in his own blood, nor is anyone able to give a price sufficient for the redemption of his soul, Christ having given his soul as a ransom for all. Even if he gives neither an expiation nor the price of the redemption of his soul, yet after being redeemed he receives commands, so that having labored according to them he may be able to live until the end, having possessed the...

Eternal life. He who has been set free by Christ will not possess salvation so unsteadily as to be unstable and unmovable, even if he sees those considered wise dying (Psalm 49:10; LXX 48:10b), since he is not so scandalized as to see corruption. For the stumbling over seeing is not to be placed upon this one, but upon those considered wise.

He says that they do not know the one who is entirely cut off, but the evil-willed and the bad-minded (Psalm 49:10-11); and indeed we are accustomed to call the ill-faced one faceless and the ill-skilled one unskilled. Not so, for the evil-willed and bad-minded shall undergo no punishment; for indeed their destruction is such that they will leave the wealth they did not treasure well to strangers. For no one is an heir of the rich man of mind and understanding through these things. Not so, the foolish and mindless, having not known who they are, have glorified what, according to irrational animals, their soul does not abide in. For they say: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (Isa 22:13). Therefore, the tombs in which they are buried become their houses for an age, not expecting a resurrection of the dead; but also their tents are in every generation and generation (Psalm 49:11), they shall be tombs, hoping pitifully in this only life. Perhaps also, doing nothing vital but being dead through which they sin, they are casting the tomb down as an eternal house.

And they did not even call upon their names upon the earth. For the names of the apostles through whom they act or think are written in the heavens, but those concerning whom the word speaks called upon their own names upon their own earths, through whom they act, being urbanized upon the earth; for having departed from the earth, they shall be written. Man has become in image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26), and having been shown to be rational, he will have the greatest honor (Psalm 49:12). But this not understanding, but acting with irrationality.

Judgment and the Two Presences of Christ§90

90He is compared to irrational cattle, like a female horse having become so and having imitated the impulses of all other irrational animals. He was not made like irrational cattle, having hope if he wishes to be made like God. For there shall be five above the cities and ten the upright in the time to come (Psalm 49:14). And Solomon in the Proverbs says the same thing: A wealthy man hastens to be rich, and he does not know that mercy will hold him.

If even the aforementioned things have happened to the majority of men, nevertheless God will take my soul from the hand of the slave holding it and desiring to swallow it (Psalm 49:15). And since the sinner is in slavery according to his condition, the one forgiving those holding him in sins thanks God having received his soul from the hand of the slave.

The one lying before us rich, not knowing another life in his life, thinks by this to bless his soul; and only then does he confess that it is good to him through the giving of material desires (Psalm 49:18). A father having begotten him through evil works and a clumsy intellect (Psalm 49:19). Likewise, acting toward them, he imitated the parents, and as being similar to the generation of the fathers, he will enter into the same deep abyss of ignorance as they. For having accepted only the present life, he did not hasten to see the light; therefore it has been said regarding the age not to approach it; for perhaps, having been condemned in outer darkness, he will not be permitted to behold the eternal light.

He says the gods are not the idols and the demons, but the men partaking of the words of God; for those are gods to whom the word of God came. God the Lord is of these gods, just as he is king of kings. And again, from the rising of the sun even unto the settings, he says, to know what... From Zion the splendor of his beauty has come. For the one according to the flesh was shown from the seed of David. The God of the gods himself, having called all the earth to partake of him, will not hide nor be forgotten, but will manifest clearly according to the second presence in glory with his angels; and he will not be silent.

Thus, each one is judged according to his works and his practice. It should be noted that in this present word, both presences of Christ are shown: the first through the 'Out of Zion' glory, and the second through 'God has appeared manifestly' (Psalm 50:3).

Since the giving of the law is given upon witnesses, heaven and earth, as it is written in Deuteronomy, it is necessary that the people, being distinguished upon the witnesses through whom they received the law, be examined having stood upon the divine laws. He calls not the heaven above, that is, the divine powers, and the earth, I say, the inhabitants upon it, so that those made his children upon it might be exposed: 'Hear, O heaven, and pay attention, O earth, for the children of God are being proclaimed; for they, having received the law upon you, did not keep it' (Psalm 50:4; LXX 49:4).

Perhaps he commands angels to holy men, so that he might gather his pious ones to prepare and establish his covenant of God upon spiritual sacrifices: namely, the sacrifice of praise and if anyone else similar. He commands the pious ones to be gathered to him, receiving the spiritual covenant upon which they are to offer the sacrifices, so that they might fulfill the things foretold.

'The heavens announce so-called righteousness' (Psalm 50:6; LXX 49:6a), being men who are holy, bearing the image of the heavenly.

'God examines not the things themselves offered to those approaching, but the disposition according to which they approach' (Psalm 50:8; LXX 49:8); and indeed, he exposes Cain for not having divided the offering rightly. If someone offers a spiritual sacrifice as whole burnt offerings through his whole body, let him do this with right intention; for one is not praised for the things being done, but one is examined for the intention not being rightly fulfilled.

'Since those in your land, figuratively called bulls, have become hostile to the Savior, concerning whom it is said, "Many bulls have surrounded me, wild oxen have enclosed me"' (Psalm 50:9; LXX 49:9-11a); for this reason, I will not receive them, nor the rams associated with them. For they, offering themselves on behalf of sin, are no better than those who sin. Know then what those who were once beasts of the forest, men awakened from the Gentiles, are to me, being made subject to the divine teaching.

The Integrity of the Heart and Speech§91

91They have become previously unfruitful, for the grove is a symbol of this. But also the cattle, being like the sheep of Christ, and the oxen who have gone up over your fence—that is, trampling the shadow of the law in the dogmas of the gospel (because of the height they do not reach)—are our own possession. Does Paul say that the care of the oxen matters to God, he who sets forth the law concerning the ox in the books? Or is he speaking certainly about us? But also the souls that have become lofty, being winged by right thoughts and activities, are being called things of the heaven; for I know them, for I know those who belong to me.

The good land that has received the seed, that is, a right heart, having cast the seed thrown by Jesus and having borne fruit, a hundred and sixty, thirty, possessing a full and ripe fruit, is the beauty of the field, not far from the sower; for he says, 'The beauty of the field is with me' (Psalm 50:11; LXX 49:11b). The Savior hungers for the salvation of some; as for the lack of concern for the salvation of the Samaritan woman, he says to the disciples, 'I have food to eat which you do not know' (John 4:32), and 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me' (John 4:34). Since those coming from circumcision approach him with the sensible worship of the shadow as one starving, he says, 'If I hunger, it is not for you'; for the glorious church, which has become mine, is inhabiting the world and its fullness. And the fullness of it is the gospel, not the type, the shadow. Being nourished by the fullness of the Gentiles, I will not demand from you food according to the shadow; but if you wish to have me as your God who heals with the Spirit, sacrifice to me a sacrifice of praise, of thanksgivings and theologizing; for these I receive as offerings; for I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (Psalm 50:14; LXX 49:14).

He is the same God who is both Most High and a deliverer from distress (Psalm 50:14-15; LXX 49:14). Regarding praise, he says to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving that befit you, and regarding prayers, the promises; for he says both in the first and twentieth Psalm, 'I will render my thanksgivings in the presence of those who fear him' (Psalm 22:25). Since praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner (Psalm 50:16; LXX 49:16), God strikes the one sinning, saying, 'Why do you not recount my righteous decrees, so that you may fulfill them, and why do you take up the...'

Did you receive my covenant in your mouth? For it is necessary that, having received it in your heart and having imprinted the thoughts according to it upon yourself, you would not utter the words of my covenant in this way. To this, the one proclaiming 'do you steal?' agrees, and the following (Psalm 50:16-21).

And regarding the mind, 'you will think and not thus'; if ever you were observing someone stealing the will of the truth with heterodox opinion, you were agreeing and running together with him; but also those attempting to commit adultery with the bride of Christ, to draw the ecclesiastical souls toward them, by being of like mind with them or not turning away from those committing adultery, you are placing your part with them. You say this word is fitting for those who are indeed ecclesiastical, but for those coming into fellowship who are not ecclesiastical men.

'Your mouth has increased wickedness.' He who is ignorant of the good but does the evil, he sins; but he who, after knowing the good, sins, is rebuked for wickedness; therefore also the servant who knew the will of his master and does not do it will be beaten much. And it can be 'not thus'; because having taken up the covenant of God through the mouth, if the heart is full of sin, from the abundance of a wicked heart, being in the mouth, it increases in wickedness, just as through his tongue he is wise to entangle with deceits the heretical words that are sophisms.

'Sitting against your brother you have spoken, and against the son of your mother you have set a stumbling block.' Regarding the word 'brother', one can be of like mind and of the same fatherland; but regarding 'son of a mother', one is of the same womb and not from the father. He who is not thus toward brothers, what other can he be able to love?

And regarding the mind: since the word is toward a Jew, perceptibly offering burnt offerings and sacrifices to God, regarding this it must be said to be spoken in the presence of God, 'Sitting'. O you, regarding the letter of the law, you speak against your brother who is according to the spirit of the law and living by it; and you are also against the one who is the son of your mother; for from the same intention the spirit and the letter of the law were issued. And you scandalize the son of the mother, having set a stumbling block and a scandal, the circumcision which is a way of shadow and flesh. Having done these things, and

David's Repentance and the Pattern of the Saints§92

92I was silent. The silence of God is called the longsuffering toward sinners; for if He were to punish them immediately by those things, He would not be silent, deciding against them, whereas they ought to suffer. This is the mindset held by the 'I have been silent from eternity, and I will not always be silent and endure,' says the Lord (Isaiah 42:14). He does not say this to the one being reproved: 'These sins have been foretold to you, and I was silent, giving a space from afar through silence and longsuffering for repentance.' It is necessary to be benefited by such silence; from the opposite, you received lawlessness toward the wicked, by which you imagine me to be like you; for you, having glorified me, rejoice that I do not come forth against you.

Those who, having taken up the forgetfulness of God through sluggishness, take hold of understanding, stand upon the spoken words: 'What I longsuffer toward sins, I do not rejoice in, nor do I do this as an evil man, but as an occasion for repentance through goodness and innate kindness, by setting aside punishment' (Psalm 50:21). For if you will not choose to understand, the law or the lawlessness seizes, and there is no one rescuing; for God will rescue those who understand and have repented from evil. Let those who confess not care about those who have ceased and are no longer acting, confessing, saying: 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have been ungodly' (Psalm 106:6). For it is not the one currently doing these things who confesses.

That is, the one praising and theologizing the beauty of God glorifies Him; for the sensory worship rather dishonors, bringing God in by making Him manifest and in need of movement. The way is not there in sensory worship, but there in the truth which encounters beauty, which God shows by illuminating His own salvation, the only-begotten Son the Savior, who is the salvation itself; for the salvation of God at times signifies the salvation, and at times the Savior Christ. But let this not become an occasion to rise up against David; for when God has justified, there is no one condemning. But he will be pious toward the man, having understood that the man is long-lived and has spent most of his years in powers and in kingship, introducing only this one sin, having done it, and in addition to this, having counted the people contrary to the will of God, but not even persistently...

For such a great and far-reaching king was rebuked in sin, that when he was rebuked by a private man, he not only did not feel indignation, but even made himself worse, as the rebuking prophet says: 'And the Lord showed your sin' (2 Samuel 12:13). For to say that the Lord showed it is to say that David himself, having led himself to most intense repentance, was led to his sin. We say that what other men fall into when sinning, the saints, running the race of salvation, if ever they should stumble as men inattentive, do not fall but persist in the race, as if the instability of the race had not seemed to them likely to trip them up. And for many other ineffective things the sins of the saints were written down in this regard; for since they are called to imitate an exceeding virtue, being hesitant, they made a pretext for having a divine portion and for the saints being unendurable in sin, but not being such, they were unable to imitate the far-reaching saints. Thus Providence granted a pretext for sin to have occurred concerning them, so that just as they are teachers of virtue, so also they are teachers of repentance for those being instructed then, having done such things. Perhaps also those far-reaching saints, having reached the height of virtue, did not arrive at this by their own power but by the cooperation of God. If they were not to fall, the divine grace would have been little, so that, having slipped, they might seek the helper of their own weakness, having come to be through consciousness (Psalm 51:1; LXX 50:1,2).

And this psalm was not written in vain for Pentecost. For the number has a harmony toward mercy and forgiveness, since, if the writing spirit maintained the sequence of history, it arranged the first Pentecost and the hundredth and those following. For the first Pentecost has an inscription containing the slander of Doeg the Edomite; but that history is before the kingship of David. And the third Pentecost, the slander of the Ziphites against Saul concerning David as being hidden among them, contains this; and this narrative happened before the kingship of David, but the encounter with Bathsheba happened while David was reigning. If not the sequence...

Divine Justice and the Perfection of Truth§93

93The history was preserved, not because the fiftieth was arranged with them. But what analogy the number has to a lion, the Savior, teaching about forgiveness, took fifty debtors and with five hundred denarii of forgiveness, and to each side it had happened through the fifty and the related number to owe; but the five hundredth is not. Regardless, the Passover of the slaughter of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, having risen from the dead, who has made the forgiveness, the people for fifty days pass through rejoicing the fiftieth day of the outpouring of the Spirit, being worthy.

And called by the Hebrews Jubilee, the year through fifty years is a feast in which the cutting of debts and the restoration of the properties of the Hebrews' freedom are confirmed; therefore it is also following the psalm of David concerning repentance to be placed as fiftieth. And it is composed also of seven weeks and a unit, as if it were a week of weeks in number. It is necessary for there to be in weeks one who casts away the filth and the work of sin.

He who intensely repents and loves the fruits fitting for repentance asks for the great mercy from God to come to him (Ps 50,3a), for repentance is not sufficient without the mercy of God, nor the mercy of God without the recognition from us toward salvation. Just as the hard-to-wash dyes are removed not by one washing but by many, so also the great things of the lawless acts are erased by many mercies of God (Ps 50,3b).

The same energy calls lawlessness and sin, differing by the intention: the one consisting as lawlessness without law, the other consisting as sin according to the transgression of law (Psalm 51:2); however, each is worthy to be washed and to be cleansed by God who is able to wash and cleanse it from the aforementioned defilement. But he who the...

Having committed a sin before Him, he would not take up another to do; for forgetting the former ones, we perform another. As for being a king, he was not subject to human law, but to God; nor did any of the lawgivers or a witness testify that he did evil before any of them; but since he wishes to be a king and God-fearing, he was subject to the law of God; therefore he did evil before God alone, and the witness is to God alone.

And again: since you are God, and the mind of men leans more toward evil things (Psalm 51:4), and there is no man who will not sin, God is justified in His own words, in which He says that all who have strayed ought to sin; by this also He conquers when being judged against men, proving them to be sinners. Accompanying this, if we say 'We have not sinned' (1 John 1:10), we make Him a liar; for if it had been declared that all lean toward sin, he who claims sinlessness proves God to be a liar.

He who has been trained in the skill of sophistry upon the prey of truth, having known its greatness, possessed a perfect love toward it. For those not having been trained in falsehoods, having become more discerning, see the priceless beauty of the truth, namely Moses and Daniel. For after having been tested by the sophistical arguments, having ascended to the true wisdom, they received testimony from God as being perfect wise men, God having made known to them the unmanifest and the hidden things of His wisdom, so that nothing was unclear to them or overshadowed. David, by chance having this skill, spoke the coming verse.

He who has truly approached the typical Passover by the blood of the lamb in us is purified, being led in with hyssop as it is written in Exodus (Ex 12:22); but he who takes the lamb of God who takes away the...

Repentance and the Davidic Model§94

94Having attached himself to the sin of the world, being washed in the blood from his own death, is made white above snow. And the things concerning David happened similarly; he was led astray by a fleece

Many times The doctrines and powers of the soul are like bones; they are humbled by sin and by deceptive influence. But having heard the joy and gladness of God, the humbled bones will rejoice (Psalm 51:8). And sins are erased from the transformation of virtues (Psalm 51:9); for just as knowledge coming into the soul erases and makes the ignorance vanish, so also every sin is erased by the presence of perfect virtue.

If you will erase all my sins, the ones written through the impressions in my heart, you create a pure heart in me, lacking all evil (Psalm 51:10), but also kindle a steadfast spirit within my indwellings. And the upright thoughts and earnest perceptions dwelling in the soul are those about which he says: 'And all that is within me, bless his name.' And the steadfast spirit is the Holy Spirit or the conscience, the upright one, which the spirit of a man within him says. It is to be noted that what the voice has created does not signify essential beings, but a certain relationship being established which has been produced.

Among those who constantly stand before God, only the one who sins is cast out and rejected. (Psalm 51:11). But do not judge me, being contained by your divine comprehension, to be such a one as to be rejected from your face; but also do not take away the Holy Spirit whom you made to dwell in me, lest I be made naked of it (Psalm 51:11). Expecting this descent of the Savior, by which it happens that he possesses perfect joy, he entreats the Father, saying: 'Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and with a ruling and perfect spirit support me.' And in these things, the Holy Spirit says 'ruling and leading' is either the man's internal principle or the soul of the man. And this ruling spirit desires support and confirmation according to the former interpretation.

We do not permit ourselves to ever overlook God, those who are diligent to do repentance and to demonstrate the teaching concerning repentance. Behold, indeed, even here what has been said is confirmed: for through the confession toward God, He promises to teach the lawless the ways of God himself, so that having stepped upon these, even if they were once impious, they might return to Him in a little while.

For those who have accomplished righteousness have the imitation and pattern of a good life, so also those who have erred concerning knowledge have to imitate the one coming into repentance, being impious ones returning toward God. 'Since by which I have done toward death, I am full of sins of blood' (Psalm 51:14), 'save me from these, the God who is once and our own.' Perhaps also David, from the sins of Uriah and if any others died with him, is worthy to be saved by God, being the God of his salvation.

'My tongue, called my own, in the always speaking concerning your righteousness, will rejoice in your righteousness' (Psalm 51:14). From that, God opens the lips of the one having received the word in the opening of his mouth, so that his mouth shall proclaim the praises of God, always praising and giving thanks to Him.

'He who confesses concerning his own sin, what do you wish to discuss concerning Zion and Jerusalem?' (Psalm 51:18/20). But since we hope that he has not been entirely harmed by having stumbled in the short race, for this reason, possessing a prophetic thing and praying for and prophesying the communion of the Holy Spirit, he says: 'Doing good, saying that Zion was brought into being in your good pleasure for your son and approaching the Spirit'; but also the walls of Jerusalem are being built up. And these are guards of angels, a rooting out of incorruptible decrees.

He says righteousness, which is standing together through the faith of Jesus Christ for all those believing. But this righteousness turns out to be a lifting up and spiritual holocausts, and 'sacrifice a sacrifice of righteousness' (Ps 51:19); but also upon the spiritual altar, they bring up oxen like tillers, not other souls, but having been seen as the souls of martyrs, being brought up upon the heavenly altar.

Divine Providence and the Folly of Unbelief§95

95Like the calves. For in the Revelation of John, the souls of those having been perfected through the name of Jesus and his testimony have been seen under the heavenly altar (Rev 6:9).

Who then would justify such a tragedy, when the one who leads irrational animals is supposed to be a shepherd? For we are without a leader. David, having realized his own great wickedness, spoke the words of the psalm (Psalm 52; LXX 51) as if to the one moving him through envy, the devil, as if he were present.

The phrase 'The name of the Day let them reveal here' signifies the whole time in which he goes astray. Words of drowning are those bringing punishment, the drowning signifying chastisement, just as the lips of the unthinking drown him.

And the Edomite is not truly interpreted as earthly, always shaking because of being uncertain; for he is interpreted as being in a state of instability, he who, having worked slander against the healers of God, loved a deceitful tongue and with it words drowning him. And the Gospel signifies drowning to be the punishment, saying to the one causing scandal among the little ones in the church: 'It is better to be drowned in the depths of the sea' (Matt 18:6), with a millstone hung around his neck.

Because he loved evil to the end, he falls completely, as one not well built but also as one badly planted; 'Every planting which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted' (Matt 15:13); but he will be made to migrate from the holy tent, casting out and driving you away from that tent, whom you have slandered and into whom you have led to death, even the root of the living. For even if you were an Edomite, if you had attached yourself to Israel through the instruction of the law, you were planted in the tent and in the land of the living; for if you did not have reverence toward the God of Israel, you would not have even begun to disturb the sanctuary. And the things said against this man will apply to all those falling away from piety.

The very pious, those falling away from virtue into wickedness, receive a fear lest they themselves suffer the same. Nor will they dare to mock the fallen, as if saying they would laugh at him.

Thus a man does not set God as his helper; for he has not cast out his servants and attendants. Connect this to the fact that he who rejects you, rejects me. Psalm 52:9 Thanksgiving through confessing to God shows that he has done it, perhaps what he had previously set forth. For he had set forth to flee from Saul.

But also, 'what shall I do?' he says, 'your name is such that I might encounter whatever is good and full of goodness in the presence of your holy things'; Ps 52:2a for those having been made steadfast by the holiness of your goodness perceive it.

One is called foolish if he is lacking divine wisdom. For it appears that the word which does not preserve common sense is not about anything. For knowing that a thought of God has been cast upon every soul, embracing ungodliness, he is a god to no one except to his own heart. And thus the foolish devil does not act toward the heart of another (but his own is lying prostrate before God), but toward that which has become from him through sinning, he is a god to no one except to himself. Psalm 53:1

For he who has thought badly concerning God enters into wickedness; for casting out the piety of his own soul, he has also cast out with it all virtue following it like a royal garment of piety. Therefore, those saying through foolishness that God does not exist have corrupted their own mind by practicing lawlessness, from which they became loathsome, that is, they have become abominable. If it is chosen hereafter. Ps 52:2c

All those sinning, even those who seem to do good, not strictly and truly doing, but so that they might take a pattern of it through a mirror and an enigma, doing it himself. Ps 52:2c

The present verse introduces providence, of not only those in heaven but also those on earth; Ps 52:3 for it has been said to look down providently from heaven upon the sons of men, not looking upon them from without only according to the body, but also according to the hidden part of the heart. He looks upon the sons of men, so that I might know if he is one who understands by doing the good and seeking God by examining the truth. And it has been said in a human way that he stoops from heaven to see if he understands; for great, if not in this way, is the impact.

The Prayer of the Righteous and the Judgment of God§96

96He has the knowledge of the hiding of all things (Psalm 53:3). And from the present word we learn that sin consists in a transgression of the law by one who follows, if he is by nature evil. For all have turned aside; and this turning aside is sin, a failure not of the straight way. And those who turned aside were useless; saying it is useless, either according to the dominance of passions or according to the ignorance of one who, not thinking, is swept away into other things, does not have the knowledge of one thing. Of all those turning aside, it is rightly said, 'He does not do good' (Psalm 53:3). According to each of the aforementioned, the 'until one' limit shows that neither is there one doing good, nor one not doing good.

Since wisdom will not enter a craftless soul, it must be known through divine knowledge. For it is not to be read according to a walk but according to a decision (Psalm 53:5). There they will fear a fear that no fear can be brought up to the coming age; in that, fleeing from pain and sighing and grief, one must have courage. In this, not being in a state of fear, those approaching the things by which they will be punished will fear. Therefore, they will fear what God revealed there regarding those who became hypocrites, having the aim of pleasing men, scattering their bones, the doctrines and conveniences of laziness and greed, and the impulses of a vile soul. For if even there they were thought to be pleasing to men, deceiving them, but being nullified by God as if they were nothing, they were shamed. And perhaps those doing evil will encounter the previously spoken-of punishments. But those hypocritically acting the part of virtue will not be tried by another punishment, their hypocrisy having been exposed; for he who does almsgiving to be glorified by men will not be punished by fire or anything of that kind (for he did not show mercy), but will be shamed, having been shown to have shared in the poverty of existing things not through God but through men (Psalm 53:5-6). For sin is that which takes captive those who do it. But the forgiveness of sins being given as a gift, the Lord rejoices.

Israel and Jacob rejoice with those rejoicing in the heavens, similarly with one sinner repenting. Christ is the power of the Father. Since He judges the hidden things of men, He entreats that they be handed over for examination not to other judges, but by the power of the good God; for those, seeking forgiveness for those they passed over, will have vengeance happen against those who do the same thing in vain.

It is necessary that his prayer become well-pleasing and that he receive the things for which he prayed. But also, having become near to God through good works, 'Enlighten with the words of my mouth' (Ps 52:9). For no one, uttering a word that is idle, shameful, or some other evil, wants God to enlighten his words, but only everyone speaking the true and pious.

He says that those having an opposing disposition to the earnest ones are strangers, and the wicked demons are strong. And he says: because they did not set God before them, turning away from Him and having given their backs to Him, they rose up against the righteous and sought his soul.

He confesses God as a helper, perhaps the Father and Lord sustaining his soul, so that He might somehow turn the Son; 'He will turn the evils toward my enemies; for they desire to bring evil upon me' (Psalm 54:5), these things He turns toward them, this being judged by the Lord in this way. 'Do to him as he has done to his neighbor' (Leviticus 24:19) agrees with this. And the truth of God, reproving those who are liars, destroys them if they are such; for they are not to be refuted at all, but rather they are such as the holy one prays.

Having these things happened, coming to thanksgiving with a self-willed mind, 'I will offer to You a voluntary sacrifice, not by necessity or force, but by a self-commanded readiness' (Ps 54:6). Lifting up a prayer to God, he entreats Him to draw near to him so that He may receive the prayer which he has brought forward through his trials. For He is near to the one saying, 'to receive the word.' And since I entreat, I do not take courage from another that the things lacking me will be replenished from You; do not despise the plea for which I entreat You. Give to me, from those lifting up holy hands without anger and...

The Enemy and the Disturbance of the Soul§97

97Presenting a meditation to you decorously and priestly, listen to the words which I send from a pure conscience.

The same enemy can be to the sinner, differing only in the lack of distinction. When the sinner is distressed by those through whom he acts wickedly, and when the enemy speaks the truth, 'I was grieved in my iniquity and was troubled' (Psalm 55:2). Here iniquity signifies prayer, as also in the first of the Kingdoms, Anna says, 'Out of the multitude of my iniquity I have stretched out to you until now'; for concerning prayer itself she says this. The saint says: seeing the enemy speaking proudly and seeing the sinner distressed, he was grieved toward God through a prayer of iniquity; seeing those of the same kind and of the same race fallen into the depth of wickedness, he was also troubled by the instability of nature, lest even I should undergo this same turn. Perhaps he is also most caretaking-ly grieved and troubled seeing the wicked going astray, just as a father grieves for a son who remains behind. For some say that this psalm is reported to have been spoken from the face of Christ according to the human nature, and it is fitting to be grieved concerning those being harmed.

Every serious person understands that to sin in thoughts is neither tolerable nor so, and in deed and word it is both dangerous and heavy. Therefore, if it ever happens in thoughts to cause a stumbling block and harm, guarding these within oneself and not uttering a word, according to the sin committed in secret, and not acting effectively, knowing that the thought is both healing and yet incurable; therefore he says, 'My heart was troubled within me' (Psalm 55:4). For I did not interpret the trouble as having done something through it, but also, as the fear of death was falling upon me following the sin, I seized it within myself. For it happens that fear appears from the outside and becomes a stumbling block to others for the one who has been revealed. Fear and trembling came (Psalm 55:5).

Human nature has inherent the passive, which some also call the irascible and the desiring.

And even if one progresses in virtue, since the passive is not destroyed, it happens to be in what is called pre-passion.

Indeed, then, also the person set before us, pushed by the voices of the enemy and the affliction of the sinner, had the inherent passive stirred up, so as to fear and fall under trembling and be covered by the darkness of perplexity;

for the word 'darkness' here signifies dizziness.

And since many afflicting things surround him, he prays that there be given to him the upliftings and raisings of the Spirit, more allegorically called the wings of a dove.

These wings make him fly to a height, so that the one who has flown up, resting there, may henceforth live free from care, keeping the delicate and blessed sabbaths of God.

Ps 54:8: The word 'putting to flight' signifies pursuing and turning to flight those being driven.

For the one saying the psalm says: 'Behold, I went far away'—that is, putting the enemy and the sinner to flight for a long time, so that, with those driven away, I may lodge in the desert, that is, rest in a peaceful condition.

But if 'putting to flight' here properly signifies fleeing, the righteous one will say, fleeing and going far from those of the circumcision on account of the arrogance present in them: 'And I lodged in the desert'—the church of the law and the prophets.

And these things fit especially Christ according to the economy.

For doing these things symbolically, he was recorded in the Gospels: 'For having heard, he says, that John was handed over, he withdrew from there into a desert place' (Matt 14:13).

Concerning this desert are also the 'Rejoice, thirsty desert' (Isa 35:1) and the 'Voice of one crying in the desert' (Isa 40:3).

Ps 54:10a: Agreement for evil is terrible, and on the contrary the dissolution of those who agreed for evil is a great good.

And those who agreed, then, upon the [...].

The distinction between living and dying through the Word§98

98Regarding the building of towers, they were assigned one voice and one lip, but through great impiety, having been joined together, they no longer had concord. For those who were making something from harmony, intending to be impious, they did not do this, their tongues having been divided. And here, indeed, the one praying desires the tongues of those who have voiced concord against him to be divided, the tongues being submerged, that is, becoming invisible. And before this, if it is said, 'to punish' means 'to submerge.' And Paul, knowing that sometimes it is advantageous to have disagreement against the wicked ones, defending himself on the steps, struck against Pharisees and Sadducees.

This can be referred to the Psalm 54:10b, 'Behold, I fled away and was distressed in the wilderness,' through the middle of the two verses from 'I waited for God who saves me,' as the 'He divided their tongues' is such a thing: since in the so-called city of God, Jerusalem, they were committing lawlessness and speaking against the truth, committing lawlessness and speaking against the truth, I fled away from it, so as having become in the wilderness called the Church from the Gentiles, to be distressed in it, resting and spending the night among the believers (Psalm 55:10-11).

Since all night and with the day they commit lawlessness and speak against the truth in the city, as the city would be surrounded by lawlessness and speaking against the truth and by the camp coming upon it because of these, lawlessness and speaking against the truth reached and upon its walls, the holy apostles guarding it. For they did not leave it, seeing it committing lawlessness and speaking against the truth, because lawlessness and toil have come against the praiseworthy pleasure in its midst with injustice, as the birth and deceit of those dwelling in it do not cease from its streets, those acting craftily through whom they think wickedly, toiling by taking upon themselves the burden of evil, with lead being thrown against it.

And its streets were to be considered as souls widening themselves for the sake of pleasure, to walk a wide and spacious road, this being a glorious and passive life. And for always remaining in these, the toil concerning evils and the deceit concerning frauds, it makes it so that 'It did not fail from its streets'...

Birth and deceit. Ps 54,14b.15a 'You know my reproach instead of being known by me, who has made my bonds sweet to me, but to the rest of the disciples nourishing me with good works.'

Ps 54,16bc Someone of the ancients said that those descending into Hades alone are those having received the instruction of the divine teachings. For the taste of the words of life is dead; those living thus descend into Hades. For those living without the common life do not descend into Hades as becoming a body there, for no one has the common life there. Since neither Judas nor all the people of the Jews had received the instruction of the law and the prophets, they descend into Hades with death coming upon them, living according to sin. Consequently, the one approaching is also said in the verse: 'That wickedness is in their sojournings, in their midst.' For even if they had experience of the life-giving writings, they did not dwell but sojourned in them, having wickedness in their midst, that is, in the ruling principle; for it is said that the wickedness is in the midst of the animal.

Psalm 55:16 'I cried to God and had my voice heard by the Lord.' For only he who has cried to God is heard by the Lord. For not everyone crying to God shouts; concerning the Sodomites it is written, 'The voice of Sodom and Gomorrah has been filled up,' not having cried to God.

Psalm 55:17 Since the narration of a pious man is wisdom throughout, a pious man and narrating wisdom throughout, the psalmist says: 'The evening sets for me the things of wickedness and the extinguished light of the ungodly, but the sun of righteousness rises for me as to make it in the morning; having become one having reached its noon, I will narrate the things of the aforementioned evening and of the previously foretold morning and of the aforementioned noon; and my announcing, God hears the voice of me, accepting and—if so—rejoicing at my voice which has narrated everything.'

Ps 54,20b He says that God exists before the ages but not having existed. For if he had said 'having existed,' he himself, being the beginning, would have existed previously by some measured interval. Because of this, he is not 'The Existing One,' setting his existence as beginningless and eternal, but because of the 'Before the ages' beginning.

The misuse of the Word and the judgment of the unfaithful§99

99Being cast down from the existence of the ages. But it is necessary to hear from the ages how the creatures are being diminished. And the Savior is eternal, being from eternity, before the ages, so that even the ages themselves have come to be through him. And Paul says, 'And he himself is before all things' (Colossians 1:17). The one existing is the same as the one before all things; for it is not that he has come to be before all things. And regarding the Savior, 'Before Abraham was, I am' (John 8:58), not 'I was' or 'I have been', but 'I am'.

Regarding sins, some are difficult and incurable, others are curable (Psalm 55:19). Concerning the curable, there is found an exchange: the sacrifice brought up for sins, but also almsgiving and fasting with prayer (for these things rescue from death). But for the incurable of those who have sinned, there is no exchange to lay down as a ransom and a savior. For if a man sins against a man and they pray for him, there is an exchange for these; but if he sins against the Lord God, who will pray for him? For there is no exchange for such things.

He stretched out his hand to repay those who worked what was deserved (Psalm 55:20). Since traitors and murderers of Christ have become unchangeable and madmen, they are worthy to fall under punishment as those who failed. They were captured by the Romans so that they might be stripped of their manhood and driven out of the nurtured land which they had never belonged to any other. Nor were they accepted back to their fatherland. For they profaned the covenant of God, not only by not adhering to it but also by rejecting the one prophesied under it. Perhaps also, even though the covenant was destined to be kept according to the sensible until the time came when it had to pass from the one according to the flesh to the one according to the spirit, by remaining in the typical worship, they profaned his covenant. Therefore, also, stretching out his punishing hand, he repaid them so that his wrath might reach them to the end, by which they were divided, no longer gathered together in his land, but scattered in every land. These things the wrath of the face of God brought upon them, since when his face shone and appeared, they did not receive it (Psalm 55:21). For they were considered to be smooth and without fault because of their hypocrisy...

To seek out missiles like destructive ones and full of gall. For those interpreting even concerning God do not do so correctly; God has drawn near to their own heart, coming down with men, bringing forth words like oil being poured out and loosening the pains of those who suffer. But for those who despise them, the words concerning oil are found to be missiles, striking those who despise them. Often, regarding the striking, there is the metaphor of the arrow, and arrow and missile are the same according to the subject.

Regarding Psalm 54:24a, God does not give a stable place to the righteous, but those who have profaned his covenant he casts into a pit of destruction, contrary to the wells from which the Word protects life and incorruption from drinking. Perhaps 'pit of destruction' means the abyss into which those having been corrupted in their mind are brought down by his vote and are handed over by his judgment.

Regarding Psalm 54:24b–d, He does not wish that the Jews, who exist from before the ages, should be humbled by God. For they fell against the will of the Only-begotten, not fearing God but also profaning his covenant. And he says 'men of blood' concerning those saying, 'His blood is upon us and upon our children,' being guilty of all the blood of the righteous poured out upon the earth. And they themselves are men of guile, always approaching the Savior and the saints deceitfully. He does not wish that for these, even for half of their days, they should overtake death. For after they turned away from the day consisting for themselves from the brightness of the true light, having conceived a day of illumination through mythical traditions, it is evil that in this their days be filled; he intercedes that, in the intervening of their days, lest they should reach even half of their days, the sun of righteousness should set for them, so that they might become in the day of the Lord. And regarding the word 'let him force such things'; since in life the impious, dwelling in unrepentant resolve, do many evils, fearing them, it is worthy that, as human life is in the middle, they snatch away life so that for a few sins and not many they might be punished. Of these, he says, not being divided, 'I lay my expectation and hope upon you, O Lord.'

Partial vs Perfect Knowledge and the Soul's Preparation§100

100The scripture arranges the idea of being trampled with contempt, just as it is said of the chaff on the threshing floor, 'They throw it out' (Psalm 56:1). To be trampled by men and concerning the one devaluing Christ, it has been written: 'How severe a punishment do you think the one who has trampled the Son of God will deserve?' (Hebrews 10:29). And the holy one, being devalued by a man through foolishness, according to the scripture 'Where is your jealousy and zeal among you, and do you walk according to man?' (1 Corinthians 3:3), deserves to be shown mercy by God. But this man is an unceasing, murderous enemy who crushes the day of life of the righteous by warring, not desiring to be peaceful in any measure. And since in the parable of the weeds (Matt 13:24) the sower of these has been interpreted as the evil man, the devil, stand firm despite what has been said about him.

From this doing, he says, perhaps having fallen from a higher day and life, they have come upon my enemies (Psalm 56:2). God saves those who have fallen into wickedness freely, receiving nothing from them (Psalm 56:7). For he says, 'Behold, you were struck by your sins and you shall not be redeemed with silver' (Psalm 56:7), being saved not by works but by grace. Indeed, 'above nothing' signifies that they are not given salvation above anything else.

The voice growing bold before God (Psalm 56:8). For the living one, not by sin but by God, through these works, makes his life manifest to God, announcing it through disposition and practice.

The word brought forth upon God and through God is praiseworthy, likewise also the discourse. But he argues from a parallel against the same word and the discourse, or sets such comparisons one upon another. Since the word is a part of the discourse, the one being led into godliness, if perhaps unable to participate in the most full discourse, begins from a word, that is, a partial discourse. Care not; first the word of the Lord comes upon Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1-2), and after this, the discourse of the Lord comes to him; and in Isaiah, he says, 'Hear, O word of the Lord, you who tremble at his discourse' (Isaiah 66:5). But the word of the Lord is heard in the one occurring through him in the introduction. If anyone should object, saying that it is given to those being evangelized...

With much power, those who know and prophesy partially now receive a word toward the coming knowledge and teaching, as the perfect word is being given to them and the perfect knowledge is shining upon them as if the partial were being abolished. He who accepts both the introduction and the full bestowal of the word praises God with word and discourse (Psalm 56:10).

Regarding the flesh, he says that the man who has the mindset of the flesh is an enemy to God, not being subject to the law of God. For he who becomes one in this flesh is not able to please God. He fears lest he who becomes one in the spirit should do to him, as having killed the works of the flesh; for he has not truly hoped in God (Psalm 56:4).

He who prays does not stand in harmony with those to whom he is promised through prayer, but holds within himself the prayers of praise to render to God. And prayers of praise are those concerning praise; for just as someone prays to do or to render this or that to God, so someone prays to praise God (Psalm 56:12).

And since mourning and the falling of tears follow the one dying, no one mourns the one dead according to the soul except himself, fittingly after the soul has been snatched from the death of the intellect of ignorance concerning God and his eyes have been freed from tears. He snatched his feet from slipping, having shod them with a shoe that lifts up and makes them above the earth. For God says, 'I have shod you with hyacinth.' And the hyacinth, imitating the body of the heaven, shows the soul being colored with the heavenly, with a shoe not being any other than the preparation of the Gospel. Since the one shod is being lifted up, there follows the being snatched from slipping, concerning the feet being snatched from the matter (Psalm 56:13).

Someone is snatched from the aforementioned harmful things in order to please God, living and having been enlightened. For he who pleases God does this while living in light; and he lives and has been enlightened, everyone partaking of God; for he himself, being life, is the light of men, according to the scripture: 'And the life was the light of men' (John 1:4).

The doubling shows that both in this life and in the future we need the mercy of God (Ps 56:2a–c). And he calls the divine protection the shadow of wings.

The Salvation of the Soul and the Unity of the Church§101

101The shadow is pre-ordained to distinguish itself from the truth; it means this: in this life, finding myself in the shadow of the wings, I hope to come upon those very wings, being carried on wings by virtue and spiritual intellect. But the wings of God are His sheltering powers, or the lofty thoughts about Him.

The passing away of lawlessness shows that it is temporary (Psalm 57:1). And Paul indeed writes in Hebrews that the enjoyment of sin is temporary (Hebrews 11:25). It is not as if lawlessness were passing away having begun from a certain time; for he says something about it: it shall be neither from the beginning nor unto the age (Ps 56:3).

But the Most High is not in vain (Psalm 57:2). For since lawlessness is clinging and low-lying, the one being delivered from it cries out toward the Most High, so that by lifting himself up with the cry, he might become far from the harmful beast.

The Lord, sent from heaven to save, says: 'I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will' (John 6:38). For God sent this word of His and healed those wounded by their corruptions, as David himself says elsewhere. If anyone seeks to ask whether the one sent from heaven signifies a local emission from the physical heaven, it would seem absurd to attribute a local descent to God. For does the voice of heaven not signify the incorporeal and intellectual essence, according to 'Store up in the heavens' (Matt 6:20) and 'God is in the heaven above' (Psalm 115:3)? Therefore, the one being in the form of God and being healed as God, having taken the form of a servant, came to men (Phil 2:6-7). And this is the sending from heaven, so that the Word of God might become flesh and, having appeared upon the earth, might walk among men (John 1:14). Peter also writes, initiating mysteries concerning the Holy Spirit: 'Now it has been announced to you through those who preached to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven' (1 Peter 1:12); for having been sent from the intellect...

That the Spirit may find essence in men, it was granted to those who preached to you (Psalm 57:3). Before this, saying, 'Those who before this, by despising, trampling me into reproach, were given, God having sent from heaven how I might be saved' (Psalm 57:3). For having seen the Son of God caring for my salvation, those acting shamefully and reproaching me, even though they trampled, God saved (Psalm 57:3-4).

In the preceding verse, having said, 'He sent from heaven' (Psalm 57:3), not having said what was sent from heaven, he now interprets what mercy is and truth, the one rescuing his soul having become among enemies of those who trampled; for these are wild and wrathful dogs. Mercy is not otherwise according to the essence of truth; for both are the Savior (Psalm 57:3).

Sleep often signifies rest, as in, 'In peace I will lie down and sleep.' He does not wish to say this, that is, even if I was troubled being trampled by enemies and terrified by the dogs having taken me in the midst, but the trouble did not remain. For I slept having been troubled, not remaining awake being troubled, but I slept having cast away the trouble (Psalm 57:4).

This is a symbol of the woman continually weakened by the spirit, collapsing and not able to rise up completely, whom Jesus released from the snares of Satan, the daughter of Abraham (Psalm 57:6). Perhaps also everyone who thinks of the things below has a soul having become fallen, not able to contemplate the things above, is such a thing.

And you will perceive the people and those from circumcision, but the mortals from the idols having repented, as to become one church (Psalm 57:9). Those having loved the Lord in incorruption, having come to the end of not being corrupted, the pillars through whom they work well, they raise up. For just as those doing the opposite do evil things, they make a forbidden pillar...

The Pillar and the Womb§102

102They say the law: 'You shall not make for yourself a pillar' (Deuteronomy 16:22), signifying that everyone who practices forbidden things raises up a life like a pillar. Therefore, one may also rightly say that the one doing good things is setting up a pillar, as a symbol of the contests through which he has struggled.

For such is the fruit of righteousness (Psalm 58:2), and in Proverbs: 'To perceive true justice and to direct judgment' (Proverbs 1:3). But injustice entangles, joining sin by acting without distinction in evil. This is equal to the binding of one's own sins in a knot. It is not in vain that you work iniquity in the land (Psalm 58:2); for if someone makes iniquity in the heart, he works it in the land, that is, concerning material things.

Those daring to slander the Scriptures and dragging this word into error, saying that those who are led astray from the stomach and speak lies are not true, say that the fulfillment of the word is sinning. It is not right to say that those who have not perceived the habit of the Scripture have thought these things; the newborn infant is receptive to virtue and to wickedness in power, then receiving by operation whichever of these two it encounters, it will know good and evil. For then also the word is fulfilled, when it begins to act according to virtue. It is said that the good has been made from the mother's womb. Such is what Job says: 'Even if I ate my morsel alone and did not share with the orphan' (Job 31:17); for from the mother's womb they guided them and I nourished them as a father. And those who, failing regarding the word, rushed to the fulfillment of the word from error, began to act. And the expression 'to speak' signifies 'having spoken lies.' Perhaps also, as in the preceding verse, to be a shepherd and to be of another birth: those born from a bad teaching, from the very stomach that bore them, referring to the being led astray and the speaking of lies.

They say that the ears of an asp, the so-called 'palms,' stop up its ears. For if ever an incantator according to his own wisdom were to utter some incantation capable of lulling it to sleep, if it should hear, it stops up its ears so as not to hear the voice of the incantator, as if a medicine being prepared by a wise man. And these also stop up, not the ears of sense but the ears of understanding, lest they hear those who utter the wise prophetic and apostolic incantations.

For each of these is wise in preparing drugs, that is, preparing a logical medicine warding off the asp's attack.

But 'of medicine' is to be read as standing in apposition—that is, he is drugged by accompaniment and not by word.

Ps 57:7-8a: And God does this to them as a benefactor, lest, devouring the men deceived by them, they become liable to excessive punishment,

and so he crushed their molars, that they might neither bite nor devour.

And it should be noted that according to Scripture molars differ from teeth; for the cutting teeth divide the food, while the molars chew and grind.

And just as water passing through some channel, not remaining but being scattered, is brought to nothing and becomes contemptible, so also these shall be despised, having nothing firm and permanent but having received temporarily a watery and moist life.

Ps 57:8b-10: And we said before that his arrows signify his punishments, and the bow is that from which the arrows are sent; these are God's judicial power.

He stretches this bow, then, not slackening it until those struck grow weak;

and their growing weak is for their good, since the strength they had concerning evil is being destroyed.

And just as melting wax is destroyed insofar as it is meltable, having the thickness of the first subject changed into fire, so the worthless, having experienced punishment, melting, cast off the thickness from the wicked disposition.

But before punishment is the true light, which is the sun of righteousness;

for after punishment it is not possible to approach the radiance of the intelligible sun.

Hence it is said here: when the punishing light fell, those who fell under punishment did not see the sun.

But those who have understood their own passions, more allegorically called thorns, shall not be tried by punishing wrath,

but before understanding the thorns and bramble spoken of spiritually, as if living, they shall be swallowed up by wrath;

for not living but being like the living, they shall be seized by wrath.

For 'to swallow up' according to Scripture signifies to master and conquer, with the one swallowed already mastered and conquered.

For the mortal is swallowed up by life, with life mastering and conquering death (2 Cor 5:4).

Deliverance from Lawless Workers§103

103Death of life. He does not rejoice exultantly, but, lest he himself be subject to punishment, he purifies his own deeds, becoming more secure (Psalm 58:10).

When one Saul is pursuing him, he prays to be rescued from many enemies (Psalm 59:1). He prays not to be rescued from the spear-bearers sleeping with Saul, or from the predatory demons acting against him, saying 'many enemies' to be rescued from them. And he prays to be liberated from these rising up against him, wishing perhaps that the ransom of the one being liberated might be to give his own soul instead of many.

But workers of lawlessness are those doing what the law forbids, and since among the forbidden things is murder, men are men of blood, preferring to kill men because of the coming brutishness. But he who is not bothered by those working lawlessness is rescued, being under the protection of God, and also he who is not handed over into the hands of those willing to shed his blood is saved from murderous men.

And in another way: one is rescued from these; for he who does not work lawlessness but is disposed contrary to those doing it is rescued from the disposition of practical lawless acts, just as he who exists outside of murderous intent is saved, not being associated with murderous men.

The verses are to be interpreted thus: since men commit the work of lawlessness while the devil and his angels are working in men, he prays to be rescued from the devil and those with him who precede in the work of lawlessness. The testimony of this thought is: from the beginning the devil sins. For following that, others fall into sin in whom he works. Having cast betrayal into the heart of Judas, he became a traitor, following the thought of betrayal because of the one who incited him to this.

And also to add 'men' to the murderers; for it is not by chance, but the blood of a man is poured out by one strong and perfect in evils. Regarding the intention and brutishness of Saul and those sent by him to take him from his own people and to kill him (Psalm 59:3), he says, 'They have sought my soul, though by the power of God I shall be saved,' by a paradoxical art of his wife.

But since every created man is altogether prone to change, having stumbled after these things he easily repented;

from which it is also shown that he had no practice and habit toward sinning.

Ps 58:5b: With the aforementioned enemies persisting in their zeal against me, having been roused, meet me to help me, no longer being patient with them.

And I beseech him, roused to meet me, to see that they do not murder against me on any pretext of mine, as though I had sinned against them.

For neither my iniquity nor my sin provoked them, but their envious passion, grieved at our good repute.

Ps 58:6a-b: With the prayer concerning himself he takes up together the petition concerning all the nations, being at once loving to men and a prophet.

For having foreknown prophetically the calling of the nations, he beseeches [...].

Divine Discipline and Repentance§104

104He is Lord, the God of the divine powers, but also the God of Israel, attending to visit the nations so that He might heal them as they are being badly consumed by idolatry and the service of demons. The visitation of the nations occurs because the divine Word has been sent to heal all and to save them from the corruptions that take hold beforehand. Indeed, He is a physician of souls, healing those who are crushed in heart. He is called God of powers and Lord of the rational, holy animals and heavenly hosts. Just as He is God of these powers, so also, by the voice of the discerning men called Hebrews of Israel, He is God (Psalm 59:5).

While David was being pursued by Saul because of the aforementioned envy, he knew what the successor of the kingdom would be. And having prophetically seen what was to come, and having been anointed for this by Samuel—though he was not yet fully filled with the knowledge of it—he did not repeatedly rush into his hands, wanting to legally receive the kingdom from God, but not to seize it by assault and murder. From this intention he says, 'God is my strength, I will guard myself toward You' (Psalm 59:9), not intending to strike, but waiting to receive it from You; and I am confident in this assurance, having known through experience many times that You are both God and my perceiver. For it is not by our power that we are worthy to reign, but rather Your mercy, having foretold me, will show itself to me among my enemies, in which they shall be disciplined by falling under punishment, but I shall receive the kingdom from You.

And regarding the thought of reigning from God according to Abraham: it is written that if some say to the patriarch while he is not perceptibly ruling, 'King, You are with us,' ruling pleasingly to God, he says, 'My God is my strength, I will guard myself toward You' (Psalm 59:9); for You will lead into the kingdom those who have spoken, as the Corinthians say, 'And it would be good if you reigned, that we might reign with you.' (1 Corinthians 4:8). As a matter of history: the enemies lying in wait are worthy to be rebuked by God, but not to die. For it is not right that, if they remained wicked, they should die, for they would bring an end to the divine law; but being scattered by the power of God and being handed over to captivity, they will cry out to...

Having experienced God as a trial of punishment. But He also wills that they be brought low from the height of the pride they possess, which is the one defending the Lord who carries up the prayer. For complete punishment prepares and turns one toward recognition. But David, sparing them from this, pleaded that they might be disciplined by a more moderate punishment so that they might be sober; he adds the following: for if they are scattered, they are punished at once, and they will be able to be gathered together again having repented. Likewise, He also wills that they be brought low, that is, humbled: to stop the sin of their mouth, the word of their lips, which is beneficial both to those being humbled and to the majority, so that they may not be provoked to zeal against those speaking and saying things in pride and unrighteousness. For those having spoken with pride, having lied against the righteous, receiving the condemnation in the pride of their own words contrary to their works, they receive it as if being caught as lawless men being reproved.

It is to be reproved also from the present word those who think with a defensive mindset that the Creator is a heretic (Psalm 60:1). God is angry not to destroy, but to have mercy. By this, 'I will bless You, Lord, what You were angry with me for, toward salvation' (Psalm 60:1). For if He is angry toward salvation and toward mercy, His anger is not a passion, but is received usefully.

Those striving for material things and thinking of earthly things (Psalm 60:2), regarding them as being stable and imperturbable, this such a state brings harm to them; it is better to be shaken and troubled by the mercy of God in a useful way. For having known that to be entangled in material things and to think of them causes trouble and shaking, turning away from the former bad life toward a serious one, without care and having been crushed, having received the realization of the existing destructions from the demons, she will call upon the Lord who is able to heal these things.

Hard things are shown to someone if he falls into painful circumstances (Ps 59:5); but if anyone receives them toward the recognition of former sins, he drinks the wine of compunction, taking from the drinking the cause of being moved to repentance. Often the Scripture unreservedly calls the hard circumstances 'hard things'.

Christ in Paul and the distinction of being§105

105As in the Cup in the hand of the Lord, the mind is uncontrolled. But the hard things are homonymous with the hard ways spoken of; in the Psalm it says: 'Through the words of your lips I have kept hard ways' (Psalm 17:4). For indeed, hard ways are those called according to virtue because they are made straight through much sweat and toil, but here it is when the people, having been tested by hard things, are afflicted.

What is the sign that God gives, which is the illumination by which it is possible to discern spirits and good and evil? For having this knowledge existing, we flee from the malicious, becoming far from the evil of work and the evil spirit. But the sign is given not to those who happen to be, but to the God-fearing pious.

'That your beloveds, remaining unhurt, may be washed away from the face of the bow, you gave the said sign' (Psalm 60:4-5). It must be said also: then they will be washed away from unseen enemies, whom your only-begotten Son shall save with your right hand. For the right of God has been interpreted many times, especially where it was foretold: 'I have strengthened you with my right, just, and with my right I have established the heavens' (Isaiah 41:10).

One must supervise how the order of thought precedes the order of utterance. For previously, having heard, God saves, and thus the unharmonious harmony, the word having the sequence 'Save' then 'Hear my' after it, unless it is thought otherwise: 'Having saved by the right, hear my prayer,' the prayer of the one being saved is not about being saved (for that is what is said) but about asking for divine goods, for the gifts of the divine Spirit are such.

But those who through goodness-and-beauty become gods' beloveds are worthy to be loved by him; men made according to the image of God, even if they have fallen most deeply into sin, yet they are nonetheless, because of the soul's spiritual and rational essence, his beloveds. God speaks to everyone participating in holiness.

Indeed, Christ spoke also in the holy Paul and in every prophet. But if the voice is seized regarding the Father, the holy one in whom the Savior speaks is he who is in agreement with the one: 'The Father who abides in me does the works,' and 'The Father has given me a commandment, what I must say and what I shall speak'; these things fit the economy.

Ps 60:3ab: He who prays here, knowing himself to be far off, sends up his prayer from the ends of the earth and says that he has cried out to God in his distress; for as it is said in Ecclesiastes: 'God is in the heaven above and you are in the earth below.' And it is signified by the word not a local distinction but a difference of uncreated essence and created things, of the existence of God being said to be above in heaven through the superiority of honor, and of the man being below in the earth by having come from non-being into being. Regarding this difference, the Baptist also, having observed the Savior, says that he is in heaven from above, and that the man is from the earth and speaks; for he declares it possible to say by means of a creature.

Ps 60:3c–5: We shall accept 'Rock' to signify the Christ, the flowing spiritual drink. He who becomes in this rock to partake of it (for wisdom and righteousness and holiness exist) is lifted up according to the mind, being raised by God. And those intending to fall toward the Savior, according to his exhortations saying, 'Come after me,' and again to Philip, 'Follow me,' using him as a guide, partake of that same lifting up, not hoping to find any other leader of the way which rushes toward the cause of all. Having obtained this gift, David also says with his mouth to the Lord: 'You have guided me to what became my hope'; and not only a guide but you have become a tower for me from the face of the enemy. For I remained unharmed, having you as a tower of strength and power, even though the enemy was an adversary and wished to fight me.

The fulfillment of eternal things through daily life§106

106He who begins to build this tower, as if starting with the foundation, should complete the building as if placing a crown upon the roof, lest he suffer shame before those passing by, who are accustomed to mocking those who have not completed the citizenship they undertook.

A connection can be made to 'Lead me from the face of the enemy' (Psalm 61:3) and 'You have led me in a straight path thus'; 'You have led me from the face of the enemy' has become my hope, but also a tower of strength in leading me from the face of the enemy. The hope of the saints is the true and unshakeable Savior, as Paul says, 'Jesus Christ of our hope' (1 Tim 1:1), and the prophecy upon him is that they hope in him; for he himself, having been foretold, shall be the expectation of the Nations. Someone, having been perfected in holiness for the ages in that dwelling, signifies 'Who shall dwell in your holy habitation?' (Psalm 61:4); for this is the same eternal one in the tabernacle, the Lord, and not man. Although such a tabernacle does not possess the perfection of the Holy of Holies, there is no state with it surpassing the rational ones in which they shall be in Father and Son, but rather in the Trinity. Therefore, it is said to dwell for the ages, but not to reside in the dwelling. He who has become in this dwelling shall be covered under the shelter of the wings of God.

For he says, 'You are very rich, and you provide great gifts' (Psalm 61:5), rather, by freely giving to perfect men the becoming of your sons, you have given them an inheritance. For although it is expected to be given according to the resurrection in the future age, it is nonetheless being given in a favorable way to those who are being led according to the time what is necessary. And to those who fear his name, God has given an inheritance (Psalm 61:5). If there is a difference between those fearing God and his name, and those believing in him and in his name—since it is often said that those made intimate by the approach of God, those united to him, the God, are inferior—it is seen that the inheritance is given also to those fearing God; for if grace has been increased to the inferior, much more to those who have ascended far above. Whoever obtains the interpreted gifts, what kind of king is he, according to what is signified regarding the God-fearing ones as they were a Kingdom...

A beloved, a holy nation. By this signified thing to reign, and the apostles, expecting, say to the Corinthians, 'You reigned without us, let us also reign with you.' To the reigning which has happened, there is added by the Lord, 'day by day occurring.' For it is necessary from a preceding state of light to a transition into another likewise, so that the eternal things, concerning which it is said, 'And I remembered the eternal and meditated upon them' (Psalm 77:5), might be fulfilled from that which is named of the days. And the life of the days is extended by taking them day by day, as generations of generations before God.

Who will seek out His mercy and truth? Often, of the divine teachings, His mercy is joined with the truth of God. For since to know clearly and purely the truth of God is not possible for one surrounded by human weakness, from this there is a need of the mercy of God in order to understand the truth. This contributes to the fore-set purpose, that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For first, it is necessary to be saved by the mercy of God, so that subsequently the knowledge of the truth may exist. For the salvation of men is the work of the mercy of God. 'For God sent His mercy and His truth,' and the following.

Since in whom I have found a thankful reception from You, I will sing in Your name, praising through works, thoughts, and good words the prophecy of You called upon me (Psalm 61:8; LXX 60:8); and with this I will repay day by day, just as Jacob says, 'If God gives me bread to eat,' and the following, 'all things to me shall be mine if I tithe them to You' (Gen 28:20-22). For before these words it is brought forward, 'Jacob made a vow,' saying, 'If the Lord be with me,' as 'I will tithe them.' And also to say 'repaying prayers day by day' and 'singing in the name of God unto the age of ages,' for the one singing in the name is the one being praised, to extend into the coming age; but the one repaying the prayers, it is as if the time being fulfilled of the days is being completed; it is not that which is delayed by each individual's life. Since we are not in this life, we shall repay the prayers, so that we also may sing unto the age of ages in the name of God.

The Deception of the Enemy and True Repentance§107

107That we may be able. Everyone shifting from virtue into vice is shaken (Psalm 62:2), but this does not happen abruptly; a disturbance first occurs in the thoughts through the passions, so that if appropriate action is taken, the shaken thoughts do not become a collapse and a fall.

For when an ugly desire or some other irrational movement begins, the pious thought must intervene, grasping God, to direct the impulse toward action, so that a greater shaking does not occur. The Savior clearly teaches this in the Gospel, uprooting the beginnings of sins so that their remaining does not result in a greater practical shaking.

He who is established and rooted in love is an unshakable wall and has a firmly set hedge (Psalm 62:3); how then could those passing by the way, wicked men and evil powers, not strike it? God surrounds him with such a secure hedge, saying, 'I have plowed and set a hedge.' For this hedge consists of angels guarding, and of truths of dogmas, and of actions being performed according to virtue. While this remains, no one will be able to harm the divine fruits of the spiritual plant. But if the one guarding the vineyard should ever bring forth thorns instead of grapes, God, abandoning him, says, 'I will take away his hedge and it shall be for plunder, and I will pull down his wall and it shall be for trampling.' If this happens because of the production of bad fruit from us, the wall is leaned and the hedge is pushed.

The honor of the wise, which the wicked plot to cast away, is virtue and piety (Psalm 62:4), according to 'Glory and honor and peace to everyone working the good' (1 Clem 1:1). Therefore, vice is a dishonor, in which those who have fallen, feeling they have suffered, say, 'Our dishonor has uncovered us unto tribulation' (Psalm 62:4). To this, man also takes part, not understanding the value of being in honor. Since the deceivers lying in wait cannot draw one into vice by force, they say, 'They did not drive away my honor, but they plotted to cast it away'; for they are not those who can overcome the one standing strongly against them. Related to these are those about whom Paul writes, 'Deceiving through flattering speech and lying words the hearts of the innocent' (Romans 16:18).

It is of the same mind: 'If your enemy entreats you with a great voice, do not be persuaded Ps 61:7; for seven evils are in his soul, perhaps coming from the seven spirits, as the unclean spirit receives from more evil spirits than himself.'...as if he were entreating for the seven evils existing in his soul, the First God saying brightly and pleasantly in a punishing way, 'do not be persuaded'; for blessing with the mouth, he curses the heart.

I will not repent, becoming a repentant one by sinning and being distanced from God Ps 61:8, according to what is written concerning Jacob, who was overwhelmed and turned away from God his savior. Grasping God, I have not become a repentant one, they attain salvation and glory upon God; for I was not saved by my own power or art. And he says 'glory upon God' because it is that which the only God gives to those seeking him, and 'salvation' not of the flesh but of the rational soul, which the one having believed into the Trinity possesses, according to what is said, 'Finishing the faith, the salvation of souls.' Therefore, even if he is violently thrust back into error, I make hope upon him, who has often saved me.

All the assemblies of the peoples of the nations who have believed Ps 61:9, who no longer have God and hope, hope in him against all craftiness, making your hearts manifest before him; for God will become a helper to you. The same is meant by to pour out before him the heart, to love him from the whole soul and the whole heart. For often to pour out has been arranged instead of a rich abundance and a lavish supply, as in 'the love of God is poured out in the hearts of you through the Holy Spirit' Rom 5:5.

To such people it was said Ps 61:10, 'Why do you love vanity and seek falsehood, even though you are commanded not to have a small and a great weight, but a true scale, since a double weight is an abomination to the Lord.' It must be said whether these things are intended, and also toward those who have dealings and fellowship; for in every matter, justice is desired; for those running together toward vanity vainly strive, always having a vain agreement and zeal. Here it must be known: the 'Sons of men' signifies circumspectly those who are...

The Twofold Circumcision and the True God§108

108They are dying men who are no longer gods and sons of the Most High, as it is signified by what is written: 'For where there is strife and jealousy among you, are you not fleshly and walking according to man?' (1 Corinthians 3:3).

For it is not possible to serve God and mammon, nor indeed to hope for injustice and God (Matthew 6:24). If it seems that the wealth of one who does not seize and does not act unjustly is flowing and diminishing, it is not necessary to add to the heart, so that the heart might not be grieved by the diminishing of the money.

Because the name of injustice signifies, on the one hand, inequality regarding exchanges and sharing, as in 'But you do wrong and deprive even your brothers,' and on the other hand, all practical wickedness, as it is said, 'I hated injustice and detested it' (Psalm 119:163), so one must watch according to what the meaning of the word now presents. One says the former, making it clear through the fact that plunder and flowing wealth were accompanying him, while the other says the latter, as it is said, 'But he who loves injustice.' For this is the case, since injustice is not entirely one thing, nor is the seizing regarding money.

God is incorporeal, rather existing beyond all generated being, both material and intellectual, having nothing entangled with himself; thus, when God speaks, He speaks once, that is, monoidly and uncomposedly, not as I hear Him thus anymore. For what is spoken once, you hear as two, according to the manifestation; for this voice is a pointing voice.

He therefore says such a thing: as He speaks with a pure intellect and an uncomposed voice, I hear the things spoken as being two, with my imagination standing by, perceiving someone called a spoken word which turns out to be unspeakable, as He speaks with intellect and an uncomposed voice. And so, if the apostle, writing that he has heard unspeakable words (2 Corinthians 12:4), wishes to present this, the unspeakable ones are such that they are heard not by grasping syllables and sounds, but also by words being present, because the intellect possesses the truth. For where the truth is, there is a proposition. And it is necessary for the proposition to be from a name and a word.

And it must be said otherwise: we use vocal organs, and we are unable to say many things at once. Of God, speaking once and all at once, we hear doubly. Stop, lest it be possible to say a third. Of God, commanding once concerning sacrifice, we hear the command both sensuously and spiritually.

Just as we understand circumcision in two ways, once spoken by God: the bodily and the spiritual. Whether the Father is God, and the Son is Lord, and the Word stands among these, or whether the same God is both God and Lord, saying, 'Visit now' (Ps 62:2a); for what is being viewed is both pious and true in both respects. It is necessary to seek how he gives to each according to his works. For if the sufferings of the present time are not worthy of the glory that is about to be revealed (Rom 8:18), and he who has worked only trifles is not punished worthily. For if one observes iniquities, 'Lord, Lord, who will endure?' (Psalm 130:3), how must one take judgment by equality? One must oversee lest it becomes not according to quantity but according to quality; and quantity is indicated by the word, the greater things of value being given praiseworthily to the righteous and the punishment being diminished. For equality is not according to corrective justice, but according to distributive justice, the equal and the unequal.

This is accomplished for the one who has come out of ignorance and malice, as 'The night has passed, and the day has approached' (Romans 13:12). To this, 'Out of the night my spirit watches for you, O God' (Isaiah 26:9) is conjoined. But if someone does the works of the night and darkness, how can he say 'I watch at dawn' without the dawn standing before him? And 'I watch toward you' is not to be heard locally. For God is not in a place, but in a disposition, becoming a relationship toward God by having leaped over the sensible things; for to this follows coming toward God. And also the saying, 'God, the God of mine.' For the God of the saints worshipping him is God once and for all, not of all those who have the 'is', but of some who have been set free. Therefore, the belly of those having desire for luxury is not simply called God; nor even the demons are strictly gods of the Gentiles, though called gods. God alone, and every truly wise man will say by nature and truly to God, 'God, the God of mine.'

'From all those present, let my longing depart' (Psalm 63:1); I thirst with the soul to be toward God, a spring of water stretching toward me, changing into eternal life (Psalm 63:1). And since the soul is being benefited and enlightened, and the flesh also partakes, and of these both as being one, how also it itself thirsts simply toward God and the power and the...

The Thirst of the Soul and the Mercy of God§109

109His glory. And if the Father is the one who does not thirst, the only-begotten is His power and glory. For Christ is the power of God, He himself being also the glory concerning whom it is said, 'The glory of the Lord shall be seen' (Isa 60:1). And if the Son is His glory and power, the theology concerning Him and the performing of wondrous works exists according to that which is written in the Gospel, 'Power went out from him and healed all' (Luke 6:19), and again, 'And the power of God for the healing of him' (Acts 10:38).

Correspondingly, with this power and also the things concerning His glory were taken from Him, as in 'We have seen His glory, a glory as of the only-begotten' (John 1:14), and 'Glorify me, Father, with the glory which I had with you before the world was' (John 17:5). Therefore, on both sides it was taken, as in 'Let it be revealed to you in the Holy One, because my soul thirsted for you' (Psalm 63:1-2), and 'my flesh thirsted in a desert land, uninhabitable and waterless' (Ps 63:1).

And indeed the place concerning the earth is not made manifest through the word 'desert' by means of perfection, nor 'waterless' by the not having abundantly the gifts of the Spirit. As in 'Rivers of living water were said to flow out of the spring of the one having believed' (John 7:38); therefore also it is uninhabitable, of no one passing over it, of those imitating God as much as possible. For how could the interpreted place not be desert by reason of the lack of knowledge in it, and waterless by the becoming of the pledge of the Spirit in it? For it is not desert and waterless by a complete deprivation of those dwelling and treading, and water is said, but because these things happen in it sparsely and briefly.

And it must also be understood otherwise: the one outside of wickedness and ignorance is a desert of these things, and the one who is also outside the moisture of the passions is waterless, just as being uninhabitable means being manifest to the evil, because a place of the devil or of some other evil spirit is not found in him. Never will the unclean spirit permit itself to approach such waterless places; it passes through them without finding rest among them; it is...

For they are fulfilled of all good things, those who drive away and overcome every evil power.

Someone happens to see the vision in a desert, interpreted on both sides as an inaccessible and waterless land, while a soul thirsts in holy desire for God, with the flesh also following as much as is possible.

And another scripture is brought forward, 'And my flesh was weakened,' concerning which it must be said thus: not that my soul thirsts for God, but the flesh, enjoying thickness, being composed of shameful desires and other passions. To this, one should take the evangelical saying: 'The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak' (Matt 26:41). For if someone has readiness while thirsting with the soul for God, but the flesh is weak and yielding to passions.

The apostle has written that piety is useful for everything, possessing the promise of life, both of the present and of the one to come (1 Tim 4:8). Regarding the present, he does not speak of the common life of living creatures, but of that which exists in life, concerning which the Savior says, 'He who believes in me has eternal life, and this is eternal life, that he may know you, the only true God, and whom you have sent, Jesus Christ' (John 17:3).

Of this present life and of the one to come, whoever becomes according to perfection, those who approach the truth face to face, the mercy of God is greater, for through it and by it one becomes in these lives, being lifted up into them. For one does not come to live both lives according to the merit of works and contemplation, but by the goodness and mercy of God.

And it is said that mercy is better than them as the cause of the agent. See then, lest the mercy spoken of here be something other than the Word of God, concerning which it is written, 'God has sent His mercy and His truth' (Psalm 57:3).

See if it is possible to fill the soul; wisdom has prepared sacrifices, and the true food is the flesh of the Word, a drink rejoicing the inner man, he who harvests.

Cleaving to the Lord§110

110The mind is the true vine and the true drinking of wisdom. For having been called to partake of the table prepared by wisdom, having slaughtered her own victims and having mixed her own wine, the mind, being filled with the desire of the divine banquet and expecting to be filled, says: 'Oh that my soul might be filled with satiety and drinkability' (Ps 63:5). And since, always partaking of this liturgy, it hungers because the desire of the mind is insatiable, it says 'Oh that it might be filled' and yet 'my soul has not been filled,' even though it has abundantly partaken of the food and the drink.

Let those who, after the resurrection, dream of sensible food and drink be put to shame. For it is not the flesh or the body, but the soul that is to be filled with satiety and drinkability, the desire of the soul being filled with God in good things, as it is said in another psalm. And having been filled with gladness, it rejoices gratefully toward the one who has desired the food, saying: 'And lips of gladness shall praise your name' (Psalm 63:5), concerning which it is said: 'My lips shall praise you' (Psalm 63:3). And virtue is the lips of gladness. For as it is said, 'those who act foolishly,' as in the psalm of folly, 'the feet of those who use it bring them down' (Proverbs 5:5), so let not the lips also be of gladness, unless indeed in this also someone having outward things shows them through the eyes, as it was said concerning the fool, that those using them have feet bringing them down to the mire; and concerning the one rejoicing, as lips of gladness praising the approach of God.

He who avoids idleness is able to say these things, so that caring for the things of the Lord may please Him, and he who keeps his bed undefiled may honorably lie with his bride according to the holy men. Just as for the one running toward virtue and piety to reach the goal, it is said: 'I have finished the race' (2 Tim 4:7), and 'I have run without law and have directed my course' (Gal 5:4) (for the one who finished is the one who ran the race), so does the one following God, according to Jeremiah: 'But I have not been weary in following behind you' (Jeremiah 17:16), and according to Hosea: 'I will go after the Lord' (Hosea 11:10), and as Moses says: 'You shall go after the Lord your God' (Deuteronomy 13:4); let him finish at last the journey after God, having reached the goal of blessedness.

The end is that he will hear towards God, 'And you stand with me.' For a voice is not something of a traveler. Regarding this state, having arrived after traveling behind, as if to be joined behind, he says, 'My soul has cleaved behind you,' (Ps 63:8) signifying the voice of 'It has cleaved' is 'It has been united.' For it is not to be heard that those shunning the evil are being joined to the good. He shows union towards God, and 'He who is joined to the Lord is in the spirit.' It is not to be sought whether it is the same thing, 'My soul has cleaved behind you,' so as not to corrupt the joining to the Lord and the joining of the soul behind another, desiring the end to be the same joining to the Lord. For the end of traveling behind the Lord is the joining of the soul of the one traveling behind him; however, even if reaching union behind is also an end of a journey, there is nothing more perfect than the joining to the Lord in the spirit to become with him.

As he receives the things of the vision, he confesses that his soul has been cleaved behind God, grasping the right hand of God. And this is the only-begotten power of God; grasping and holding securely, the nearby visible and invisible enemies sought in vain the soul of him saying these things, unable to snatch away the one being guarded by the mighty hand of God (Psalm 63:9-10). 'Let the sinners be turned away into Sheol, all the Gentiles who forget God' (Psalm 9:17) is in agreement with the entering of the wicked into the lowest parts of the earth. And having entered, they shall be delivered to punishment, the sword being signified by the name. The hands of this sword, or rather, it works pains and bitterness to those serving it, being called vessels of wrath in others. And it calls the evil powers a 'fox-catcher,' because of the cunning, deceitful, and malicious nature of those called fox-catchers.

And the present things are to be interpreted otherwise: since it is commanded to become material and fleshly such a one, you will say he has sunk himself down to the earth as if to have entered into its lowest parts by choice. And those who are delivered to dishonorable sufferings undergo this, having desired it with the desires of their hearts toward impurity. By this...

The Triumph of Truth over Deception§111

111In the same manner, both Pharaoh and those around him were swallowed up under the earth, and Moses, as in a triumphal hymn Ps 118:12b: 'Stretch out your right hand, O God', says the earth swallowed them. And indeed, in the historical sense, they were not swallowed under the earth, but under the depths; those having been swallowed thus under the earth and having descended into the lowest parts of the earth, they were delivered into the hands of the devil's swords, allegorically so-called. And his hands are either his angels or his skillful actions. They, having been delivered thus, shall become portions of foxes.

[Ps 62:12b: 'And the one swearing by God shall be praised, who rejoices the king.'] [Ps 63:2b: 'God works fear, not necessarily overturning or casting down the opponent, but granting courage to the one praying.'] [Ps 63:3, 4a: 'Regarding the double harm of evil, both in thought and in deed, there are two phalanxes attacking the righteous, from whom the one praying asks God to be saved unharmed from the things set before him, saying, "Protect me from the distortion of the truth of the dogmas" (for they are those wishing to corrupt the truth of the dogmas), but also from those performing practical injustice and wishing to drag me into it. For both these camps have sharpened their tongues like swords, as if having a word, the ones committing adultery gathering together with a pseudonymous knowledge, and the others with practical wickedness.'] [Ps 63:6ab: 'Moreover, even if they are not prepared wickedly, the benefactor God gives signs to those fearing him to flee from the face of the bow.'] It is said that finding a bitter thing (and such is every evil and impious dogma), they, having aimed this, shoot the bow from it, having an analogy of arrows to the burning arrows of the enemy.]

[Ps 63:6c: 'And the heterodox say that no one is able to grasp their embellished and sophistically-made teaching.'] [Ps 63:7, 8a: 'When the wicked are failing, you will search; you will search out because they have searched out lawlessness very much, so as to strengthen an evil word for themselves and to hide snares in their narratives, which they have striven to produce with much elegance and take pride in as if they were unassailable words, so that no one may see them.']

To expose the deception, a true man comes to them, preserving the image and the being, being a learned person with a deep heart—that is, possessing deep understanding—as one who exalts God by seizing the wise in their craftiness. Likewise, through the Apostle Paul, He revealed the guile and craftiness of Elymas the sorcerer (Acts 13:6-12). For how will not God be exalted through holy men, as the error of the deceivers is being loosed? The pharmacists and flatterers of Egypt thought much of sorcery and sophistry, but Moses, the theophany of God, possessing in himself a deep heart, having approached, overturned the deception upon which they thought much. And thus God was exalted, being remembered by all.

And he who possesses this deep understanding receives it from the Spirit who searches all things. Just as the arrows sent of the prudent do not strike even to a speck, wounding anything (Psalm 64:7-9), so also the capture has left a bitter thing upon the prepared sophists, their matter being overturned; and their tongues grew weak, that is, their words, as if they were unable to strike even in quantity the door of faith being taken up. The men, observing the things foretold, having formerly testified to their own skill, were troubled, no longer remaining in the false opinions of the sophists, having received fear because of being associated with such impious doctrines.

For having learned from them that providence is not, that all things are carried by necessity, and having been snatched away along with other deceivers, they received both naturally good and bad men, and added that fate is presiding. These false opinions being shaken, they were troubled, and they revealed the truth: that God is the maker of all things and the provider. For they reported the works of providence and understood His creatures, and they came to know the one who provides, having observed the Creator in proportion to their greatness and beauty.

When the error is being reproved, the righteous man will rejoice in God (Psalm 64:10), seeing the men who formerly wandered now announcing the works of God and having understanding of His works. And because of this, he will much more hope in the Lord in whom...

The Election and the Temple of God§112

112She rejoiced, as it remains to praise only those having a straight heart in practical and contemplative life. Regarding Psalm 65:1 (Psalm 65:1; LXX 64:1), it was said previously that the psalm denotes practice, while the hymn denotes contemplation. The practical life, being perfected by the contemplative life, demonstrates a perfect man.

From the spoken word one must move toward the church's understanding. Because of the aim of the truth, being called Zion, hymn and prayer are appropriately offered to the Source of all things. The hymn signifies the contemplation of God and of the truth, and the prayer signifies thanksgiving. Therefore, let him who is giving thanks in everything in Zion do this, beginning from the hymn; the prayer gives its due.

Therefore, we approach with mind and spirit to God, listening to prayer, O Lord; and we have not deserved that the lion should have power over those whom we have been honored to be impious through ignorance. All flesh comes to God, the Gentiles having the power to come from the ends of the earth toward you, and all the Gentiles whom you made are before you (Psalm 65:2). It is also to be understood that all flesh comes to God, the soul that is well-disposed being drawn toward the easiest path by divine law and the truth; as it is signified, it has been said that the spiritual law is written on the heart, not on stone. This is also presented from the prophecy of Ezekiel, God saying concerning the hard-hearted, spoken in foolishness: I will remove from them the stony hearts and I will put in them hearts of flesh, so that they may walk according to my commands (Ezekiel 36:26).

the one chosen by holiness, if he remains in the election, is received by God, as having been relocated by him from the place of the earth to dwell in the courts of the chosen one, concerning whom it has been said: Enter into his courts with hymns; and one having desire from there places it upon him, and my soul is enclosed in the courts of the Lord (Psalm 65:4). And since the end of blessedness is not in the courts, he who is received there dwells, so as to progress and having come to the home, he may dwell being blessed; for he says, Blessed are those who dwell in your house, they shall praise you forever and ever (Ps 84:4).

What is more perfect than to be chosen and then to be received by the one who chose? It is evident from: 'In your counsel you guided me and received me with glory' (Psalm 73:24). For the one chosen does all things according to the will of God, and then receives the promises with glory. These words are brought forth by those who, having been delivered from life, give glory.

Paul, sending the church of God to Timothy, calls it: 'If you delay, see how you ought to conduct yourself in the household of God, which is the living church of God' (1 Tim 3:15). From this household come the good gifts of the Spirit, as well as the things concerning the Trinity and the rest of the doctrines, which are the statutes and canons handed down by the apostles. Those who have said, 'We have glorified Him, who said, Let atonement be made for our ungodliness, those strengthened by words against us,' expect to be filled with these good things.

Virtue, signified by the name of righteousness, is marvelously fulfilled in Him. The one believing and working good things, having been filled, has the Lord within himself; for it is said through faith that Christ dwells in the inner man. Thus the Lord, coming to the one keeping His word, makes a dwelling for Himself, so that the man is a holy temple; for it is written, 'Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?' (1 Cor 3:16) and also, 'For the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple' (1 Cor 3:17). It is also marvelous, and he is made upright in righteousness through the standing of Jesus Christ, full of the good divine gifts of the Spirit, of which those expecting to share say, 'We shall be filled.'

For how could those dwelling at the borders not have been afraid and the Gentiles been stirred, when the charms were abolished, so that the prophetic demons could no longer boast, and with these magic and drugs were being abolished, and he, Satan himself, having the power of death, was being rendered powerless? For the signs that were accomplished were sufficient, showing that God exists. Knowing His divinity from the things happening, they know moreover how He also provides for the things in heaven, as the stars rise and set by His laws. For the exits of the morning are...

Clouds, Grains, and the Flowering of Souls§113

113The sunrises are delights, and the sunsets are delights; the remaining faithful of the nations, having observed what he does—causing the sun, the moon, and the other stars to rise and to set—is the one who became man and freed them from deception and death (Psalm 65:8).

You visited the earth and watered it, you filled it to make it rich, giving spiritual rain; first through the old law and then through the new covenant, through which the allegorized earth (which is the soul of man) was made rich in every way and in all knowledge and good works, as God increases it (Psalm 65:9-10).

The Word of God is a river of God, being life and a fountain itself. And perhaps, if it is toward God, a fountain exists; for it is said, 'From you is the fountain of life' (Ps 36:9). A river is then found which waters the rational creation. The impulses of this, that is, the partial teachings, gladden the city of God, that is, the church. And since the fullness of deity dwells in him, he is filled with waters, as it is said concerning him, 'We have seen his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth' (John 1:14).

Therefore, not only is the river full of these waters, watering all the rational creation, but it also has food being prepared from God, sowing the seed of Jesus, bearing fruit a hundredfold. From this river, the cultivators of the earth, upon which the spiritual plow has been cast, get drunk, drinking with joy, as the offspring of righteousness growing in it are being multiplied, concerning which it is said, 'Sow for yourselves for righteousness, reap for the fruit of life' (Hos 10:12); and 'Seek the Lord as he comes, let the offspring of righteousness come to you' (Hosea 10:12). And since the cultivators of the earth do not only drink from the river but also pour from the spiritual rain...

The clouds, according to what was said, 'And the clouds rained down righteousness,' cause the earth to rejoice, rising in the drops coming upon it (Psalm 65:12-13). These are the words and the meanings of the God-breathed writings.

It is possible to say that the rams are clothed in joy, as it is commonly said, 'The mountains shall be girded,' where the rams are the sheep and the joy is the clothing, while the girdle is the belt. All those bearing fruit of the aforementioned things, and the hollow souls—which we call hollows because they lack thought—are filled with that grain which someone makes into bread to be eaten, according to the command, 'Open your eyes and be filled with bread' (Proverbs 20:13); but it is not the eyes of the heart, but to open them so that they may receive the light of knowledge. For when this happens, the breads, which are the practical virtues, multiply, feeding the inner man.

The Bridegroom in the assembly of the sins (though he is not the Savior) says, 'I am the flower of the field, the judge of the hollows' (Song of Solomon 2:1). He means such a thing: I have become a flower of the field in the place of the earth called low, so that men may receive the beginning of fruit; and I have become a judge for the hollows (the souls in Hades), having taken up death. He who has become thus the judge of the hollows shall be a grain of wheat, as he himself says, 'Amen, amen I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls and dies, it remains alone; but if it falls and dies, it bears much fruit' (John 12:24). Because the grain, having fallen through the cross into the earth until it reached its heart, made more fruit, and in those places he has become a reason for the hollows to have a multitude of grain.

Because the wonderful works of God are shown throughout the whole psalm, it is fitting that he rested in a hymn. For it has reached those who have completed their tasks with diligence; they shall cry out, and indeed they shall sing, all those who have experienced good things loudly.

Worship in Spirit and Truth§114

114With a mind fixed on praising the Cause of all good things (Psalm 66:1-2; LXX 65:1b,2). The shout is a voice of those having triumphed over those having been conquered, being sent up insignificantly so that the sound of the voice might be passed on to the utmost extent. For since, by the grace of God, through Jesus having tasted every death, the dead are raised, the devil having been destroyed—he who held the power of death—it is commanded not just a part of the earth but the whole earth to shout to God, as the righteous and unrighteous dead are being raised everywhere.

And regarding the resurrection of repentance, it is fitting for the whole earth to shout, the place being called the place of repentance for the men of the whole earth. For it is said regarding the fallen: 'Not everyone who falls is not raised' (Jeremiah 8:4), and regarding the whole church from among the Gentiles, the Lord says: 'Arise, my neighbor, that you may stand through repentance and be with Him.' When the shout of the voice has occurred on behalf of those defeated, those having been freed from the enemies are commanded to confess to God the cause of the victory, praising Him and singing in His name; but not as they happened to be, but gloriously; for He says, 'He shall praise His glory.' And this happens when the one singing makes the praise a fitting practice; for it is fitting for the well-disposed to praise. Therefore, the unworthy is forbidden from doing this, as it is not beautiful for a beautiful mind to be in the mouth of a sinner.

It is not always necessary to take falsehood upon word and glory (Psalm 66:3; LXX 65:3). For the voice itself lies even regarding the protesting of the purpose. By this meaning, the enemies of God lied, even though they were not able to withstand Him in any measure. For through the multitude of divine works being done by Jesus, a divine power being manifested in the things occurring, the Jews, wishing to hate, thought Jesus to be a mere man and were lying, saying, 'By Beelzebul, ruler of the demons, He casts out the demons,' even though the works were demonstrating that these are greater than any created thing; therefore, for their understanding, the Savior said to them: 'Do not believe me; believe the works, so that you may know what I am in the Father and the Father is in me.'

With the Savior having arrived, the shadow of the Law finally took its leave (Ps 65:4); therefore, nothing is hastened to be performed in the temple in Jerusalem regarding the rites of God.

Worship, being done in spirit and truth, does not prevent a worshiper of God from doing this in any place. For they shall worship Him, and whoever does appropriate things for worshiping God from that place, for the word says: 'Worship Him and sing praises to Him' (Psalm 66:4). And they do this blamelessly, when Your presence is called upon them; for God has necessarily brought the 'Sing praises to Your name' (Psalm 66:4) to pass.

Come, O lovers of learning, and see the works of God accomplished in faithful men, being carried out not by human will but by the will of God. For how is it possible to accomplish poverty and lack, unless the will of God is working them? And what God is He, who provides the power to endure these things? He, whose life is tossed and troubled, changed the unruffled into dry land, casting the word of fire upon the earth, all moisture drying up, so that those coming from wickedness into virtue and from unbelief into faith might have the sea turned into a path to walk upon. The symbol of this is iconographically depicted by the faith of the apostle Peter, walking upon the sea toward the Savior.

But the river is the word, strengthened by Greek wisdom and art, blocking the way to the land leading to holiness. But He also turned this one, mocking the wise in their craftiness, and made a firm footing for those traveling toward holiness. And the things said against those who interrupt the divinity are a refutation. For no other god divided the Red Sea and performed the tremendous powers in the Gospels. For Jesus saved the people in Egypt, as it says in an apostolic epistle.

Having become by work and disposition, the sea and the river were turned into dry land so that one might cross as a path, traveling unhindered from wickedness and impiety toward virtue and piety. We rejoice in Him who made the difficult easy, God reigning kingly over the age and those in it, as He separates from the evil in it those who have believed, according to what was said: 'How He shall deliver us from the present evil age' (Galatians 1:4). And it is possible to take the age that is testing, from the spoken word, in agreement with the Lord.

Spiritual Sacrifices and the Soul's Trials§115

115ruling the age and unto the age and still; for thus ruling the age without limit, he masters it with the dominion of his connate kingdom.

To burn and to move the soul hotly, it is called fire; but by another thought, it is called water because of its drowning and suffocating those who do not bear these things bravely. This, having been passed through by the cooperation of God, comes forth for the refreshment of life, hoping for rewards upon them. And since the beginnings and the progress belong to our practical efforts, while the ends belong to the gift of God—giving to themselves the passing through fire and water, while writing the cause of the end to God—what are the circumstances of fire and water? It is shown by the prophet Isaiah saying from the face of God: 'Fear not, for I am with you; and if you pass through fire, flame shall not burn you; and if you pass through water, rivers shall not overwhelm you' (Isa 43:2). 'I will enter into your house with burnt offerings, and I will pay my vows' (Psalm 66:13-14; LXX 65:13-14). Before the arrival of the Savior, the sacrifices according to the law were offered; but entering into the house of God (which is the church) spiritually, one performs perfect and complete virtues through burnt offerings, giving to this burnt offering compatible virtues and paying the vows his lips sent.

The previously interpreted spiritual burnt offerings are found to be flourishing and marrow-filled, which are offered up not for the sake of another but for God. These things, indeed, are offered up in the manner that is necessary, with supplications; and this is signified by the very name of incense. 'Let my prayer be directed as incense before you' (Ps 141:2). And the offering is not made by incense alone, but also by rams. The rams are movements and impulses, having their origin from the irascible part of the soul. Along with the marrow-filled burnt offerings, of the incense and of the rams, he promises to offer up oxen with goats, with the one offering his own body as a living sacrifice to God perhaps ministering as an ox; for the animal is a tiller of the earth, whence it has an analogy to the body, which has its formation from earth. And the goats are the works and words of repentance; for the goat is offered concerning sin. 'Without a tongue, and without its offering, I exalted him according to what is kept silent in the mind' (Psalm 66:17; LXX 65:17). And it is possible to take the verse with such an understanding: 'If I regarded iniquity in my heart, let the Lord not hear' (Psalm 66:18; LXX 65:18). [...]

The Way and the Salvation of God§116

116This is what is taken by Paul: 'I do no favors to myself, but I am not justified by this; for God sees the injustice in me, and my heart does not perceive it.' To this, who will understand the transgressions? 'Cleanse me from my secret sins' (Psalm 66:20; LXX 65:20). This has happened to me, not so much because of my sinlessness, but because of His mercy, which did not depart from me, the divine mercy not withdrawing because of not asking good things, but things pleasant and sweet to men.

The Psalm (Psalm 67; LXX 66) is not in need of much interpretation because it has a clear mind. For it proclaims the becoming-man of the Word of God, and the saving appearance, and the salvation of all the Gentiles; 'Unto the end it is written.' And since the accomplished things are not human works, it is not written in panegyrics or praises, but in hymns; for to hymn is God's, but to panegyrize through praise is of men. Therefore, pay attention, the divine hymn, being a Psalm of song, and declaring the deeds of the Savior and their greatest contemplation, is arranged not by chance but in a beautiful containing number; for the number 26 has perfection in both units and tens.

Men are filled with mercies and blessings when the face of Him shines upon those wishing to experience this (Psalm 67:1). And the face of the Creator of all shines when the exact imprint of his hypostasis, having become man, arrives and manifests Himself to those worthy, as He says, 'I will manifest myself to him.' Since this exists, the one saying these things is an image of the invisible God; the one approaching Him with a pure mind sees the Father; for He says, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9). In this way, the divine face having appeared, those being benefited are pitied and are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Your face having appeared, the way leading to You toward the Father is known (Psalm 67:2). And who is this who said, 'I am the way and no one comes to the Father except through me' (John 14:6)? In agreement with the being known on the earth the way of God and His salvation, not...

The way of the Lord will be known among all the nations when all flesh is filled with the sight of the salvation of God. It is possible, when the way of God is made known in the land, to receive his commandments, according to 'I have run according to your commandments' (Psalm 119:32).

Salvation, being in harmony with this way, is what has come to be known by all the nations and is what has come to provide. Regarding Psalm 66:4, in ancient times, a people of the Hebrews was confessing to the one saying to God, 'I am the one who blots out your sins; therefore first confess your sins (uttering them in a manner of repentance) so that you may be justified'—the holy one, bearing the face of this people, says, 'I made my lawlessness known and I did not cover my sin'. But since the arrival of the Savior, all the peoples from the believing nations, being fulfilled, are called to repentance in order to obtain the forgiveness of sins by having confessed to God. How then could it not be a willing following for all the peoples to confess, when the face of God has appeared to them?

Regarding Psalm 66:5, when the way is known in the land and the salvation of God among all the nations, the nations rejoice, having been freed from all evil and the deceit of the many-minded, as they establish moral virtue, and they exult having received the knowledge of God, having learned how the Lord will judge peoples in uprightness and will guide the nations in the land. 'Peoples' and 'nations' are used in a parallel sense: the peoples are those of the circumcision, and the nations are those from the Gentiles.

Regarding Psalm 66:6-7, for how is it not destined that all the earth, that is, the humans upon it, should be filled with praise and bear the fruit of piety, in every place offering incense and pure sacrifice among the nations, as the name of the Lord is magnified, according to what is carried forth in one of the twelve prophets?

Regarding Psalm 67:2, prayer is a word sent forth through imperative words; for instead of 'let him arise' (ἀνασταίη) and 'let them flee' (φύγοιεν), it was written (as 'let him arise' and 'let them flee' in the imperative). For this form is found most continuously in the Scriptures; I mean instead of what is said in a merely direct imperative way. It is possible to say that enemies will be scattered: those who are impious concerning the knowledge of truth, those who hate God, and those who flee from his face having practical wickedness. For if he who loves him keeps...

The Joy of the Church and the Resurrection§117

117Regarding his commandments, he who does not keep them does not love God. These things should be said in the manner of a prayer to the Father: that God—who descended into death because of Christ's suffering, while his body lay in the tomb being despoiled by the Jews, who were gathered together with those filled with deceitful demons and other evil powers—may rise up; for man has become one who has descended into death, so that those gathered against him might be scattered. For then even those who hate him, being unable to look upon him when he rises from the dead, will flee from his face (Psalm 68:1). Not as wickedness is destroyed, so is the virtue of the righteous; for it is written, 'His righteousness remains forever and ever.'

A testimony of wickedness being smoke is this: just as a harmful path is called a way and smoke harms the eyes, so lawlessness, used by those, harms the powers of the soul in the same way, which are figuratively called teeth, cutting and devouring the spiritual foods, and also the thoughts of the soul, which are called the mind. It is to be understood that the melting wax does not destroy itself into nothingness from his presence, but its essence is given over to the fire. Thus, even if the quality by which someone is a sinner is removed, his essence remains incorruptible.

It must also be seen that the sinners are not utterly destroyed nor excluded from the presence of God, since, having become such, they flee from his face because they hate him, and the lawless do not remain before his eyes. There is a joy, according to which the righteous rejoice before God; joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22): love, joy, peace, and gladness, which is the flowing of the soul's thinking, rightly called well-being. If anyone does the good without turning away from evil (for they are co-existing), nor is he enlightened by the sun of righteousness under the sun, participating...

What is the thing of the one transforming himself into a false light and mocking righteousness, while being called a light of impiety? For the light of the impious shall be extinguished. For as this one sinks, that one rises in our hearts, mounting upon his enemies.

Prepare the way for the one coming with the Lord's approach, according to Moses and the prophets, to mount upon enemies. Adam has been cast out from the paradise planted toward the east, to bring him again into the east, which even he has done, saying to the repentant thief, 'Today you shall be with me in paradise' (Luke 23:43).

The Word gladdens those who are afflicted by Satan, exhorting them to rejoicings through the showing of their protector and helper, who is the father of orphans and judge of widows. Let there be a haste for you to rejoice before him, especially those having left the former father who begot according to wickedness and the first man living lawlessly with him; become orphans from him, for you shall have a father. But also the souls having separated themselves from the unlawful mixture will attempt to become slaves of the indwelling of God.

His holy place is found to be the church sanctified by Christ, which is each of the ones having believed; for it is true and both sides. And his holy place is also the one who has taken up not a soulless body but a rational one.

But also he brings out the dead from the tombs according to 'The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall be raised' (Isaiah 26:19); for the dew from you is life to them. This is like that in the Gospel, 'All those in the tombs shall hear his voice' (John 5:28), (meaning clearly the Son), and the ones having done good things shall go forth into a resurrection of life, but the ones having doing evil things into a resurrection of judgment.

For indeed, in the going forth of God before his people...

The Symbolism of Gold, Greenness, and Snow§118

118In the middle of it, for if indeed your mercy is released to you, according to Jeremiah, 'I have abandoned my concern, I have left my inheritance' (Jeremiah 12:7), as he passes through the desert in the church of the nations, the earth was shaken—that is, the letter and the shadow of the law—because it was not called thick. And the earthquake of this happened, the divine dew having poured down from the heavens according to the life-giving spirit of the divine writings. And the heavens shall be spoken of in these things, namely Moses and the prophets, or the mystical theorems; and heaven and clouds mean the same thing for this. Oh, indeed the heavens poured, but elsewhere the clouds rained down righteousness (Psalm 68:8-9). But also for the nations having been transferred from idolatry, the earth was shaken, while the spiritual dew-drops of the apostles, evangelists, and the rest of the teachers of the evangelical dispensation were remaining.

The spoken rain, having received the life-giving spirit of the Lord through weakness and desiring the cross, perfected the flesh, living by the power of God. For the divine Word gave life to his own body, having been crucified through weakness. And indeed the believer, a poor people from among the nations, is able to be, because God is, and without false hope. Concerning him the prophecy of Isaiah says: 'For this reason the poor people shall bless you, and cities of unjust men shall bless you' (Isaiah 25:3); for those being oppressed by Satan were acting unjustly.

'Other' signifies the lots and the conductors of the waters. For it is said in Genesis concerning Issachar, that having been called a farmer man, he rested among the lots (Gen 49:14); so one must now turn toward the old and the new covenant. For these indeed provide a watering for the intellect for spiritual fruitfulness. One sleeps among these two lots, placing them together in the midst of one God, as a way to distinguish the spirit from the letter. One having slept thus between the lots flies, perceiving according to the Holy Spirit. And since you will not perceive the wings of this dove as lifting up the winged soul, it is testified by the divine sayings that there exists refined silver; they are being purified, those who are transferred, joined to the greenness of the dove with the gold. Often of the divine...

Gold is taken for the sharpness of the mind. Greenness signifies the life of the gold; for this color is a symbol of living plants.

Regarding the 'among the lots' and 'thus' in Leviticus: on the day of atonement, two goats were brought to the tent of meeting; one was cast into the lot to be sacrificed to the Lord upon the altar, the other being sent away to the wilderness for the one who sends it. These are symbols of good and evil; he who is in the midst must discern them, to perform the good to the Lord and to send away the evil to the one who appeases, since from it he received the beginning. Thus one will fashion the spread wings and the greenness of gold in the translations.

And the knowledge of divine scripture shines out like gold (Psalm 68:13). 'They shall be covered with snow in Selom,' meaning they shall be filled with snows (Psalm 68:14). These are the virtues, watering the mind with springs and cooling the flame of the passions. For 'Wash me, and I shall be white as snow' (Ps 51:7) is not about physical snow. For it is an ineffable thing toward the brightness of a purified soul. Such also is 'If your sins are as scarlet, I will make them white as snow' (Isa 1:18) and 'The Nazarenes were cleansed of it through snow' (Psalm 68:14).

Solomon is interpreted as a shadow of a portion. Therefore, since the kings (not the apostles) who once kept the law according to the shadow are a portion of shadows, having indeed a spiritual portion but having also been tested by the shadow. Such is the one saying 'I am a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee according to the law.' And since the portion of Christ's disciples in the heavens is according to 'He has made us sufficient for the portion of the saints in light' (Col 1:12), but we have not yet reached it, as if the citizenship were in the heavens while walking upon earth, knowing in part and prophesying in part and having the earnest of the Spirit, they are in the shadow of their own portion. Therefore, it is a great thing that a life experiencing this finds itself being covered with snow unstained.

'The cloud of the Lord the Savior exists'; for it is said concerning him, 'The cloud of the Lord shall appear at the end of days' and again 'Upon'...

The Ascent through Sinai and the Nature of Blessing§119

119The high mountain ascends, the one being evangelized to Zion. And this ascent is through progress. Therefore, the God who is the Word, Wisdom, Life, and Sanctification, is nourishing, not receiving potency from without, but providing it to those who partake of Him. This mountain is both nourishing and matured, giving milk to some and imparting solid food to others, and nothing other than this besides milk; for it has become a food that is solid. It will be spoken of as being matured, and thus: the nourishing mountain, God, became man, having taken flesh from a virgin, through whom He is called matured, the human generation being made manifest by this expression, just as it is clearly said in Job to God, 'Remember that you formed me from clay' (Job 10:9), and furthermore: 'Did you not milk me as with milk and knead me with curds?' (Job 10:10), and 'You clothed me with skin and flesh' (Job 10:11). Since the matured one preserves the divinity harmlessly, and continues to nourish after being matured, the very words establish it, saying: a matured mountain, a nourishing mountain. For it is nourishing both before and after being matured. If you suppose the mountain is matured, did God not delight in it? (Psalm 68:16). The argument fits better against the Valentinians. For the Savior is called by many names in the Scripture, and according to each, a different essence is shown, such as calling the Lord apart from Jesus and Wisdom, and the others. Now the mountain is that in which the Lord dwells, according to 'what God was in Christ' and 'the Father who abides in me'. Therefore, demand the reason by which you supposed many mountains to be matured, but rather the one incarnate is a single matured mountain, in whom the Lord, having been born of the Theotokos virgin, dwells permanently without moving from one to another as He did with the holy men; but teachers became men—Moses and the prophets and the apostles—and even angels. For if the word spoken through angels became firm, how much more was the one being nourished as if being struck from God and being matured? Do not think such things are many by nature, like polytheism. The army of God is not single, but is myriads.

The army of God is not single but is myriads.

The voices of the choir of the saints are yoked together with him: Moses and the prophets, the apostles, the evangelists, the angels, the archangels, the principalities, the powers, the dominions, and those simply receiving God and having the Holy Spirit, who in the psalm says, 'Ride upon the horses, O Lord, and thy chariot is salvation' (Habakkuk 3:8). For through them the saving gospel was stretched out into the inhabited world. For more ranks appear yoked to the yoke of Christ. For this reason it has approached like an army of tens of thousands making straight their path, for no one among them is without fruit.

Just as an army and a chariot compose the unit in those whom God holds, so also the hosts having come to Sinai have the Lord within themselves, the lawgiver. And this is a high thing, in which God, having descended, commands Moses to ascend. For it is impossible for a created thing to ascend to divine height, unless God first descends with it. And Sinai is interpreted as temptation, not synonymous with a storm, but a trial, through which one, being tested by much experience, will be high, as the lawgiver ascending upon it and being revealed as a hierophant by the favor of God.

These preceding voices from the choir of the saints are spoken to the one ascending through the cross to the height, and there having taken captive those who are being tyrannized by Satan and freeing them from his bitterness, his tyranny, having given a ransom for his soul instead of many (Ps 68:18). In this way he redeemed all. For since not all come to him willingly and of their own accord, he takes even those who disobey to dwell with him. For many, disobeying the call of the gospel, are drawn away by sickness and other distraction. And some even came through visions to dwell with Jesus.

Of so many benefits occurring from the Lord, how could I not intend to bless the cause of such great blessings, and to bless—not perhaps never, nor perhaps always—but mixing prayer with blessing every day, asking that they may be guided by God, who grants the desire for salvation? And he is blessed, not by receiving blessing, but by giving these. For as a man is good, not by becoming so but by doing good things.

The Ways of Death and Life§120

120And a holy one sanctifies, not is being sanctified. Therefore also he is blessed, the fountain of all blessing to us (Psalm 68:20-21). If the preceding things are said concerning common death, there are myriad ways known to all toward the common death; but if concerning living according to God and the death opposing this is also signified here, our God, the Savior, is the God of saving. For he becomes the cause of eternal salvation. Indeed he says concerning himself, 'The Savior does not stand away from me.' Just as God is of saving, so also the exits of death do not possess him as lord, providing always exits through which one comes out through repentance from the death following sin. For also the devil is not so named in 'Death prevailed, having been strong.' But he provides the exits of death to the one lifted up from the gates of death (1 Chron 4:10). And the heads are the enemies, or the rulers, or the dominating things, as in 'From the heads of the rulers of nations'; and the dominating thing in 'I gave their paths into their heads' (Ezekiel 22:31), and 'Your hands are upon my head' (Ps 139:10). Both perhaps are shown by 'You cast death into the heads of the lawless' (Habakkuk 3:13), the God doing good so that they might not live wickedly, being described as the life according to sin. But these enemies, being such, wander in their transgressions.

It should be noted also what the divine scripture sets as the name of the vision concerning Moses. For the ways of God are not grasped, but are pious and with right understanding (Psalm 68:25). Let us say 'those singing who accomplish the practical life,' and let us omit the young women playing the timbrel, having deadened the members upon the earth and carrying the death of Jesus in their bodies, souls wandering. These singers were overtaken by the rulers according to teaching, so that they themselves might begin from practical virtue. But they are also in the midst of young women, those who because of having the beginning of playing the timbrel—that is, deadening the members upon the earth of the young women spoken of—are the rulers overtaking the singers, which are the apostles. The springs of Israel are the legal and prophetic writings. For from these springs the Lord is blessed toward those able to draw from them the spring of salvation (Psalm 68:26).

Ps 67:27: The springs of Israel are the legal and prophetic writings.

For from these springs the Lord is blessed by those able to draw from them, since they are saving springs, water with gladness.

And this is concerning what Jesus said: 'Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall have in himself a spring of water welling up unto eternal life' (John 4:14).

And by this those who sever the old Scripture from the new are to be refuted, as though they cannot bless God in the churches, not having the springs of Israel nor their Lord—as if daring to divide the Godhead itself.

Ps 67:29-30: 'Command with your power over all things, O Creator, that having sojourned it may loose the weakness of men.'

And coming to us from your temple, it shall loose it, with what was wrought for our sake having been strengthened.

And this is the birth of Emmanuel, by your Word becoming flesh.

To this power, which is God the Word, God said that all things should come to be, and he commanded that diverse things be created.

With the weakness loosed by the presence of God's power, the kings bring gifts to God to the spiritual Jerusalem, that is, the church.

And if those kings whom the heavenly one distinguished in his inheritance are those bearing the gifts to Jerusalem, those benefited by them are the ones being led forward.

Thus the apostle Peter offered as a gift his brother Andrew, and Philip offered Nathanael, and the other apostles many others,

and others offered as gifts serious thoughts and words and praiseworthy works.

And Nathanael, and all their own disciples; that is, the faithful, according to 'And would that you did reign, that we also might reign with you' (1 Cor 4:8), whose gifts are thoughts and words and praiseworthy works.

Ps 67:31a: Understand as 'beasts of the reed' those who advocate the falsely-named knowledge (1 Tim 6:20).

The prophecy which runs thus can be said concerning these: 'Woe to those who write wickedness; for writing wickedness, they write.'

Ps 67:32: By Egypt he signified the whole earth, over which the intelligible Pharaoh ruled,

and by Ethiopia the dark and unsightly state of the souls in sins;

as he also says in one of the psalms: 'And behold, aliens and Tyre and the people of the Ethiopians; these were born there' (Psalm 87:4; LXX 86:4)—clearly, in the spiritual Zion.

And Zephaniah also says: 'Then he will turn toward [...].'

The Ascent to the Intelligible and the Transformation of the Psalm§121

121A people whose tongue is to proclaim that all shall serve the Lord under a yoke. From the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia come sacrifices to me. It agrees with the filling of Ethiopia from the kingdoms and in what is said. She herself, the one from nearby, and Ethiopia, having become spiritual and having embraced genuine repentance, says about herself: 'I am black and beautiful'; black indeed because of idolatry and practical wickedness, but beautiful because of the withdrawal from those things.

And what will exist after having confessed to her and having reached out the hand to God: to be cleansed by casting away all evil from the heart and to become in light? This is shown by the one of the sins seeing her with the... It indeed signifies all the mortal things of Ethiopia; it presents the bride saying through repentance: 'I am black and beautiful'; black indeed and double-natured because of idolatry and practical wickedness, but beautiful because of the withdrawal from them. And it happened to her to become luminous after having reached out her hand to God, as those seeing her with the benefactor say: 'Who is she, the one ascending, having become white?' (Song of Solomon 8:5).

His voice is the divine scripture. By this he will give a voice to receive spiritual power. And even in these things, his voice, John, must be taken, saying: 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness' (Matt 3:3), to be spoken as the Savior having ascended to the heaven of heavens, having fulfilled the prophecies that pre-proclaimed his incarnation, death, and resurrection, and his ascension, he gave voice to them. For those speaking about the things to come seem to be weak because of the lack of clarity of the outcome, then receiving the voice of power they will be fulfilled.

And also the saying that God has set himself upon the heaven of heavens: for only He reclines for the Lord according to 'The heaven of heavens is the Lord' (Psalm 115:16), and 'Behold, the heaven of your God, the heaven of heavens' (Deut 10:14), into which no one has been born.

But to ascend to the things of the mind. For the place to which God ascended into heaven is not any created thing, but a state befitting God, which is not manifest, not declared by a master word. Ps 67:35ab Being made thankful in deed and word, glorify Him with hymns and theologies, so that you may be able to contain His majesty, having become true Israel by purity of heart, seeing God. For the superlative knowledge of God possesses what is fitting in greatness only to the one having sanctification and peace.

Since from beginning to end he preserves the same face speaking, one should take up the same rhythm of thought following him. Since therefore the Psalm signifies the Lord who has come among us, transforming men by life and teaching as to become from unbelievers and sinners faithful and righteous, the inscription 'Concerning those who shall be transformed' lies most fittingly. But also those having believed from circumcision were transformed, living according to the Spirit rather than the law. And if even through the change occurring from the better to the inferior quality, I say even so: nothing will be more fitting than 'Concerning those who shall be transformed' than the inscription for the Jews who did not believe in Him. And if even those transformed according to the resurrection from the dead, as in 'We also shall be changed' 1 Cor 15:52, are to be visited. For if the Psalm is from the person of Christ, and His passion is signified in it, concerning His dying and rising and all being raised, it is not lacking to take the inscription 'Concerning those thus transformed' to be for them.

It is necessary to consider what the most frequent things in the Psalm are said from our person by Jesus, bearing our infirmities and suffering on our behalf Ps 68:2-3. For certainly He does not confess sins, nor has He done anything at all. If therefore He does not confess on His own behalf, it is evident that He does this on our behalf. For also those fleeing from sinners, through...

The Method of Accommodation and Forgiveness§122

122They perform this by asking a king, presenting the sins of those for whom they pray before his face, requesting a benefit and forgiveness for the wrongs done to them. For the saints have this habit in their confessions regarding others, saying: 'We have sinned, we have acted lawlessly, we have been impious.'

If even the king's messengers and friends of God ask on behalf of others, seeking grace as before a king's face, it is not at all paradoxical to demand, through an exceeding care for us, the confession of grace and forgiveness on behalf of others from Him who is the Advocate with the Father for the sins of the whole world. He explains regarding our own sins, though He has done nothing wrong at all. For it is unseemly to ask anything of the Savior, the provider of all good things. Indeed, He takes away the sin of the world and desires the forgiveness of sins for those coming to Him.

Since therefore the Lord did not reach that place because of sin, but accepted death on our behalf, he says: 'A storm sank me into the depths of the sea' (Ps 69:2). A storm signifies the trials, just as the 'Storm passed through the wilderness,' and 'I waited for God who saves me from despair and from the storm.' You may consider the present text to be like 'No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself' (John 10:18), having voluntarily accepted death. Because it is not said that he gave his life through sickness or simply by the usual end, but having endured the cross, he is said to be sunk by a storm, even if he endured this not consciously, becoming obedient to the Father unto death.

This is a demonstration of the silencing of the Jews. For if, even when praying not because one ought to despair but crying out day and night to God, one has become weary in crying out in harmony with 'a loud cry and tears' (Ps 69:3), visit him. And he who turns all his expectation toward God will say, 'My eyes have failed' (Psalm 69:3), clearly as those of the heart. But the benefactor doing these things is pursued and hated, just as the Savior, healing all infirmity among the Jews and raising the dead, became a city of scrutiny through these things. That the hairs of the head of the hated one should be multiplied by those hating him...

He is said to be excessively speaking. For both the manner and the excess are constantly guarded, and in the Scriptures, if it did not strike, then they were being cut off. Even if he gave back without striking, he did not redeem us—that is, to cut off—by erasing the hand-written document that we were compelled to cut off. And this was also lacking from the middle, of the forgiveness of sins being given.

No one is indeed a sinner who has folly or shortcomings added to him by God, remaining in lawlessness before His eyes (Psalm 69:5). Why is someone disturbed hearing of folly? For the word is not far from him to have him confess ignorance when he says to someone, 'Never did I know you'; and he asserts as if he does not know anything concerning the day and the hour of the judgment. How these things are piously understood, and the things concerning his folly will find clarity when piously understood. For a teacher possessing perfect knowledge appears to be knowing through accommodation to those to whom these things are introduced, as if he were of the kind who are capable, in a way, resembling them; everyone accepted such an accommodation, as if possessing ignorance or folly. For since he was rich in wisdom, he became poor through us, as if some thought wisdom was not present, so that through his folly we might become rich. In every word and in all knowledge, it is fitting to receive in a manner consistent with the folly not being taken as literal, and the shortcomings not being hidden from God.

And what do those who are superstitious about these words have to say, saying such things are spoken concerning God, in which rather there is a turning away? For how is it not worse than the forgetting of folly and shortcomings—to have repentance, passion, and anger—when all these and more are said concerning God? Did they not also let these words be said as if not concerning God, or let them be placed in accommodation with the things set forth? This, spoken by the Savior, the apostle speaking in Christ took up, writing thus: 'Let each of us please our neighbor for good' (Rom 15:2). For Christ did not please himself, just as it is written: 'The reproaches of those reproaching you have fallen upon me' (Psalm 69:9; LXX 68:9). Someone asserts this much: that Jesus abstained from fasting, as if he were compelled to bring glory as a glutton and a drunkard.

The Depth of Christ's Suffering and Mercy§123

123Against those who maligned him. For it is said against him that Jesus and the disciples were always eating and drinking, even if they did so when called to a feast for the sake of benefit and to perform signs. They were not called to a feast to eat and drink, but they were called to a feast. For indeed he fasted for forty days.

Since fasting is not a preventative against the lifting up of the soul from irrational passions, 'I said, I will veil my soul with fasting,' he says. But the worthless are accustomed to reproach the good because of their virtues; for piety is an abomination to a sinner. Since the Savior confesses and is reviled on our behalf, he is alluded to through the sackcloth regarding the harsh and miserable lifestyle. For it was not sensorially said that Jesus was clothed in a sackcloth. Some say that from this garment it is shown that the body is that which Christ did not take up.

Therefore hear my voice in a multitude of your mercy, providing the salvation in truth for those for whom I am worthy Ps 68:14. And this will be, that you will save him who died through his resurrection. For not such life and salvation will be for them as I receive. Salvation in truth is that which is according to God, not in truth but in type and image of that which happens to the weary by physicians and generals. Even if you once demonstrated to them, you say, Father, 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased' Matt 3:17, raise him crucified on their behalf. For that is the time, that is, the end of the good pleasure of your will for the sake of salvation.

Therefore also hear me, so that those dead through sin may be made alive with me as I am being made alive. The apostle is initiating this mystery: that God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love, loved us being dead through trespasses and sins, and made us alive together with Christ. And he presents this prayer for us, so that we may not be entangled in the body through the mud called passion Ps 68:15. But if even these sins he took into his own body, so that he might take them up having ascended the cross, the mud is, visit them. The elements indeed are trials which he did not accept on our behalf, so that his only salvation might exist for us; for in which he himself suffered.

Having been tested, he is able to help those being tested. And the depth of the interpreted waters is this: that those who do not bear the trials bravely cannot be saved from God alone, as it is said, 'Out of the depths I have cried to you, Lord' (Psalm 130:1), and the following things exist for him, as he cries out, 'how can I be saved?' For nothing from those who harm him will terrify or frighten him.

Therefore, having outrun him through death, he begins to be terrified and to be distressed; first, indeed, he cries out for us, and since he has truly become both a worm and a man, he endures these sufferings. He is hated by the demons and by the men who hate him, such as those saying, 'Aron, Aron, crucify him' (Psalm 69:14).

The misfortunes do not close in like a cistern; oh, how for me these have become completely inescapable (Psalm 69:15). For he sets these things tropically, clinging to the original hypothesis. For there also, 'Because water has entered,' he said, 'as to my soul,' and how, having said, 'And a storm has overwhelmed me,' now he says, 'Not so.' Since, having been submerged, he is to rise up again, he prays to the one who tested him, that he might not receive a second trial.

Since out of much goodness your mercy will be useful, I entreat that it become upon those for whom I am worthy (for you will loose their sins), hear me; as you will look upon me interceding for all, not according to the second judgment but according to the abundance of your mercies, and they will receive much benefit (Psalm 69:16). For desiring to manage these things for me, you sent me; for I was sent not to judge but to save the world by your mercies toward those being benefited and by your good mercy.

The addition that presents the good mercy is that not all mercy is such; for God says concerning the criminals, 'Your eye shall not spare him, nor will you have mercy on him.' But it is not probable that these things are said from the face of the Only-begotten being stripped of humanity, as sometimes the child-like address signifies some son; but rather, he said these things clearly, having emptied himself and having taken the form of a slave and having become like us in all things, apart from sin, and having inhabited our daily sufferings—the natural and blameless ones, I say. Pay attention to...

The Vine of Sodom and the Bearing of Sins§124

124Ps 68:20: [...my] soul, and redeem it. And the redeeming of it is not to be held in Hades having become among the dead, but also to redeem those there.

No one having sense would say these things concerning an irrational soul, which has no life and hypostasis of its own.

And how would it be redeemed? Let those who think thus say; for being redeemed belongs to a human soul, that is, a rational one.

And it is possible and plausible to say that the soul of the ambassador is all that has been made his own, so that just as one is called a man of God, such as Moses and Elijah, so also his soul might be called that which has clung to him and become one spirit with him.

For he redeems all this, giving on its behalf what he took up; for just as the body of Jesus was given on behalf of human bodies, so his soul on behalf of their souls, that the whole man might be given on behalf of all by the one who took him up.

On account, then, of my enemies who delight in the destruction of men, rescue me, raising me from the dead, that they and the devil who has the power of death may be destroyed, and that men may rise, falling asleep unto salvation;

and I pray against enemies afflicting me, not unknown; for they are before you.

And my affliction is that men are worn down, on whose behalf you sent me, that I might redeem them from the devil who tyrannizes them.

And he says these things to the Father, that we men may be taught what care God has for us, who did not spare his Son, that he might spare us.

He wished to die with the Israelites according to the flesh, to sympathize with him being sorrowful for the soul regarding death, nor did he encourage him by agreeing with the prophecies concerning his death. But because they passed into greater impiety by not doing these things, they nourished him with gall and gave him vinegar to drink. For how could it be that gall and vinegar did not become their fruit, since they did not guard the planting from the beginning? For the whole true Jewish multitude having planted a fruitful vine of God, having turned by their own impulse toward bitterness, the vine has become an alien vine. For it is indeed said concerning them, having become enemies and fools: For their vine is a vine of Sodom and their branch is from Gomorrah, their cluster is a cluster of gall, its fruit a fruit of bitterness; their mind is the wrath of dragons and their wrath is the unyielding wrath of asps. I brought this drink of the gall of the cluster and the bitterness of the fruit to him, even though he was thirsting for their salvation. For the transgression of the mind is vinegar.

Moreover, even if it is not found among the treacherous Jews sympathizing and encouraging, it is found in the calling of the Gentiles. For they indeed, not having the same mind, say, 'If we died with him, we shall live with him,' and 'If we have become partakers of his death, we shall also be of his resurrection.' Psalm 69:25 Let their habitation become a desert, and Peter, the leader of the apostles, took the sixth verse concerning Judah to be prophesied. And since it has been driven out in the plural, it must be applied to all the betrayers of Jesus, their city having become desolate and its habitation having become a shelter because of their beastly manner. For in a shelter the scraps have the bed; and otherwise, not having God within herself but rather the angels who formerly watched over her. Psalm 69:26 Jesus, taking our sins into his own body, through which indeed the wounds were struck by robbers while descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, making them his own in order to heal the wounds himself; but he has these pains if we persist in sinning. And if in addition to this we stir up persecution against him, we add a portion of suffering to him who no longer suffers simply on behalf of sinners, but also on behalf of those persecuting him.

The Victory of the Poor and the Sacrifice of Praise§125

125Suffering on our behalf (Psalm 69:27). By their own desires and by being handed over to passions, they are the cause of enduring these things, not having God as the cause, since they are handed over to those whom they loved. For He sent them away according to the desires of their hearts, so that they might walk in their own desires, an addition of lawlessness upon their lawlessness.

Since, therefore, they did not receive the truth when it came, but wished to live lawlessly within the shadow of the law, they were also driven out from the place of typical worship, so that I might add to the former lawlessness another, by wanting to keep this outside of Judea. Therefore they do not enter into the righteousness which is through the faith of Jesus Christ, concerning which it is written: 'But now the righteousness of God without law has been revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets' (Rom 3:21). For how could those who were always about external things and possessing the shadow, enter into the righteousness which they did not know as God, in order to establish their own? For he says that, not knowing the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to the righteousness of God; to submit to righteousness and to enter into it are the same thing.

For those having virtue and faith and knowledge of God live: 'Hear, O my life, your life and the length of your days, to love you, Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul' (Deut 6:5); but also, 'he who believes in me has eternal life' (John 3:36). It is a book in which those living thus are written: it is the knowledge of God, of him who knows those who are His, to whom it is promised that those not falling under the remembrance of God shall be blotted out.

Rich and being outside of wounds, I have become poor, so that the poor might become rich through my poverty, and having grieved, having been wounded on behalf of wounds made by the burning arrows of the evil one (Ps 69:29). If my being indifferent...

A poor and suffering one, as if a reproach were added to my wounds, and I am by nature a poor man, but salvation from the face of God has taken hold of me (Psalm 69:29). For having risen from the dead and having been taken up, he cast away the wounds and the poverty which he had on behalf of men. And when the enemies had been destroyed, and especially the devil, it followed that a triumphal song should be shouted by him, having conquered in the name of Christ.

I came in the name of my Father, and having surpassed by thought him who does not magnify the name, in praise saying great things, not only praising and glorifying him but also contemplating highly the things concerning him; for those who do not magnify God in this way do not find all perceptible magnitude to be far from him being incorporeal. And since to praise God is a sacrifice, according to 'Sacrifice of praise, you will glorify him' (Psalm 50:23), having praised the name of God with song and having magnified him in praise, he is encouraged as 'It pleases God that one brings a young bull with horns and weapons, being brought for a sacrifice.' Therefore also, to those who do not sacrifice thus, he says, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice, a knowledge of God or burnt offerings' (Ps 50:8).

Let these things be seen by the poor in spirit, whom Jesus strengthened against every evil phalanx; for seeing such courage in them, to be rejoiced eternally according to 'Eternal joy shall take hold of them.' For he is not the one loosing those who are fallen and bringing out from bonds those who are bound and from the prison (Psalm 69:33-35). Those formerly called prophets and God-beloved men, and after these, servants and ministers of the gospel (Psalm 69:36).

It is fitting that the psalm gives remembrance concerning salvation to all those who are repenting, remembering and recognizing the good and the truth, and coming upon them; for he says, 'They shall remember and shall turn to the Lord all the ends of the earth' (Psalm 22:27). And since the end of...

Remembrance and the Image of God§126

126It is possible to fail to remember those things which were previously described as having precise and complete knowledge, following the command: 'To the end, into remembrance, to save me, Lord, you are' (Psalm 70:1). This is the saving of everyone who has cast away the use and knowledge of the good through forgetfulness.

For all, having been made straight according to the image and likeness of God, have the thoughts concerning God scattered within them. For sin always enters through negligence; if it happens that after its practice one repents, he remembers the good, for his thought is rational and having become according to the image of God.

Since sin is led by insensitivity and ignorance of the good, and because of this one acts with pleasure and boldness, it is said concerning some that they have glory upon which they ought to be ashamed; for he says, 'The glory is in their shame' (Philippians 3:19). And the prophet says, 'Be ashamed of your boasting' (Philippians 3:19), for it brings mockery and destruction.

Those running toward evil without feeling, if they were to receive feeling and thought of it, would cease to desire to do it; the good turns them from the evil to do the good. He says that this very thing happens to those destined for various things: 'They would have been ashamed, knowing they are evil, having been ensnared and having failed to remember what they did; for they sought to lead my soul into the same wickedness as theirs, or to kill me, because I do not run with them into the apostasy in which they are outside of God'.

Saying this, he reproaches them, saying, 'They would have turned back, no longer desiring to hasten toward evil, and they would have been ashamed, regarding those things on which they acted wickedly, desiring that which harms me to be for me' (Psalm 70:2). The one repenting turns back, running again toward what he left, desiring to be with the good and to be ashamed, even though before the repentance he spoke arrogantly against the one being persecuted, saying, 'Well done, well done,' that is, 'Let us prevail, as you flee from us' (Psalm 70:3).

One must watch those who desire evil toward me; until they have the power to intend to do evil and harm, they will not be able to bring about evil, unless God delivers them (Ps 51:16). Not those who plot against money, but those who plot against the soul.

But the assault on the soul from God is alienation.

God as Refuge and the Hope of Youth§127

127Hope is held toward a person. One must strive, for the Lord holds hope; for blessed is the man who has trusted in the Lord (Ps 40:4), and he will be the Lord's hope. For this hope is living; therefore it is written, 'Born again into a living hope' (1 Pet 1:3). It has been said by the one possessing it, 'Not to be put to shame through the ages; and in your righteousness save me and bring me out' (Psalm 71:1-2). God saves in righteousness those who hasten to be outside of iniquities, just as in wisdom He takes to Himself those who desire to possess it. And he who says the things set forth prays to be saved and to be set apart even from those who do wrong, 'Stand fast.' It seems appropriate to apply this to those mentioned in the prophecy 'For the sake of other captives' (Ps 141:7); for they do not justly demand to be saved and set apart. For some were doing wrong, but the Israelites did no wrong. It shall also be said thus: since practical virtue is named righteousness, and every sin in practice is injustice from the opposite, he who loves God deserves to be saved from injustice, while he who hates his own soul. And the testimony of saying thus of universal virtue, 'Walking blamelessly and working righteousness,' and the testimony of calling universal sin 'injustice,' is found in: 'I hated and detested injustice' (Psalm 119:163), and 'The blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all injustice' (1 John 1:7). He who wishes to surpass the shadow according to the law says this, believing in Jesus Christ, so that he might be found not having in himself his own righteousness from the law, but the righteousness of God, counted as righteous. O Lord, not of much superiority toward the creatures, but especially toward us humans, we are not strong enough to reach your ears with the prayers we offer; therefore I entreat you by much goodness to incline your way of condescension toward me, so that you might save me, receiving the prayer concerning salvation. Of many desiring to fight me, become my defender; cover me with your shield, concerning which it is said, 'His truth shall surround you with a shield' (Psalm 91:4). And since I want you to be for me all things, to become for me an invincible fortress and an unshakeable bulwark, most fortified.

You are a place where I remain outside of all fear from enemies, my refuge and my stronghold. Regarding Ps 70:4, the hand of a sinner is a sinful practice from which it is worthy to be rescued, so that he may not act according to it to any extent. Likewise, when one transgresses and acts wickedly, the effective energies of his actions are placed outside of him, having been rescued by God. Whether the sinner himself or another is the subject of the transgressing and acting wickedly, examine this. For it seems to incline toward the two, if a sinner who transgresses and acts wickedly exists. But if the devil is meant by these names, his hand must be seized and his military-like power must be arranged against every evil and unclean spirit. He who is rescued from the hand of those things, having become under the mighty hand of God, is snatched by nothing from it.

Just as God is the wisdom and power of the holy one, so also He is the endurance and hope of the one enduring unto salvation and hoping in Him. For it is said about these things in the 70th Psalm, 'But now where is my hope? Is it not the Lord?' (Psalm 71:5; LXX 70:5) and in the 71st, 'My hope is in God, the hope of all the ends of the earth' (Psalm 65:5). One must oversee 'My hope' from youth, being able to demonstrate how one, having been brought up according to God from infancy, has never possessed any hope other than God. And in addition to this, you will say that from youth there is some hope in God, from which, having stripped off the old man, you put on the new and fresh man, created according to God in holiness and knowledge of the truth.

Regarding Ps 70:6ab, 'From the womb from my mother's belly' must be understood wisely, not meaning from the time of birth, but rather then moving logically and God-fearingly regarding the one being born; for it is written, 'Even Samuel, before knowing God' (1 Sam 3:7), although he was brought up God-fearingly from tender nails by God-fearing parents. For the children of men have a time from which they are able to move logically. The great Moses says in the wilderness, 'And all the children with us today will not enter into the land of promise, if indeed they do not enter good or evil' (Deuteronomy 1:39). The children do not know good or evil before the fulfillment of the decisive word, how those who know God in this age do so, just as...

The Remembrance in God vs. Human Glory§128

128To be supported upon Him by choice?

While others are praising rulers, teachers of human lessons, and those very lessons which are indeed glorious and constitute an honorable wealth, our remembrance is in you and not in any other. A scripture is brought forward saying: 'My remembrance is in you always' (Psalm 71:6). Regarding both types of scriptures, one must choose 'always' over 'throughout,' to have the remembrance and the recollection continually and without interruption in God.

Those who despise virtue and consider piety an abomination, sinners, are defiling the diligent and the lowly, calling it a terror. For they say among themselves, 'Let us give up the righteous one, since he is troublesome to us.' And since those who think and speak such things are vile to us, they say, 'It is not at all a terror, but it has happened to the many, that is, to the most vulgar,' and they flee from virtue. But even if they speak to me in that same manner, you, being stronger, protect me without harm from them. With this same thought the apostle also says that we have become a cleansing for the world and a reproach to all men (1 Cor 4:10-13). In agreement with this is also: 'We are fools for Christ, but you are wise' (1 Cor 4:10). From the same disposition is also written: 'For I think that what God has shown us the apostles to be, we are last, as if marked for execution' (1 Corinthians 4:9), and 'That we became a spectacle to the world' (1 Cor 4:9). Such also is what was said to the sinners by God: 'And I will be a terror to Ezekiel' (Ezekiel 24:24), as the prophet himself says, because of what happens most symbolically through him, to lay this one down for so many days on the right side, and so many again on the left, and the shaving of the hairs of the body. And if even these things are referred to the Savior, appearing to the many as if a terror had happened because of the cross, to visit them... And even the appearing as if a terror: for none of the aforementioned was such as the many supposed.

Worthy is his word, the mouth having been named, to be filled with praise (Psalm 71:8; LXX 70:8). But the glory of God is the discourse concerning him, his only-begotten Son; for it is said concerning Christ, as the glory of God was to be revealed upon his appearing. For the glory of God shall be revealed, in majesty...

Divine Knowledge and the Ascent from Depths§129

129When his providence and creative order are understood as manifesting much propriety, it happens only by command. For such is also the providential order to the one capable of saying, 'I understood your works and was astounded' (Ps 70:9a); and it is consistent with the present context, 'He cast a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God' (Ps 70:9a). 'Upon you is my hope from my youth' (Psalm 71:9; LXX 70:9a). I beseech you in this state to remain until old age, not being rejected from you, but one who does all vain things and acts lawlessly being rejected.

And let it be considered also toward thought; since old age is precious not because of long duration, but because of much divine wisdom of the inward man and old age of an unblemished life through supreme virtue; since I am at the peak of progressing, I beseech you not to reject me but to cooperate by your goodness, so that I may reach the time of unblemished life. For if Christ is the one saying, 'If being an enemy, let them shame me, I have lifted up my head' (Ps 70:10-11); for this is also what is said regarding these things about Judas.

Of my shameful enemies who hastened to my ruin (Ps 70:14-16), I add even now to triumphantly praise you with the praise that preceded me: 'In you is my memory forever' (Ps 70:14-16). And those saying, 'God has forsaken him,' were casting into his soul. For the greatest slander against the one forsaken is declared by the phrase 'God has forsaken him,' but 'I, however, through all things, hope,' he says, showing that he will not leave any place available. Toward 'God has forsaken him' and 'I, however, through all things, hope' is the contrast. And regarding the enemies unjustly killing, wanting to surround him as a destruction, remaining unharmed from them, he announces the life (the day called) the righteousness and salvation of the Lord. And since he did not know, he says, some writing of the law, for this reason not knowing, I will not enter upon the word and the shadow, according to the life-giving spirit and...

God has given the power to rule the mind of the written scriptures in a kingly way. Therefore I say, I will remember your righteousness alone, not being one who cares for the righteousness according to the shadow of the law, having become according to the righteousness in the law; Paul, blameless, writes that all those shadowy things, which previously were his gains, are to be counted as refuse because of the excellence of knowledge.

These things, as the great works of the Most High, and with them the wonders, have been lifted up, because a Savior man has come into being. For having been born of the virgin, a multitude of the heavenly host cried out, 'Glory to God in the highest,' say, 'and peace on earth, in men goodwill' (Luke 2:14). For because of the goodwill having come into being in men, much peace prevailed, the enemies of all those on earth having been destroyed; but also glory has become in the highest, of the saved men having the ascent unto the highest. For how will not those having become perfect, just as the heavenly Father is perfect, having become in unsurpassable holiness, have God within themselves, all in all becoming? And the Lord himself says in the Gospels to his own Father, 'I will, Father, that where I am, they also may be with me, so that they may see my glory' (John 17:24).

Since God, through goodness, permitted to be tested by afflictions and evil things for the sake of some benefit, turning back again to himself, he gives life, imparting life to those who have seen through trials and evils, just as one is lifted up from the abysses, that is, from the depth of circumstances, the one being driven down. And since we have received the evil things, the painful and evil ones, as appropriate to the afflictions, following this, life-giving will be called according to the common life, and the ascent from the abyss; for since the evil things, having been stretched out, seem to kill and to bring down into Hades, if one receives the end of these things, he is being made alive by God and is brought up from the abysses of the earth.

Wisdom, Peace, and the Just Judgment§130

130The holy one does not speak these things from his own person, but concerning the human race having been tested by many evils and tribulation before the arrival of the Savior. After the trial, the Lord, having turned back toward us, came and gave life, having given instead of us his own soul as a ransom; so that everyone believing in him and receiving his teaching possesses eternal life. He brought up me from the abysses of the earth, that is, from Hades, having become there after the shedding of the body, and no one else resurrected me except him, to bring up those having been cast down there through their own sin.

Regarding 'You have brought me up again from the abysses of the earth' (Psalm 71:20): if the abyss signifies a sinking in circumstantial matters (as it is interpreted), it follows to take it as being often raised up from there by God, always doing good (the testimony of this is the saying: 'Many are the tribulations of the righteous, and from all of them the Lord will rescue them'); but if instead of Hades the abyss is understood, it is difficult to say how someone is raised up there again; for just as there is one entrance into life and one exit from it, it is necessary that those being separated from the body also become one in Hades. Therefore, the 'again' does not pass by, but will find consolation; yet it is not passing by the divine and is not superfluous. His thought will be such: 'Having given me life by your goodness, and also having increased your righteousness upon me, you have brought me up again from the abysses of the earth, not only by having given me life and having increased your righteousness upon me, but also by bringing me up from the lower parts.'

The Psalter is a vessel of the psalm, through which he says 'I will confess to you,' bringing forth the truth thankfully, according to which no one is like God after having made bad things life-giving and having completed every following goodness. Regarding the confessing of the truth in a vessel of a psalm and in a harp, he promises to the God existing, the Holy of Israel. And 'Holy of Israel' is said as one sanctifying him; for just as if we say 'they are holy of God' we present those being sanctified by him, so we do not say 'Holy of him' without signifying what is being sanctified. And if it is not so, attend to what is said concerning Christ, who...

Wisdom was revealed to us from God, along with righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; for wisdom became for the wise, righteousness for those being justified, and sanctification and redemption for those being sanctified and redeemed. It is not only said that the Holy One of Israel is God, but also in the Parousia, the Holy One of Israel is revealed, making manifest what the sinners do. The rational soul is redeemed, because Jesus gave his own soul as a ransom for it, and it is clearly a rational soul. For just as he redeemed the bodies of men by giving a body of the same essence for them, so he redeemed rational souls by placing a rational soul for them.

Regarding Psalm 71, the psalm does not pertain to the father of Rehoboam, Solomon, but to the one called spiritual, through the participation in the name; for it is interpreted with a Greek voice of peace. For who is he who says, 'Jesus, I give you my peace'? Concerning this, the theologian writes: 'For He is our peace' (Eph 2:14), and 'He preached peace to you who are far off, and peace to those who are near' (Eph 2:17), having dissolved the enmity that divided Greeks from Hebrews, as one flock and establishing one people from the nations and Jews. Thus, being shown to be peaceful through his works, he who was born according to the flesh from a virgin is from David. Indeed, it is written concerning him, 'The Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David' (Matt 1:1).

Regarding Psalm 71:2, 'To judge your people in righteousness (clearly those of the circumcision) and your poor in judgment' (Ps 72:2); for those coming to the gospel from the nations are not called poor because of a poverty of unbelief and wickedness. But if the poor of God can be the moderate in mind, according to 'Blessed are the poor in spirit' (Matt 5:3), then He visits them. Regarding Psalm 71:3, He protects the great-minded through virtue, the high-born and those called princes, to take up peace toward the people. And even if the high-born and princes turn out to be archangels and angels, the whole human race is a people toward whom they are called to bring peace, since Jesus, through the blood of the cross, made peace between those in the heavens and those on the earth, who previously were at odds on the earth because of wickedness toward those in the heavens. Since, therefore, the one crucified...

The Church as the Moon§131

131The Lamb of God is sacrificed, and by this the sin of the world is released, the sin of those upon the earth; peace is being made between those in the heavens and those upon the earth, joy being made in the heavens before the angels for those repenting from sin. And if Moses and the prophets are signified by mountains and hills, let them take up peace toward the people from the nations who disbelieved, knowing what they themselves had previously spoken concerning this calling. And since even among those possessing virtue, some more so and others having it less, it must be said of those who possess it more that they are increased in greater measure through practice and knowledge of the truth, that they are the higher mountains compared to the lower hills. Ps 71:4 For it is the work of him who received from God judgment and righteousness, to judge the poor of the people.

Not such are those clinging to the letter and the shadow of the law, always named poor, seeing sharply the wealth of not having possessed the spiritual law, having that which the ones from the Jews who believed have, and the apostles also are such. Toward this also he brings salvation to the sons of the penitent. Not such are those who have come from idolatry to the faith of Jesus, those who were born of them according to the superstition of the penitent. Therefore, he will not leave them remaining in many-sided error, but will save their sons having recognized the truth. These having been rescued and saved, in order to judge and having come to save, he humbles the one who tyrannizes all in slander, so that he might be crushed as under the feet of the saints. For toward the righteous it is said, 'And you shall tread upon the lion and the dragon,' Ps 71:5 and toward a man (and toward every slanderer), if he were to say, 'He will turn away slander.'

The same is said to the one remaining with the anointed, what was said to him: 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,' Ps 110:4 and 'Before the moon, generations of generations, the same one established me before the age.' Psalm 72:5 It is said 'He remains with the anointed' concerning the flesh which he clothed himself with, the soul being breathed into it, being both rational and spiritual; for he remains with the anointed of righteousness because of the indivisible union. But even before the moon, which has the analogy to the sun, there exists a generation of generations, for the church is established through him and in him, composed of all the generations.

They have it from generation to generation in succession. It is presented from the cloud of the waters as the moon is the church; but not thus: Who is she, emerging like the dew, beautiful as the moon, chosen? (Song of Solomon 6:10) Just as the rain comes upon the earth bringing fertility, so the visitation of the Savior to men has become the generation of righteousness.

It must be said that the cloud signifies Israel, and the earth signifies the Gentiles. Since previously it descended upon the cloud, and then from there upon the earth. For because Israel disobeyed and did not receive the one who had come, there was a transition to the rain upon the earth, so that all the men upon it might be moistened, rather being watered from the drops to bear spiritual fruits. (Psalm 72:7; LXX 71:7) In the days of the Savior's visitation, the light of practical virtue of righteousness rises, and with it the evangelical standing through the faith of Jesus among the living, and the appropriate peace, possessing a great multitude, so as to extend until the completion of the world. For this is what the reflection of the moon signifies. (Psalm 72:7; LXX 71:7b)

We say that the moon signifies the church. For the moon receives light as a derivative from the sun and does not possess it from itself; so the church, being upon the earth, knows in part and has not been truly illuminated, destined one day to be according to the sun, the perfect one... gap...destined not to have been truly illuminated by appearance, then this happening according to the sun, so that it may receive the perfect light and face to face. For by the Word, knowing in part is abolished, and the surpassing knowledge will be established. Thus the lunar condition of the church will be abolished when the sun of righteousness comes, shining like the sun, completing the church of the righteous in the kingdom of their own Father. gap...in the cloud of the waters is the perfection of the bride; and the church itself, after much progress, will be according to the sun. For who is she, he says, emerging like the dew, possessing the beginning of illumination, with which the beginning will be, as the moon, approaching? For she... gap...with which there will be wonder like the sun. (Psalm 72:9; LXX 71:9-11a) Understandings are not thus: of those from the nations, the Ethiopians.

The Fruitfulness of the Support and the Drying of the Grass§132

132Regarding those called through their existence out of impiety, falling down before the king in a manner of recognition, the Jews, who are the king's enemies, will indeed be lacking. And it also seems that the Ethiopians fall down before him; the falling down before the king, who sees the hidden things, demonstrates genuine submission.

It is also possible for the enemies of God to appear to have the sensation of repentance through the fact that they lack; for they are bowing down. Tharsis takes hold of the opportunity to spy out joys, spying out the joy of the friends of virtue and piety, if one might ever be able to hear: 'Come into the joy of your Lord' (Matt 25:21).

Those not having a contemplative gaze toward the joy, the kings who hold their power bring their gifts to those who are beginning. And islands are brought forward. But these are souls, possessing themselves firmly and unmovably, even when the sea stirs up a gale and a storm. To these, the Savior says: 'Dedicate yourselves, islands, to me, being renewed by the newness of the Spirit, bearing the new human being created according to God.'

Along with these kings, also the Arabs and Saba will bring gifts, those coming toward the evening of the faulty life, so that the light of the impious might be darkened by them. And it is possible for one to be falsely transformed into an angel of light until he deceives even the elect; for Arabs are interpreted as morning and evening. After these Arabs and many others, repentance is offered by Saba; and the name is taken for the return.

It is possible to take as those worshiping him and offering gifts the teachers of all the nations, the apostles and disciples and the successors of these; for they offer gifts to God from the men who are profited by them. And if even one of the faithful brings gifts of praiseworthy deeds and true mindset, it is as if kings bring their own gifts to the only and one All-King. It is also written that his name is honored, having delivered them from so many evils (Ps 72:14). Having learned, the holy men, that no one of the born humanity will deliver men from the prevailing wickedness, all turned away and were made blameless concerning the unclear...

Wishing to be saved from the hand of the powerful and becoming a cause of eternal salvation, they were continually and unceasingly sending prayer to the Father, at times saying, 'Show us, Lord, your mercy and grant us your salvation,' and at other times, 'Send out your light and your truth.' Concerning his sending and at the beginning of the present Psalm 71, they prayed saying, 'O God, give your judgment to the king and your righteousness to the son of the king' (Psalm 72:1).

They glorify him through all the days of this present age or of the enlightened life of those blessing (Psalm 72:16; LXX 71:16a). The outcomes of the anticipatory proclamations are more extreme than these mountains, for the one prophesied has become a support in the land (Psalm 72:16; LXX 71:16a).

For Jesus did not bear fruit through the arrival of faithful men, and they possess a multitude and greatness of deeds and theorems; but a witness to this is the promise that 'the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, and like a cedar in Lebanon he shall multiply' (Psalm 92:12). For when the fruit of the support has been multiplied and exceeded, the Jews who were unfaithful to the Savior shall spring up from the city of Jerusalem like grass from the earth, because of the parched state and the rapid drying up, so named and most justly.

Since they have become flesh in their wisdom, having been unfaithful to the Savior and seeking glory from one another rather than that which is given by God alone, they shall spring up from the earth as grass; for all flesh is grass and all the glory of man is like the flower of the grass. For they shall not merely bloom, but shall spring up and wither.

And also those of the grass, whether out of the city or not in the city, shall spring up, those of whom the word is. For those who hastened toward life and wisdom outside the spiritual city, Jerusalem, were dried up like the parched and rapidly drying grass; but of the one remaining within the city, nothing of this sort was experienced; for 'he who dwells in Jerusalem shall never be shaken' (Psalm 125:1).

The nations, which are to be blessed in him, make happy the one who blessed them, saying, 'Blessed is the Lord, the God of the discerning race, who alone has done wondrous things, having freed us from idolatry and the treatment of wandering demons; for truly it is a wonder.'

The progression of impiety and the rejection of Providence§133

133Regarding what concerns the calling of the Gentiles. The 'Only One' should not be troubled, for the Son cannot do anything contrary to the Father, unless he sees the Father doing it; for whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does. For the 'Only One' and such things taken regarding divinity declare a Father and a Son, as it is presented from the prophet; for, as is said to the Father: 'Tall Sabaean men shall cross over to you, and worship you, and pray in you, for God is in you and there is no god besides you; for you are God, and we knew it not, O God of Israel, Savior' (Isa 45:14). Who is the glory whose name is blessed, who has made the worthless and gloryless glorious and honorable—those who are repentant? It is possible to call his glory and he did not receive an unsung death for the sake of the salvation of the world; for Jesus was not yet glorified, and the Jesus whom we see being humbled through the suffering of death is being crowned with glory and honor.

If indeed his glory is that which his name is blessed for unto the age, concerning which Paul writes: 'Not worthy are the sufferings of the present time compared to the glory that is about to be revealed to us, stand fast' (Rom 8:18). For especially this and the proclamation concerning it we find to be eternally hymned, as Peter said; this is what the witness of his sufferings and the glory to come declares: 'And a companion of that glory' (1 Peter 5:1). And Israel seeing God is interpreted. Therefore, those who do not see him still perceive what is good (Ps 72:6b-9). For indeed, although it provides something dark and unpleasant to men, they perceive how it also works advantageously toward salvation, and their steps are not shaken having crossed over and having advanced. Since those about whom the word is are held not only by wickedness but also by impiety, they are clothed in injustice.

And there is the moral wickedness according to the soul, and with this impiety, they think impiously concerning all dogmas. And also to say that their injustice will come forth as from a cloud; then, when it comes forth, the sin is practically fulfilled, no longer remaining only in the thoughts. It has passed into a disposition of the heart.

Having previously disposed themselves according to wickedness, they not only established the evil to themselves but also desired to be harmful to others. Then, after passing into a disposition of wickedness, having thought in malice, they spoke deceitfully as if of good things. They were lifted up, he says, as if to speak even against God, slandering His justice, His creation, and His providence; such as are those who, at the time of the stars, having set their preconceptions, and those who, making the heavens and the creation themselves instead of the Creator, lift up their mouth to heaven. They were torn apart, rather they were consumed, as if their tongue had passed through the earth against the Most High, so that all who hear might know what vain and impious things are being philosophized against God and His providence (Psalm 73:8-9).

Of the impious boasting loudly (Psalm 73:10; LXX 72:10), the people of God calls as a starting point for a good return, desiring to enjoy the contemplations of the light of day. And the 'Here' referring to the one saying this is God, such as what was said to Moses: 'And you shall stand with me' (Deuteronomy 5:31).

Those wanting to cast out providence and injustice, having spoken toward the height (Psalm 73:11; LXX 72:11-13), bring forth such words; how can one know God through human things? For does the intellect not have a sensory, organic power? For his understanding does not receive the forms of the seen and the heard, so that, having known, he might also know providential and royal things as he wishes? And having said before, 'How will God be known?', they confess to knowing God, but they are ignorant of the manner of knowing. And after these things they also say they are ignorant of Him, saying, 'If there is knowledge in the...

The Beastly State and the Proximity of God§134

The Fleshly Food of the Ethiopians and the Lion of the Enemy§135

135They stand around, preventing her from approaching and making her stay, and her things are present. God rejects the sinner, after he has first distanced himself. For he says, 'He who comes to me I will by no means cast out' (John 6:37). Do not think the wrath and anger of God is against us; it is far from senselessness. For regarding God, no human passion is indicated, but rather the exceeding turning away through the words spoken, for he says he endures the sheep of his pasture. The pasture of God is the words of the Spirit, the law and the prophets, in which as a shepherd pastures the righteous sheep.

The whole life of man is taken as a sea raised for contemplation. God strengthened this by his power to lead it from more abundant snow and more intense storm into happiness and serenity, as it is said, 'He who turns the sea into dry land' (Psalm 66:6). The Savior crushed not the many heads of many dragons, but also the many heads of one upon the water, the water being understood as the wickedness of the unstable and disordered affairs of life. For in such water the dragons work harmfully, and he who excels them is written about as king over all those in the waters and how he dwells in the sea.

For this great and spacious sea shows the turbulence of affairs and the wickedness, saying, 'In this small animals are tossed with large ones, and ships are driven about by playing with the dragon within it' (Psalm 104:25-26). Many heads of dragons are crushed; these are the rulers of this age who promise wisdom, and with them principalities and powers, cosmic rulers of this world, and also spiritual evils and the whole host of demons and opposing powers. And the heads of these dragons are divinations, sorceries, superstitions, and all that contributes to idolatry, but also false doctrines and deceptive practices. The work of the Savior alone is to crush the heads of the said dragons. It did not seem to be possible from any other than him to be strong. Since, however, he did not crush the heads of the dragon alone, al-

And he provided all of it, this food, for the Ethiopian peoples. For he did not need others to be carried away by the flesh and parts of it, nor the Ethiopian peoples, being sons of darkness and night through ignorance. Just as the flesh of Jesus is true food, since all the sons of light are nourished from its use and eating, being enlightened beyond a white snow, so the Ethiopian children of the inner man will be fed with the fleshly parts (that is, the things of wickedness and false glory), which will be handed over to the desires of their hearts into uncleanness, and additionally into passions of dishonor and an unproven mind.

He began from the flesh of the numbering to show that the year begins from the flesh, starting from the spring equinox, the beginning of the months and the first in the months of the year, which Moses announced (Psalm 74:17; LXX 73:17b). An enemy mocking the Lord, the devil, but the people is a flock of the other invisible and evil powers (Psalm 74:18; LXX 73:18). The high priest Caiaphas, the enemy, mocked the Savior Christ, and the people, having cried out the Jews, provoked his name: 'Aaron, Aaron, crucify him' (Psalm 74:18; LXX 73:18–21). It is not true the preceding text regarding the taking of sensible beasts. For many perfect men, witnesses of the truth, were eaten by beasts. Let it be said, therefore, that a soul confessing its faith will not be handed over to those beasts, concerning whom it is written, 'A wandering sheep of Israel; lions drove him out.' The Lord crushed the teeth of these lions. Satan is among these, as the apostle Peter writes, 'Your adversary the devil walks like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour' (1 Peter 5:8). But the poor of God are those who are able, having left his possessions having been deprived of wealth, according to those saying, 'Behold, we have left all and have followed you,' whereas others become differently poor, having cast away the wealth of wickedness in false glory. But if those named now the poor of God possess nothing even to the poor in spirit, consider this. After these things, he entreats God to look upon the covenant which he established with the fathers around Abraham, so that he may not leave the ones from his seed incomplete.

The Pillars of the Ordered Earth§136

136It must be said that the clouds of iniquity have filled those who are darkened in the earth; for they do not walk upon the earth as citizens of heaven, but because of this they have an earthly veil of life, their intellect being darkened by ignorance. (Psalm 74:20)

If to corrupt and to be corrupted is often, according to the Divine Scripture, to sin, then incorruption and to possess it signifies virtue; for it is said, 'The grace is with those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption.' And since it is necessary for Him who began the good work to bring it to completion, that is to say, to lead it to an end, 'Lest you be corrupted' is said, fleeing corruption until the end, so that no one remains in it but remains in incorruption. And this achievement is great, so a Psalm of song is sent up regarding its fulfillment. Having reached the end so as not to be corrupted, with incorruption having been achieved, we shall thankfully confess to you, God, as the cause of the good things that have existed and are being achieved; for with you and from you these are made firm. And we desire to receive even more upon the good things having been achieved; for we are not yet perfect. We shall indeed confess concerning the things that have existed, but we shall call upon your favor in order to receive more. And if those who confess and call upon you are perfect, they confess on behalf of those who have received in fullness, calling upon you for their protection, so that what was given by the heavenly Father might remain with those asking for it. (Psalm 75:1)

And Didymus similarly explained this. (Ps 74:4,5a)

To dwell in the earth as a resident instead of a speck is taken as being a sojourner upon praise; for it is said, 'Woe to all those who dwell in the earth,' (Revelation 8:13) and 'From the face of the north shall the evils be burned upon those who dwell in the earth.' (Jeremiah 1:14) Truly, being one who dwells in the earth, it happens to become fat from thinking of earthly things and doing the works prescribed of the flesh, and to be subject to its intellect happens to become filth toward God because of dwelling in the earth. This thickness coming from evil, through which the heart of the burning people was thickened, the piercing teaching of the Savior stretched out, concerning which it is said, 'What Fire came to be cast upon the earth.' (Luke 12:49) And since it is necessary not only to be consumed from the thing falling away, but the evil...

Because of the predetermination of those being held, the spirit commands the deeds of the body to die and the spirit to walk, so that we do not fulfill the desire of the flesh. Regarding the pillars of this ordered earth, those having a well-tuned and true mindset, the heralds of truth say, the Savior, establishing them in the house of God, does not make them unsteady (Psalm 75:3).

Having strengthened the pillars of the church, he grants to the rest not to deviate. He says this regarding the established order and the completed work of Christ, through whom the earth and all who dwell in it were ordered. Furthermore, to the inhabitants of the whole inhabited world, it was testified through the apostles not to deviate nor to speak injustice against God, paying heed to the many errors. But to dwell on the earth is from above as if being received in praise, whereas to reside as a sojourner is as if being received in mockery. For he says, 'Woe to all those dwelling on the earth' (Revelation 8:13), and 'From the face of the north shall the evils be burned upon those dwelling on the earth' (Jeremiah 1:14).

For the one thinking of the things on the earth and doing the works of the flesh, his mindset is made fat toward God because of dwelling on the earth, according to the saying: 'He was made fat, enlarged, and left empty.' Such were those whose covering they closed up in the earth, concerning whom it has been said, 'Their iniquity shall come out like the scent of a covering.' The piercing teaching of the Savior, having said, 'Fire has come to be cast upon the earth' (Luke 12:49), has stretched out such a fatness of wickedness.

But since even by predetermination wickedness must be consumed, and not by the one commanding alone, we are commanded to let the deeds of the body die and to walk by the spirit, so that we may not fulfill the desire of the flesh. The Savior strengthens the pillars of this ordered earth, those having a well-tuned life and a true mindset; rather, regarding the heralds of truth, it has been said, 'Pillars of heaven were stretched out,' having been winged with heavenly wings, as it is said concerning them, 'He who is heavenly, such also are the heavenly ones.' It has also been written concerning all of the glorious church, to which Christ presented himself as a 'pillar and foundation of the truth' (1 Tim 3:15). The Savior, establishing all these pillars in the house of God, does not make them unsteady, saying, 'I will lay the foundation of my holy house' (Ps 74:7b).

The Breaking of Horns and the Dwelling of God§137

137They say it is a sign of virtue and piety. But a sign of their wickedness is that they turn away from sacrifices as if they were harmful, unless they receive residue, smoke, and ash; but the pious, knowing God, are free from the thinking of fate and sorcery.

Similarly Didymus says. The faithful, being pious, are such that the works of providence come not from the east or the west, nor from wicked caretakers, but from God. He himself establishes kings and removes them; he raises the poor from the earth and from poverty lifts up the needy (Psalm 75:6-7). Regarding the verse about receiving from the Gentiles and from the circumcised people, one must also stand regarding the humbling of the circumcised and the lifting up of the Gentiles (Psalm 75:8).

An opposition seems to be signified from the being full of the cup of mixture, with the mind being uncontrolled in it. But the uncontrolled does not oppose the mixture; for the uncontrolled voice is ambiguous, sometimes signifying that the mind does not differ from the uncontrolled, and at other times presenting the one who is pure as being toward a liquid. It also presents a third meaning: that when a mixture has become, from mind and water, with the mind prevailing, we call the mixture 'the mixture'.

The third thing, therefore, signifies what is about to be said: God mixing into the mixture for those being judged a good intention, so that the one being punished might not be punished unworthily, having done this without anyone standing over him, observing the sins that occurred; God brought the judgment according to which the lawless one is punished. This cup in the hand of God is tilted from one to another, many a time for the one being punished, so that through the evils he did, he might be justified by repentance, and the one who was glorifying himself for a little while might fall into being good. However, even if it tilts from this to that, the reaper does not pour out upon men, but upon the sinners of the earth, and upon the devil and the robbers.

...demons. Psalm 75:9-10 When the righteous ones speaking against God are reproved and those following them are finished, I give thanks that I am not found responsible for any of those accused; I rejoice and sing for ever to the God of the patriarch Jacob, who has given me strength, as if to break all the horns of the sinners, which they used against the weaker ones, being like horned bulls. Who are these? It was shown in the assembly of the bulls among the cows of the peoples.

Having said this, he did not bring forth 'And my horns shall be exalted,' but 'of the righteous.' This is customary for the saints through approaching blindness; and they teach that it is for every man to exist in Christ, so that the righteous, having broken the horns of the sinners, may have his horn exalted. And also to say it in a plural way: the horns of the sinners are being broken, but in a singular way: the horn of the righteous is exalted. For every sinner is a multitude, because they are found not to coexist with one another, but evils following virtues like seeds, because of being a middle state. Therefore, let many men have righteousness (which is virtue in general), and they are called righteous in the singular.

Psalm 76:1 It is not the same to be the knowing and the known, so that the known, being known, might be able to be known even of the unknown. For in this way, according to what was said in Judea, that God is known, and following that, in the one inhabiting Judea, Israel, great is His name, I say, of the known.

Psalm 76:2 In every way the disturbance of passions and the war of evils must be driven away, so that having the peace which surpasses all understanding, we may become a place of God. For we shall not only be His habitation, but also intending to be observers of truth and virtue; for His habitation is found in the given Zion. The things said will be applied to the holy church, as a place of God established in peace and the...

The Rider and the Horses of the Soul§138

138His dwelling-place. For he says, 'Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion.' And since these things are established not by our power but by the grace of God, the word attributes to Him the cause of peace, saying: 'There He crushed the powers of bows, the shield and the sword and war' (Psalm 76:3). For peace prevails in the place of God once the rulers of bows are crushed, from whom the evil one, sending his flaming arrows, was making afflictions and disordered movements, of which he was the cause. Along with the aforementioned bows, the related shield and sword are also crushed, and along with them, those called war are crushed; for the Lord is the one crushing wars (Psalm 76:3).

And the holy men, looking ahead eternally, namely the unseen and eternal things, from which God illuminates differently the light of the knowledge of Christ—first before the manifestation through prophets and Moses, and after this through apostles and evangelists, so that those being illuminated become light, as Paul says: 'The God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God' (2 Cor 4:6). And He marvelously added to the illuminating, that which He promises as knowledge to others, and by this God illuminates more paradoxically into knowledge and wisdom for the holy ones through both revelations and visions, seeing marvelously from the things mentioned. And even if it is not in Judea, as the Scripture says, these high contemplations and the doctrines of godliness are seen, and from these God marvelously illuminates those coming into the knowledge of truth. Often in the Scripture, intelligible things and angels are seen, from which God again illuminates, sending them into service for those about to inherit salvation. And to each of the editions it will be fitting to say: 'Draw near to the eternal things, protected by God for those who desire godliness, benefiting the prudent through the virtue of the present.' For understanding is a good thing for all who practice it. The senseless are troubled by both afflictions and wickedness; they are also troubled by both sensible and invisible deceivers, according to the scripture: 'Their senseless heart was darkened.' For to be darkened and to be troubled are the same; for each denotes ignorance, with the mind being darkened in both cases. And God is called the Jacob of the ascetic and man...

A good and righteous state is maintained against the reproach of one falling from these through personal laziness, being established by reproof. For some say that bodies are like vehicles and horses of the souls. In these horses, those riding them pleasure-lovingly desire the beginning of sleep, being drawn into a false breath of those who inhale the body and enslave it with skill, those sitting upon the horses.

Indeed, one sees in the Scripture the rider as being mostly falsely named, as also in Zechariah the prophet there is a threat of God: 'And I will strike every horse in ecstasy and the rider in thoughtlessness' (Zechariah 12:4); and according to Moses, a horse and a rider was thrown into the sea—and riders being praised. For instance, toward Elijah, Father Elisha, the army of Israel and his rider; and toward the Savior it is announced: 'Ride upon your horses, and your riding is salvation' (Habakkuk 3:8).

No one among the wretched is able to stand against God when He is angry, creating fear for those being judged, so that they might not overlook the One who knows the heart (Psalm 76:7; LXX 75:7). For those having the word toward Him as toward a judge say: 'Lord, Lord, if He observes iniquity, who will stand?' Moreover, even if no one will be able to stand against His wrath, being terrible, yet He Himself, through the coming goodness with mercy, judges. For mercy and judgment are yours, Lord.

Judgment listens from heaven, making everything happen according to the word of providence for the benefit of each. This agrees with what is in the prophecy of Amos: 'The Lord doing judgment, He has set high judgment and righteousness in the earth' (Amos 5:7). For as it is in heaven, He does all judgment in the high place; and as He listens from heaven, sending judgment from it to those on earth, He has set righteousness in the earth as the end of judgments (Psalm 76:8).

The hidden thing of man is in the mind. He who cleanses this will confess to God with gladness. Then he will celebrate in doing what is profitable, and he will be able to think the truths. If, however, 'He will confess' denotes the disclosure of sins, the understanding of the matter will be this: since the one desiring to be perfectly holy must not cleanse himself in solitary acts and words alone, he must confess while rebuking himself regarding a very brief thought. This...

Authenticity of Voice and the Guarding of the Heart§139

139He is able to be made manifest from the prayer, 'Cleanse me from my secret sins.' If one does not even imply something regarding the non-existence of sin, a confession might not occur; consequently, the remnant of the man's inner mind is celebrated having been found outside of all evil. Or, when the doubt concerning him is taken away by the manifestation of purity, the saint celebrates—not sometimes and sometimes not, but steadily and always knowing the truth and acting according to righteousness. For this is truly the feast according to the apostle who said, 'Let us celebrate, not in leaven of malice and wickedness, but in unleavened bread of sincerity and truth' (1 Cor 5:8).

He is terrible before the kings of the earth, who struck down Pharaoh, and pursued Nebuchadnezzar of men, altering his thinking as if his life were among beasts (Psalm 76:12); he deprived Saul of the spirit, who, despising the covenant of God, was rejected by Samuel; for it is said, 'The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul' (1 Sam 16:14), and he was oppressed by an evil spirit from the Lord, sent upon him by judgment and vote. And if even concerning ecclesiastical leaders these things are to be considered, hold fast to the God-breathed Scripture. For Paul, having called the elders of Miletus, says to them, 'Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit of God has made you overseers, and with Him, and also from among yourselves some will arise speaking twisted things, that is, the divine Spirit of the terrible ones being taken away' (Acts 20:28-30).

When the one speaking has departed far off, speaking with a strained voice (Psalm 77:1). Since, therefore, the begotten essence is separated from the One who made all, a cry according to the intellect is necessary. He is called God because He made all things, and Lord because He rules over those things which come from Him. And it is said, God indeed the Father, and Lord the Son. But to the one speaking, the day is one of affliction, his whole life, indeed, the age which has come upon him, in which he seeks God as one would seek a physician for a disease, calling out. He seeks Him through deed and disposition, not being deceived like those who are ignorant of the end regarding circumstances, just as Saul went to a medium and was deceived. But the saint, who is not troubled, seeks God in the night called the ignorance of circumstances, according to the...

According to Isaiah, my soul became attached to a mortal, not being self-sufficient for all the consolation of the memory concerning God. To this, what is in Isaiah also applies: 'In trouble of the Lord I remembered' (Isaiah 26:16). According to the common habit of many, a wandering voice indicates something superficial, but according to the Scripture and being placed upon one who is praised, it is authentic.

For Anna, praying genuinely toward God, being called by the priest's child to persist in prayer, answers: 'From a multitude of wanderings I have wasted away until now.' And concerning Isaac, that which says: 'He went out to wander in the field.' But you will receive something superficial if you receive the one who explained to me unlawful wanderings.

If indeed the word were ever said by the divine scholars, having understood the sequence and the speaking person, we would receive the voice either for the better or for the evil. Now, therefore, both the person and the word are praised; the spirit did not faint, which indicates the soul. For even Stephen did not say, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit' (Acts 7:59), but, having been faint-souled because of the enemies lying in wait, he gave himself to God.

My eyes preceded the guards (Psalm 77:4). Another scripture is brought forward, not saying: 'I have preceded the guards,' but: 'All my enemies preceded the guards.' Concerning many guards happening against me, he was guarding the saying: 'With all vigilance, keep your heart.' They preceded them, those which were about to make me faint-souled, all my enemies; for they were not few, but rather all, and they were filled against me.

Therefore, also, they having become more dominant, I have seen in a certain foreknowledge that I would undergo trouble, but I did not utter anything troubling, nor in any disposition have I become disturbed; for the things of judgment and foreknowledge were not at all heavy upon me, nor had I been made in a passionate fear. For indeed I uttered nothing, whereas those who have shrunk in courage love to speak.

If the guards were to speak in a masculine way, he would say that all the thoughts, that I ought to stand regarding myself to guard me, all my enemies reached me instead of those guarding, casting unlawful and harmful thoughts. Let these things be said concerning invisible enemies. And if the divisions of the night are also called guards (if it should happen, he says, to lose the night being filled according to...)

The Soul, Divine Mercy, and the Way of God§140

140Regarding Ephraim, all enemies will lay hold of these strongholds, anticipating them; for they will not sleep unless they have afflicted him (Ps 76:6).

Having these things happen to me, he says, I awoke myself to remember the former and many anticipating circumstances (not only me but also my virtuous fathers) from which all the Lord rescued me and them; by which reason I have become more cheerful to endure unto the end, so that I might happen to have salvation from the struggles of such things; for he who endures unto the end, he shall be saved. For having conversed with the ancient days and the eternal ages, having remembered and having meditated, I found many times both myself and the rest of men falling into such a state of helplessness, as to leave behind salvation and all hope; but, having been established in confidence toward God, every helplessness in those who grasp the truth is overcome. You shall remember when the Hebrew multitude comes toward the things laid before you by the valleys of the sea; for no good hope remaining there, suddenly God provided abundance in narrowness and in remote helplessness (Psalm 77:6).

Throughout all this life, because of the encroaching ignorance of things, being called night, I did not deliver myself to sleep and heart like other men, but toward sobriety and alertness I stirred myself up; for those sleeping at night sleep and at night they get drunk. With my heart, that is, with my mind, I was conversing with myself about the actions and natures of things (for know what the present things are approaching), I learned what the end of the surrounding evils will be. And I was tilling my spirit with the art of farming, desiring to sow into it, so that from it I might reap eternal life; for he who sows into the spirit, from the spirit he will reap eternal life (Galatians 6:8). And it is not to be thought that to say 'spirit' is to speak synonymously, but rather homonymously regarding the present word and that which was previously set forth; for there the soul was called spirit, but here the spirit of the man is that which is in him. For if even here the spirit is said instead of the soul, who is the one tilling his spirit and idling with his heart? For it is not the body that does these things.

For the soul is not strictly a human being when it is wandering aimlessly apart from the mind and unsettling the spirit joined to the mind. I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing also with the mind. Corruption is the departure from natural goodness, which occurs not while the essence remains, but if something belonging to the natural state is taken away from it. Previously, he was willing to help and was favorable to those asking of him, as I reasoned: 'I remembered the days of old.' Was his goodness not present until those times, and no longer being added to, he was willing to be favorable? No, by no means. For his mercy is not cut off from the former generation, nor does it fail regarding the coming one. For they think that the end of his mercy is this: that he might do good and show mercy to one generation, and not to another. Nor will he fail to have compassion, just as neither fire nor light fails to shine and to warm. For his mercies are held in check by a temporary anger arising from sin, but they are not joined in a way that lasts forever.

Even though many troubles have come upon me, they cast a disturbance into me (Psalm 77:7). What has been recounted followed in all the appointed words, but also, having understood things, I observed that God is not being thrust away for the ages, nor has He chosen to do other things, as if in some way to cast down a different beginning of a kind of life. For through all those things I have passed through, I have begun the Now, changing all those things that disturbed and frightened me, so that I might become courageous for the rest. This change is not a change of quality (for I have passed from one disposition to another), but an alteration, not caused by another, but by the right hand of the Most High. For He also provided these thoughts and brought them together so that I might be altered.

This aimless wandering is like the one from above is good; for it is a good thing to speak often of the wonders of God. Since God dwells and walks among the saints (Psalm 77:13), He has in each of the saints his own way, traveling according to the intellect of each of them. And since his Word is said to be a Way ('I am the Way,' He says [John 14:6]),

Redemption of the Two Peoples and the Marks of the Way§141

141But His word is in nothing trivial, for it is a way; rather, it is rightly said that the indwelling voice is in the saints alone. Regarding Psalm 76:14b, greatness is said of the intelligible substance by excellence of power, not by quantity. No god is found as great as ours.

He does not say that the gods are the idols or the demons (for these are called gods), but rather those who, having become toward us through the word of God, were made divine. For they are not partakers of divinity, but merely partakers. The present word is said of the Savior, as he will declare the following, being a great God and Father, since he is the Son of the great God.

Regarding Psalm 76:15a, after the article, the Savior is called God, so that he might be shown as different from those to whom it is said, 'You are gods' (Ps 82:6). None of them is as one who excels. After the article, it is said, 'God.' Such is also the Only-begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, to be God by being alone in essence; for none of the others is only-begotten, but with the only-begotten is God. According to the same divinity, the only-begotten God and the Father God are.

Indeed, it is said of the Savior (of his one divinity and that of the Father), 'God is in you, and there is no god besides you; for you are God, and we shall not fear' (Isaiah 45:14). For how can it be that if God is in him, there is no god besides him, and he himself is God, unless we understand that the Father and the Son have the same divinity, so as to be one God, Father and Son, and not a Son and a Father? For the Father is the Father of the Son, and the Son is the Son of the Father. Therefore, the 'I and the Father are one' follows the 'I and the Father are one' being said, not the Son saying 'I and the God.' For the Father is not another Son, nor is God another, by the being of the same divinity of the offspring and of the begetter.

Regarding Psalm 77:14-15, the Savior made his power known among both peoples, to the...

He performed many paradoxical wonders among the nations and the circumcised; for power went out from him and healed everyone. But also by his arm (I mean by his energy and action) he redeemed his people, the two united, having tasted death above all things by the grace of God, giving his soul as a ransom for many; for by his precious blood we were redeemed from our vain, ancestral conduct. The peoples are those in whom he made his power known, whom he also joined together into one people, whom he redeemed: the sons of Jacob and Joseph, the sons of Jacob who are circumcised and believe, and the sons of Joseph who are from the nations. For Joseph is interpreted as 'Addition of the Lord'; for God truly added to those being saved from the circumcised, those from the nations who believe. And 'He made known' does not signify the beginning of knowing, but that which is come to be known and recognized; for saying 'He who works wonders,' he recognizes these things through these words.

When the Savior appeared on earth, the earth endured confusion and trembling (Psalm 77:18-20)—that is, the things on earth, which are above all laws and are fearful of all gods, through whose ordinances the demons are overturned; but also the earth endured confusion and trembling because of men, who are bound by passions and are being turned toward the Word of Christ. And the sea, the present life, Jesus God alone bound, so as to leave behind traces and proofs of the way, so that those wishing to follow him might follow; for he says, 'Your paths are in many waters, and your tracks shall not be known' (Psalm 77:19), because the word of his journey is incomprehensible. And the sheep of Christ were led by God in practice (symbolically called by the hand) of the spiritual law and the priestly word. And Christ has become for us both, being himself the spiritual law, of the...

The Spiritual Rock and the Nature of Sin§142

142He is the initiator and high priest of the spiritual rite of God, having ascended through the heavens. He signifies Moses as the law, and Aaron as the high priest; therefore they are brothers, being sons of the divine providence which brought forth this law and the appropriate high-priestly word for it; for by its will these good things have been raised up to men (Psalm 77:20).

He is able to call all the old scripture 'the law' present here. If the commanding and forbidding word were to signify the voice of the law according to the preceding verse, it commands the law to take heed how those having received the command, choosing the good and fleeing the bad, might act rightly (Psalm 78:1).

These things those having the mind of Christ understood and perceived spiritually; for it was not hidden from them, having been explained to them according to knowledge. And they themselves did not reveal to their own children born of them through instruction the matters from the beginning, so that they might be known and not hidden even to their next generation.

For he who becomes with God in spirit, coming from Him, is trusted to understand and is confirmed according to the spirit (Ps 77:8d). It is to be thought that 'spirit' here refers to the intellect, according to what was said concerning the Virgin, how she conceived by the Holy Spirit and body; for in these things 'spirit' calls her opinion and her disposition, and from which having been sanctified, the body also comes to be sanctified, being served by sanctifying energies. And if the soul itself is spirit and is called so here, it is to be noted.

Regarding the manna given before the rebellion, the psalm says after the rebellion that both the manna and the meat were given (Psalm 78:17-22; LXX 77:17–22). But this is not the question. For the psalm joins together things in different times, bringing together one rebellion having occurred in different times under one cause. For if someone should interpret the first rebellion as that before the making of the Tabernacle in the second month of the Exodus, he does not place that history in its proper time in the psalm; for not then did the water from the rock happen to be given, nor did the punishment of fire follow, and indeed the firstlings were not slain and they did not unrighteously disbelieve regarding the paradoxical gift of food...

You act with small-spiritedness because you do not immediately find abundance. Therefore, even Moses did not yield to the small-spiritedness of the people. In the second dispute concerning meats, Moses also bears it with difficulty; and it is fitting that the punishment from God was somewhat sent to them, and they were being consumed by fire. It is necessary to believe from those who were previously warned, not believing in the divine power, and it is necessary to hope for salvation from Him, not hoping.

It must also be said by way of upward leading: in the wilderness of the Son, much ignorance of things prevails. Having passed through and having divided his most meager word, a rock called it, a great watering has become for those being benefited, as if the flowing water were cast alongside an indescribable abyss in depth and breadth. For the water sent forth from this rock flowed like rivers (Psalm 78:16). And regarding these rivers, the Savior says: 'He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, from his spiritual belly (that which is according to the inner man) will flow rivers of living water' (John 7:38). And he says, the writer says, that those who believe will not receive this concerning the Spirit. For the water of these rivers is drawn out from a rock, about which Paul says: 'From a spiritual rock that follows' (1 Cor 10:4); and the rock is Christ. Christ himself, since he is a rock, says concerning the water of the rivers: 'For from me he will take and will declare to you all things' (John 16:14).

And they added to this: sinning against him—not all who sin against God are sinning against him, but only those who have known his will and are not doing it. Certainly even David, not being ignorant of God's will, says: 'Against you only have I sinned' (Ps 51:4). Perhaps for those sinning in ethical matters, the sin becomes toward men; but for those blaspheming God and providence, the sin, being a certain impiety, rises up against God. For if someone sins against a man, and prays for him; but if he sins against the Lord God, who will pray for him? Certainly, what they overthrew the Most High with, they were lacking in a dry place, being deprived of the spiritual waters; for they turned away from the water from the aforementioned rock. And finding themselves in a dry place, they did not experience the goodness of God which is sweet. But that which is according to virtue and wisdom makes it sweet.

The Ascent of Wrath and the Nature of Heavenly Signs§143

143Being put into action and being contemplated. They tested Him not in their hearts superficially, but from the depth of their own ruling principle, thinking against God and doubting His power to request food for their souls—not the souls made in the image and likeness of God (for they feed on the bread of life and the fruit of the tree of life), but the souls being transformed into flesh because they have succumbed to material things, desiring not beneficial and healthy foods, but pleasant and disease-causing ones.

The soul that desires food, the desiring and appetitive one, is a rational power in us. For concerning this, it is said, 'And let your soul desire meat'. The irrational animals also participate in this, desiring and being appetitive for food. And they spoke against God, saying, 'Will God not be able to prepare a table in the wilderness?' and the following things; but He has indeed given bread having come down from heaven and prepared a table before His people. Wisdom says, 'She has laid her victims and mixed her wine in the vessel; and none of the unbelieving shall taste them' (Wisdom of Solomon 18:6). To this, you will receive the 'For I say to you, none of those men shall taste my supper' (Luke 14:24).

Because of this, the Lord was angry and cast down, as if to pay attention to them. This was followed by the fire of desires being kindled upon Jacob; or rather, the fire decided and laboring for the sake of virtue, or the fire kindled from God, which is able to consume by their blessing their material choice and their disposition. Consequently, by this fire, wrath ascended upon Israel. For from when they were practicing lower things, the wrath, having perceived, ascended upon Israel. And perhaps wrath descends upon those lying below the strangers of godliness, according to what is said: 'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and injustice of men' (Romans 1:18). And wrath ascends upon those called to do what God wills, through having been called from above. Therefore, the care for Israel, who ought to look above, has ascended, as it is said: 'the wrath has ascended.' 'Stop, if those serving God happen to be vessels of wrath through the punishments from God,' they serve similarly as vessels of wrath.

They are called. And the wrath, which is not said to be below, ascends upon the former Israel. This accords with: 'If the spirit of the ruler ascends upon you, let him not leave your place' (Ecclesiastes 10:4). For in these things the unclean spirit is said to be below, which ascends toward. Therefore it is able to ascend upon Israel.

And since they did not believe in God, they did not hope for His salvation. For those who did not hope in Jesus Christ, the salvation of God, did not even believe in God Himself. To the apostles, it was said by Christ: 'Believe in me, and believe in God' (cf. John 14:1). It is possible, then, for wrath to have ascended upon Israel because they did not believe in God nor hope for His salvation, being overtaken by a force, concerning which Paul said: 'And wrath reached them to the end' (1 Thessalonians 2:16).

And bread of heaven He gave them (Psalm 78:24). The voice of heaven signifies the essence of the intelligible realms, just as we have also learned in the previous passages; and the opening doors of the heavens are the outpourings and manifestations of the patriarchs, through these doors the gifts of God flow. Bread of angels man has eaten, to signify how a man is in the hiddenness of the heart. Therefore, having passed over all the other names, even though he frequently remembered them—of Jacob and of Israel and of Ephraim—he remembers the human appellation here to show the man who is truly made according to the image and likeness of God, having become a fellow-table-guest and a host to angels, receiving the true manna (Psalm 78:25).

To corrupt signifies sometimes to fall into punishment, just as 'If anyone corrupts the temple of God, God will corrupt him' (1 Cor 3:17), instead of punishment. But since to corrupt also signifies being handed over to a condition of dishonor as a recompense for error and other sins being committed, God does not corrupt in this sense; rather, He finds those worthy of being seen by Him, so that they might be propitiated for their sins by much mercy and compassion. He does not say He will produce evil angels such as these, but those who bring harm through their labors. He did not spare their souls from death, bringing them to the dissolution of a weary life (Psalm 78:49-51; LXX 77:49c–51).

Virtue, Holiness, and the Imitation of Christ§144

144Death; having enclosed into this death and their irrational powers, which are tropically named cattle. For it will be for their good to cast away both themselves and their cattle, that is, their base life, namely, the passionate movement.

And understand more deeply: since the psychic man lives according to soul but not according to spirit, he does not spare these so-called souls of theirs, in order to, having destroyed their psychic state, lead them into a spiritual one. And since the name of the soul does not always signify its essence, it is clearly shown by 'the evil soul will destroy the one who has acquired it.' For it does not say the one having acquired a body calls the soul evil, but the essence of the matter has happened to which the word soul now lies. And the habit of calling some soul beautiful or base is consistent with what is being signified here.

And the tenth plague brought upon the Egyptians was death, the death of the firstborn among them from man to cattle. Perhaps it does not literally speak of the firstborn among men first born, but literally speaks of the firstborn voice upon the irrational animals as the firstfruits of pains. For the firstfruits of pains are the firstborn of those who are beast-fed. I agree to this being what is signified: that by the addition of what is said in their dwellings, the firstborn of the irrational ones were taken away, so that those having them might fall into loss, but also the firstborn of men were struck by death because their parents were tested by calamity.

Toward those not being disciplined nor repenting of such god-fearing things, 'I struck your children,' it is said (Jeremiah 2:30), 'because you did not receive discipline.' And so the firstborn either suffered the penalty of dying because of their own sins or they were not harmed at all, if they fell into death by the winning of others' discipline; for it is no difference to die and it happens by necessity, but toward the truth, the judgments of God are unsearchable. For the purpose of leading upward: since every place concerning the earth is called Egypt spiritually, those dwelling in it are called Egyptians. Therefore, by the grace of God, the firstborn offspring of their souls among these Egyptians is taken away, being ignorance and malice. For before the 157 virtues and sciences of the beneficial children of the intellects, malice and ignorance exist; therefore...

One does not err by calling these things 'firstfruits'. But even regarding those things which appear to be trivial in the exercise of knowledge according to virtue, they are to be rejected. For for everyone acting according to art and knowledge, the doing or acting well does not immediately occur, but it occurs after acting unassailably and acting blamelessly.

And that which lies in their tabernacles reveals what is to be said concerning souls when they are entwined with bodies; for bodies are tabernacles of souls (Psalm 78:54-55; LXX 77:54). Holiness is the divided and most high virtue, not the intellectual alone but also the practical. And only the one perfect Teacher, Jesus, introduces one genuinely into this. Then those who are in heaven are not sanctified, but they are carried into it by the Lord. This very holiness is not a matter of chance, but it is called the right hand of God's power, not being anything other than the only-begotten Jesus. For every excellence and theoretical vision of the truth is truly a possession of Jesus, and therefore those acquiring these dispositions are called possessions of the Lord (Psalm 78:54).

Perhaps they even blessed those having died in such a way, rather than weeping over the evils they had seen (Psalm 78:66; LXX 77:66). He struck them from behind, so that they might not be diminished by a face of coarseness in front, but might be severed from their inhuman and evil state; for God does not desire anyone to progress in evils, but, caring for them, provided them with eternal reproach. And sinners are reproached, not only by others but also by themselves, when they are ashamed of the evils they have committed. For God says to certain ones: 'Be ashamed of your boasting and from reproach, mourn the day.' For those boasting over trivial things are benefited, if they are ashamed and reproached for the things they were vaunting of (Psalm 78:66).

The name of 'innocence' does not signify gentleness here, but the absence of evil and simplicity. The sheep do not imitate the innocence of the Teacher, but are shepherded by it. And lest the one practicing evil be thought to be doing so deceptively, but rather from the best state, it is said of him that he is completing the innocence of the heart. And he also guided others by the wisdom of his hands.

The Perils of Earthly Desires and the Blood of the Soul§145

145For the nature of understanding is twofold: one is of the hands, the other of mind and hand; for understanding, which is called along with wisdom, comes into being through the mind. Concerning this it is said, 'The Lord gives wisdom, and from his face knowledge and understanding' (Proverbs 2:6). But the one of the hands, being practical and productive, is shown in the understanding of the good in all those who practice it. For the understanding that is practiced is practical knowledge; and by this the teacher guides certain ones who are not so much benefited by words. Let practical knowledge and the discussion of real-world matters be understood, so that we may logically know for each of those practicing according to virtue.

Toward the intellect: Once made the possession of God, the soul, having enriched the temple, having entered the experience of those dwelling within, received it. For they came upon it, not as the inheritance of God, but as the invisible enemies of old, unable to approach it even in measure, and mortal because of the strangeness of God's presence within. Having not approached these, they entered into the temple of God which is in it, corrupting it through which they entered into sins. Lest this should happen, it is written to some, 'Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?' (1 Cor 3:16). If anyone corrupts the temple of God, God corrupts him; for the temple of God is holy, and you are some of them. It is also possible to call the unclean and uncircumcised thoughts mortal, having come into the inheritance once held by God as a soul, which also once entered into the sacred. But if the things happening at certain times in Christianity, having been worked by the Gentiles in the holy places, signify the things dwelling within, let the one encountering them judge. For the invisible enemies, called mortal, were not so powerful as to lay waste the once-become city of God, as if no fruit of anything remained in it, to place it in a state of desolation. And the desolation...

A small thing, as it is written in Isaiah, is a fig-bearing tree; and the fruits of this are figs and gourds. These are Egyptian foods which the people desired when sinning, even though they had the manna and the heavenly food from God, but also the mortal foods of God's servants and food to be eaten by the winged ones of heaven.

For the sinning soul, seeing the peace of God, is lost; Jerusalem, which passed well, had certain thoughts, because the diligent and virtuous servants happened to be of God. But they did not entirely remain, instead of seeking the incorruptible life, but they received something mortal in doing something passionately.

This is not the mortal food becoming of the winged ones who snatch what was sown by the roadside, which the Savior interpreted as the evil one (Matthew 13:19) and those being sickened by this. For indeed vultures and young vultures, profiting from the beasts of the earth, do not eat the holy ones but their flesh. For whatever is found to be fleshy and passionate is nourished.

If it is possible to raise these things up to the witnesses of Christ, he himself will understand; many in persecutions, having become food for birds and beasts, yet their souls were not able to be devoured by the spiritual winged ones of heaven nor by the beasts themselves, because God did not hand over a soul confessing Him.

But the blood, which becomes the removal of the soul, instead of its life-giving power, which is called 'turning,' is poured out not far from or far from Jerusalem but around it. And this is the boundary of peace. Since the one stumbling goes outside of Jerusalem, of the correctness of the dogmas, the aforementioned blood is poured out about it and around it, not even worthy of a burial because of his exalting his sins; such are the things falling away after the knowledge of the truth (Hebrews 10:26). Since the one being baptized is not buried with Christ (Rom 6:4), and secondly not...

The Prayer for Mercy and the Sabbath Symbol§146

146If it is a bath, it is fitting that those who have acted impiously after the bath are not buried (Psalm 79:3).

By analogy, you call the heretics neighbors; for their dwellings are near us because they hold to the same writings. They do not reproach us, saying we are heretics, but they call us as slaves, well-behaved and foolish. Around us, if there are wise men among the Greeks, they sneer and mock us as believing without examination and foolishly (Psalm 79:4).

'You have disciplined the Jews sufficiently,' they say; 'surely, at some time, turn your wrath upon the impious mortals and upon the kingdom of your reverence that is alien' (Psalm 79:6).

By analogy: if the word is about invisible enemies, we did not consume the one who once became a wing for the wicked, and their place was laid waste. The place of each is his own station of life; for the prudent man in some way inhabits prudence. We say that the prudent man inhabits the place of the prudent, and others the order of the righteous. If it happens that those possessing these things of yours are devoured by enemies, their order and their place will be laid waste. We say, for example, the place of a bishop and a presbyter. As the saved are food for Jesus, the perishing are not by the eating of the wicked.

'Do not remember our ancient iniquities' (Psalm 79:8). And in other places, if no one confesses what he does evilly, but rather what he acted upon of old, 'Do not remember the sin of my youth and my ignorance' (Ps 25:7). And now, those who repent of their ceased iniquities are not worthy that their ancient sins not be remembered by God. For indeed, the sensual ones always call upon God not concerning youthful sins but concerning past deeds, saying: 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have transgressed' (Psalm 106:6). For it is contrary to the one repenting to be sinning.

'We have become exceedingly impoverished, having fallen from the wealth of virtue and knowledge, Lord; therefore we beseech you to grant us mercy, not in the future, but surely even now and quickly (Psalm 79:8). For you are the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, and your mercies are sufficient to make us rich again.' And this will be easy for us, with your helping and saving; for many times, with your helping...

We experience the salvation of the Lord. Even if we are not worthy to suffer well because of the sins that are among us, but since your name has been called upon us (for we are your inheritance and your people), be propitiated toward our sins, so that your name may be glorified. For we do not bear the reproach of the nations saying, 'Where is their God?' (Psalm 79:10; LXX 78:10). For they hold us in subjection because we have sinned, and they reproach even your name, thinking that you have been defeated by those who are beneath us.

And toward a turning point of discourse: those being squeezed by the chains of their own sins have been brought low, but having become aware of the weight, they are overcome by the plains, through which they are hindered from running toward salvation and from working out those things that contribute to happiness, groaning thus, being utterly exhausted. Therefore they also pray that their groan may be known to God and enter before him. For he will move his own goodness to intervene to break their bonds; for the Lord looses the bound (Psalm 146:7). And he will set them apart for blessed life, according to the greatness of the God Word, his arm, so that, even if they appeared as sons of men having been dead, they might be shown to be children becoming living ones. For their fathers, having been killed by the enemies, are living before the Lord, and they are found to be his sons and his servants.

Since the number seven holds a symbol of rest, they desire the retribution to be upon the description of their impiety, through which they reproached God and were roughly brought to his servants, to be led away. For those knowing the good God will not lift up the reproaches of the scourged, but they want the scourgings to be brought upon them, so that the workers of that laziness, to whom punishment follows by necessity, may be idle. But the Sabbath number is a symbol of laziness. Since we are being enriched as your people and sheep grazing your pasture, concerning which it has been said, 'He shall enter and go out and shall find pasture' (John 10:9) (clearly meaning the sheep of Christ), we asked for blessings; do according to your greatness, so that, as you are clearly present, we may gratefully acknowledge you throughout life; for this clearly signifies 'unto the age' regarding the present. And if one were to take the usual meaning of 'age', you would say not only in the...

The Nourishment of Tears and the Allegory of Egypt§147

The Vine and the Wild Beast§148

148For all, even he who will transplant it from the former bad planting into a better land. And that land is the state according to virtue.

And he sang before it, having given a saving law and luminous commands before it, in order to travel to the good land; and that land is perfect virtue. If it seems well to you, Egypt, to take the land as a spiritual world in which the soul, struggling with the sensible and temporal things, is planted, you would take a transplantation into the heavenly and intelligible realms of it, with God being the cause of this so great good for it, because he has prepared the way before it by giving the spiritual discourse of the God-breathed Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16). Its shadow covered them. For those called the righteous, who were high and possessed a lasting citizenship, were sheltered by what was well spread out under it. But also those who have become wealthy and well-toned through a more prosperous life, as if to profit from God's gain, were covered by its leafy branches in a certain way, being supported by them. And the vine extends its branches to the greatest extent, as if approaching the seas without suffering harm from the trials and surges of life called seas, to bear fruit metaphorically. And it also extends its shoots, just as the rivers that water it, in order to yield the proper fruit. And its branches are those joined to the Jewish worship, who, because of remaining in the law, happen to bear fruit like the shoots of those proselytizing.

If the vine is such a soul cultivated by God, having its beginning and its root in the Word, according to which it is logical for the one saying, 'I am the true vine' (John 15:1), God will transplant its various branches and powers, its roots metaphorically being shoots, into the various thoughts of the Only-begotten. For the vine, being raised up because it is well cultivated, will cover the high doctrines of truth, called shadows, with itself. And this citizenship and knowledge existing here are able to bear a shadow and a type of its true state hereafter.

And its side-shoots, which have branched out from its powers and virtues, are also extended, being called rivers as they are the drinkable waters of the divine words. And in another way, its side-shoots may be called such, as that which branches out from it for the benefit of the other instruction. For just as the side-shoots drink and are transformed into drinkability from the plant upon which they have branched, so also those branching out from the other learning drink from its preceding teaching, with every name being taken captive into the obedience of Christ.

Why would you remove its hedge? For if the vine does not bear fruit, the keeper of the cluster is found in the tent. But when fruitlessness exists, he abandons the tent. And those passing by the road trample it, not those walking the path. But these are false teachers and the spirits of error. They trample it, possessing a cluster of gall and a grape of bitterness; for such a settlement has become. And one bears passions instead of moral virtues, having produced thorns instead of grapes; and another errs concerning knowledge, bearing a cluster of gall and a grape of bitterness.

God desolated it from the thicket. Those desolating it are either the irrational passions and its wild passions, or the exposed and most evil powers. And perhaps God is able to be the shameful desires and unbridled pleasures, and because of the uncleanness in the thicket—that is, in the fruitless plants—they will be surrounded; for these passions are hidden regarding irrational impulses and fantasies, but the description of the more savage beast may signify even as if they had come to be, the heart and the angers. But the savage beast is the irrational mind, as if someone were to mount its passion (Psalm 80:13).

A man, who has become like us individually and has not cast away his being, has been foretold by the Divine Scripture: 'Behold, his name is Orient, and a man comes after me' (Zechariah 6:12). If, regarding this man, the creative sign and wonders of God's hand were not to become the right hand (and this is the Divine Word), instead of the logical soul having been united to flesh according to hypostasis and through it having blessed the God-marked things, such an improvement would be for us as not...

The Musical Allegory and the Tongues of Fire§149

149To depart from you. For if we are not partakers of you, we shall not be made alive, and we shall not call upon your name. For from this salvation will also follow us; for everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2:32).

Since the commands of those being improved by Christ are many, and his stages have been spoken of as the true vine, there are various presses—that is, promises—in which the fruit is being pressed out, making the name of God and gladdening the heart of man. And since all the God-breathed Scripture speaks of vines (for concerning it, after it was taken away from the Hebrews and given to those believing from the Gentiles, it was said to the Jews, 'The kingdom of heaven shall be taken from you'—'the vine in the parable had grown'—'and it shall be given to a nation producing its fruits'; the fruit and clusters of this vine are the bearing of thoughts; the minds of the believers, having received divine presses, will not receive seeds as fruit, but will press out the Name, from which the one able to say to God, 'Joy has come into my heart' (Psalm 4:7), drinks.

Fittingly, the eighty-first psalm is arranged according to its title, this number containing eights and tens as a symbol of the resurrection of the Lord being accomplished on the eighth Lord's day. And it is not the first that is written concerning the presses, but also the eightieth. And it himself, because of the aforementioned thought, is arranged in the order of the number eight.

Since Jesus, helping us through his death, dissolved the one having dominion over death, the devil, we shout aloud, triumphing against the abolished tyrant, rejoicing in the one providing the help (Psalm 81:1).

Since the timbrel is made of the skin of a dead animal, he wants us, having killed the members upon the earth and carrying the death of Jesus in the body, to construct a timbrel for ourselves, which we shall give instead of a psalm. We do not take by the present...

The word commands not only to strike a timbrel for the psalm, but also a harp and a lyre. As it is said in other psalms, the harp is called so because it is straight and unbending, and because it gives back the sound from above; the spirit is the human spirit within him, the soul being signified by the lyre, with the senses stretched out and the powers of the soul composing the sound through well-ordered and musical activities.

If, then, the harp is the spirit, the lyre the soul, and the body the timbrel, it is being allegorized: we take the divine word as a psalm, in order to make the spirit, the soul, and the body active through the contemplation and actions according to virtue. According to an upward leading, it is thus: the command which declares the spiritual will of the shadowy feast is set as a testimony by the Lord to those who were added to the Gentiles by the Gospel. For the name of Joseph and what was said before signify these. For they did not leave behind the passions and the evils and the very place of the earth by wisdom, fleeing out of tropical Egypt, but in leaving it, they previously did not know the language, that is, the dialect they heard. The symbols of this paradox are carried into the Acts of the Apostles, where, having appeared as tongues of fire, they sat upon each of the believers, so that each one might suddenly speak the greatness of God in his own dialect heard in various voices. But those receiving this gift turned away from lifting up the sense of their souls, no longer enduring to lift up the material and muddy things of tropical Egypt. For they served, but they shall not serve with their hands in the basket; their hands in their actions are no longer touching wheat and brick, but are lifting up gracefully and freely some of the baskets, of which Jesus filled, from which he broke.

The Divinity of Judges and God's Presence§150

150For the fragments left behind have become full baskets since those who feed the disciples carry these spiritual baskets. A storm is often taken for a trial. Since God is not present with those being tempted openly but rather hiddenly, it is necessary for the one being tempted to call upon Him, so that how having heard him, God will rescue him from his present distress.

'And my people will not hear my voice' (Psalm 81:11). To hear signifies not only the sensing of a voice, but also to be persuaded by the one speaking, according to the Psalm: 'You do not heed the voice of my disciplining,' that is, I did not consent to the commands of the discipliner. And hearing the voice signifies also to understand and to think. For he says, 'Whoever has ears, let him hear'; that is, whoever has understanding, let him understand. And he says of his people that he awakens them to goodwill, while weighing down and increasing their transgression; saying only once, 'If he had encountered a nation that would forgive,' but not hearing our voice, being uninitiated, now they shall be punished without forgiveness.

And not only 'my people will not hear my voice,' but also 'they will not pay attention to me,' even though they are capable of understanding, seeing me. For even if he despises the voice, it is good to make clear through the one approaching me with my authority, that the timely evangelical word is not understood by the heterodox, who are interrupting these things, as seen in the Savior saying to the Jews concerning the Father, 'Nor have you ever heard his voice, nor have you seen his form' (John 5:37). The heretics, not having understood what was said, say that the Jews, having heard the voice of God and having seen his form, according to the appearances written by them. But the Savior rebukes them, showing that they have never heard the voice of God nor seen his form, and that to pay attention to God involves both hearing the voice and seeing the form. And those of differing opinions were deceived, having ignored the great significance of hearing the voice. For if even the Jews, having heard the voice of God and having received the law from him, did not understand it nor were persuaded by it, they are justly rebuked for not hearing his voice; but they also did not see his form, not having conformed to the character.

not having received the exact imprint of his hypostasis, who says, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9). Not so; it is said, meaning they have never heard the voice of God, and likewise here they are struck by the spoken word and the word that will be declared hereafter.

In 'the nothing' of Psalm 80:15a, it signifies that they humbled their enemies through lowly things, just as even the greatest tyrant of Egypt was not opposed by great and strong armed men, but by lowly and small creatures. In Psalm 81:2–4, they say that men set over the judging of the people are called gods, as Moses himself demonstrates, saying, 'You shall not do evil to gods, nor shall you speak evil of rulers of your people' (Exodus 22:28). For those being appointed as gods to the people of God are not further from the judges. But since hereafter in this same Psalm God says, 'I said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High' (Psalm 82:6; LXX 81:6) (not having been placed there, but because the word of God came to them), it is evident that even now 'God stands in the assembly of gods' (Psalm 82:1) will be brought against them. For all those who are such gods—men and angels—are divine in the same way, for God stands in their midst, unmoving and not abandoning them; such are they. For he stands away from those who fall, leaving them behind. Therefore also Adam, after the transgression, was standing before God who was with him before the sin; and it is said in the prophet, 'And the Lord God will go in the fury of his wrath'. But God, standing in the assembly of the gods, preserves their divinity, rather nourishing and increasing it through the participation they have in him. But even being in their midst, he distinguishes them in the manner spoken: 'How long will you judge injustice and accept the faces of sinners?' (Psalm 82:2). If the judges of Israel are gods, what is written will fall upon them. For it is a perversion of a judge to judge injustice and to accept the faces of sinners. Just as they corrupt the right through the greed for gifts, so too they judge contrary to the law by accepting faces. It is fitting, then, that the judgment falls upon sinners. For it is not right to give the right to the rich and to another who excels in the sequence of equality. For it is said, 'And you shall not show mercy to the poor in judgment' (Exodus 23:3); and it is also said, 'Not...'

The Fall of Man and the Judgment of Nations§151

151He will show no partiality in judgment; you will judge both the great and the small (Psalm 82:1); one will not show partiality, for such is the judgment of God. For it is necessary for the judge to know what he serves in the judgment of God. Therefore it is also well said, that God stands in the assembly of these gods and judges them in their midst (Deuteronomy 1:17), as those knowing Him in them and in their midst, according to His own purpose.

If indeed they are gods who change their divinity, since they prove to be turnable, how can one judge injustice? For having an intermediate law by which it is possible to know the good to be chosen and the evil to be avoided, if they come to things in a way that turns away from the good and embraces the evil, you judge injustice; therefore you also take the faces of sinners, hiding your own faces which are according to the image of God. Judge the orphan, who has been left desolate by the father entrusted to guardianship, but also the poor man who does not wish to contend with his own righteous ones; but also bring out the laborer and the poor, being oppressed, rescuing them from the grasping sinners.

But it is also said to those who have been made divine according to virtue, how they judge worthily the one who has cast off the worthless father and the wealth of wickedness, in protection through discipline toward them. And let them also justify the one made lowly and poor through blindness, because he has come to toil for the sake of piety, excluding those who are not truly poor and needy, on account of making them do the work of a sinner by a hand outside of them.

The divine knowledge, being wisdom of God, shines and enlightens the one having it; for the wisdom of man enlightens his face (Ecclesiastes 8:1), and those called toward divine knowledge have the command to enlighten for themselves the light of knowledge. If then the wise according to God happen to be enlightened, those who are contrary, being filled with ignorance and unreasonableness, wander in darkness, always progressing in evils.

But since, having become accustomed to evils and having embedded the first things of wickedness, they have not only become earthly due to their material existence, but they also wished the foundations of the earth to be, remaining firmly and immovably in the worthless opinion. But if they themselves are of such a kind...

They did not love, but rather the human-loving word causes them to be shaken and moved from the very bad position they hold, and to fall from the position they built with a clumsy hand (Psalm 82:6; LXX 81:6-7). The good God is not all envious of his own, giving to men what he is, just as he accepted the word of the gods. But the God who makes them gods is God, and he will make them sons of the Most High, participating with them, the only-begotten Son of the Most High. But although God granted to them the being to be gods and sons of the Most High, they ran toward the opposite, to become humans and to die the death that follows humans.

For they did not become humans by falling from divinity (for this is how both gods and sons of the Most High happened), but according to how they loved, mortal and human. And they die not as humans do, not the common death, but the death that follows sin, falling similarly to the one who fell among the rulers. For such is the devil; for he himself was a ruler and fell in the heavens. For it is said concerning him, 'How did the Morning Star, rising in the morning, fall from heaven?' (Isaiah 14:12). In this way also Adam, sinning, did not as a god but as one of God's fell, clearly showing that he became human; for God did not say concerning him, 'Behold, Adam has become like us,' but 'As one of us' or 'As one of ours'—as many things are contained in the copies (Psalm 82:7).

He said another scripture has, 'Rise, O God, judge the earth; you shall destroy all the nations' (Psalm 82:8; LXX 81:8). God will judge all those on the earth, for the earth was made because of those who think of earthly things. And God will judge the earth, destroying all the nations, but not all the mortals. For the superstitious and the other curiosity, along with those who have worked them, the mortals were destroyed by God, so that the mortals might become pure for the acceptance of the word of salvation. And that disposition in the nations, through which the mortals were diverse, God, by destroying them, will show that they, having cast away what had happened to them, will prove to be in the image of himself, just as mortals have become.

The Uniqueness of the Most High and Eternal Dwellings§152

152Likeness is understood in two ways. For when there is identity in essence, it is called similarity and even strictly identity; but when it is according to quality, it is called simply similarity. According to the second meaning, those becoming perfect are said to be made like God, just as the heavenly Father is perfect; therefore it is said, 'When he is revealed, we shall be like him' (1 John 3:2), meaning, like God. And the Creator of all, according to the first meaning, which I say is according to essence, fashioned man not according to an image and his own likeness, for no one is becoming like God. For 'Who shall be like God?' (Psalm 83:1) does not declare something rare but rather something impossible, that no one is able to be like God in essence. But do not err, thinking that yourself and the Son are subject to the things being said. For it is not 'Who is like you?' but 'Who shall be made like you?'; for the Son is not about to undergo being made like God, being of His own essence and therefore being the same as Him, not in number but in the sameness of essence.

He wills them to be placed by God like an unstable and unwatered wheel (Psalm 83:13). For it will be a misfortune to them not to be made stable and to remain motionless, having pursued wickedness. Therefore also He wills them to be placed like a reed being scattered and being driven about by a fierce wind before the face of the one pursuing them, a punishing spirit, allegorically a wind (Psalm 83:13). And the fire of punishments shall consume them, having cut off the grove which had become fruit. And using another punishment against them, He will pursue them with His own storm, from which there is no escape; therefore they shall be troubled in the wrath of God being brought upon them. Since indeed their sins were diverse, a multi-faceted punishment has necessarily risen over them. It should be noted, however, that He loved them, though they were a good planting, becoming unfruitful. For the reed has its beginning from a good seed, not beforehand, but deviating by accident. For if they had borne fruit beforehand, it was necessary for them to become wheat, if they were to be brought into the granaries of the Word. But not desiring this, they have become a reed and a wasteland, which the tyrant of the spiritual Egypt shall use for the construction of...

They shall burn in the fire of destructive cities, and they shall be consumed by the unquenchable fire (Ps 82:19b).

For even if others are high and have become Most High through virtue, being lifted up, none of them is such from himself or in essence. For God alone is Most High, making others Most High but not becoming so himself; just as He alone is wise and alone is true, providing wisdom and truth but not participating in them as a recipient, so the Most High is unique, according to this being the Most High and the Only-begotten Most High. For the power of the Most High overshadowed Mary; and the Holy Spirit, being sent from the Most High, is Most High. The only Most High is fitting to the Trinity. For he who spoke the Most High Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit declares them; likewise, he who called the Son also declares the Father and the Holy Spirit. For as there is one deity, so is the Most High in it, so that there might be no difference regarding the Trinity, just as we theologize correctly in other matters.

Regarding the word 'As' (Psalm 84:1), it does not signify a likeness or a parable here, but the beloved thing itself, just as in Moses, where he is 'as' a servant, and Christ is 'as' a son. For 'as a son' signifies a true Son and not a likeness; and Moses was not a likeness of a servant of God, but was a servant of Him. Therefore, regarding the word present, the beloved dwellings of God are not according to a parable but according to truth. And if we have meditated on what kind of things they are, we will more certainly understand them as beloved things, rather than finding them to be merely like beloved things. These things are therefore eternal and heavenly, concerning which the Savior says to those present, 'Make friends for yourselves from the mammon of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings' (Luke 16:9). My soul longs and faints, to cast off the psychic state and become spiritual, as is appropriate for the dwelling in the heavenly courts, as they have been spoken of in parallel.

The altars are not perceptible. For the altar was not a multitude, according to the history. Unless even the altar is called so, Lord of hosts of the heavens (Psalm 84:3).

The progression of power and the superiority of the divine courts§153

153The altars upon which sacrifices are brought up are better than the sacrifices of shadow and type. The apostle says that the types of those in the heavens are linked to these sacrifices, but the heavenly things are better sacrifices than these. For the sacrifices of praise and righteousness are brought up upon these altars, and those offering the living sacrifice, presenting their own bodies pleasing to God, they offer them not upon something else but upon these altars.

For the dwelling of God is perfect virtue and the highest knowledge of the truth (Psalm 84:4). It is said that in the presence of God the tent is a symbol of progress; for those traveling, it is a home. But the end of blessedness is made manifest by the dwelling of God's voice. And according to the history, the people traveling had a tent of witness (the dwelling of theology) and they had various tents for their own virtues in which all the people dwelt. Having reached the holy land, they had the dwelling in houses, no longer progressing; for they had reached the end of virtue and knowledge. But they were no longer approaching the tent of witness but the dwelling established, completing the things of worship. And there, therefore, after desiring and loving their progresses through the tabernacles, he began, saying, 'How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord' (Psalm 84:1), blessing those who have ascended through the progresses to the summit, as dwelling while bearing the state according to God, when the fullness is fulfilled upon them and the Son is revealed, we shall be like him, seeing him as he is (Psalm 84:6).

'The one set' signifies 'to do then,' as 'I set a guard with my mouth' instead of 'I did' (Psalm 39:1); and 'He who sets the inhabited world desolate' is the same as 'He who will make the inhabited world desolate.' And here 'the one set in a place' does not present 'He made a place.' For the surrounding place is not this. For in this God disposed of the things before...

He makes covenants for men. Let us not weep, nor let us praise the blameless weeping, learning from the fact that God established covenants for those who are here. For we shall also receive the blessings, living according to the will of the covenant given here. And we shall know the magnitude of the blessings given, understanding who the possessors of them are. And not such is the God who legislated. And they shall proceed from power to power. The virtues and contemplations of the truth are powers. Therefore, those having these are also more able.

Those having proceeded will not hasten according to the progress of the introductory power to become the more perfect, and those living according to the law toward the evangelical way—those knowing Christ according to the flesh to behold his glory, glory as unique from the Father; those knowing in part that he is on earth and that the most sharp knowledge does not fit—upon the coming of the perfect vision of contemplation to know as it is necessary to know, proceeding from a lower power of the intellect to a greater and more perfect power. Psalm 84:9 And more pure and more holy of the saints, but rather also of priests and kings, he is able to bring this merit to, Christ, the Son of God. For it is said, 'Do not be afraid of my Christs concerning all the saints,' and priests and kings were approaching as Christs in Hebrew. Psalm 84:10 Better it is to be in your courts for one day than a multitude of thousands of days outside your courts. For the perfection among men exceeds that which seems little in the courts of God. Such also is that which was said concerning John by the Savior: 'Among those born of women no one is greater than John, but the least in the kingdom is greater than him.' Matthew 11:11 Let it also be said thus here: men living are under time, but those in eternity are time unto a multitude.

Divine Goodness and the Turning of Wrath§154

154The days are divided, one day being an eternal and unceasing one, because of having been created in the divine courts of the Lord. For the Lord has become to him an eternal light, like the sun of righteousness, which is not able to be overcome by it. The unceasing day is greater than the life of many days occurring here.

Ps 83:12b–13: God gives grace to those being saved by grace, according to 'By grace you have been saved' (Eph 2:8), a gift of the grace able to be given here. For 'grace' and 'gift' signify the same thing, as one is found to be 'having been graced.' For this reason, it is said that someone has found grace in the sight of God. He gives this grace instead of a former grace, which we hastened to take from ourselves as much as possible. And He also gives glory to those worthy of receiving this, because He has promised the one saying, 'Those who glorify me I will glorify' (1 Samuel 2:30), clearly through good works and true dogmas. And those moving through all things, unhindered by any hand, go about in innocence. If innocence also signifies simplicity, let Him also establish it.

And since hope is the expectation of good things, and only the rational appetite for truly good things is the proper virtue of man, to hope is especially the substitute for piety; for it is written, 'Hope is to the pious one.' For the faithful are reborn into a living and abiding hope because the expectation of good things is pure.

Ps 84:2–4: For contemplation: the Lord is pleased with a good and eager heart becoming His land, because it receives the seed from Him and bears fruit a hundredfold. But He turns away from it also the multitude of captives brought by evil powers, the thoughts of Jacob, because of standing against the passions. These things, having worked them, He grants as a remission of transgressions, removing and loosening their lawlessness. And if even after a remission there is error, He covers these sins, entering into virtue; for virtue covers sins, not hiding them, but utterly destroying and making them vanish. For in this way love covers a multitude of sins. Just as knowledge covers ignorance, utterly destroying it in the soul that it was generated in, so also the love of God, being the same as virtue, covers the sins of those it benefits.

God was pleased with his earth, having sent his Son to appear on the earth and to associate with men; thus it is said, 'Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace among men of good pleasure' (Luke 2:14). From these things said, we learn that what is called God's wrath is not a passion. For because of sins, wrath is sustained, but it is managed such that they are destroyed and vanished, and it approaches them as a consequence.

If those serving wrath appear to be called vessels of wrath, being homonymous with it—fury and wrath being addressed—it is better that he visits. Since you are God, who gives us the salvations, turn us back, providing us opportunities for repentance and receiving us as we turn toward you (Psalm 85:4). For it will be possible for your fury to turn away from us. Since we have removed that wrath through which we sinned, once we have recognized and turned back, it will no longer act against us, vanishing. Just as fire, when the combustible fuel through which it acts is failing, is no longer, so too, once our sins are vanished, your fury will no longer be sustained against us.

God lives, providing life to those who turn to him, having departed from him and turned away from him; he himself, having turned his face, turned away from them through which they practiced evil. It is possible to understand 'having turned' in both ways, most certainly said. For it is not made clear whether he himself turned toward them or they themselves turned toward him. When life was granted to the living ones, the people of God rejoiced over him, the God who granted life.

Since they require salvation not from works but by the grace and mercy of God, they say, 'O Lord, show us through whom you show mercy and compassion to your people' (Psalm 85:7); for so also your salvation, that is, the salvation from you, might be given to us. It is possible to call Jesus the cause of mercy and salvation. For he is the mercy and the salvation of God, according to how he shows mercy and saves.

God does not speak striking the hearing of those listening from the outside, but placing his will within that mind, he desires to reveal to the intellect without utterance, which is why it is said, 'I will listen to what he speaks in me' (Psalm 85:8). Agree with this also the words of Habakkuk, which say: 'And...'

The Conjunction of Mercy, Truth, Justice, and Peace§155

155I will aim to see what the Lord God will speak in me. According to these things also Paul says: 'If you seek a test of the Christ speaking in me; for in him indeed Christ does not speak simply to him' (2 Corinthians 13:3). For he speaks through that person in whom he speaks; and not everyone who speaks through him, but only the hearing from the outside is struck. But the Lord God will speak in him, interpreting, whether it be peace or whether it be upon his people, the God of all, against all enemies of the people, clearly those subverting them, or the peace having possessed a mind surpassing all things of the people, by which all disturbance and noise are excluded, bringing tranquility. This peace is given from God and Father and Lord Jesus by grace, as the Savior says concerning it: 'My peace I give to you' (John 14:27). And this peace is given also to those who give back the things of God to God, guarding the righteousness toward him, who are rightly called his own. And he gives it also to those who through repentance turn their heart toward him, making the turning not crooked toward him nor superficial, but from the depth of the mind.

Then indeed he truly dwelt and brought glory in the earth, performing many and great things paradoxically: the Savior's resurrections of the dead, sight to the blind, cleansings of the lepers, and other wondrous things he did (Psalm 85:9). And as toward a more mystical word for those fearing God, he did not leave them wanting (For there is no lack to those fearing him), he drew near to the God-participating salvation which they partake in through which they act salvifically. For just as salvation is far from sinners, working the things of destruction, so the salvation of God is near to the opposite, to those fearing him. Therefore also he dwells, glory in the earth, of those saying these things. And you will say their earth: the good heart of theirs which has yielded a hundredfold fruit of the seed cast upon it. But what dwells in the heart as the glory of God, the word establishes, which says: 'The God who said light should shine out of darkness' (2 Cor 4:6); He shone in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of Christ. And it dwells also in the body of those persuaded by the exhortation being said: 'Glorify then God in the body' (1 Cor 6:20).

Regarding those who achieve perfect prudence (Psalm 85:10-11). From this, the following of virtues can be shown: that the merciful is true and the true is merciful, and that the just is peaceful and the peaceful is just.

In other words, truth is named along with mercy, as it is said in the Psalm: 'Thy mercy and thy truth have encompassed me' (Psalm 85:10), and 'God sent His mercy and His truth' (Psalm 57:3). I stand by saying these things because the truth of matters is difficult for men, and even more unreachable unless they happen to be granted it by the grace of God. Perhaps one cannot receive true salvation without the mercy of God, and thus they were named by righteousness. He says that mercy has met with truth. For if mercy and truth come to the same place, we shall know it and be in it.

Moreover, justice loves peace and peace loves justice. For where there is justice, there is certainly peace, without it being a mere sprout. You can also grasp these things regarding the Savior, spoken through His various thoughts, as has been clearly stated before. The truth of the Savior, having become man, has risen from the earth. For there is much deception and much falsehood among men. For there is no truth and mercy nor knowledge of God upon the earth; therefore, falsehood, murder, and adultery are poured out upon the earth, says the prophet (Hosea 4:1). This is not the falsehood of the whole earth that prevailed, but the one overcome by Him who said, 'I am the truth' (John 14:6), having caused the truth from the earth (that is, from men) to rise. But also, becoming justice according to the Word of God and Wisdom, He descended from heaven, bowing the heavens and coming down. He brought to us peace according to justice and mercy according to truth; for all these things are thought of in Him, as has been clearly said.

As the manner of rain being given, the soil bears the goodness of the Lord's gift; the intelligent earth gives fruit, having been moistened by the goodness from God. And the fruit of it is the general virtue, whereby the soul, being as a fruit-bearing earth, happens to be presented as described. It is possible to say regarding the people what is set forth, namely that...

Divine Mercy and Human Likeness§156

156Something like this is said. Since the Lord spoke peace upon his people, the justice of the people going before him will set his steps upon the way leading to blessedness; and the Lord himself, who is justice, goes before the people and will set his steps into a way. To whom, indeed, is it said, 'Before you I will go and I will make the level places'?

And likewise: the justice operating according to the law in Moses and the prophets, having come forward before the end of John from the Savior, having been placed into the way of his crossings in us, to dwell and walk among us, has cried out: 'Prepare the ways of the Lord straight, make his paths'; for he alone cries: 'Make straight for him who is stepping upon the mountains, the Lord, his name.' Care also regarding John, it is said: 'He will go before the Lord in spirit and in power like Elijah,' and 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

If even the Savior is justice going before the Father into the minds of the God-bearers, consider with understanding in what way it was said: 'He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me' (Matt 10:40). Psalm 85:2b,3: 'All the saints cry out as if upon a great command concerning the servant of God.' Jonah, indeed, when asked from what land he is and from what people, said: 'I am a servant of God, and I fear the God of heaven.'

And the apostles, indeed, are testified by the Savior well through works and words, confessing him as Lord: 'For you call me Lord and Teacher, and you say well: for I am both your Lord and Teacher always, learning from me and serving me sincerely' (John 13:13). And concerning their own letters, they set forward this significance, as if being refreshed by a greatest command: 'James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,' and 'Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.' Just as the men of the world in the writings of life-transactions wish to be designated by the honors concerning them, so the apostles in the beginnings of their writings are worthy to be designated servants of God and of Christ. David, doing the similar, and...

To the King, he says, 'Save, O God, your servant who hopes in you; save me in your abundant mercy, because as I say all the time of my life, I cry out to you' (Psalm 86:2-3). But leniency is not spoken of as being upon God; for leniency is a human virtue. If it is said about it to be more human, as are the other things, such as rejoicing, being glad, or remembering.

And 'gods' is said not only there to be taken for idols and demons, but also for the saints (Psalm 86:8; LXX 85:8). For in these no one is entirely and unchangeably the equal of the Lord. For He himself alone is likewise God to the Father; but each of these has become a god by participation, having received the Word of God according to 'They shall be gods' (Ps 82:6) and 'The Word of God became' (John 10:35). For even if they have become the image and likeness of God, none of them is in essence the equal of the Lord, being those who shall be made like Him but not being Him. 'You shall be holy because I am holy' (Lev 11:44), He who is holy, so that they may become holy. To speak the truth concerning those who shall become holy: 'Who is holy like you, Lord?'. For it has not been written, 'Who shall be equal to you among the gods, Lord?', but 'Who is your equal?'. For they shall be like, according to what was said: 'We shall be like him, what we shall see him to be.' No one is the equal of the Lord among the gods mentioned, nor does anyone among them attain it according to His works. Therefore also in the Gospel it is said, 'If I have not done the works which I did in them, no other man has done; he has no sin' (John 15:24). For even if the saints once did the same things as the Savior, it differs greatly in the manner: some working by prayer and faith toward God, others by exercising authority; therefore it is said that none of the gods are gods according to the works of the Savior. And it is said to us also in the beginning of the Second Book how it was said, 'Lord God, who shall be equal to you?', which we also ought to apply to the one encountering the prescribed word.

To partake blamelessly of the knowledge of the truth is impossible not through moral instruction and active deeds having been passed through (Psalm 86:11; LXX 85:11ab). For one is first led by God through prayer in the way; but this second way is that of practical progress. For the beginning of a good way is doing what is just, and so on.

The Son of the Handmaid and the Knowledge of God§157

157To be able to walk in the truth of God, one must progress in it and pass through to the end. The end of knowledge and truth is to bestow upon those who have known it completely and as they possess existence.

He who chooses these very good things rejoices in the possession of them (Psalm 86:11-13; LXX 85:11c–13). It is also to fear the name of God; the one desiring to have it with joy prays to be made glad in heart by God through fearing His name. Having obtained this, he confesses thankfully to the Lord God with his whole heart, which was made glad by the attainment of his requests. He also glorifies the name of God for eternity—that is, all the time of his life—it having become upon him great divine mercy, by which he was also rescued from the pit of slavery. For he named the lowest pit. For those sinning many and great things fall into the lowest pit, and in order that they might be rescued, they beg for great mercy, as one of them can easily say, 'Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy.' It is therefore fitting for one rescued from such great evil to glorify the name of God for eternity and to confess to Him with his whole heart.

One should not receive unthinkingly the saying that these things are spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the kings of the earth and the rulers standing and gathered together against him (Ps 85:14.15). 'Visit me' (Psalm 86:16; LXX 85:16). For you visit, you look, not at another, but to make well and to have mercy. Therefore also in the following things, the king is worthy to be given and to be guarded the kingdom, which God himself has given to him. For with this will follow his salvation as a child of God. If the prophecy is that concerning Christ, the promised things, then in this manner the upcoming things are smoothed out: David says, 'Looking upon me, as God, have mercy on me.'

And regarding your giving your power to your child in becoming human and taking the form of a servant. And since he follows the one who became man and died, God will save him, the son of your handmaid who said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word' (Luke 1:38). For truly, the handmaid and mother of the Lord is she who bore him. And he thought it to be said in parallel, the Lord as child and the son of the handmaid. And the people from the circumcision can also be a son of the handmaid. For Paul, writing to the Galatians, clearly says concerning these things, 'But he who is born of the handmaid according to the flesh has been born' (Galatians 4:23).

'Let a sign be made to me for good of the prophecy being taken up, which forbids among us humans, of a virgin giving birth before the trial of a man and remaining a virgin even after the birth' (Psalm 86:17; LXX 85:17). This is a sign for good, a help to our race. Therefore also we were comforted; for how could we not have been about to have the most complete consolation, having had God as a helper? 'God says he will remember Rahab and Babylon' (Psalm 87:4; LXX 86:4a), for those knowing him. Consenting to this, now having known God, but rather having been known by God. For having taken up the knowledge of him, we shall know him more, and most especially we shall be known by him: 'For if anyone does not know, he is unknown.' And to someone God says, 'Because you cast away knowledge, I will cast you away from ministering to me; you forgot the law of your God, and I will forget you, your children' (Hos 4:6).

Therefore, regarding those who are ignorant of him through faults, God has forgotten them, even though they knew him. Behold, therefore, of Rahab, who takes upon herself the wide way, and of Babylon, being interpreted as confusion, God is said to remember those who have known him. For those turning from the wide and spacious way, they are Rahab, having known God, and those from...

The Prayer of the Helpless Man§158

158Having come into the tranquility and stability of the mind from poured-out and disordered affections, they have entered Babylon having known God, whom God remembers, deserving of His remembrance when judged. The expansion may signify those coming from the east and west toward the kingdom (Psalm 87:4).

Regarding the Church, not only the rulers but also the peoples have been inscribed into the citizenship of the heavenly city of the living God, having a registration upon the church of the firstborn who are written down in heaven, which only God is able to recount. For their registration has not happened from the mere collection of their names, but from that which reveals the quality of their soul, which only He Himself bears. And it is possible to learn from the opposite by the observer: in Jeremiah it has been written, 'Those having departed from the earth shall be written' (Jeremiah 17:13). Just as those having departed and having become far from God are written upon the earth as the image of the worldly, surrounding themselves with earthly and material things and thinking of them, so those bearing the image of the heavenly and having citizenship in the heavens, being enregistered there, have been enrolled in the book of God.

Regarding 'For Ma'elah,' that is, for the dance or the chorale of the sons of Korah, for the understanding and for answering wisely to him who fears God and because of this truly becomes an Israelite. For their fear is interpreted as having all the divine fear and reverence, and to answer with understanding is proper for a wise listener while announcing the song with the dance and the divine chorale of the psalm.

'I have cried to You not only by day but also by night' (Psalm 88:1), not occurring in solitude among the bright and pleasant things of life (it is impossible to be so by day), but also having been in the gloomy ones, containing a nocturnal state; having cried out in the day, so that the participation in the good things might remain for me, and in the night, so that when its end is coming out of the night, I might be able to rouse my spirit toward You. And it is possible to say more simply, similarly to what was said by the Savior: 'The Father will avenge His children who cry to Him day and night' (Luke 18:7). For he who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night and through it...

With works and disposition, he cries out to the God of his salvation day and night, at times asking for salvation, at others entreating that it might be preserved, which already exists. And the voice saying, 'Let my prayer enter before you' (Psalm 88:2), speaks with much boldness toward God. For I ask such things as are profitable for me and appropriate for you and good to give (for I ask for the truly good things); let our prayer become in your hearing; for in this way you will also grant the responses I have requested, descending and inclining toward my cry; for in this way I have believed to be heard; therefore, O Lord, I cry out to you.

For many are the enemies lying in wait to tear my life into the pit (Ps 88:4), by whom my soul has been filled with despondency and evil struggles, that is, the indulgence of evil circumstances. The Holy Scripture calls the same place both the pit and the grave (Ps 88:5). The Savior himself, having become not a sinner, came for the salvation of those being slain to give a ransom, by the grace of God, having tasted death above all. For he alone died on behalf of all, and in this way he was counted among those descending into the pit.

For as each one rightly descends into the pit because of what he has done or thought, I was counted and numbered with them; not being led to this by the works of following, but by the Father's good pleasure and our will to be counted among those descending into the pit and being judged; not that I became arbitrarily and voluntarily as a helpless man, the likeness of which is not being raised to the man. 'Depart'; for he has become a man according to truth, and he says that to be like a man is not simply to be a man, but a helpless man. For being able not to suffer, not to be seized, and not to be bound, he gave himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

But even if he has become a helpless man voluntarily, as also to be cast into death, yet he is free among the dead. For among all those departing to the place of the dead, being led by some, not only the wicked but also the distinguished, Jesus alone has been emboldened to say, 'No one takes my soul from me; I lay it down from myself, so that I may take it again' (John 10:18). But what is the soul of all those by some into...

The Victory of the Savior over Death and Sin§159

159It will be clear to one who has studied the Gospels. For concerning Lazarus, a distinguished man, it is said: 'And it came to pass that the poor man died and was carried to the bosom of Abraham' (Luke 16:22); and toward something trivial he says, 'In this night they demand your soul from you'; and toward another face he says, 'Until you are brought down.' For the one being brought down by others is brought down there.

Therefore, no one among the dead is free, whether they are those being pulled toward others or those being led to the place of the dead; but Jesus alone, having placed his soul by himself, receiving it from no one, has become free among the dead. And why? Because although all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), being delivered from life with bonds, having difference in what is more and what is less having occurred in Hades, he alone, not having committed sin and not having known sin, has become free among the dead, as also to loose the bonds of death of the other dead in order to raise and vivify them.

For just as he alone on earth is the liberator of sins being given as a gift, he says, 'If the Son sets you free, you will be truly free' (John 8:36); so also, having become in Hades with freedom, he liberated the held souls, making fear work in those holding them; for even the gatekeepers of those places flew away, having seen his authority and his freedom. It follows then that you should interpret the following verses as having been spoken by Christ.

The Savior therefore says to his own Father: 'Even if I have come to be a Savior of the world, having come to seek and to save the lost, being made worthy of eternal salvation for all, but rather, O Father, you are the God of this salvation which I provide for the being saved; for I grant it by your will; therefore, becoming a Paraclete toward you on behalf of those who have sinned, I will save them, interceding for them.' Following this, you will understand the following, as previously foretold.

The Savior says: 'For no one will be able to snatch him who is guarded by the mighty hand of God' (John 10:29); for he is contained by God, invincible to those desiring to attack and snatch him.

He remains. But someone having become worthless through whom sin occurs, is unworthy to be made a part of the hand, and is cast away, no longer worthy to be held and remembered by God.

Since he says, 'Because I did not come into Hades and death according to my own work, but having tasted death on behalf of others, I bring the cause of falling into the lowest pit and into the very heart of the earth' (Psalm 88:6) instead of 'You made me to go into the lowest parts of the pit,' just as having resurrected those in the depth of this, he leads them away from there to bring them into the paradise of God. 'You laid me in the dark and in the shadows of death' (Psalm 88:6). For if he says he has become victorious even in death, it is not in death strictly speaking, but in its shadow (for he reached the third day having risen), and in the same way, having placed them in the darkness under them, he turned them away, so that they might no longer live in darkness but in me, the light.

The wrath of God is like fire, which takes sin as food (Psalm 88:7). Because of these things he underwent, and he himself acts; and as they are being consumed, he also approaches (Psalm 88:9). When many human abominations were occurring, the wrath of God was being carried against them, but the benefactor Savior submitted himself to the wrath of God, so that he might be fixed upon it, no longer moving or acting to find fuel, and so that God might be extinguished, not having been fed by him; because he was not known to sin, having been tested in all things without sin.

And he brought upon himself all those wavering temptations and tribulations, so that having struggled and having been tested in all things, he might be shown proven, so that we are no longer subject to wavering. For he dispelled them; and it is said of God, 'They are not for you,' because they are brought upon them for His judgment. Those of the circumcision who knew him and were known by him were fortunate, but those who responded to the law and the prophets had become far from him, having turned away and having been shown to be traitors, having been cast out from the Father and having been made far from His own Son, whose hand exists from which...

The Darkness of Perishing vs. the Light of Truth§160

160He drove them away according to the psalm: 'They drove You from my hand' (Ps 52:11). And he says that the pretext for them being distanced from Him is that they made an abomination for themselves. For the Jews, having become sinners, considered piety to be an abomination; for piety is an abomination to a sinner. Therefore, they also made the mystery-initiating abomination of this piety an abomination to themselves, not being of such a kind.

'I was handed over and was not delivered away.' For the Savior was not immediately handed over by them unto death and departed, leaving them nothing remaining to them in the providing of a way for repentance. For it was necessary for them to be perceptive, just as His eyes are said to be, and they grew weak as if to see Him no longer. Because of this he says, 'My eyes have grown weak from poverty' (Psalm 88:9). For the cause of the weakness is that spiritual poverty has come upon them, for they desired the flesh and, taking everything written according to the letter, they grasped it.

How then can His eyes, the perceptive ones of Israel, be able? This will become clear to you once you understand: 'You are the body of Christ and members in part' (1 Cor 12:27). Just as those who believed according to the Gospel fulfill the body of Christ—just as the perceptive ones are the eyes, the understanding ones are the hearers, and the practical ones are called the hands—so also, before the manifestation, those holding to the Scriptures were the body of the Word of God according to the stated analogy.

Psalm 88:10-12 'Can a voice be read thus: Will you not do wonders for the unfeeling ones, and will you not perform wonders for the dead who have lost the power to grasp?' For these things happen to those who perceive and are able to marvel, not to those who fight against God, the impious, and because of this they remain unrepentant. For no one will pray for them.

'There shall be a resurrection upon your confession.' For those who happen to be God-fighters are not of a nature to confess. And regarding 'resurrection' here, he is not speaking of the most common sense (for all shall partake of this), but of the one occurring through repentance, as it is said: 'Does not he who falls not rise again?' (Jeremiah 8:4). It is possible to decide: 'Will you not do wonders for the dead?' Only, he is not saying, 'Will you not do wonders for those who have been deadened by other gods,' since even those who become gods by fighting against God will not rise upon the...

To confess. For no one says that to those who have despaired and to those hidden in tombs, the announced mercy of you will be recounted to the living who desire to be shown mercy, but nor will your truth be recounted to those who are making a work of perishing and because of this are named perishing. For the Word recounts the mercy to those whose nature is to be shown mercy (for they are not those who show mercy to neighbors; for they say, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy'), but also the truth is not recounted in perishing, but to those who have passed over it and have reached salvation. The wonderful things are not to be known in darkness. Those held by superfluous wickedness and ignorance are darkness. For darkness is said of some, but also a land forgotten and a heart unremembered, being filled with thorns of pleasures and worldly cares. The wonderful things of the truth are not to be known in this, nor is practical justice and moral virtue in the land forgotten because of the thorns.

It is fitting for Jesus to speak with boldness, 'Why, Lord, have you rejected my prayer?' (Psalm 88:14), for it is not that you have rejected my prayer and turned your face away from me because I have sinned at all; therefore, having received my petition, lead all into salvation, for whom I intercede, shining upon them with your face. When the rich one, who labored for us, became poor for our sake, toiling for our salvation, the text says, not saying at all that he is poor, but from youth. For being rich and existing in the form of God, having emptied himself in this present age, he became poor, from the time he was born and had age; and having been lifted up to the cross and having been humbled, and his body having been laid into the tomb, it seemed to be vanishing, causing many who believed in him to stumble, but having risen from the dead, he was lifted up again into the heavens, having been taken up so as to draw to himself those who are able no longer to see him as poor and toiling because of the humanization, but as rich and the icon of the invisible God (Psalm 88:15). Since the Lord who became human bears the face of the many sinning of all humanity (for he took up the...)

The Preparation of Truth and the Oath to David§161

161Regarding all sin into his own body, all impulses according to various sins and his terrors passed over him as to disturb him, but they are not able to work against him, since he has not known or experienced sin. And it is said that the impulses and terrors of God, which are powers serving through punishments, turn out to be vessels of wrath.

These, having passed over the Savior, disturbed him, saying, 'Now my soul is troubled' (John 12:27). For even if he possesses a most perfect soul, yet seeing such a multitude of enemies, he experiences a fore-passion, especially since the water of the day surrounded him all at once, rushing against him and drowning him, if he had not been an excellent diver. For just as perceptible water surrounding someone drowns him, especially if he does not know how to swim, so the evil powers kill the one crushed by them.

But if they have become as water around Jesus, surrounding him all at once during the day, they are not even able to harm him; for much water will not quench the love (Song 8:7). For the perfection which is placed toward God through love is unquenchable. And this existed according to the human nature of Jesus, so that the shield of the hands cannot harm him.

And thus Eusebius of Caesarea, Didymus, and Apollinaris explained. It is said many times that the generation is carried in two ways. It signifies the people from the circumcision and the Gentiles. And it gives the reason for which the mercies of the Lord are for ever, having brought them in, that if all, mercy will be built up for ever. For the age which has come has not arrived, God clearly shows mercy and does good; and by this he says mercy is built up for ever. For just as a building is composed of many and various things being fitted together, so a building of many being benefited by the mercy of God takes place. Perhaps mercy is being built up, the building of wisdom...

Having built for itself these things. For its humanization is the foundation and the end of the building of mercy, the removal of the pre-occupying sin of all those being shown mercy.

From these things follows: 'In the heavens your truth shall be prepared' (Psalm 89:2). For since we, those on earth, are imagined to be able to perceive divine things not yet with a clear face, but through a mirror and in a riddle (1 Cor 13:12), in the heavens the truth of God is being prepared for those having been prepared from there as if they are about to face it. For then they face to face the beauty of the truth, having seized the end of knowledge and understanding, the partial reaching of things having been abolished for them. And the truth of God is being prepared in those not thinking of earthly things but having their citizenship in the heavens, by wearing the image of the heavenly through which the heavens are used.

By this God gives to David his father the throne to reign over these people forever, Jacob, into the ages (Psalm 89:4; LXX 88:4), as if there is no end to his kingdom. And so that no one might think that David attained this blessing by chance according to favoritism, God says, 'I have sworn to David my servant'; for since David has been proven a genuine servant and worshiper, I give to him a sign, that a virgin, chaste and untouched by man, shall give birth to the God who is with you among men. For this the voice of Emmanuel signifies; it is not the seed of David being prepared. And the 'I have sworn' spoken by God establishes the stability of the promise toward David. For just as an oath-taker keeps an inviolable intention, being pressed by the word of a binding agreement with God, so also God, regarding whom it is said He eternally and certainly grants by oath, does not act according to another. For He says, 'As for myself, I have sworn, says the Lord, not as to the unfaithful...'

The Circumference of Truth and Divine Light§162

162He does not use mere words, but promises an unchangeable and unalterable will. Since his will regarding the man from David becoming his son is unalterable, it is fitting that the Lord said to my servant, 'You are my son' (Psalm 2:7). No one of those born from God, having received the spirit of adoption, will be able to become like the Lord. For he alone, according to truth, is the offspring of God, while the others are called sons of God to partake in him.

For the sake of a perfect understanding of what is set forth, we shall use the apostolic voice, which sounds thus: 'Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ' (2 Cor 13:14). For having called God Father of himself and of those near him, he was reverent, not assigning to himself an equality with any glory to the only-begotten Son; therefore he added, 'And the Lord Jesus Christ,' having cried out only once: 'if indeed we have become sons by the grace of God, and he himself becomes our Father, yet also we are slaves of Jesus Christ according to the nature of our Lord who is' (Rom 8:17).

This very thought is confirmed by the set-forth word: 'For who shall be like the Lord among the sons of God?' (Psalm 89:6). No one is, according to essence, a son of God, except the Savior alone, who is the only one consubstantial with the Father; but those who are not according to essence, but according to quality, shall be made like him, just as they become merciful like the Father and perfect as the Father becomes: 'You shall be holy, because I am holy' (Lev 11:44). For the Lord comes upon the clouds of heaven with much power and glory, and the saints shall be caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, to be with him forever (1 Thess 4:17).

Therefore, of the Lord and the saints being in the clouds, no one of those caught up in clouds shall be equal to the one coming upon the clouds of heaven with much power and glory. For each one was caught up with power, but not with much glory. For that power and glory he possessed, but the Savior will come with much power and glory; and each of those was in a cloud, but not upon the clouds. The expression 'upon the clouds' establishes the authoritative and kingly, whence no one in clouds shall be equal to the Lord; for truly, the cloud of each of the saints, being spiritual, is the intelligible moisture (the clouds...

For he says, 'justice has overwhelmed' (Psalm 89:6), no such clouds can be found equal to the Lord, who is also a cloud, since each of them only waters a little, but He waters not only all men but also all rational things.

He is also fearful to those who are opposed, threatening punishments and bringing them down against those who fall away from His divine commands. For you, being near Him in receiving His divine teaching, while sinning, are near the fire, as the words of the Savior say: 'He who is near me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom.' Thus, in the present word, He is fearful to those around Him who, through having believed in Him, disobey His commandments; how great is He to those held by His virtue.

The truth about God is none other than the one saying, 'I am the truth' (John 14:6). If it is around God, it can never not be, lest God should descend from not being once surrounded by truth to this. But it is surrounded by this, generating it, and He alone is the true God. For just as He alone is wise, not participating in wisdom but generating wisdom, so He alone is true and has truth around Him, not taking part in it but being with others and giving it to them.

For the Father exists with the Son in every thought and energy; for the Word, being with God, is God the Word, since the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father; for it is fitting for a God-Word to be with God the Father. But also as light, God has light with Him, the Son, as it is said in Daniel: 'And the light is with Him.' For it is not 'was' or 'will be' but 'is,' for this shows eternity, and thus it is said to be an emanation of eternal light. And the truth is said not to have 'become' or 'be going to be' around, but to 'be' of the almighty God. And the eternal power will be present to the almighty God, which exists the same as the wisdom, truth, light, and Word of God, but also 'your truth is around you.'

Understand this (Psalm 89:9): faith in Him ruling all creation and the sea, regarding what is written about Jonah; for there it is said that waves were stirred up in the sea, and again, the sea will be to Him from the...

The Creative Power and the Arm of God§163

163of its violence. And Jesus, demonstrating by word what kind of son he is of the master of the dominion of the sea, rebukes it while it is being agitated and stirring up a storm, and immediately calms it.

But if the sea's allegory signifies the life of men, its dominion may be the evil one in whom the whole world lies, that is, the mortal and perilous state. By this, the master of the sea, providing weakness to its dominion, grants authority to the travelers to suffer against all his power, calming the unstable and irregular surges of its waves, which are called upon it, making it also a firm footing for those receiving authority to walk upon it with Jesus, of whom Peter bears the image.

For no one, apart from Jesus, is able to suffer the sea of life, becoming subject to anxieties and pleasant passions, unless he walks along with Jesus. For he is the one walking as if on dry land upon the sea, as it was said to him: 'Your ways, O God, are in the sea, and your paths in many waters' (Psalm 77:19). For Jesus has trodden paths in the strong waters; the passions are also life-related anxieties that those following his tracks are able to mount.

Regarding the thought, all those interpreting confess his wonders, and the earth receiving Jesus, being a seed and bearing fruit, becomes his property, reaching one hundred and sixty and thirty. And he established the inhabited world upon its fullness, being no other than the church, in which souls dwell having adhered to the right reason and the truth. But sacred powers also dwell in it, intervening around those fearing him.

And the foundation upon which it was established is not other than that about which Paul writes, for no one else is able to lay a foundation other than the one laid, which is Jesus Christ. And the fullness of this spiritual inhabited world, being founded upon the same foundation, is the fullness of virtues and of the dogmas of piety, along with the divine gifts of the Spirit.

And the Lord created the north and the seas, so that they are no longer as they were before. For just as having created the two into one, a new man from the two, he has...

It has been struck, and the being-created heart is pure, from which it has become pure; and he creates also those outside of faith, so that in Christ they might become a new creation—not by creating the north wind and the seas. But everyone who obtains divine election and is suspended by light, having been enlightened, rejoices in the name of God with a light of knowledge.

Just as Tabor is indeed outside, but Hermonius is a suspension of light; for the Hebrew names of the mountains are taken toward these things. And if Tabor is also interpreted as a pit (for it does not carry the sense), you will understand how it is said 'a praiseworthy pit', having understood how God gives to some in a manner of blessing pits that have been dug; those who have dug them did not dig them out. And if the pit were spoken of in mockery, having changed the voice, it would not be named thus, as one should not enrich wells; the spring will rejoice upon the name of the Lord (Psalm 89:12).

The poetic power of God (but this is His creative power, His only-begotten Son) is signified to all those who are within by name. For 'arms' is said in the Psalms: 'And the arm of the Lord, to whom was it revealed? And your arm, O Most High, and you shall not be afraid.' But also the 'hand of the Lord' is confessed in: 'My high hand has done all these things'; and 'right hand' in: 'Exalt me with the right hand of the Lord.' For the holy one says to God: 'Yours is the arm with might, reigning and holding all things.' And it also says: 'Let your hand be strengthened, performing wonders and accomplishing great powers.'

For Peter says to God: 'Grant to your servants to speak your word with boldness, stretching out your hand for signs and wonders' (Acts 4:29). In thought, the power of the Father is not different; Christ is called these things. For if He is the Son of God and Wisdom and the Word of God and Truth, He is the right hand being lifted up by God, suspending and lifting up all, and He goes forth before your presence as mercy and truth; for no one who is to approach your face has been previously pitied and has conversed with the truth. It is possible, then, as in other places and here, that mercy and truth are not other than the Only-begotten, as in 'God sent forth His mercy and His truth.' It is not other than the Only-begotten Son of God, who is the same.

The Perception of the Lord and the Vision of the Prophet§164

164With the mercy and the truth of God pre-sojourning, he manifests to the minds the Father joined to him;

'For he who receives me receives the Father' (Matt 10:40), and 'We shall come, I and the Father' (John 14:23).

For being the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15), he manifests himself to the pure mind, that by being seen he may also show the Father.

But if the Son should be called the face of the Father, by being the character of his own hypostasis,

this face must go before among those who through purity of heart are able to look upon the face of God—mercy through ethical virtues and truth through knowledge of the mysteries of piety.

For since we are shown mercy according to ethical activity, and according to knowledge we approach the truth; for this reason mercy is named in many places together with truth.

If we effect power, then our horn shall be exalted in your good pleasure. For our horn was exalted by the good pleasure of God, who says, 'This is my beloved Son in whom I have been well pleased' (Matt 3:17). For He was well pleased to effect our salvation through His own Son. And because of this, he says, our horn was exalted in the good pleasure of God, since the perception of the Lord is that by which He perceives, fighting and defending those who receive this grace from Him.

And this perception belongs to the holy Israel, our king. For the king of the true Israel, seeing God, is a son; the same perception is not of the Lord. The same perception of the Lord can be as being worked by Him, and of the holy Israel as enduring it. And a holy Israel in these things is one who is sanctified in the mind to see Him. And our King, being restored by the Lord who transcends, what is the perception of our Lord the King and of the holy Israel? (Psalm 89:18).

He who perceives a spoken word, if he only senses it, it is through hearing, if he hears the one speaking; but if he understands the things being announced, he does not perceive by hearing, but by vision of the mind he perceives the speech of the one offering it. Since God was showing things rather than merely announcing them, He speaks to His sons who are being enriched through progress and perfection, not in hearing but in vision. So also it has been written concerning Israel: 'And the people saw the voice of the Lord' (Exodus 20:18). It is necessary to say, 'Heard the voice of the Lord,' but if it is said instead 'Saw the voice,' that is to say, he perceived it with the mind.

The prophets were seers of visions; for they did not say they were perceiving by sensing some things or by grasping them with the eyes, but they were striking with the mind at the beauty of intelligible things. 'You spoke in vision to your sons': 'I made help as far as possible,' saying this regarding the Savior who has come from the root of Jesse. For truly in this He set help to help all creation that is able. And the one on whom He set help is the chosen one from the people, exalted not according to divinity but according to the flesh. For concerning him it is also, 'Israel is my chosen one,' and the people received him...

For truly in him he set help capable of helping the whole creation.

And the mighty one upon whom he set help is the elect from the people, exalted not according to the Godhead but according to the flesh.

And concerning him is also the 'Israel my elect' (Isa 42:1); 'she received him [...].'

The Anointing and Calling of the Son§165

165My soul. For he was chosen from myriads, as in the selection of the elect. And because of this the Father exalted him, granting to him the name which is above every name. 'I have found David my servant' (Ps 89:20); and since the one according to the flesh is of the seed of David, it is possible and sufficient for him to be held by the hand over all the rational creation so that he might teach me in this way; therefore he anointed him with holy oil, proving him priest and king in all things (In holy oil, by the Holy Spirit, clearly meaning anointed, as it is said: 'God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness among your companions' Ps 45:7), because my hand shall take hold of him, his arm being strong.

And the arm and hand of God, the divinity of the Only-begotten; and it takes hold of him, performing strange and great works through him. An enemy will not benefit in him; instead of the devil (for he does not know sin, nor is there deceit in his mouth), thinking he can benefit, while he is able to instill deception and other wickedness. But no son of lawlessness, having come to break the law, will be able to harm him by surrounding him with sin. But the benefiting against the enemy lies strictly in overcoming. And in the Gospel, indeed, the deliberating chief priests and Pharisees against Jesus, not overcoming in his gathering, said to one another, 'See, you benefit nothing'; and the whole world went after him (John 12:19)—so that they would not overcome at all.

These things, Didymus says, clearly dividing the one Christ, even if in some way he turned away his manifest slanders. For he clearly presents two persons and two sons, and leads toward this kind of life a doctrine; therefore it seems to me that the interpretation of the one before him is more preferable to those wishing to think devoutly. And Eusebius, through similar things to Didymus, almost brings forward recollections in which he selects: 'The one of the prophets etc.'

He says of David, because the one according to the flesh is of the seed of David, it is possible and sufficient for him to be of hand; for this reason the voice of David is taken up. He found and with holy oil anointed him, since my hand shall take hold of him, strengthening him by my arm (Psalm 89:20-21). And the arm and hand of God, the Son of God, has been said. For he overcomes the man, taking hold of him, the one born from the virgin. And the hand overcomes him and takes hold, performing extraordinary works through him. And the enemy will not profit; the devil is in the man who is the Lord's; for he did not know sin, nor was there deceit in his mouth.

He himself (clearly the one anointed with holy oil) will call upon me; 'You are my Father, God,' he says (Psalm 89:26). For since having been born from the virgin he has been called the Son of God, he will call upon me, saying 'You are my Father,' the only-begotten Son of God (for he is Son according to essence), but not only calling but confessing God as Father. And he took upon himself man, and was called the Son of God, and calls God his Father and the supporter of his salvation; for he raised him and into the heavens he took him up. And he has become a supporter also of his own salvation, not that he himself is saved, but that he saves those fleeing to him. And having thus called upon the Father, the cause of all, the Father himself sets him as firstborn, bearing the first things of all those who have been called sons of God, not in the same way as he was raised up with the only-begotten; for he alone is the genuine instrument and temple of the God Word.

But do not let him fail you, thinking until then that the throne of Christ will be extended until the fullness of this; for heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). For he reigns again, his words not passing away after the passing of heaven and earth. For it has not been said 'I will throw down the...

The Defilement of the Sanctuary and the Scattering of the Apostles§166

166His throne lasts until the passing of the heavens, but like the days of heaven; for after the passing, heaven is. It is not possible for its passing to be perishable. And the bright and combatable things can be days of the earth, but the bright and light-like mysteries of truth are days of heaven; likewise, the throne of the Savior, having been placed unshakable, remains forever.

In this, God steadfastly promises by swearing, upon which He has spoken and enters into (Psalm 89:35-37). Since He does not change His mind after swearing, giving an unpassable priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek, He remains constant; and having promised to Abraham with an oath that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed, He shows the immovability of the blessing. If indeed He gives something by chance, He does not swear upon it; for indeed, having handed the kingdom to Saul without an oath, He did not change His mind. Since He also willed that the Savior be born from David according to the flesh, and that his seed, having come from David, be unpassable and steadfast, He was faithful to Him regarding the making of the unshakable promises. Therefore, O Moses, David says: 'In my holiness, not lying, upon which I promised, his seed remains for ever, sharing the throne of his beginning with the Sun of Righteousness.' And the moon remains most fully illuminated as the gathering of those being enlightened by Christ for ever, when the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the righteous shall shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Psalm 89:35-37). And a faithful witness concerning this being so in the heavens exists; concerning Job he says, 'Behold, in the heavens is my witness and my supporter in the highest' (Job 16:19).

But Didymus did not give the intellect in the same way as the interpretation of Eusebius: 'You, O Lord, having said the seed of Christ remains for ever, have cast away his seed.' Having rendered him powerless, taking up the Christ, who, having been anointed with holy oil, remains for ever and ever, those descending from him shall be shown mercy. Having overthrown the covenant of your servant, having cast up the Christ, though having said you would not profane your covenant with him.

And having defiled even his sanctuary into the earth, indeed his body is given unto death and a memory, while the church, being near, and his sanctuary having been defiled into that earth in the times during which you permitted or continued persecutions to be accomplished for the sake of the godless.

But Christ, the servant of God, is found having taken the form of a servant, becoming according to what was said to the angel, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word' (Luke 1:38). And you demolished all his enclosures from his sons, every most fortified help, so that those attempting to plot against them might be able to act against them. For enclosures, according to the Scripture, are diversely becoming guards from God; and it is possible to call the apostles the enclosures of the Christ's vineyard, whom those seeing them scattered say are being removed by God, having been scandalized in the night of the betrayal of Jesus (Matt 26:56). You reproached his strongholds with cowardice. It has been said that the true disciples of Christ are his strongholds, having been placed in cowardice at the time of the betrayal of Jesus.

It followed that Christ was snatched away by those pursuing or departing from the way. But Christ, being snatched away, is not another from those snatching away his body; for you are the body of Christ and members in part (1 Cor 12:27). And it is possible also to call the strongholds of his church according to various local dwellings his strongholds.

To this also you reproach him toward those called his neighbors because of being toward him and around him. For those who seem to be gathered as neighbors of him through a pseudonymous knowledge, thinking that they contain his Scripture and are near his church, are those through whom they think and act badly, reproaching him. For just as he who works rightly and praises rightly according to the truth glorifies him from the opposite, so those who are disposed oppositely to the right ones reproach him. Because of these things, you reproached him on the right side of his enemies; for they exult as if they had overcome by their own power, and having done so, you abandoned him. And you reproached him upon those things happening to him, and those hating him, not assisting him in the war. But rather you turned away the sword of his help, the...

The meaning of 'Who'§167

167The sword of his help; for it is carried on both sides. For having gone to war against Christ, his enemies, and hating him, they did not stand against him in the war, as if they had decided to lead him away to be crucified and to bring all other things against him insultingly.

These things will cease from saying, those who have desire toward Christ and having rightly received the providence, not seeing the intention according to which the Father, not sparing his own Son, delivered him to those standing and gathered against him, having learned the salvation having been made straight through his death, not only of the Father having delivered him on behalf of us but also of himself having delivered himself unto this; for he gave his soul a ransom for many.

Having abolished the debt from his cleansing, and the following things as of the psalm. Thinking that he had departed from the things promised to him, and they say these things. For they supposed him to be abolished from the cleansing, thinking he did not work through his blood; upon which they think also that his throne has been broken down to the earth, the days of his throne having been diminished.

But nothing of this sort will happen concerning his throne, since God has established him as the days of heaven, not as the things that are earthly. But also God remains in opposition to himself if the throne of Christ is as the sun and the completed moon for the age. For having seen him having been crucified and having suffered, they saw him having received the kingdom at the end, his throne having been diminished and overturned, and having taken upon himself the shame upon the cross, concerning which the apostle says: He endured the cross, despising the shame, instead of the joy set before him, having risen from the dead, no longer being abolished by the cleansing but perfecting and working, him removing the sin of the world, according to the said thing: having made a cleansing of sins, he sat at the right hand of majesty in the high places, being raised up and having firmly established the throne, remaining for a long time and an eternal age (Psalm 89:46-47).

Remember what the hypostasis of us who say these things is. For we are unstable and changeable being autonomous; therefore also we fear lest we be drawn into impiety. O God, looking quickly upon your mercy...

For the expressed anger is not of such a nature as to be merely extinguished. The term 'hypostasis' may not signify the essence, as we have interpreted, but rather that which one is able to sustain according to the underlying state.

Since 'who' signifies many things, let us observe what is meant by the various uses of 'Who is man?'. For 'who' sometimes signifies a person, as in 'Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place?' (Ps 24:3). It also denotes the rare or exceptional, as in 'Who is the faithful and prudent servant?' and 'Who is wise and understands these things?' and 'Who is discerning and will know these?'. The word is even applied to the incapable in 'Who knows the Lord?' and 'Who became his counselor?' and 'Who gathered the winds in his bosom?' and 'Who turned the water into a garment?'. The word is also applied to the insignificant, as if he were no one, in 'If God is for us, who is against us?' (Rom 8:31) and 'Behold, the Lord helps me; who will harm me?' (Isaiah 50:9). It is also applied to one called by a specific name by some, but by others as an individual or a single unit, as in 'a certain noble man'.

Here it is possible to grasp the upcoming passage regarding 'no one': 'For who is the man that shall live and not see death?' (Psalm 89:48) instead of 'No one'. And if the discourse is about common death, no one truly lives and does not see death, according to what is said, 'For death passed upon all men, of whom all sinned' (Rom 5:12), and 'For it is appointed unto men once to die' (Heb 9:27). For 'who' is equivalent to 'all men'. No one is a man, since every man is a mortal creature, and every man having fallen from divinity, as in 'You die as men' and 'Wherefore your wrath and indignation, are ye not as men and walk after the manner of men?'. For none of such people have become unhistorical regarding death by sinning; therefore it is said, 'Who is the man that shall live?'. For such a thing is a god, among those called gods through participation in divinity. For they alone shall not see death, since they live by transforming into eternal life; a life which Hades shall not be able to consume or hold, as God saves such people from the hand of Hades.

These things indeed will be said, while we remain upon the literal sense; but if...

The fulfillment of prophecy and the light of mercy§168

168He says that those seated with the apostles, the earth being shaped to be a soul capable of bearing fruit, and the inhabited world in which angels dwell, and the dogmas of truth and the gifts of the Spirit, will speak before all these, just as to the prophets God has become a refuge from generation to generation. And the phrase 'And from the age and as of the age you are' signifies the movement of God from infinity to infinity. For you are the same one remaining forever, not one in one age and another in another age; for you are the same one, unchangeable and immutable, from infinity to infinity.

Having raised man from things of lowliness and debasement to height, guarding him in that suspension and height, do not turn him back to become such as the low things (Psalm 90:3; LXX 89:3). Place our iniquities before you, to punish us for them, as all our age—and time is that which extends our day with bodily life—is manifest and enlightened to you, not only of every transgression in practice but also of that which is manifest and enlightened to you in thoughts (Psalm 90:8; LXX 89:8).

The coming prayer of those standing by is: what God has in his right hand, and to see it, what they are doing (Psalm 90:12; LXX 89:12-17). As those standing say: O Lord God, reveal the providence of the world which you created through your right hand, so that we may grasp not how it does and works through it, but let us know it as it approaches us. The petition of those calling upon the presence of Christ is able, for He himself is the right hand of God. For then the right hand of God became known, who is the Word having become flesh who dwelt among us; for we beheld his glory as of the only-begotten from the Father. And having known the right hand of God, let us know with it those who have been instructed in wisdom in the heart, who are not merely those who claim to be. But we speak of Wisdom in the perfect ones. It is possible even for the prophets to be known as those having been instructed in wisdom in the heart, for whom the brightness of Christ has been revealed. For then the prophets, truly proclaiming beforehand concerning him, were shown to be perhaps able.

Before their prophecies were fulfilled. For their words have reached an outcome through the revealed right hand of God, and they have become manifest as if they were instructed by the wisdom of God.

But the heart is instructed in wisdom by one who has made the mind and the ruling principle wise, as the speaker himself contends in ten thousand ways as if to say they are speaking truly: 'Even if he is an unlearned man in speech, yet not in knowledge.' And it is also said, 'Those laid low in heart by wisdom.' For the thought and the memory are laid low from the plains of the wisdom of the wise and the pious one imposing it upon things; and it is said concerning the plains of wisdom, that we protect the feet of the soul by stepping into them.

'Turn back, O Lord; how long will you turn your face and your right hand away from us?' (Psalm 90:13). For you do this to us for only a little while, yet a long time appears to those exhausted by the longing. Having been discouraged among your servants, turn back to us, having become distant and having turned away from your commands.

'We have been filled in the morning with your mercy' (Psalm 90:14). For your right hand, which we were worthy to be made known, having shone upon us, prepared the beginning of a spiritual day, like the sun of righteousness (Mal 4:2). In the beginning, occurring in the morning, we were filled with the mercy from you, as your true light enlightened us in all those days so that we might rejoice and be glad (Psalm 90:14). It is not something entering into our minds in the morning that is poetic.

But since it rises to us not in one way but diversely according to various actions and thoughts, we come to be filled in many days; in all those days let us rejoice and be glad, so much as to be able to loose the dark and evil exterior of the days, in which you humbled us by captivity and delivered us to enemies through ignorance and malice. For in days and in many more, having been humbled, we see evils, but you provide the opposites of the truly good things, concerning which it is said, 'The fool does evil in jest,' or the things that are burdensome and causing harm, concerning which it is said to Job, 'If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not also receive evil?' (Job 2:10). For having seen both kinds of evils before, now we rejoice and are glad. Look then upon the...

The Protection of the Eagle and the Shield of Truth§169

169Guide your servants and the works of your hands, and those born to us through teaching and the imitation of virtue, being pure and harmonious, onto the path of salvation. For so shall your brightness as God shine upon us, as the sun in your kingdom. Therefore we pray, direct the works of our hands upon us. But those who are bold are those who spread snares and lie in wait, not wanting the works of his hands to be directed toward the evil, but rather to be surrendered to oblivion.

Hunters are in these things, and deceivers and sophists, men attempting to trap people, so that they might go through wisdom into false doctrines. Therefore, he who interprets their trap is a confused speaker; for nothing stirs up and agitates the mind like an argumentative speech. The evil powers are also hunting through a snare, catching souls through harmful desires and other passions; for he says, 'The eye of a prostitute is a snare to the sinner,' and 'For a woman hunts the precious souls of men.' And they hunt through wealth and through those nearby. But the leader of these hunters is the devil, who himself is a snare. It is said concerning someone, 'Lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.'

This is in accord with the song of Deuteronomy regarding God: 'As an eagle will cover his nest and upon his young ones he has hovered, spreading his wings he received them and carried them upon his feathers.' All those who, through endurance and the other strength of approaching virtue, soar like eagles, are high-flying, being suspended by the wings of understanding and practical virtue. It is from God that they have come to possess such things; therefore they also are his young ones, as it is said in the prophet, 'But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.'

They shall grow wings like eagles, running and not growing weary. God will cover those who have grown wings like eagles with the young ones of an eagle; for as an eagle covers its young, so God, having desired his young ones, takes them upon his wings to cover them.

And in the present saying, regarding the one dwelling in the help of the Most High, it is said how God takes him up upon his wings to hope and expect good things happening in the wings of God. But it is said: what are the wings of God, and how does one hope, being shaded by them? For it is written: 'In the shadow of your wings I hope' (Psalm 91:4; LXX 90:4c–6).

The defender God, as a shield, and with the side of his truth surrounds all the one guarded by him, so that he may remain unhurt by all those plotting to cast him down, and especially by the one sending out burning arrows. But the one surrounded by the truth of God, having put on the armor of God and having taken up in all things the shield of faith, will not fear even if it becomes night, being illuminated by the circling truth and light that reaches him.

For if ever someone, even having become in ignorance, should seem to be in a nightly state, he will not fear, possessing the light which is the cause of knowledge, which is the same as the truth. And even if night is the harmful and dark things of life, he does not fear even having become in this night, being able to say: 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?' (Ps 27:1). For honoring God and therefore being strong, he fears no one except him, having learned: 'Honor God and you shall be strong, but fear no other.' Just as the one in the night does not fear, because he has light and there are those watching the night, so also the one having the one who said: 'Do not fear, for I am with you,' will fear nothing of the aforementioned nightly things.

The Right Hand and the Falling Enemy§170

170Only those who fear, sleeping and drinking in the night, are affected; but the one surrounded by the truth of God is not struck by a flying arrow in the daytime. A heterodox word promises a flying arrow in the daytime.

But he who uses the truth does not fear being led astray by a deed in the darkness. A deed led astray in the darkness is every sin and every ignorance and the working of those evil spirits of error.

Along with these, he will not fear any accident, bearing all things tangibly and bravely, saying the same thing to Job: 'If we have received the good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not receive the bad?' (Job 2:10). As it seemed good to the Lord, so it happened. For everything brought by the Lord is received as good, knowing that to those who love the Lord all things work together for good (Romans 8:28), even the painful and distressing things brought by temptation.

Therefore, it happens to conquer and to turn against them. For blessed is the man who endures temptation (James 1:12), who having been proved, shall receive the crown of life. He who is found in so many uprightnesses does not even fear the devil transforming himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). A midday demon is promised a full-strength light through philosophy and empty deception; this very thing is entirely a midday demon.

Not he alone, but also his servants, transforming themselves into servants of righteousness, are midday demons. But even if each one pretends to be such a midday demon, those who pretend will not remain, when the light of the ungodly is extinguished, when Christ has come to enlighten the hidden things of darkness and to reveal the counsels of the hearts (Psalm 91:7-9; LXX 90:7–9).

He who is upright in practical matters and in the knowledge of the truth holds many who attack treacherously in his hands, but he surrounds all of them, having put on the armor of God. Since fewer attack the moral matters on the left, while many are on the right regarding the spiritual, thousands fall from the bench of the perfect, ten thousands falling from his right. The bench, being said in opposition to the right, implies the notion of the left and the ill-named. Similar to these is also in Deuteronomy...

It is called rightly regarding those who uphold the law: 'If he will pursue a thousand, two thousand shall flee before him' (Deuteronomy 32:30). And Paul, not having been perfected, fights against the adversaries through the ships of righteousness of the right and the left, predicting a thousand falling from his left and ten thousand from his right.

And in Ecclesiastes, in praise of the right, it is said thus: 'The heart of the wise is at his right hand, but the heart of a fool is at his left' (Ecclesiastes 10:2). The wise man, having his mind upon the intelligible and spiritual things, is called right because the precious things are on the right; but he who lacks understanding regarding sensible and material things is second and on the left.

And the falling thousand and ten thousand do not approach the righteous to harm him; for it is written, 'They shall not approach you' (Ps 91:7). For when the zealous one intends to approach, the phalanx of the adversaries falls. For it is said, 'As they approach to devour my flesh, those who afflict me and my enemies themselves have stumbled and fallen' (Ps 27:2).

These things are fulfilled symbolically in the Gospels; for how closely did those who had come to seize Him dare to approach Jesus, when He said, 'Whom are you seeking?' and they answered, 'Jesus of Nazareth,' and He, Jesus, said, 'I am,' and they went backward and fell to the ground (John 18:4-6).

Besides these things being fulfilled (I am indeed saying regarding the falling thousand and ten thousand of the enemies not approaching the righteous), he will understand with the eyes of his mind, being guarded by that which has been made upright for him by the truth, the things that have been made upright for him, and he will see also the retribution of sinners; having said these things about them, he immediately confesses Him, the Cause of all existing goods. Because of this he says: 'O Lord, all these things have been made upright for me, since no one else but You have established my hope.' For if in the things above it is said, 'God is my refuge and I hope in Him' (Ps 91:2), and 'Under the wings of God, you hope' (Ps 91:4).

He says 'Perceptions and thus'; since the circumstances of both the unrighteous and the righteous fall together in common, and he is named because of the things that have fallen upon him, the words set forth are not regarding these evils. For a bodily scourge has often struck the tent, that is, the body of the righteous; for 'we were being tested, we were being scourged,' says Paul (1 Corinthians 11:32). And the Savior Himself also...

Angelic Protection and Spiritual Warfare§171

171He was scourged while being led to the cross, fulfilling what was foretold through the prophet about himself: 'I gave my back to lashes' (Isaiah 50:6).

Therefore, of the race of evils, the second kind—which applies indiscriminately to the excellent and the vile—does not approach the one who makes the Most High his refuge. For, clinging to Him and becoming a partaker of the good things, it is said: 'But for me, to cling to God is good.' For this good thing, possessing it, is a cessation from opposing evils, conquering evil through the good and thus doing the good. He who is fulfilled in goodness, in doing and working the good, is not a partaker of true evils.

But since the aforementioned evils do not approach the one who makes the Most High his refuge, neither does the scourge brought upon them approach his dwelling, since he is not a sinner; for only the sinner is scourged in this way. For many are the lashes of the sinner; and it has been said to us in other places that the same circumstances are lashes to the sinners, but contests to the righteous. Never do the burdensome and evil things come upon the pious as a scourge, but as a testing, just as it happened to Job, that the righteous might be revealed (Job 40:8). And also it is said: 'No evil shall come near you' (Psalm 91:10; LXX 90:10). For the nature of wickedness comes from without, having the pretext of virtue; for God made man upright, who, having sought evil thoughts, drew wickedness from without.

These words, spoken as if concerning the Savior, the devil took, as it is carried in the Gospel; but the Psalm is said from the perspective of every righteous person being helped and covered by the Most High, being the God of heaven (Psalm 91:11-12; LXX 90:11-12). And even if it is said concerning Christ, it is manifest that he is not God but is a man; for all things concerning him are announced to him as a man, and this will also apply to every holy person who imitates him and follows him. And these things continue until now.

Let us also see the intention of these words. God gives a command to his angels, that they may guard and protect the righteous, who are ministering spirits sent for service for those about to inherit salvation (Heb 1:14).

Do not worry, for angels intervene around those who fear Him, to rescue them from unseen enemies and foes. Indeed, do not worry, even Jacob the patriarch, when about to face greatest enemies, sees the intervention of God being fulfilled by angels fighting for him, and thus he thanks: 'For God is the one nourishing me from my youth, the angel who rescues me from all my evils.' Likewise also Elisha saw a multitude of angels surrounding him, seen by him, but not by his servant; thus he prays for the eyes of the child to be revealed to see what is greater than those fighting against them.

Having received a command from the Lord, the angels guard the diligent from all deeds and activities, and they lift him up so that his ways may not stumble on a stone (these are the angelic energies) so that the foot of his soul may not trip on a stone. For he who is carried by angels meets the blessing of that which is said: 'He shall not stumble at any stone' (Psalm 91:12). For when the light of the true one has risen and the intelligent day has dawned, he who walks in this day will not stumble on what the light sees. But the stone upon which those not lifted up by angels stumble is foolishness and most hard sin. And they also stumble upon the cornerstone, an elect one, through unfaithfulness, as if it were a stone of stumbling to them.

Four signifies opposing powers, through the four names of the fallen and cast-out animals. And Paul, surpassing the struggle against flesh and blood, wages struggles against four opposing unseen powers: against principalities, against authorities, against the rulers of the darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil (Eph 6:12). And he who now praises excellence, riding on a shield and a basilisk, having received authority from Jesus to tread upon the lion and the scorpion (Luke 10:19); and trampling, he will also trample all the power of the enemy, the lion and the dragon. And even from a parallel passage, the lion and the dragon are our adversary, the devil; for as a lion he walks seeking someone to devour; he himself is the serpent and the dragon, the ancient Satan (Rev 12:9), according to the...

The Depth of Divine Truth and the Darkness of God§172

172Revelation. Ps 90:14–16. Since he has set his love upon me, says the Lord, the one who has fled and hoped in me, the one who has said, 'But You, Lord, are my hope' (Psalm 91:14; LXX 90:14)—I will rescue him from the falling of his perch, a thousand and ten thousand from his right side; but also I will cover him, the one who has known my name, so that he might remain unharmed, mounting upon a shield and a small buckler, and having subdued the lion and the dragon, the knowledge of my name becoming a protection around him. Having cried out with the great voice of the soul toward me, he will find me hearing and answering him. For I am always present for him, even when he encounters distress; for I am with him in tribulation (especially then is it necessary to be with him, when the painful and distressing things are around us). Not only will I free him from the painful things, but I will also work by watching over him. And I will grant to him also eternal life, upon the long-lasting and long-enduring, the eternal light (for light is for the righteous always). And I will show him my salvation, the salvation from me, the Jesus who is the cause of this, just as the blessed Simeon, having seen, rejoiced saying, 'Now You release your servant, Lord, in peace, since my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the presence of all peoples' (Luke 2:29-30). It is not to be thought that the psalm is spoken only concerning the Lord, as the Arian ones and Eusebius desire, but it is also concerning a righteous man and one having trusted in God, to see the best end of hope, Christ Jesus the salvation of God. And if the devil in the words toward the Lord said to him that the promise lies in the text, 'That he will command his angels concerning you' (Ps 91:11), as that man also conversed with the righteous, seeing clearly and excellently the truth in him, lest perhaps he be able to understand what is more than man and more excellent in Christ.

Psalm 92:1-2. The one confessing and accusing himself toward the Lord, asking for forgiveness and remission, testing by experience the benefit from confessing, proclaims with his works the mercy of God, having been shown mercy upon those things for which he repented. And he proclaims the mercy of God having become upon him, having been enlightened and having become established at the beginning of the day by the sun of righteousness standing, he proclaims first of all.

If the blessing is that which is from God. And the singing in the name of the Lord the Most High is a premise of theology and theoria; the end has the truth which it is fitting to proclaim, not from the surface or from manifest things, but from deep and hidden things through an excess of knowledge. The obscurity which is named in such things is called night; for by nature the things said concerning the pious and the correct manifest the knowledge of many through the greatness of power. And night is that which is hard to grasp. And this night has a reference to the darkness which God has set as His own hiddenness. The morning proclaims the mercy of God and His truth according to the night (Psalm 92:2).

And as much as the greatness of them appears to us, so much do I see the reflections concerning their God, which He has made and enlarged. To this is conjoined what is said by the Preacher: 'I said, I will be wise, but wisdom was removed from me; a great and deep depth, who will find it?' (Ecclesiastes 7:23-24). How its depth seems to have appeared incomprehensible to me. But having said 'Your reflections have become very heavy,' he gladdens the lovers of wisdom, saying that a man without understanding and without insight does not know and does not comprehend them, clearly showing that the wise man and the one having the Spirit of God investigates all things and comprehends the depths of God. And 'without understanding and without insight' he says, meaning being deprived of divine prudence and intelligence, though it may seem otherwise to be prudent and intelligent; just as, contrary to the idea in 188, the one having the wisdom of God is most without understanding, not at all, but in relation to the wisdom of men: 'For I am more foolish than all men, and the wisdom of men is not in me; but God has taught me wisdom.' Therefore, let the wise man in this age become a fool, as in relation to mortal wisdom (1 Corinthians 3:18).

On the day of judgment, of all men being humbled, from which they were exulting in pride over temporary things, the Lord alone is lifted up as King of all, being shown blameless of all and having provided for and arranged all things (Psalm 92:8). And it is possible to grasp another thought in the things presented; for the sinners do not rise like the wheat, and iniquity and their hatred toward God are being worked out.

The Spiritual Old Age and the Oil of Joy§173

173The height and greatness of God is overlooked when the eye of the mind, which is able to approach the Lord, is blinded by evil; and the destruction of sin occurs as if those who have become enemies of God through sinning were to perish, and to perish such are they, but the God who is the victor for all eternity will be found by the purified mind (Psalm 92:8-9).

The horn of the kingdom is often an ally and previously was good. Not only shall my horn be exalted like a one-horned beast, but also my old age shall be anointed with the oil of gladness; old age not the bodily one, but the age presenting the perfection of the human soul, for it has been written: for old age is precious, not the long-lived, nor is it measured by number of years, but wisdom is a thing for men and an unblemished life is old age.

Having surpassed this, Abraham was said to be nourished in good old age; for it has been written about him: 'And Abraham died in a good old age, full of days, departing' (Gen 25:8). Regarding the bodily age, if it were said, these things are rather spoken of those who were longer-lived before Abraham.

This is interpreted as old age being anointed with oil, from that true olive tree speaking in the temple of God: 'I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God' (Ps 52:8). This olive tree not only anoints the light of knowledge, but also heals and looses pains, anointing the aforementioned old age.

And my eye has looked upon my enemies, and my ear shall hear of those rising up against me, committing iniquity (Psalm 92:11). Perhaps the present enemies are cast down by sight, but his ear shall hear concerning those who are to rise up against him. Just as their strength is dissolved, all these things must be expected concerning evil powers. For strictly these are hating us.

And since some transgress the Scripture saying that it sometimes passes by and speaks in vain, let us bear it and let us defend the text also concerning the things set forth. For they say: 'Who does not see what is appearing...'

The Twofold Senses and the Phoenix§174

The Palm and the Rivers of Truth§175

175Those who interpret his palm as being divine teachings receive it as a fertile and protective thing for the fruits. And the bride who says these things, not being like the flowering of the righteous according to the palm, says, 'I will be made like the palm.' From this palm, one takes ornaments made from the branches of palms when celebrating the feast of the Tabernacles, and the victors carry from this the symbols of victory.

Those who imitate the rivers lift up the river that gladdens the city of God (Psalm 93:3-4; LXX 92:3–4b), first by raising their mind, if they use the voices that interpret the things understood by them, so that from the waters of these many rivers they may become wonderful and worthy of acceptance through repentance and the taking up of virtue, whereas formerly, through arrogance, wealth, self-will, and vainglory, they were tossed about like the waves of the sea of human life. And it is possible also for these words of the divinely inspired writings of both the New and Old Testaments to be rivers, because they are drinkable and life-giving and cause fruitfulness. Indeed, the rivers lift up and toss about those who drink from them through the contemplation of the truth, making the tossings of the sea wonderful, as they are ready to be awakened, lifting up their voices from the voices of the rivers by thinking things in a God-befitting and sublime way. Regarding the tossings of the sea, according to the present thought, the so-called temptations will also be wonderful causes of salvation, appearing from the voices of the many drinkable waters; for it is indeed possible to see upon...

Victory in Trials and the Holiness of the Temple§176

176Showing some to be victors over these trials and struggles. For blessed is the man who endures trial (James 1:12), and the following. Stop if many things, from which the swellings of the sea become marvelous because of the voices, happen to the sea; for from its own things and from the men in them, the swellings of it become marvelous, being logically and prudently examined and known.

In the high and exalted words, the Lord is marvelous (Psalm 93:4), so that his testimonies, which are kindred to the spoken rights and laws, and he himself, God, are to be believed as high in which he is marvelous. It is possible to say that men are raised to divine things through faith and the rest of virtue, and even the angels and archangels in heaven are high, in whom the Lord is marvelous, having testimonies and sayings established and examined because he has spoken them with certain stability (Psalm 93:5; LXX 92:5bc).

All those who have approached God become his dwelling-place, and it is truly fitting to be holy for the saints, not for one or two days, but for a length of days; thus The One who initiates, desiring the dwelling-place of God to be a sanctification for a length of days, says: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God destroys this one; for the temple of God is holy, and you indeed are it. For holiness and sanctification are truly necessary for everyone who becomes God's dwelling-place, just as the temple of God is holy and just as the holy place is holy and of God.

The Tyranny of Lawlessness vs. Divine Commands§177

177The God of avenges, being in his avenging, has spoken boldly (Psalm 94:1; LXX 93:1). For because he accurately knows the things of those being judged and even the intention of those doing them, he brings the avenges with boldness; whereas other judges might err by not bringing the punishment in proportion to the quantity and quality of those sinning, wherefore it happens that the judge is shamed as not having rightly punished those caught in wickedness, while he alone is bold in avenging, he who says: 'Measure with a measure, it shall be measured to you' (Luke 6:38); for he gives to each according to his works.

All these things shall be raised up toward the appearance of Christ (Psalm 94:2; LXX 93:2). For then a sinless man having become man spoke boldly, although he is Lord of avenges, but also he judged the earth, proving it full of sin, himself having not done sin nor known sin; therefore also he repaid the Pharisees who had been prominent above him and the invisible enemies who were puffed up in crucifying him.

Often the pit is used to mean punishment, as it has been said: 'And he shall fall into the pit which he himself worked' (Psalm 7:15). And since it has been said unchangeably 'unto the abyss' (for it is not said by whom), it is shown from other writings that the pit which is being dug for the sinner is not dug by another, nor by the one falling into it; for 'they dug a pit before my face and I fell into it' (Psalm 57:6); and 'he who digs a pit for his neighbor shall fall into it' (Prov 26:27); and since the fool digs evils for himself, saying evils, the punishments fall upon those sinning through foolishness.

You being our Creator are a care and you take care of us, O Lord (Psalm 94:20; LXX 93:20); therefore if there is any good present to us, we are yours and are from you. But since we see certain wicked men killing the righteous and condemning the innocent, we cry out to you, [not another throne of kingship...].

What these things are accomplished against your servants will not happen to you, but a throne of lawlessness will not happen to you; for you have revealed the king of the law of all things, by whom the whole is governed. If, therefore, the devil, having become an apostate from your commands, attempts to rule lawlessly, he does not understand, nor will it happen to you; but having become a distant robber, he tyrannizes against those who happen to fall under his weakness. For a throne of lawlessness is a rule characterized by tyranny; for there is no other tyrant than a lawless rule. Therefore, he is most weak and contemptible, commanding heavy and burdensome things, weaving toil through his commands.

But your commandments, O God, are not heavy according to John, and they are also useful, lifting up and elevating the one being transformed (Psalm 94:20-21; LXX 93:20-21). It is possible also to take the word thus: Lord, the throne of lawlessness weaves toil upon your commands, despite your light and easy commanding, casting cowardice and opposing things to the minds of those seated. For, while the right word exhorts to righteousness as beneficial, it sets against injustice gains and supplies, proposing those from this; again, while the word calls to temperance and freedom from care, he weaves toil upon such a command, entering into a thought of cowardice and fear of not being deprived of the necessities, overtaken by sickness and old age. Likewise, regarding the other commands of God, not being heavy, he weaves toil by casting a fantasy of weight.

And it should be read thus: O Lord, he who weaves toil upon your commands as if they were not esteemed because of their ease; for you want those coming to them to straighten them with sweat and toil. For it does not happen to acquire endurance and patience; therefore salvation will be saved. For he who endures to the end will be saved (Matt 24:13). A tyrannical throne will not happen to you; therefore...

Providence and the Creative Hands of God§178

178He says that the tyrannical rule of the devil is a throne of unrighteousness, by which they cruelly hunt the soul of the righteous, even as judges and arbitrators happen to condemn the innocent. For the devil's lust for evil is so great that it is equal to this wretchedness. For the Scripture calls him destruction instead of the Law-giver and perdition instead of the one who was lost; one place saying concerning him, 'Destruction came' (in this way also Judas was branded a son of perdition, having become a son of Satan), and another place calling him lawlessness; for it says his children have become sons of lawlessness, as it says concerning Christ, 'And son of lawlessness he shall not add to harm him.' Those who practice evil are his retainers, concerning whom it is said, 'Who shall rise up against me against evildoers?' or 'Who shall stand with me against those working lawlessness?' Both demons and evil men are such, acting through cunning the things foretold against the innocent and the righteous (Psalm 94:16).

They urge confession concerning those on whom they have acted wickedly, or concerning those who have suffered well from God, thanking Him who appeared and shone upon them, his countenance being the exact imprint of his hypostasis. For He is the image of the invisible God. It is possible for the third verse to correspond to the first and the fourth to the second, regarding those who rejoice in the Lord: 'We have seen your face in confession, but also we shout for joy to our Savior God in psalms.' For through psalms they shout for joy to the Lord, through which deeds they perform such things as are pleasing to Him; for the voice of the psalm submits such a thing.

The Scripture calls angels 'gods' (Psalm 95:3; LXX 94:3b). But the Word of God has come to reign over those who have become gods. Wandering over all the earth, the Word, according to the account of providence, holds the things said of the ends of the earth in his hand; for his grasping is the ends of the earth, as he holds the ends of the earth. Since parts of the earth and its mountains belong to the Lord (and these are high in these matters), it should be noted that throughout all Scripture, the doctrine of those describing the earth up to the moon is refuted.

He sees providence. For it is said that He does not merely hold the ends of the earth there, but also in many places, indeed, as if He is Lord of both heaven and earth: 'I will confess to You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.'

Regarding thought, they come into the hand of God, for only those who are further than the ends of the earth by wisdom and citizenship are under His protective and almighty hand; thus no one is able to snatch them away, those who are in the hand of the Father and in the hand of the Son. These ends, by way of thought, are the sheep of Christ, concerning whom the Lord says: 'My sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life' (John 10:27), and furthermore: 'and no one shall snatch them from my hand' (John 10:28); and no one is able to snatch them from the hand of my Father (John 10:29). Since the interpreted ends of the earth are in the hand of God, it is fitting that He also attains the heights of the mountains, seeing those men who are separated by life and godly wisdom. But they are exceptional, surpassing even the heights of the mountains which He spoke of; perhaps they are the ends of the earth, the men walking upon the earth, yet having their citizenship and their heart in heaven because they have stored up treasure there, seeing the high angels as their wealth.

It is to be noted that the dry land is said to be formed not by one hand but by hands, just as 'the heavens are the work of your hands' (Psalm 102:25) and 'your hands made me and fashioned me' (Psalm 119:73). But as to what these creative hands are, it is a matter of perplexity; for one is, as we confess, the active hand of God, the Word of God, but with this hand another is also coordinated through many Scriptures, being itself creative. And it is pleasing to say, having become a follower of divine men and the apostles, that the creative hands of God are the Only-begotten and the Holy Spirit. This was the opinion of Irenaeus most especially, from which it is evident that the position being set forth is an ancient glory, not merely a passive one, but a creative one, and the Holy Spirit is creative.

They call upon one another to worship God, not by going from one place to another. For it is no longer a local worship, as was the case when Jerusalem and the temple there were established. For they worship the Lord, according to the prophet,

The Temple of God and the Restoration of the Soul§179

179Each one comes from his own place, not sensorially and bodily but in spirit and truth. Therefore, those who worship and fall down to him, bowing the knee to him and confessing him, come according to a disposition rather than a change of place; not only those on earth but also those in heavens and under the earth, weeping before him the weeping of repentance, and how much some weep and suffer. But a blameless weeping, escaping every stain, becomes one who is confident before the Lord.

And they say the reason by which the things written are fulfilled, asserting that he himself is our God and we are sheep of his pasture, a relationship of the people to God being shown through this word. Because of this he says: We become the people of his pasture, which he himself granted to make himself our God; for since he himself is our God, and we become the people of his pasture, and since we are the people of his pasture, he is our God. And being the people of his pasture, we are also sheep of his hand, he being our shepherd. Therefore no one shall snatch us from his right hand; for I myself give them eternal life, and no one shall snatch them from my hand (Psalm 95:7; LXX 94:7c–9).

Having said that these words were spoken by the Holy Spirit as the end of the psalm, the apostle placed them in the Epistle to the Hebrews somewhat randomly and brought an interpretation to them. But he interpreted 'today', referring to the age that has fully come; for each day of the age is signified by 'today'. But the heart is hardened, appearing hard and contrary through all sin, bowing down to wickedness like that of Pharaoh. Therefore, abandoning this hardness, let us bow our hearing to the shouting God in order to become righteous.

Another says 'I said, I provided food' (Psalm 95:10-11; LXX 94:10-11), referring to not every generation, but that generation always associating with error because of not wanting the knowledge of God; he says that God, having been angered, swore not to enter into his rest, saying these things in Psalm 95:11. Having explained this word of Paul, we will say nothing more than what was said then. Understand also thus: the rational soul, becoming according to the image and likeness of God, is the intellect of the one who has been made, especially with virtue...

Being sinful, the one sinning is taken captive and is disgraced, so that he is no longer a temple of God. For if God says concerning some, 'My spirit shall by no means remain in these men because they are flesh' (cf. Genesis 6:3), for formerly, when the temple of the divine Spirit was dwelling in them, it was like His own; but those sinning have become flesh, subject to passion and material, having taken it on, the one dwelling in them has departed as a conqueror, and they remained under destruction by the evil spirits who captured them.

Therefore, just as the one sinning, having become a captive, ceases to be a temple of God through the destruction of his edifice built of virtues, so also the one returning to God through repentance is not only ransomed from captivity, but is also founded and built up as a temple of God through correctness of mind and excellent deeds. And this is what the introductory part of the psalm declares. For after the captivity, once the temple is built, a gracious song of thanksgiving is sent up for the forgiveness of the captivity and the dedication of the temple.

And regarding the literal sense, one will be able to take what is according to the place. For it appears that the temple was built in the times of Ezra after the captivity. It must be said that concerning such a thing, David, having seen more prophetically the ancient restoration of the temple, has made the song for the dedication of the temple. But the singers, having put off the old man and having put on the new, being renewed into becoming according to the image of the one who created him, and being made suitable to the new discipleship of the new covenant, conforming to the newness of the teaching of Christ, sing.

Here indeed all the earth is commanded to obey, and in the heavens to worship: 'Let all the earth worship you and sing to you' (Psalm 66:4); and it is said in Isaiah, 'The whole earth is full of His greatness' (Isaiah 6:3), and in others, 'The whole earth is full of His glory.' Not all who sing to God are commanded to obey Him and to bless His name. For through good works and knowledge of the truth, one blesses and glorifies the name of God. For it is said in the Gospel, 'Let your light shine before men' (Matthew 5:16), so that they may see your good works and glorify the Father.

The Two Covenants and the Proclamation of Glory§180

180your Father who is in the heavens. For when the approach of God has been called to us, doing all things according to the right reason, we bless through blessing, we act or we bear the name of the Lord; for not otherwise having it, we pray that it itself might become blessed and holy.

But regarding precision, as it has been said about this in Psalm 22, 'Let us exalt his name to the same degree' (Psalm 34:3); now we are satisfied with those things said through brevity. Strive as much as possible and in this way to receive the set-forth words; those who offer up to the Old Testament things happening in place of sensible things offer an old hymn. For after the Pharaoh, the tyrant of Egypt, was submerged, Moses, with all the Hebrew multitude, sang a hymn: 'Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously glorified' (Exodus 15:1); he cast horse and rider into the sea. And regarding other things having happened, it is more bodily to see the hymn of Israel in the Pentateuch and the rest of the Old Scripture.

But those who depart from the antiquity of the letter to be discipled by the novelty of the Spirit, being made upright intellectually and spiritually, offer a new hymn to the Lord, the power of which having been abolished, the death of the devil having been overcome, and the underground realm of the mental Egypt having become submerged, Jesus, through the grace of God, having tasted every death. And those having sung to the Lord, not having been freed from all curses but having received the blessing supplied from God, bless the name of him who blessed them with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

The set-forth commands become for the disciples of Jesus who hear: 'Go and make disciples of all nations' (Matt 28:19). For the Holy Spirit wills to accomplish the evangelical work in them with a swift and undivided zeal. For this 'day by day' presents to them the continuous evangelizing of the salvation of God, concerning which it has been said: 'This is truly the Savior of the world' (John 4:42), and again, 'A Savior has been born to you today, who is Christ the Lord' (Luke 2:11). For the prophecy saying 'All flesh shall see the salvation of God' (Luke 3:6), as the apostles evangelize his salvation day by day, shall reach its fulfillment.

It is possible to take the two covenants of the Savior, who is the sun of righteousness, from day to day. Since those who are commanded to evangelize are law-abiding and have the light of the first day, they subsequently follow that day with another day according to the new covenant, being enlightened, and they proclaim the salvation of God. Proclaiming Christ the Savior, who is the salvation of God, they announce to all nations the glory of God, which is Christ, who happens to be the radiance of the glory of God; concerning this, it is written in Isaiah: 'The glory of God shall be seen' (Isa 60:1), and also, 'And the glory of God shall rise upon you' (Isa 60:1). For just as Christ is the wisdom and power and truth and righteousness of God, so also his glory is.

Moreover, they are commanded to announce his wonders to all peoples, concerning which it is said to God in Psalm 76: 'You have done many things, Lord my God, your wonderful works' (Psalm 40:5). The prophet Isaiah says that the cause of these wonders is: 'Lord my God, I will glorify you, I will sing praise to your name, for you have done wonderful things, a true ancient purpose' (Isa 25:1). For Christ the Savior has done wonderful things, having freed every soul suffering under the devil, establishing the ancient purpose of God, according to which man existed as being straight, having come to be in the image and likeness of the Creator. And if you wish the things being proclaimed to the people to be wonderful, immense powers, such as Jesus raising the dead and restoring the blind to sight, and if anything else of this kind is written, you do not err. And it is also possible to do so: manifest through theology the most unclouded knowledge concerning God, so that the nations might have right discourse concerning God, being freed from much-godly fear. These things will in no way suit those returning from Babylon in the times of Cyrus or in the times of Darius, who perceptibly built the temple while Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest were presiding over the building in Judah after the captivity. For these things are fulfilled through works after the presence of our Savior, with all his disciples wandering through the whole earth and evangelizing, having announced his salvation to all.

Confession and Beauty before God§181

181by the incomparable superiority of creative power

Do not command them to depart into the deep abyss, having sent away a voice of pity; O God, do not torment us before the time (Psalm 96:6; LXX 95:6). He who has acquired beauty through the loveliness of virtue, and presents this innate beauty with thanksgiving and confession before God, according to the one saying, 'The Lord of powers, I stood before Him' (Psalm 96:6; LXX 95:6), is such; for everyone sinning flees from standing before God. For the lawless do not remain before His eyes.

Indeed, even Adam, after sinning with the woman, flees from the face of the Lord God, being ashamed, but rather fearing to be seen by Him. In this way also the Tempter goes out from the face of the Lord God, not that it is possible to flee from God and be far from His face, but because the wicked, deceiving themselves with false glory, thought they could hide from God, upon whom they act impiously; for even if they should succeed in hiding from God, it is not that they are actually hidden, but rather they possess such a disposition that, if it were possible, they would have wanted to be far from God, being ashamed of the rays of His eyes.

But the diligent, through much boldness and the freedom of the gaze before God, have stood as genuine servants of justice, saying, 'Look upon me and have mercy on me' (Psalm 25:16), and 'The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His gaze upon their prayer' (Ps 34:15). Do not be troubled, since we, the ones confessing and possessing beauty before the Lord, participate in this; and often, according to the Scripture, regarding those having certain states, it is said through the analogies of those states; for the Apostle, writing to men, says concerning him and them, 'That we might become the righteousness of God' (2 Cor 5:21) (meaning clearly, in Him, Christ).

And since confession and beauty are before God, holiness and majesty shall be in His sanctuary. And it is customary by ancestral habit to call the temple of God the sanctuary of God. Since not the...

The Inhabited World and the Joy of Creation§182

182Confessing and receiving beauty, having God within himself as a temple and becoming a sanctification, it is fitting that holiness and magnificence are said of such a thing; indeed, partaking in the holiness of the present God and Christ, the sanctification of God, and also of the Holy Spirit, and seeking that which is becoming and appropriate in great and superior things; for magnificence is that which is becoming in great things, but smallness is that which is in small things.

For you, indeed, if you wish to be well-appearing in human honors and dignities and in perceptible strength and wealth, you are small if you are in the sanctification of God through the one who has enriched according to those things assigned in the intelligible and spiritual virtues and piety, but he who seeks to excel in all great things and by this possesses magnificence, is a companion not unequal to the holiness which he has acquired (Psalm 96:6).

Since we are servants of Christ, having his name called upon us, let us perform all things wisely and rationally, justly and holily, and let us bring glory to the name of Christ which is upon us. And also let the appearance of sacrifices be excellent; that is, elevate the concept concerning sacrifices, not plunging down low and slaughtering animals, but thinking highly of those things signified by them, the spiritual and heavenly sacrifices, of which the perceptible sacrifices are types and shadows (Psalm 96:8).

And every intellect having possessed a worldly quality, shaken by sympathy toward matter, casts off the former and earthly disposition in order to take up the spiritual and heavenly nature. For truly, this is to have the earth shaken in order to pass into heaven and to put on the image of the heavenly.

Following this are the things brought about: 'The Lord has reigned among the nations' (Psalm 96:10). For having suffered and having risen from the dead, He reigned among the nations, having said, 'All authority was given to me in heaven and on earth' (Mt 28:18). As it becomes the will of God as in heaven and on earth, and the Lord reigning in all the nations, the whole earth is shaken in the said manner from His face, so that the nature of virtue, having been made steadfast by the Lord, might take up the inhabited world instead of the earth, having become steadfast, reigning...

For the Lord's domain is not merely earth but an inhabited world, with Father and Son and Holy Spirit dwelling in it and through divine gifts. He who ruled over all living things will judge the peoples with uprightness, judging according to his own order, since his wonders were announced to all, not only to Israel. He will judge them in uprightness, examining not only their works but also their dispositions. These things will happen according to his second coming, when the heavens will rejoice and the earth will exult (Psalm 96:11-12; LXX 95:11-12a).

For the purpose of ascent, those bearing the image of the heavenly one and having citizenship in the heavens are heavens themselves, rejoicing in being laden with fruit coming from the Unconquerable from the true vine; wisdom poured it into the vessel. Some of these heavens are to inherit the high and above-lying earth through meekness, being called earth by a homonymous metonymy, rejoicing in the joy produced by the Holy Spirit.

If any mind is awakened by passions, as if by saltiness and bitterness, and the soul is treating the sea as a storm-tossed sea due to disordered movements, it is fitting for this to be shaken by a blessing, so that it might change from tossing and waves into stability and calm, according to its fullness, from the bitter and disordered. For the first blessing is for those who repent, to die to disordered and disturbed impulses. And those souls, because they have received the seed of Jesus, rejoice in unspeakable and glorified joy as they reap a harvest in tears amidst the exultation (Psalm 96:12; LXX 95:12b-13b).

The 'then' refers to the inhabited world being made upright by the Lord. The 'then' also refers to 'Let the heavens rejoice.' For the heavens shall rejoice and the earth shall exult; then the trees of the forest shall exult (Psalm 96:12; LXX 95:12b). The 'trees of the forest' are those not bearing fruit; but rather the former fruits bearing fruit exult, running ahead as the Lord comes down, 'Come!' For the Lord is coming to judge the earth, then the trees of the forest exult, always rejoicing like the trees of paradise in luxury. But of these not...

The Cloud and Darkness of God's Incomprehensibility§183

183For they are indeed woods of a grove, but unless the Lord shines upon them to bear edible fruit and to make one like an apple, as he says, in the midst of the brothers among the limbs: 'Like an apple in the trees of the grove, so is my brother among the sons' (Song of Solomon 2:3). For he himself from the beginning was bearing fruit in virtue, not knowing nor doing sin; therefore he also shares his own fruit-bearing quality with those who accompany the woods of the grove, being one who happens to be an apple in the midst.

He has established the inhabited world so that it shall no longer be shaken, in righteousness the coming Lord will judge (Psalm 96:13; LXX 95:13c). And he will judge in truth, and the peoples, in whom his wonders have become manifest, just as the inhabited world receives a reward of holiness according to the righteousness by which it is judged, so the peoples shall receive a perfect knowledge, so that they might no longer know by parts but might face the truth personally and fully, receiving and contemplating it.

By the sufficient hand (but the spiritual David is not he who was born of his seed according to the flesh) the earth is established, all war-like noise and disturbance having been destroyed by him (Psalm 97:1; LXX 96:1); the earth is established, taking up a stability according to how it received seed to bear fruit, in R and X and L, having sown for themselves into righteousness, so that the offspring of righteousness might multiply of those sown by Jesus. Therefore also the Lord reigns, not from not reigning at all, but having come to reign from the fact that those sinning have repented and turned toward the kingdom. All the earth rejoices, doing this, being protected in the fact that the Lord has reigned over all of it.

And regarding the rejoicing, the assigned land and islands shall be glad, that is, the men and the churches dwelling in them. And it is possible also to call the souls of the steadfast according to virtue 'islands,' being tossed about by the storm and the surge of the passions, yet suffering nothing of the whole from them. Into all the minds that are set forth, he will take that which is said by God: 'Draw near to me, islands.' For the set-forth islands, having been renewed by the teaching of the new covenant, will receive the word concerning the powers of God, which those who make the paradoxes of God are able to proclaim sufficiently, which he says the Spirit...

They proclaim his virtues (that is, the virtues of God) in the islands. And because all these things exist, it happens that the islands are being completely rejoiced (Psalm 97:1-3).

A cloud and thick darkness are around him—not bodily; for if the circling things were bodies, and the one being circled were a body or using a body; but incorporeal, rather exceeding bodies, are God and his only-begotten Son as God the Word is. And he says now, to present his incomprehensibility around him, 'there is a cloud and thick darkness'; and perhaps the cloud signifies the words flowing from him, and the thick darkness the obscurity of his incomprehensibility. For it is said also previously, 'He inclines the heavens and comes down' (Psalm 18:9), and 'thick darkness is under his feet' (Psalm 18:9); for that which is hard to see, rather incomprehensible to the mind of created beings, is presented through the thick darkness under his feet as he travels creatively and providentially.

If it is possible to take these things well concerning the Savior according to the incarnation, examine whether it can be said that there is a cloud around him, the assumed human nature being indivisible in its modes, fulfilling the prophecy saying, 'Behold, the Lord sits upon a cloud of mist' (Isaiah 19:1) and he goes into Egypt. For he came into the so-called allegorically Egypt, the inhabited world, and, if it is said so, sitting kingly upon a cloud of mist, he by no means has the weight of sin; for he did not commit sin by watering the whole world through this cloud. But since the descent of the Lord into the aforementioned cloud is much hard to see, it is fitting that a thick darkness also coincides with the cloud around him.

'Righteousness and judgment are the strength of his throne; fire goes before him and blazes around his enemies' (Psalm 97:2-3). The strength of the throne of his kingdom is righteousness and judgment, since he, as king, is a righteous judge. This is agreed with what is found in Proverbs: 'By righteousness a throne is prepared' (Prov 16:12). Therefore, since he is found to be a righteous judge, fire going before him blazes at all his enemies. But the enemies of the word of righteousness are the irrational and those acting unjustly, as if different from the...

The Righteousness of the Truth-Witnesses§184

184Those who profess false doctrine and lie are enemies of the truth; and the friendship of the world makes one an enemy to God, as it is said. If one does not wish to be a friend of the world, he is established as an enemy of God, those being shown as enemies of God who embrace the worldly and more cosmic intercourse. These enemies are not consumed by the fire going before the Lord, which does not consume or corrupt their essence (for the hypostasis of their soul is immortal), but it annihilates the works of the flesh and the material thoughts surrounding them; therefore the Savior prays that the fire which he came to cast upon the earth might be kindled, so that all earthly things might be consumed. This fire should not be considered the same as that which consumes burning substances, but it is of a different nature, differing greatly from the flame among us.

The bright words of his divine teaching flashed like lightning throughout the whole inhabited world (Psalm 97:4; LXX 96:4), illuminating and lighting it with the light of knowledge, but the earth, seeing these lightnings, being shaken, changed, casting off its earthly quality in order to take up the image of the heavenly. And in another way: the earth was shaken seeing the laws of God resembling lightnings, as if human laws were to be transferred and the appropriate things were to be set for them. Not all men, having abandoned their own ancestral customs, have come to the evangelical instruction, but while the inhabited world sees the lightnings of the Lord, it is illuminated, yet the earth is shaken, receiving the beginning of the impulse to enrich the inhabited world itself, so that the divine lightnings of the Lord might appear to it having become such. And the rest similarly.

Those who preannounce the presence of the Savior here, who is the righteousness of God, are heavens (Psalm 97:6; LXX 96:6), bearing the image of the heavenly and having citizenship in heaven, having announced the righteousness of God being released from heaven. When these things were brought to an end, the people followed to behold the glory of the Lord, which was not other than his righteousness. But since practical virtue is often called righteousness, only those who are righteous men can announce this practically, being heavens.

The righteous one proclaims faith, their faith being reckoned toward righteousness. And all the peoples, having become imitators of them, see the glory following this righteousness of God.

And likewise Zion will be thought of as entirely contemplative and theoretical regarding the truth, and the daughters of Judah, the souls confessing and praising God with thanksgiving for the wonderful things done through them. For Judah is interpreted as confession. And it is possible also to call all those things placed together with the Divine Scripture 'daughters of Judah'. Regarding 'Hear and be glad, O Zion' (Psalm 97:8), such things are to be said: he who hears the divine words with understanding is always gladdened, seeing the beauties of the theorems made manifest by the teaching. Since Zion has been gladdened by having heard thus, the lesser daughters of Judah, being called to the judgments of God, will experience divine rejoicing according to how they will be judged, their minds being reasonably uplifted by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

If ever someone, intending harm to a holy person even unto bodily injury or death, strengthened the attacks, while the blameless and irreproachable soul remained, who would not confess the witnesses of the truth being guarded according to the souls by the Lord confessed by them? And if ever it should happen through inattention or slight oversight for the soul of a holy person to fall into the hand of a sinful devil or one of his kind, and the Lord rescues this one as having been set free from sins, the hands of the sinner are said to become under the hand of God. And concerning his holy disciples, he says to the Father, 'Father, keep them' (Jn 17:11); the same thing as 'to keep' is 'to guard'.

To the one who has perfected practical virtue, a light of knowledge has risen, called righteousness, which is nothing other than the light of the True One, concerning whom the Father is (Jn 1:1). To those who fear my name, the sun of righteousness rises (Malachi 4:2). And when this light has shone upon the righteous, the heart has become straight; and God has caused gladness to rise to him having a straight heart, and for those partaking of the knowledge of the truth, having straight hearts, the righteous...

The Revelation of God's Righteousness§185

185It happens that one is practicing the practical training. Therefore, it is fitting that joy and divine incense rise to those who possess the capacity for contemplation, and light to the one who achieves the goal. Regarding the things falling into this, it is said in the 945th Psalm Ps 96:12b to use the same word there.

The Savior has been shown through many things to be the right hand and arm of God, according to the placement of the right hand and the arm Ps 97:1. It is not by his right hand that God saves those being led toward blessedness. For not everyone being saved by the Lord God is saved, but rather only the one and all who, according to the right reason, are being delivered from evils and sufferings and have received the knowledge of the truth with piety. For he who is saved from diseases and wounds is not entirely saved by God, especially since he does not know if health was given to him by God, nor is he saved by God if he has remained unharmed from war, robbers, or such-like dangers. But the one and all who are saved from such things are saved by God, provided he does not attribute to God the cause of having suffered nothing. Since the Savior did not come to seek and save the lost Luke 19:10 but to judge the world, he saves by God those being benefited by him, giving to them the things toward blessedness on the right hand.

And the arm of God is holy, not by participating in holiness, but as the arm of the Holy Spirit. And perhaps the right hand is called the active power of God, not being the Word of God, because it does so righteously—that is, holily, wisely, praiseworthily, and blamelessly doing all things—and the arm because of the strength and the surpassing power. As the right hand and arm of God Ps 97:1, so also Christ is his salvation and his righteousness. Indeed, 'all flesh shall see' Ps 98:4 intends to make manifest that all men, through being saved, shall see the salvation of God, namely Christ, the one providing the salvation. And also 'He made it known'; for he is able to say 'He revealed'...

The middle is the knowledge; of these things he is not five, but has made them known. For someone comes to know those things by a dim prior conception, arriving at fully knowing them.

Since it is not naturally contained in the understanding of men as God's conception—just as His Word alone is the provider of perfect virtue and the setter of the laws of nature—God sent this understanding of the Word into the visible world, having sent His own Son the Savior into the world at the end of days, so it is rightly said that God has made known His own Savior among the nations. Having made known His own Savior according to the intention of saving, God revealed also His righteousness, which is the same as the Savior, as if it were one; for it has become for us, from God, righteousness and sanctification. For these things were simply hidden from us; but when it became possible for us to approach Him, the righteousness was revealed to us.

If someone says the righteousness through the faith of Jesus Christ, and there is something proposed concerning it, he will say that this righteousness has been revealed iconically and according to a shadow, which Paul called righteousness according to the law, having ceased, clearly showing the shadow; for apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested (Rom 3:21), being witnessed by the law and the prophets. And it has been manifested and revealed to those among whom God made known His Savior to the nations; therefore not Jesus alone will be made a covenant in every nation, but the one fearing the Lord and working righteousness becomes acceptable to God. Thus the nations are justified by faith and not by the works of the law (Rom 4:3), according to Abraham, their faith being reckoned for righteousness.

Israel differs from Jacob in thought but not in hypostasis (Psalm 98:3; LXX 97:3); for he is the same, at times Jacob and at times Israel. For he who, being a practitioner of practical virtue, subdues the irrational passions and the evils and...

The Trumpet of Truth and the Judgment of the Lord§186

186The powers working these things are Jacob, who flutters the mentioned stalk; and Israel, having become higher than all toil through purity of mind, who approaches God. Since he who struggles against the mentioned opponents has need of God's mercy, but he who is unhearing of the truth is said to remember God in harmony with the things foretold, mentioning His mercy to Jacob and His truth to Israel.

And in Jeremiah, he who is beginning in the virtue of mercy, it is necessary, as the one speaking of God says to the God-fearing: 'Remember the mercy of your youth and the perfection of your love' (Jeremiah 2:2); for he who is beginning in mercy, as also he who is led toward perfection in love, is able to say, 'There is the truth of Christ in me.' And as truth is appropriate for those with insight, the Savior says to the two hundred Jews who had believed in him: 'If you remain in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free' (John 8:31-32).

From the occurrence of the prophecy saying, 'All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before him' (Psalm 22:27), it shall be said, 'All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.' For the gospel having been preached in all that is under heaven and in all the inhabited world as a testimony to all the nations, according to the oracle of Christ, all the ends of the earth shall see Christ, the salvation of God.

And those who do not see him by mere sight, but with faithful assent to his teaching through which a vision is present; but also toward the intellect, those having passed through the earth and having become higher than it, not thinking of material and earthly things, but seeking and caring for the things above—the ends of the earth—those see salvation and the God who is the cause of it, the salvation of God.

All the earth, that is to say, all people upon the earth, commands a triumphal hymn to be sent up to the Lord, who brings down the invisible enemies of men, the devil and his attendants (Psalm 98:4-5; LXX 97:4-5). And all those upon the earth, shouting to him, let them sing to him and with the lyre. But what is the lyre, as I have often said, and what is to sing in it, what it is in practice through the body...

To work the things of virtue through all the powers of the soul. And those who, plucking with this harp and uttering a song, receive a command, it is not the voice of a psalm, but rather the contemplation concerning the practical matters, instead of that which is struck upon the psalm through the instrument and some voice singing.

They blow trumpets in elms, brightly and with fire proclaiming the word of truth (Psalm 98:6; LXX 97:6a). For they are not sufficient to truly awaken for a spiritual feast, saying, 'Our sufficiency is from God,' who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, who alone are able to utter this, enriching with every word and all knowledge. But those who fight against the word blow with the horn, being able against sophisms and deceptive words. And if an interpreter of divine instruction stands, he uses a trumpet of elm to utter words pedagogically and demonstratively, but he constrains the opponents of the truth with a horn.

And those divided by wisdom and by conduct, who having profited through the height of faith, rejoice, not being guilty of the judgment which the Lord came to perform (Psalm 98:8; LXX 97:8b). For the Lord says, 'He who believes in me shall not be judged' (cf. John 3:18), that is, he is not subject to accusations, but stands at the step of Christ to receive the promised good things. And judging the inhabited world in righteousness, he will judge with uprightness those who have been made his own as his people, since the peoples have a straight heart and straight deeds; for he will render to each according to his deed (Psalm 98:9).

Previously in Zion, according to the gift of the law and the prophets, the Lord is great, but he is so much higher than all the peoples coming from the nations through faith (Psalm 99:2). For glory and honor and peace belong to everyone who works the good, first to the Jew and also to the Greek; for having been lifted up from the earth, he has drawn all to himself. Both the high and the great exist according to his nature. For he dwells in the high places, and he is great and exceedingly praiseworthy, while the generated nature is lowly and brief, and rather nothing in comparison to him. We have a vision of his highness, we who think of the things above; but also, proclaiming great things about him, we contemplate his magnitude. But not the...

Divine Judgment and the Worship of the Lord§187

The Ascent of the Mind through Hymns to God§188

188Noah, Job, and Daniel: the sword shall not enter upon them, even though the memory of men was made many thousands of years before. For Noah existed before the flood, and Job was the fifth from Abraham, many years before the prophecy. Do we not have something to say about these, or how he named those having the same virtues homonymously with them? If it is not so, it is clear that all the faithful servants also become according to Moses, and similarly regarding the others.

In a pillar of cloud he spoke to them (Psalm 99:7; LXX 98:7). And from this we learn according to the writing the so-called collective manner, which names many things by the thing approaching in part, as he announces concerning all. Only to Moses, having spoken in a pillar of cloud, does he now speak concerning all. And you will find also in the Epistle to the Hebrews a pattern of such a narrative. For having enumerated all those who were well-pleasing through faith, he tells the deeds or passions of each in a collective way concerning all: 'They were struck, they were stoned,' and the following.

But what does it mean to speak of God in a pillar of cloud? This is clearly to be understood. Not because, since the word of God is firm and unswerving, it is rightly called a pillar as the church that received him is a pillar and foundation of truth; but because it is also a drinkable and fruit-bearing thing, coming like a rain unto the minds of men, it is a pillar of cloud. Perhaps through this the descent of the Savior to this place was also foretold, by which, having mounted a hollow cloud, he came into Egypt, or into the place regarding the land of a perfect man having all the virtues and guarding all the testimonies and commands of God.

To go out from the presence of the Lord God is contrary to entering before Him (Ps 99:2b). So then, having gone out from the presence of the Lord God, Cain did not leave a place in which the face of God was, but having become a desert of right notions concerning God in another place, he departed from His face, having embraced carelessness and atheism, as if he no longer had a vision or a thought of the appearance of God; so then, to enter before the Lord is to consider Him present through thought.

For having observed the Creator through the greatness and beauty of creations, the whole world has ascended into the thought concerning God, as if to stand before the Lord at all times, according to the saying, 'The Lord of powers lives; I stood before him' (1 Kings 18:15).

The gates of the Lord are the virtues through which, and in other things it is said, 'Open to me the gates of righteousness' (Psalm 118:19), so that having surpassed his gates, having entered into the courts of God through theological hymns, they will gratefully confess to God.

Now he softens and restrains the passions of the listeners through the hymn, praising God the judge of men through deeds; and since his judgment is precise, examining not only the manifest things but also the hidden things of the heart, he brings it along with a kind intention. For if he were to observe according to the worth of our works, words, and intentions, we would perish utterly; but if this does not happen, he shows mercy before the judgment; for if you, Lord, should observe iniquity, who could stand? But since atonement is with you (for you are a source of goodness and mercy), we take courage that we shall obtain salvation from you, who examine what concerns us with mercy and judgment.

But for the one living rightly and desiring to have an unblemished path, it is not only the practice that ought to be blameless, but also the understanding and the knowledge regarding the doctrines, having been made precise. For someone sings, striking the instrument thoroughly and harmoniously, just as the body is, as it has been said many times, in order to produce excellent activities. And he takes up understanding, thinking about those who are prudent. And since the end of acting unblemished and thinking is to receive the presence of God into the mind and the intellect, the 'When will you come to me?' (Psalm 101:2; LXX 100:2) immediately led the soul there; for your 'coming to me and dwelling as in a holy temple' (Psalm 101:2; LXX 100:2) makes the aforementioned things established for me. And it will be said also to those who previously proclaimed the presence of the Savior here, 'We have sung, we have understood the things established concerning your coming into life.'

Of those who wander according to the activities of the mind, which move with evil alongside you, they become outside themselves, being passionately affected by the sensible things.

The Straightness of Character and the Deviation of Judas§189

189Having turned away. For he says it is fitting to call such people as being outside of themselves and having strayed. But he who is moved with innocence—that is, with virtue—concerning things to be done and things to be thought about, turns toward himself, having gathered his mind and his inner care, becoming a guide, better through wisdom, in the midst of his own household. And the houses of each of the diligent ones accomplish virtue.

In this way also James is remembered dwelling in a house, and the souls seeking the contemplations of the unseen and the hidden—which the word calls the wise women of the Hebrews—build houses inherited from virtues; after another word calling them wise women, women built the houses. 'I did not set before my eyes an unlawful thing' (Psalm 101:3), nor did I aim or have a goal to act unlawfully.

And regarding what is written, Susanna, the three youths in the furnace, and the others are gathered into the rank of these; for they say to those fighting and persecuting them: 'Do not turn me away from my intention, while you sophistize ten thousand times ten thousand, you hang down punishments and threaten death itself.' 'I hated those committing transgressions.' 'Committing transgressions,' says those sinning; for every sin becomes an offense and a transgression of the divine law.

And the habit of the brothers calls those who have denied Christ 'transgressors'; it is fitting to hate enemies of the Savior with intensity. Therefore, the word says, regarding one wishing to be without fellowship with them: 'If any man named a brother sins with other sins and is an idolater, let him not eat with such a one' (1 Corinthians 5:11). For the apostle does not write this concerning the completely Gentile ones, for he marks in his own epistle: 'If any one calls you of the unbelievers and you wish to go, eat everything set before you without examining' (1 Corinthians 10:27). If not, he does not prevent fellowship...

To be unfaithful, and he forbids eating with a so-called brother who is an idolater, which clearly signifies that one has stepped away from Christianity in order to worship idols. And these, those committing transgressions, must be especially hated, not because they happen to be humans, but because they are such things.

A crooked heart did not cling to me. It is written in Ecclesiastes: God made man straight (Eccl 7:29). If he has not become straight by being shaped according to virtue from the beginning, all wickedness and crookedness of morals is far from him. He who has not remained abiding, guarding the straightness and the likeness to God, speaks this voice, showing that the thought having destroyed the crookedness and the straightness is not something appropriate for us coming from within, but coming from without, which we ourselves should grasp, casting away the straight.

When the evil one turned away from me, I did not know it. The evil devil turns away from everyone guarding the command: 'Do not give place to the devil' (Eph 4:27). Judas, therefore, since he did not guard himself to provide a place for him, did not turn away from him, but rather, having first cast into his heart impious thoughts, Satan entered into him the whole of Judas and worked his evils, so that Judas would feel and know that the evil one was acting in concert with him.

For according to wickedness, he himself who received the evil one has been shaped, but he who now sings, not having a crooked heart in him, the evil one is able to work; he is filled with God and those of God, as one not having the evil one having a place with him turns away from him. He sings, therefore, saying, 'When the evil one turned away from me, I did not know it,' because he did not perceive his presence; for it was not a thought, but a work of his that he had with me. And perhaps, desiring also to present his excellence, he led forward such a voice, as is the custom of the magnanimous who despise the weak and say nothing about them.

The Poverty of Petition and the Nature of Prayer§190

190greed, which is idolatry

For the soul holds the starting points of the evils that are in it from the passions of the flesh. If no one is able to kill all the sinners of the earth in the manner spoken of, he will destroy from the city of the Lord all those working in lawlessness. For when the members upon the earth are put to death, the body being subdued and led away as a slave, the starting points of the sins from the flesh are no longer those which stir up in the soul thoughts rushing toward the practice of lawlessness for the sake of pleasure.

Everyone asking for something, who does not possess what he asks for by coming through the asking, is poor (Psalm 102:1). Everyone praying to God asks for a participation in good things, which he is not able to have from himself; therefore, all are poor toward God. Even if David was great and a king, in the things given from God he was poor; therefore, knowing himself lacking many or all of the things provided by God, he is filled with dejection so as to be greatly disheartened. Then, having been thus disposed, he pours out his petition before the Lord, asking from the one who gives good things to those who ask him. For the one who asks not these things but the things of the temporal has no boldness to pour out his petition before the Lord on account of a passionate intention.

Prayer indeed expresses entreaty toward God and supplication, but petition expresses the request regarding which he desires to be granted to the one praying (Psalm 102:1). These indeed are the truly good things, which it is fitting to give to God and beneficial for the askers to receive. If it is said regarding the cry of the saints praising God and praying to him with a loud voice, that it is not the cry in utterance but the intensity of understanding.

But God turns his face away from some of those praying, in more ways than one (Psalm 102:2): either from those who ask without entreating to receive what it befits God to grant and is profitable for them to receive, or because, while they ask what it befits God to provide, they do not yet have the time to receive these things profitably; and there are also those who deem it worthy to obtain certain things for sinning. The saint, then, beseeches, saying: 'May it not be that I ask such things at which, turning away, you turn your face from me; and I pray not that I may not be afflicted (for this is impossible), but that being afflicted I may not [...].'

The Spiritual Zion and the Glory of Christ§191

191That I might be defeated and not rejoice in any hope, enduring tribulations and boasting in them. For tribulation works endurance, and endurance testing, and testing hope, and hope does not put one to shame. Psalm 102:3-5 It is customary for those who are shivering to wrap themselves tightly because they are always being chilled. The smoke fails when the fire is being extinguished, and having descended into the gap, the fire itself works gap. Even the days shall not fail (for it will not be good for me if the light of my days is extinguished), bring the afflictions; for if they remained, what would become of the cessation of my days, but also my bones would rather be frozen by remaining. It is often said that the bones of the inner man are the strengths of the dogmas and the powers of the soul, and they are frozen by the burning of the passions of the soul. And he says that his heart has become dry, with nothing cheerful or upon which he has acquired joy. For it has become in the coming circumstances such that it is no longer possible to feed the bread which is appropriate and fitting to his most precious essence. For to receive this bread is impossible without being surrounded and clouded by those from without. He says, moreover, that this bread has not been nourished and he has forgotten that he once tasted it. But, groaning so much because of the present painful things, I leave a fully extended and continuous groan, as if from his voice, with a wailing occurring, that my bone might be joined and in some way united to my flesh through the much approaching dryness, casting off all the moisture scattered to my body from the coming harm. For that moisture was present to me, enjoying the bone, and it draws it away from the flesh, from the middle flesh and the place having bones. Psalm 102:13 For you will have compassion on those who have suffered, since you are God, the compassionate, and long-suffering, and full of mercy, and true. And there will be a time in which the things promised concerning Zion will be fulfilled; but who is not the most blessed and most desired time, the time of the resurrection, O Lord? And I prophesy this in these words of God, of Him, the Lord...

and of our Savior Jesus Christ, the theophany into men being the cause of the rebuilding of Zion. Once having become so, do not suppose for me the city upon the earth, nor consider the earthly Jerusalem to be signifying it, but rather the renewal of the citizenship of piety.

Why has he remembered Zion alone? (Psalm 102:13) For what previously had not come except toward the lost sheep of Israel. For having come into the world once for his own (for his people were being used through the fathers), he will not present any of those in the world, but with his own he will vivify the whole world. (Psalm 102:15-16) When the fearing of the name of the Lord is being brought in, and the fearing of the same Lord having been perfected (for there is no lack to those fearing him), they begin even with piety, believing in his name. For after the faith into his appellation, they believe in God himself and in his Christ, a faith reckoned as righteousness, through which everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ will be born from God. And it is perfect to be born from God; therefore also sinlessness follows the being born from him.

And the Gentiles, having feared the name of the Lord, having surpassed the Gentiles, being intellectually kings by having received foolishness to reign for an eternity, fear the glory of the Lord more than his name, as it is between those fearing the name of the Lord and the Lord himself, those fearing his glory are kings reigning accordingly; as Paul writes to the Corinthians, 'For you reigned without us; and indeed you reigned, so that we also might reign with you.' (1 Cor 4:8). And perhaps according to the first visitation the Lord built Zion, but according to the second he will appear with his glory.

And not only thus: the Word having become flesh and having tabernacled among us (John 1:14), he built the church spiritually, called Zion; and he will appear in his glory, so that having tabernacled among us, we might behold his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Psalm 102:18-19) For the Gentiles were built up having believed in the Lord according to the having come to piety.

The Groaning of the Bound and the Freedom of the Sons§192

192For when anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; and in this Christ, the two—the one from circumcision and the one from the Gentiles—are being created into one new man. For the term 'creation' signifies not a change of substance but a change of form or a transformation. According to this, the meaning of 'O God, create in me a clean heart' (Ps 51:10) is expressed.

If this meaning applies to many things, then the Lord's saying 'I have created you as the beginning of his ways for his works' does not signify a change of substance for the person speaking; for he was not created from nothing, but as the beginning of God's ways for his works; and to be created as the beginning of these things denotes a relationship, not a change of substance. Thus, a people being created will praise the Lord, coming to the knowledge of the one God. Furthermore, the term 'being created' is used; for if he had intended a change of substance, the one being created would be called 'a people created'; for it is possible to always remain in the state of being transformed and changed rather than in the state of being a new substance.

The reason for the people being created and praising the Lord is presented in the fact that He descended from His holy height. Because He has taken the form of a servant and has descended to us even unto death, He descended from His holy height, never ceasing to be holy or to be high (Psalm 102:19). Incorporeal and spiritual essence, rather, is how the Lord exists; He is not in a place, for the incorporeal is not limited by place, being uncircumscribable and beyond boundaries. Since He has become accustomed by power to all that comes from Him and is governed by Him (for He was in the world, and the world came through Him), He works within the better and more excellent parts of the world.

If it is said according to 'He who dwells in the heavens' (Psalm 2:4) and 'Our Father who is in heaven' (Matt 6:9), we do not consider Him as being contained by places, but we set forth that He exists by an unutterable power toward His own works; therefore, it is said that He is in the heavens, which are the different parts of the world. For indeed, the thought of all things holds this kind of concept. Since God, not being in heaven in the manner spoken of, looks down upon the earth because of those having been made to be provided for by Him here, it is most correctly said, 'The Lord looked down from heaven upon the earth' (Psalm 102:19). And the pretext through which the Word does this is...

He immediately brought forward, saying, 'Of those who hear the groans of the bound.' For those bearing the bonds and the shackles of wickedness groan out of repentance. For one used to doing evil with pleasure, he took it lightly and willingly bore the consequences following it; but others have withdrawn from the acts of wickedness, being weighed down by the hand of that evil, having been bound by it; therefore they also groan toward Him who is able to loose the bound. And the Lord, looking upon the earth, also looses the sons of the dead—that is, those born from those who practiced the sin leading to death and because of this have died. And if those coming from the Gentiles are not descendants of sinful and impious fathers, and death having prevailed has swallowed them up; whom He has freed the sons from sins, He has loosed from the bitter bonds through the mystery of rebirth. And it is possible to use these two verses for those bound in persecutions because of the word of Christ, and for the sons of those dead through the witness of the truth.

For the contemplative soul, being Zion, will see those announcing to her the teachers of the name of the Lord, and announcing also His praise in Jerusalem, which by seeing peace profits through thought. If Zion and Jerusalem were to accuse the church because of seeing the greater things and seeing peace in the harmony and the concord of the dogmas, it would follow rightly that in this so-called Zion the name of the Lord and His praise should be announced in this so-called Jerusalem. Who answered Him in the way of His strength? The word does not agree. Does he not say of the people being created, to praise the Lord? Rather, he considers the one who, being poor by predestination, is not despondent and pours out his prayer before the Lord, to be the one answering, not with voice and utterance, but walking strongly in the way of His strength and with rectitude the way of virtuous deeds. For one does not answer God only truly, but not merely with voice. He says: 'Since I have been commanded to achieve much readiness for me and to contemplate the doctrines of your most unshakeable truth, and much...'

The Oldness of Creation and the Transformation of the Heavens§193

193Because I need time to be perfected in these things, I beseech your goodness to announce to me the brevity of the days of my life which are stretching out toward my life in the flesh, lest I may not be able to grant myself to be perfected by a short prayer; and may you also deem me worthy of this, not to raise me in the half of days. But he is brought up in the half of days who has not fully nor as he ought fruited here according to virtue. And this is not measured in a chronological interval, because then I receive a full number of days according to Abraham, so that I may be perfected with the knowledge of the truth and of the virtues. For then take me up, so that when the true light has shone upon me, I may become full of all days, having done those things according to virtue and having thought, lest it happen through all things to exceed the time of my life.

We previously noted as being toward Christ those words foretold by Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Psalm 102:25). For the Psalmist does not say such a thing: 'And you, at the beginning, Lord, founded the earth,' that is, you have made it to stand, in agreement with 'In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.' The thing lying 'at the beginning' is able to refute the glory of all those saying the earth is an element, as if everything came from it and nothing existed before it. For it appears not to be a beginning, but rather that there exist foundations of it according to certain pre-conceived beginnings. It is also said to Job by the Lord, who founded the earth: 'Where were you when I was founding the earth?' But the Lord, through whom all things came to be, is founding the earth; and concerning the Father it is said, 'God founded the earth in wisdom.' And what was said concerning God, hanging the earth upon nothing, shows that the middle part of all things has this quality. But since you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands, and the hands of your active powers...

Regarding those called creatures. For just as the works produced by the hands of craftsmen among us demonstrate truly that they have made these things, so it is demonstrated that the works of God are properly the creatures, because they are called the works of His hand. But since the creatures are being changed because they produce the form of this world, you likewise remain not naturally changing or transforming. For this is a property of creatures, that essence itself begins to derive from them by way of a process.

Furthermore, he says, 'And all shall be worn out like a garment' (Isa 51:6), referring to all things that are under necessity. For having taken a temporal beginning in their becoming, they grow old as much time passes by. But see that you are not deceived hearing in Daniel the 'Ancient of Days' (Dan 7:9). For there, it does not signify having become old through a multitude of days, but that he is ancient and old of days; as it is possible in the Psalms to say, 'He who exists from before the ages' (Psalm 55:19). Thus also, 'Before the days,' that is, before all time, he is ancient and old. But the oldness of the heavens signifies not that they are before time, but that they are within time.

Therefore, they are not being worn out like a garment, but they will be rolled up, and like a waistband they will be rolled up by Him who made them, in order to be changed and re-elementalized. Their growing old and being rolled up signifies that the necessity which they contributed to the adornment of the present has passed away. For just as a waistband is rolled up after fulfilling its need, so too, when the heavens will again undergo re-elementalization with the earth after they have passed away, according to the one saying, 'Heaven and earth will pass away' (Matt 24:35), it is rightly said that they are being rolled up like a waistband. To their rolling up, he adds, 'And they shall be changed.' And in Isaiah it is said, 'The heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll' (Isaiah 34:4). Because of these things, he says, in identity, since these things are not remaining, the eternal things shall not fail. But for You, O Lord, having always the same and the like, You neither began nor will end.

Blessing the Name and the Crown of Mercy§194

194Your ages will not end, for your generations are from age to age (Psalm 102:24). But one should not take the ages of the wills chronologically, for time is not spoken of in this way. Nor does His being end, since His nature remains incorruptible, being alone possessing immortality.

One must not take 'sons of God' entirely according to the flesh, but according to instruction and the imitation of a way of life. For in this way some were called sons of the prophets, because they had perhaps become like them according to the prophetic manner. And Paul, a slave of Christ, has sons: Silvanus and Timothy and those near to them. And it happened that those benefiting from these were their seed. The children previously mentioned will dwell with Paul in the heavenly tabernacles, as will those being directed with them and their seed forever.

Others say that the composite man often speaks of himself as if he were others, saying, 'My soul' or 'My body.' And Paul, indeed, uses this practice, sometimes saying, 'I call God to witness upon my soul,' and sometimes implying, 'My body.' They say this by taking the parts as we say a people, rulers, and overseers of a city are not always different from the city itself (for it is filled from among them), but are a different rank of the whole city (for the rulers alone are not the city, nor the councilors privately, nor the people by themselves), but together they are the city—not so, even if the composite man is not another from the soul and the body (for from these two he is composed), but the soul of the whole is called as another of it.

Thus, the one who exhorts his own soul to bless the Lord is not 'uncomposite.' And those saying the soul is the spirit do not say it is such, but that it is under it, having its care. Within it, he calls upon every rational power of man. For it is not to be heard of the Savior saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is within you' (Luke 17:21). And do not view the 'internal' things as something else; for the powers we have, which are resting, are said to be able to act well within us. It is necessary to stir these up and turn them toward activity.

Through which we bless the name of the Lord. For the holy name blesses not powers, but good activities. Even the Savior says to those partaking of virtue and divine knowledge: 'The kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17:21), saying only once: 'Seek the foundations of faith and virtue within yourselves, being rational and having become according to the image of God; seek not the good outside yourselves.'

Sins are diseases of the soul. For he says, 'My soul, what harm hast thou done to thee?' (Psalm 103:3; LXX 102:3b). He redeems life from corruption, so that you may no longer live a life according to corruption and passion, but in incorruption, loving the Lord Jesus. And providing you an incorruptible body in the resurrection, he redeems your life from corruption.

And he crowns you also in mercy and compassion, the material of this crown being almsgiving and compassion. Just as others receive the crown of righteousness and the incorruptible crown of glory, woven from righteousness and upright glory, so also you, through mercy and compassion which you have worked, shall be crowned, according to 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Matt 5:7).

And not thus is the better: not so much that I shall be emboldened in the struggling, but because you are being merciful and pitied by the Lord, you shall be crowned, the Lord returning to your intellect the crown of graces. For by the grace of God and not of our own works we are saved, and we do not deserve sufferings in this present time for the sake of the glory to be revealed to us; so also he crowns us, not looking toward our own striving, but toward his own mercy and compassion.

And fill your desire also with good things. For he gives good things to those asking him. Since even the desiring of good things happens to be asking for them, giving to you all things, he fills your desire with good things through longing; for every desire of the righteous is good.

And since you are becoming according to the image and likeness of God and have become fit to enter into the essence in advance of the good, but having flown away from heedlessness, you cast away virtue both practical and intellectual; without which, being suspended, you would rise to the height, know that you have the power to grow wings, if you should wish it.

From Shadows to Spiritual Reality§195

195Working through God. And this shall be to you, your youth being renewed according to the eagle. For just as this old feather is cast off, and immediately it grows new wings, so also you, having grown old through wickedness, are renewed from your antiquity, and your youth comes in completion, and those who once used strong wings are not so, but now being clothed with new ones, you may be lifted up into heaven toward all those who have waited for God. For those waiting for the Lord shall change strength, they shall become wing-bearing like eagles, they shall run and shall run the course.

Father of mercies and alone good is the Lord, who performs acts of mercy, showing compassion to all, doing good (Psalm 103:6; LXX 102:6). God also, toward those being wronged by the devil and by wickedness, making judgment, sent his only Son to heal and to set free those being oppressed by Satan, redeeming souls from bondage and from injustice, having torn the handwriting of our debt and having nailed it to the cross. The one holding us, the devil, had made us debtors, through whom we were practicing, having set up the handwriting of our debt for him. We were rescued from all our injustice, God making judgment for those being wronged, so that through the blood of his Son Jesus Christ we might be cleansed from all injustice, not only the injustice by which we were being wronged but also the injustice which we were practicing. From here we learn, according to the exhortation of Paul, the difference between being wronged and doing wrong. For to those being wronged God performs judgment, doing them good, but to those doing wrong he brings punishment, so that they do not inherit the divine promise: For those who do wrong shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Psalm 103:6/1 Cor 6:9).

Virtues are called parallel. For he who says, 'Lord, make known to me your ways' (Psalm 25:4), it is worthy that virtues become manifest to him; and that part by Paul toward Elymas, saying, 'You will not cease turning away the straight ways of the Lord' (Acts 13:10), presents the same, signifying that virtues are also the wills of God. And otherwise the coming thing might be understood; for since God gave the law of the things to come through Moses, having a shadow of them, but not every part...

This law bears an image and a type of the intelligible and spiritual, as if it were to move from the sensible things to the spiritual and original ones by a way of analogy. And the Lord will teach such transitions—fittingly, concerning these transitions it is said, 'He made known His ways to Moses' (Psalm 103:7). For who else besides Moses, having learned from God how to ascend from the sensible circumcision and bodily sacrifice and the other shadowy things to the truth, knew this way? For He made known His ways to him.

But also, if anyone is a son of Israel, if it is not said, 'Israel is my chosen one,' how will he understand the wills of God, which are made known to the discerning ones by Him, such as the Jews who, hurrying in secret, circumcise not the flesh but the heart; and they also offer a sacrifice of righteousness and pleasingness to God, not as a spiritual sacrifice. All these things spoken are the Lord, since God is true; but a true God is not in the excellence of the aforementioned virtues, but is the source and essence of them. Therefore, we also take courage that He will not be angry with us for having sinned, in order to complete and destroy this. For this was 'He will be angry unto the end,' that is, to remain in anger as an end, and the anger toward the gods is destruction. He does not become angry unto the end, nor does He remain for an age. For the deceiver does not have lasting anger: 'When the anger of my spirit is kindled, I shall be healed' (Ps 102:13).

But the mercy of God takes its beginning upon the earth, according to what was said: 'The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord' (Psalm 33:5; LXX 32:5). If mercy, beginning from there, becomes directed toward the pious, it lifts them up and suspends them upon the height of the heavens: 'For great is your mercy, O Lord, unto the heavens' (Ps 36:5). For ascending into the kingdom of heaven happens more by the mercy of God than by anything else. And the saving virtues appear to be sunrises, while sins are sunsets, entirely deprived of light. Since no one can exist in both virtue and wickedness, he who has associated himself with the aforementioned sunrises, as if to dwell in them, is like the one in Eden, planted by God according to sunrises.

The Endurance of Mercy and the Nature of Commandments§196

196Having been distanced from paradise, the previously spoken evils of the interpreted Easts hold such a distance from himself. For the evils are far from the virtues.

But as one in the Easts has the previously spoken evils distanced from him by God, so he who is in them, desiring to sin by himself and not from God, is not distanced from the Easts, but is cast out of paradise. But even after these things have happened through disobedience to the divine commands, Jesus comes upon the evils according to 'Make way for him who is stepping upon the evils, the Lord is the law to him' (Psalm 68:4), and he will not stay there long, but coming to the pain, saying 'With me you shall be in paradise.' For providing a remission of sins, he removes the evils from the rising toward paradise.

Rather, God excessively and super-abundantly pities those who fear him (Psalm 103:13; LXX 102:13), having set them into the rank of his sons, making known to each of us the creature. For he did not create anything hating, but knowing the hearts of men, he fashioned them individually as he saw fit for each of us. And we have power and a starting point, and these he gives upon us having them by energy to become his sons. It is possible to grasp that he himself knows our creature and thus: let him take experience of our creature; having become flesh, he assumed a natural disposition so as to consider us sons of himself.

Not as a creator of our nature did he create the weakness. For even if not all our construction is from dust (for we have a spiritual nature in ourselves, becoming an icon and likeness of God), but rather in supplications toward God, deeming him a gatherer and benefactor, we say that he brings forward the lesser and weaker of those in us: 'Remember, Lord, what dust we are; therefore help our weakness and our poverty' (Psalm 103:14; LXX 102:14). Following 'Remember, Lord, what dust we are,' it forbids not the inner man, but the outer things lying ahead. For according to the present and after the flesh, we have certain days that complete the extending time of the life after the flesh, surpassing it like a parching meadow.

He sings along with the others, and Isaiah says: 'All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of the grass; the sun rises and withers the grass, and its flower falls' (Isa 40:6-8). These things represent the glories, honors, and all the prosperities existing in this life which seem to those living in the flesh to be abundant, yet they depart like a flower and grass, and wither as if they had never even existed (Psalm 103:15-16).

You should also perceive in another way the children of righteous men as zealots for their works. Thus, the mercy of God toward those who fear Him is indescribably extended from age to age (Psalm 103:17; LXX 102:17-18). For He does not sometimes show mercy and sometimes not; for being good by nature, He always shows mercy. Moreover, righteousness is the spouse of this mercy; it is not limited by time, but extends to all generations, remaining upon the sons of sons and through all succession, so that He may always have this righteousness with those who guard the covenant of God from age to age, who are also inscribed as heirs of the coming promises through their doing of good. For those guarding it will also remember the commandments of God by doing them. For these are given not as a mere memory, but a memory for the purpose of doing. And regarding that which they are given for the purpose of doing, the Savior also establishes, saying: 'He who has my commandments and does them, he is the one who loves me' (John 14:21). For the promises are the reward and inheritance not of their memory alone, but of their doing.

And in other places it has been said that God is not in a place, but it is said that He dwells in heaven through a certain following and economy. Accordingly, it has been said that they have prepared for Him even here in heaven, that is, they have established the throne of His kingdom and His rule, not only of those in heaven, but of all, holding and dominating universally (Psalm 103:19; LXX 102:19). One should not regard the prophet as a man, but rather the Holy Spirit within him, commanding the angels regarding the things at hand; for all His angels (meaning the Lord's) say, 'Bless Him' (Ps 103:20). The Spirit commands all the angels, being their essence. If this is so, how did some dare with audacity...

The Abyss and the Provision of God§197

197To show this regarding the order of the angels, although is it not somewhat different for all of them? Ps 103,1: He clothed himself in majesty, and to those in greatness and those who exalt themselves, he gives the appropriate thing; but in confession, he gives to all a harmonious symphony concerning them. For the name of confession signifies also the symphony that is in words. But if you wish him to be clothed in another kind of confession according to repentance and in thanksgiving, it is not for sinners. Corresponding to this signified thing, he will also clothe the virtue of those who succeed, which is called majesty. And just as the Savior says, 'I am naked, and you clothed me' (Matt 25:36), this shows what his clothing and covering becomes: the practice of those living according to him; so also the Father will clothe himself in the virtues of those who strive concerning him.

Ps 103,2a: Just as one who puts on a sensible garment is covered from every side, so God, being filled with knowledge from every side, as his essence turns out to be ungraspable, puts on light as a garment, signifying even here the most sharp-witted knowledge of the light. Agreeing with this concerning God, Paul writes that he has an unapproachable light, or dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16). For in this very expression, it is said that the whole is the knowledge of God, and for this reason, that it is difficult to understand for the intellects, that he dwells in unapproachable light.

Ps 103,2b.3a: He roofs the air above us and the wind toward the ether with waters according to the swirling of the clouds. And toward the intellect: he calls the intellectual essence 'heaven,' being stretched out and made simple upon the canopy of the mind, he who roofs the intellectual and divine things with waters, the heavenly things of the soul, that is, its powers which happen to be above the sensible.

Ps 103,6a: You will find the abyss lying upon ungraspability, and in 'Your judgments, O Lord, are many' (Psalm 36:6), for his judgments being unsearchable, there is no grasping of them. Therefore also not simply ab...

They are compared to a small abyss, but a great one. And God is not a small abyss, for the greatness of the abyss covers the judgments of the enclosure, being called incomprehensibility. Ps 103:7b: Hearing the sound of thunder—that is, the word being made loudly according to providence—they shall fear. It is fitting that these things should be said concerning the visible things and the waters. It is possible to take 'From the sound of thunder they shall fear' (Psalm 104:7) not concerning the waters, but concerning men, rather concerning all living creatures, as it might happen that a thunder, of the invisible and unseen divinity, is perceived.

Through every word the preceding psalm glorifies and doxologizes God, remembering each of the creatures; and God, accepting his providence in the things set forth, marvels and considers his goodness with wisdom, caring for the endurance of the irrational animals. And rightly; for if he himself has made them, he is the provider of both their food and their drink. Ps 103:13–15.

And by ascent you shall understand the words having been fully returned; for the spirit-bearing men are they. They are watered from the heavenly things of this God, being filled with the gifts of the Spirit, the word of wisdom, and the following things which are innumerable. And the heavenly things of God, from which the words water, are sharp and surpassing contemplations of the truth, being called heavenly because they have not ascended beyond themselves. 'The earth shall be satisfied from the fruit of your works.' For he is... Let the earth blossom with grass for pasture and a fruitful tree producing fruit, and the following. And by ascent from Jesus, having much fruit during the visitation, the whole earth is satisfied, receiving those things having been made by Jesus in such a paradoxical way. For this is the fruit of his works. And the word concerning the works of creation and his providence, being understood, being found to be the fruit of the works of God, shall satisfy the earth, I say, those upon the...

The Rock and Divine Wisdom§198

198Wasting men upon the earth. Even in his super-natural and most high words, it is not possible to provide a meadow for those who are the most irrational.

The discourse concerning sensible things and the letter of the scripture is the meadow in this, but even the more ethical ones will not be able to partake, each of them saying of such things: 'Into the place of clover, there he pitched his tent' (Psalm 23:2).

Having once surpassed such a state, being no longer slaves of men but having become men, they will say again, each of them: 'You have prepared a table before me' (Ps 23:5).

The mind rejoices the heart of men; not everyone alone is the one having the generation from the one saying, 'I am the vine, the true vine' (John 15:1), but since all sensible things are named earth because of the material.

From these, it is possible to take a word ascending through some analogy to the intelligible. And the beautiful word is brought forth from the earth by nourishing the endos and the man in secret; and from the bodily narratives of the scripture, the mystical word is brought forth beautifully because of the historical things said of the earth.

And the face of the inner man is appeased and made bright by the oil of the nourishing divine light, which alone dissolves diseases and the pains of the soul, differing from the attributed intellect. For the word of God is like the vine, so also the oil is; for he says, 'as an olive tree flourishing in the grove of God' (Psalm 52:8). For his teaching, by a diverse relationship, is both vine and oil and bread.

According to an upward leading: the race of deer is at war against the race of gazelles. They hasten, indeed, to bring them up. Such are certainly the disciples of Christ, being ready to avenge every disobedience. And he also enables the power against the gazelles from the one who has extended authority to them to tread upon the gazelles and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy.

These are not the spiritual deer desiring the springs of the waters, the spiritual ones, which are also called oracles; they wear themselves out upon these oracles. And if souls perfected according to virtue are to leap great leaps, imitating the one leaping upon the oracles and running over the mountains and the valleys because of the sharp-sightedness and...

Insightful. But those souls that have arrived at this state and are weaker, called swine, flee to the rock upon which Jesus founds the church as an unconquerable fortress; and this is the confession of the faith. And in Proverbs it is said, 'And the swine, a people not strong, made their dwellings in rocks' (Prov 30:26). It is nothing wonderful that the rock is spoken of both singularly and plurally, meaning Christ who is simply the rock, and who is also spoken of as rocks according to various thoughts.

It is suggested by scripture that 'Rock is a refuge for the hyenas,' as perhaps there is a synonymy between the hyena and the swine. It is not for each one to hear someone saying, 'Behold, the Lord helps me; who will harm me?' (Isaiah 50:9) and 'The Lord is my helper' (Ps 118:7), and 'I will not fear; what can man do to me?' (Psalm 118:6). The fact that the 'As' the simile here written is a demonstrator not of likeness but of truth, just as also in the phrase 'As God is good to Israel,' for he does not say God is like good, but truly good. And in the present passage then, that the works of God are magnified, is signified by the 'As' in 'As your works have been magnified, O Lord' (Psalm 104:24; LXX 103:24). For everything that comes about in wisdom is great of God. And the wisdom of God in which all things came into being is the Lord; for Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24).

Another says that he speaks only concerning the rational beings. For to hope and to have expectation toward God, this is hinted at. And they hope to find this at an opportune time, being freed from every deficiency and disease. For when this is given, they will gather it, hastening so much to receive it, so that it may be fed into a basket. And there will exist for them the kindness that is upon such straightness, as He is opening for them the hand of your words and the wisdom.

God, providing eternal glory to his own works, rejoices in all that hopes for him. For just as having made all things very good in the beginning (Gen 1:31), he rejoiced in the inhabited world, and he rejoiced in the sons of men when there was not yet transgression, so He would rejoice at the perfection and restoration of the ancient order of his works, not out of the joy of God being not impassible (for the divine is impassible) but out of the acceptance of those having perfected perfect virtue.

The Manifestation of Christ and the Guidance of God§199

199If you wish to handle these things spiritually, consider how, when God looks upon you according to 'Look upon me' (Ps 103:6) and 'The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous' (Psalm 34:15), the earth does not stand firm but trembles as if darkening, as if the material existence were to be cast away and pass away. But God, touching the evil powers because he sees the called ones in their pride, smokes them out, entering into them with a breath, as if into the punishment by fire.

Sing to the Lord, having the presence of the one existing not in voice but in thoughts; and I will sing also in perfect deeds to God, since I have the presence of the one existing, in which I partake of the one existing before the ages and who said 'I am the Being' (Ex 3:14). And conversing in a way pleasing and acceptable to God, I will say, 'Let my conversation be sweet to him.' For he himself says, having accepted the church, 'Your voice is sweet' (Song of Solomon 2:14).

Just as according to the history of Samuel ministering continually in the tent of meeting, he saw the face of God, so also those who continually and without interruption examine the dogmas of truth and having practiced the virtues, seek the face of God, desiring to see him with a pure mind. For the face of God is the exact imprint of the hypostasis, being an icon of the invisible God; therefore also the one seeing it immediately sees God.

As for his mouth, to perceive his word, he has given you instructions and commands judged to be both law-giving and precise. Having said 'slaves of God from Abraham' because of the bringing in of the race from Abraham, and 'the chosen ones from Jacob' because they are his and bear his name, and 'an election from the nations' then received into an inheritance, their own Lord and God, he says that his providential judgment is such toward all men.

The number of a thousand generations is not said according to a multitude, but by the appropriation toward the unit, just as also in 'When the thousands are increasing', and 'What is good to me is the law of your mouth, surpassing thousands of gold and silver' (Psalm 119:72; LXX 118:72). Because you are evil and yourselves are partakers of Christ.

We have become such through being made worthy of the appearance of the Son of God; for He is the Christ, the one who also spoke to them, and He himself, the Savior, teaches in the Psalms that Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day (John 8:56), and did rejoice. When did he not look up with his eyes and stand before God at the oak of Mamre? For then the Scripture says, 'God appeared to Abraham.' And these things, even if they are few, were necessary to be announced to the nations by those commanded there to do this.

Regarding Psalm 104:12a, 'brief' instead of 'few.' For the brief lies in respect to magnitude, but the few is arranged in respect to numbers.

Regarding Psalm 104:18-19, they humbled his feet alone, not binding his soul in shackles, but the soul having been made free from iron. For they, being surrounded by shackles, bear the affliction, having the soul bowed down by iron. But he endured this not unto all things; for he limits the end of the affliction, saying that he had held it fast until the word of God passed through; according to which, having been transferred from the prison, he became a fosterer and nourisher of all, having grasped the word of the Lord, kindling it to boil in the spirit and being filled with the divine light, with which also he is able to give the exhortation saying, 'Do not quench the Spirit' (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Regarding Psalm 104:20-21, and Joseph himself did not follow this doctrine; therefore, toward the causes, he says, 'Did you not send me here? For you indeed plotted for evil, but God plotted for good' (Ps 104:21).

Regarding Psalm 104:26, since not all are able to depart from the harmful ones by themselves and through themselves, God sends to those who are thus weak the ones capable of being guides and leaders of the way that carries toward the good. And the law of God through Moses and the high-priestly word through Aaron are not the same; the one forbidding the deeds, the other ministering to God on our behalf and distributing the graces from Him to us; they are the leaders whom they say, 'Let us flee Egypt.'

Regarding Psalm 104:37, but by upward movement, think how each of those in these guards, possessing health and strength, says, 'I am able to do all things in the one who strengthens me' (Philippians 4:13), and enriching in...

Repentance and the Divine Mercy§200

200It happens through good works, every kind of word, and all knowledge, in silver and gold, and outside of Egypt by God. For it is impossible for one being weak and lacking the aforementioned silver and gold to come out of Egypt.

The set-forth voice is especially holy of those before the coming of the Savior, entreating that the Lord might remember them in the good pleasure of His people (Psalm 106:4-5; LXX 105:4–6), since He was well-pleased in His beloved Son to save, judging His people and the world; thus he says, showing Him: 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased' (Matt 3:17). Because the divine prophets, desiring to see and hear the things happening and being spoken concerning Jesus by the eye of the mind, are worthy that their memory be made in the salvation according to the good pleasure.

And Christ is often called the salvation of God, as also in Ezekiel: 'For all flesh is the salvation of our God' (Isaiah 40:5). This visitation, the father of the baptizer making manifest concerning God, says: 'Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in whom he visited us, the sunrise from on high' (Luke 1:78). Having visited us in His salvation, it will be for us to become His chosen ones and to behold in the goodness of His chosen ones the joy being fulfilled, and to be made glad in the divine feast of the nation being completed from all those believing.

And may it be accomplished for us also to be praised with His inheritance, for it is for us as heirs to have the inheritance. Who is this church from the Gentiles, saying, 'Let them depart from me, and I will give you the inheritance of the Gentiles' (Psalm 2:8)? For spiritually, remaining according to the Gospel, those attending to the law are praised with the aforementioned inheritance. And they are praised by God and by the holy powers, receiving those who hasten to be well-pleasing to God.

And the divine men, taking up also the countenance of those who repent of those on whom they acted wickedly, and teaching how they must repent after the sins, saying, 'We have not sinned, but we have sinned like our fathers'—calling their fathers the ancestors and those who came before, or those who begat them in wickedness—will not say everything when confessing, saying, 'We have turned away'...

We have acted perversely and done wrong. And even regarding those who are counted among those who repent, they do not appear to have been pious. For we were not made outside of the divinity, but being contained by it, we were defeated by passions and hard toil, and we sinned and did other things. Psalm 105:9: God, who rebuked the Red Sea, is praised by all. If even Jesus, when the sea is tossing, rebukes the sea, so that from a storm a calm becomes, He is proven to be God, He who rebuked the Red Sea, and He is the Son of Him. But because God rebuked the Red Sea, the ancient sea becomes dry, as if it were to be passable, and the abyss is no longer called by the abundance of the waters. Psalm 105:19: And they made a calf in Horeb, having a vision of the Apis brought from Egypt in Memphis. Therefore, they worshiped this calf and other carvings, being bound to the drama of polytheism. Immediately, indeed, having made a calf, they were showing many, saying, 'These are not your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'

The following psalm, its praise being of the divine benefits and mercies toward men that have been done, has the sequence arranged. Psalm 106:1: Those upon whom the surrounding tribulations fall (without any of them bringing this upon themselves), knowing that the good God has these things, says the following verses. And since some are becoming in temporary things thought to be good, they do not simply have a trial of God's mercy, but are being pitied for ever, having the eternal good things from Him. For if even the good God has pitied someone with eternal mercy. He also makes mercy for thousands for those who love Him the same, preparing for them. An eye has not seen, nor has an ear heard, nor has it ascended to the heart of man. It is said also previously that the good is synonymous with the good. Psalm 106:4: Therefore also, being in the desert, we wandered, not having a guide and a leader to follow, finding either a city well-arranged after the holy law in which we were able to dwell without departing from it, but virtue and the wisdom of God. Psalm 106:10b: And of the...

The Glory of God and the Spiritual Economy§201

201Because poverty has pre-empted the state of having wealth in every word and in all knowledge and in good works, he having been released from these evils will not be tested by punishment. Ps 106:17: While they were still walking in the way of their lawlessness, God took hold of them, because through a multitude of impieties having been humbled, they were held by those from whom he raised them. And see if you are able to apply this to the thief who repented on the cross; for while he was in the way of lawlessness (for he was condemned by robbery) and having been humbled by punishment because of his lawlessness, he was taken hold of by the one saying to him, 'Today you shall be with me in Paradise' (Luke 23:43). Ps 106:18-19. Generally also, both upon the body and upon the soul, for what sickness of the emaciated one he abstains from all nourishment, both bodily and spiritual; but those having the health of the soul hunger and thirst for righteousness. And the gates of death are the sins toward death. These they approach before coming to him, having a life-giving breath and power, I mean indeed the thought concerning God; therefore, in their being afflicted, they cry out to the Lord, and he saves them from all the constraining necessities that hold them. And if they had not cried out to the Lord, they would have perished even until death. Ps 106:22b. And he proclaims in gladness the works of him, everyone announcing those things having happened to himself and having had experience of his goodness, not simply recounting those things having happened to others. Ps 106:26. And the saying of ascending as if to heaven and descending as if from the abyss is said by hyperbole. For indeed in such a way there are countless examples in the Scripture; for concerning the cities of Israel, the enemies, whatever they had been walled up as if to heaven because they had been walled up with high walls, and 'I shall be made white as snow' (Ps 51:7) is said in the same way. Ps 106:38b. Others say:

They are livestock that are in the so-called sheep, which possess abundance and greatness because of their perfected gentleness and learning (Psalm 107:41). But also, if she does not possess the capacity to speak of the divine economy of God, it will shut her mouth. And you will perceive the devil as lawlessness, and all that is established according to it, as those speaking lawlessly with an enclosed mouth (Psalm 107:42).

Because much of them belongs to the spiritual intellect, it is for the wise and understanding to comprehend them. His glory is the practical and contemplative life, through which it is divided toward moral and intellectual virtue. Those who raised up the true light, having risen toward the Lord, walking decorously as in the day, striking the harp and striking the lyre, sing to the all-wise God, offering up their hymns rhythmically and harmoniously. And it is said in the psalm: what harp and what lyre?

His mercy is magnified as that of the heaven, beginning from the earth; for the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord (Psalm 108:4). The end holds those who began to receive mercy from the earth to reach the heaven, in order to inherit the kingdom of the heavens. And his truth is also magnified in the clouds serving the spiritual, to Moses and the prophets, since their ministry begins from the shadow and ends in the truth, just as they also worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:24), as do the apostles and all the disciples of the Spirit.

From the first word, 'As high as the heavens is your glory' (Psalm 108:5), and from the sixth verse until the end of the ninety-ninth, we are being cut off from the things set forth there. Because of the lifting up of God in those who carry the image of the heavenly, and because of this, called heavens, his glory extends over all the earth that is able.

The Fruitfulness of the Just and the Symbolism of Gilead and Manasseh§202

202To bear a hundred and sixty and thirty; as God is being lifted up toward the contemplative natures of the world, which are called heavens, His glory is found upon the practical earth, which is called earth.

Not otherwise are those worthy of being loved by you to be rescued from the enemies holding them or those surrounding them, than by you saving with your right hand and by me interceding for them (Psalm 108:6). An oath is interpreted as a symbol of work (Psalm 108:7-9). The Lord, having been lifted up on the cross and having ascended, divided the works of men as to justifying some and rejecting others; for He is a just judge.

Therefore, even the place near the surface, because it is called a valley below due to the human bodies dwelling in it, is called the measurement of the dwellings of the souls inhabiting it, to provide for both the things below and these things. Indeed, He sent the heralds of truth into all the nations, so that the gospel of justification might be proclaimed.

Gilead is interpreted as migration, Manasseh as being from oblivion, and Ephraim as fruitfulness. The Savior says, 'My Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine,' meaning migrating from evil to truth, or from evil to virtue, or from earth to heaven; and mine also is the one who has surpassed all the oblivion of good things and has come from it. For he who comes from oblivion into memory is Manasseh, that is, having left and abandoned the oblivion by which the good things of God were forgotten.

But also the great fruitfulness of the believing nations has become a covering and a perception of the Savior; for as Paul writes to those who were benefited by him, saying they are his joy and crown (1 Thess 2:19), so also the Savior has a perception, a crown being woven for him by those bearing up righteousness and truth. And Judah is his king, not by his ruling, but by the king being made his own. Such is David, or perhaps everyone who confesses for the things he accomplished is Judah, interpreted 'confession.'

Moab, however, because of being a punishment for those handed over to him by the Lord, is the lion of the saying of hope. And the lion often signifies punishment among the prophets. Since punishments fall upon a good intention, they bring good hope.

'Upon Edom I will extend my sandal' (Psalm 108:9). If the face saying these things were the Savior's, since Edom is translated into the earthy, he will say to make a journey upon the earth and earthly things; for the sandal is a symbol of a covered journey.

For of old he used a bare journey, creating and providing, but now with the flesh with which he is clothed, which is also his sandal.

And since some shod the gospel with the preparation of peace (Eph 6:15), this sandal also, spread everywhere, was extended upon Edom in both the ways mentioned.

Ps 108:6-8: Not all have the same right hand, but the serious man has the intelligible things and the things of virtue, while the worthless man has the sensible things and the things of evil; on the right of the holy one God stands, but on that of the sinner the devil.

But perhaps someone will object, saying: 'And concerning Jesus the great priest, who is holy, it has been said: And the devil stood at his right hand to oppose him' (Zech 3:1).

But the objector did not attend to the difference of the words; for concerning Judas it is written: 'Let the devil stand at his right hand' (Psalm 109:6; LXX 108:6), but concerning the great priest: 'And the devil stood at his right hand to oppose him';

for he stands fighting and opposing at the right hand of the holy one, even if he is not able to overthrow the one at whose right God is; but at the right of Judas he stands as in his own place.

Therefore he is worthless, and what follows also shows his wickedness, with the Savior praying that the prayer of Judas become sin.

Prayer becomes sin to the one who sends it up whenever he fails to obtain what he asks.

For he prayed, in a manner betraying the teacher, that his word be destroyed and all the disciples and believers be scattered, but he failed.

For his word ran, and those believing in him, increasing daily, filled the whole inhabited world.

And in another way prayer becomes sin to someone whenever he deems it worthy to receive from God not what he ought but what does not profit him, and for this reason, since he asked neither what befits God to give nor what is profitable to him, God judged him.

But of every betrayer of the truth there come the [...].

The Right Hand of God and the Glory of the Son§203

203A few days, being enlightened, before he betrays the truth. Being enlightened by the true light, and receiving also the oversight of this instead of himself, becoming a teacher who both remained and progressed in the truth.

The fathers of Judah, who begot him through betrayal (Psalm 109:14; LXX 108:14a), and those who are able to do this through the giving of silver, and what Satan, having cast it into his heart, incited him to betray the Lord; and those having the wisdom of this age, the rulers concerning whom Paul says, 'For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory' (1 Cor 2:8). And he put him to death, because he became the one handed over unto death (Psalm 109:16; LXX 108:16c).

He who is clothed in the form of the slave speaks as to the Lord the Father (Psalm 109:21-23; LXX 108:21–23). And he says to the Lord how he will do mercy with him, benefiting those who are his body; for the things happening to his body are reckoned to himself. Therefore he says, 'Do with me for the sake of your name, since in this I have come to those whom you sent, saying, I have come in the name of the Father; because of this name do it, for your mercy is good, benefiting and full of goodness; do it, since also my heart is troubled within me.' You say 'heart,' and the apostles are his equal-souled ones, the lesser ones having become believing ones who were found to be his body. Since the disciples were not scattered having been scandalized in that night, but Judas and the crowd of the Pharisees stood over to hold him, it happened that their being troubled was his heart. But even if his heart was troubled, he did not depart from him, being contained by him and dwelling in his disciples. But also everyone whose heart is being troubled from thoughts or suffering, doing nothing and saying nothing according to the trouble, says, 'My heart was troubled within me.' Since, indeed, the Savior is to live always among men (for indeed he was taken up after the resurrection into the heavens), he speaks concerning human life as not permanent nor standing, like a shadow in its vanishing: 'You were cast away from me like a chaff.' For just as the chaffs are scattered away through weakness of nature.

They are tossed about; not that I, having taken on a weak life through men, was quickly driven out of weakness to be crucified, but having been taken up after the resurrection. It is possible also to say concerning all the disciples as it is said concerning Him, 'I was tossed about like locusts' (Psalm 109:23), since, being persecuted and tossed about by those desiring evil, they are not humbled but are carried away flying upward. And all the martyrs, having been tossed about like locusts, having left the things below, pursue the prize of the high calling.

Giving the reason for confessing and praising Him, He brought it so that He might stand at the right hand of the poor; it is evident regarding Him who became poor for all, that through my poverty they might become rich. He stands at the right hand of Him who does all things rightly and thinks all things rightly. Again, the God, having set the pretext of standing at His right hand, says, 'To save my soul' (Ps 109:1).

Having fulfilled the economy, both having been raised from the dead and having been taken up into heaven, the Lord Jesus says, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet' (Psalm 110:1), that is, the Father. Paul, therefore, says that after this ascension, the voice was spoken through Him to say, 'Having made a cleansing of sins, He sat in the right hand of majesty in the high places.' For to which of the angels was it ever said, 'Sit at my right hand?' (Hebrews 1:13).

The Lord, therefore, who is the Father of all those having been brought forth with Him, says to the Lord of creation, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.' And the Father says to the Son, as if a father to a son and a son to a father, for He does not converse using speech; for He is His own thought, truth, wisdom, and word. And the Lord of the Lord sits in the right hands.

It is not locally, in the body, that He says these things, as if we were seeking the right hand in a place. Rather, those partaking of God are indeed in the right hand, since God is holy and good; no one else will be counted holy, reigning with the Father. For the 'Sit at my right hand' declares the co-reigning of the Son toward the Father. If it is regarding the rational beings: those having wisdom and the most keen virtue are thrones of God; and in these, the Savior sits at the right hand of God.

The distinction between making and begetting§204

204He sits. But those who have rushed toward wickedness and malice are enemies of the Word and the truth. But the Father also wills these to be changed through repentance, making them followers of the path and the feet of the Word, since having become his footstool, they fall from his feet; but with a turning toward virtue and wisdom, becoming more mobile, they themselves shall become a throne from being a footstool. Therefore Paul says, 'For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet' (1 Corinthians 15:25). And there God says, 'Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet' (Ps 110:1). For he indeed sits at the right hands of the Father reigning, while the enemies oppose him. But having set for them the beginning of benefit by subduing them and making them his footstool, he raises their desiring hand, so that they themselves might be counted among the right-handed, no longer in the wickedness through which they happened to be on the left; so that in the end, the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, and all the rational beings, having been perfected, become toward the Father and the Son of God, all things becoming in all things.

Thoughts and not thus: the name of the beginning, 'kingdom,' here signifies not as with the Savior in the day of his power, but after the resurrection in which he rose from the dead; for if he was crucified out of weakness, but lives by the power of God. It signifies the beginning kindred to him which is coming, through which he holds and rules (that is, the day of his power), not in things happening by chance, but in the brightness of the saints through which they possess light, being illuminated and made bright by the true light, as one might say, 'Let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us.' If, however, he says 'beginning' regarding those who are beginning, according to what is signified, it is said that God prevails over every beginning, and his beginning was made at his own time; and you do not say thus, but rather those who are beginning are under him in the day of his power, when the sun of righteousness shines (Mal 4:2). For he himself says concerning those being ruled by him toward the Father, 'I want that where I am, they also may be, that they may see my glory' (John 17:24). All the ecclesiastics were not before now...

But they also always say that the appointed voice is said towards the Father, joined to the beginning of the psalm thus: 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, so that I may make your enemies a footstool for your feet; from the womb before the dawn I begot you' (Psalm 110:1; Psalm 110:3)—through the middle of the other half-verses.

And indeed the apostle, having followed this thought, has said: 'For which of the angels did he ever say, Sit at my right hand?' (Hebrews 1:13) saying only once. Not to any of the born, but to his only-begotten Son alone: 'Sit at my right hand,' since he himself is alone the only-begotten who is in the bosom of the Father.

Let us see also what this very word intends. And it must be said that God is indeed simple and undivided; and even while he is thus, if the divine Word wishes to truly present himself as a maker, from whom we are, he says, speaking of his hands, that the heavens and the rest of creation are the work of his hands.

Just so, with genuine parents, whom we call a star, if we mean not the adoptive ones but the genuine ones, since some are truly sons and others are adoptive and placed; if we do not mean the placed ones but the genuine ones, we say they are the offspring of the womb of those who bore them. And God, wishing to present a genuine Son and the only-begotten from himself, remembers the womb.

But just as he makes it with hands in a God-befitting way, so also we hear 'to have been begotten from the womb.' But the works of the hands are many, while the only-begotten offspring of the womb is one; therefore, it is not to be said of God that creating and begetting are the same, as some say.

For all things were made through the Word and in wisdom (John 1:3), and the wisdom and the Word were not through something, but were begotten from God. Therefore, begetting is not the same as making; for if there were no difference, nothing would prevent saying: 'My hands made you, and the heavens are the work of my womb.'

But just as the word has many variations, so also the things signified by it. But the Father does not say these things to the Son in ignorance, but so that we might know the intimacy of the Father toward the Son and of the Son toward the Father, these things were written. Just as what was said by that same only-begotten Wisdom: 'Before all mountains he begets me' (Proverbs 8:25), therefore also there, before the dawn...

The crushing of enemies and the exaltation of the Head§205

205It is said to have been born, and as a morning-bearing light, not only perceptible but also intelligible. And even regarding the intelligible, it is manifest what is said also of all creation, according to what is said: 'He himself is before all things' (Colossians 1:17).

As for us, the Savior defines the Yes as Yes and the No as No; moreover, God, being truthful, is said to swear, without using an unchangeable or a changeable method. Therefore, 'The Lord has sworn and will not repent' (Psalm 110:4; LXX 109:4), since the gifts and the calling of God are unchangeable; and the greatest calling is that of the Savior, into priesthood and an unchangeable gift, a priesthood not according to the order of Aaron but of Melchizedek unto the age.

For the priesthood of Aaron, lying ahead until a time of correction, was transferred, as Paul says, 'When the priesthood is changed, there is a change also of law by necessity' (Heb 7:12). But the covenant made toward the Savior is eternal, preserving the priesthood without transgression, being able to save those coming to God through him into perfection, the one who lives always to intercede for them.

Likewise also the spiritual sacrifices, a sacrifice of praise and of righteousness, he offers to the Father on our behalf, but he has also offered himself as a sacrifice for all, for the salvation of those being saved. As the Father says, 'Sit at my right hand, my Son' (Psalm 110:5; LXX 109:5), now it is said, 'The Lord is at your right hand' (Psalm 110:5; LXX 109:5), so that it might be manifest not locally that the Son is at the right hand of the Father.

For behold, both he is at the right hand and his Father is at the right hand, which is impossible if one thinks of 'at the right hand' locally. Just as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, so the Son is at the right hand of the Father. And the Father of the Son crushes the intelligible kings at his right hand on the day of his wrath, who are found to be nothing other than rulers and powers and cosmocrators of the darkness. They are the same ones being placed under the feet of the Savior because of the wickedness and malice they have...

His enemies will cease to be enemies after being crushed, as every such authority and power is being abolished by the Lord. The day of the Lord, the time of the judgment of all, is spoken of in the Scriptures.

When these things are thus fulfilled, God will fill the dead with corpses, not being empty or a non-participant of His fullness regarding those fallen from salvation, so that they might rise into eternal life. For the saints themselves have not received life from the fullness except for the fall and resurrection of many, casting down and making to fall those having a bad standing who seem to be established through wickedness and impiety, in order to raise them to a resurrection of life, so that they might serve Him as Head, after the bad kingdoms have been crushed as heads of many, who are called to be poured out because of wickedness. For since not only those but He himself has the head, that is, the king, first upon the earth that exists, having crushed the rulers of the nations upon evil, He himself legally reigns over them, being the Head of every man according to the inner human and of the blameless church.

The cause of all these things was established by Him having become one who is plucked from a streamlet in the way of the human life. For this the last verse alludes to, saying, 'From a streamlet in the way water is drawn'; because of this, He will lift up the head. Ps 109:7 A streamlet signifies trial in many places, and to draw from it is to receive it. Jesus has been tested, having become for salvation in the way of men, as the apostle says writing: 'For He himself has suffered having been tested, He is able to help those being tested' Heb 4:15; and having been shown to be King, authority being given to Him in heaven and upon the earth, He will lift up the head, a ruler not only of those upon the earth but also of those in the heavens, having been ordained by the Spirit so that every knee should bend to Him.

The Fulfillment of the Covenant§206

206of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth and of every tongue confessing what the Lord Jesus Christ does for the glory of God the Father. The cross bears as a symbol this exaltation. And all these things shall be spoken concerning the happening of the Word made flesh. For if even he himself happens to be one of them, yet according to the thought it will not fit the things set forth to his incarnate presence.

And a little before, we set down as a known tradition those psalms which are written after the Alleluia among those arranged previously, and here from Psalm 150 to Psalm 178 the Alleluia is written; none of these is of a different character. Since the righteous one of David is not written on them, it is necessary according to his tradition to include all the following until 178. And let this be a general observation upon all the unwritten psalms. And the saint, about to proclaim the things having happened concerning the salvation of all by the Lord, pre-announces the voices set forth. And everyone confesses with all his heart, and he alone who has loved God with all his heart, soul, and mind; and, having turned away all his loving power toward God, he loves God with all his heart; and, having consumed all his hymnographic and eucharistic power toward God, he confesses to him with all his heart in the assembly of the important ones, not in a random place or with random people. It is possible to read 'With all his heart' as follows: 'In the counsel of the upright and in the assembly, the great works of the Lord' (Psalm 111:1-2).

Generally and broadly called the will of the Lord, the things concerning his works in part are his individual wills. If not all things he willed, he did; the creation extends broadly to his will, the individual works being fitted to the specific wills. Therefore, since the Creator is great, his works are also great, most accurately fitted to the harmony of his wills; for they do not happen as they chance, but they happen as having been sought out for all the wills. Therefore, of the works having been sought out, let no one say 'to what purpose?' For all things were created for their need; therefore, all the works of God are very good. If, indeed, the works of God are taken...

Since things happening paradoxically and marvelously (some through Moses and the prophets, others through Jesus our savior) are spoken of, the preceding words are also spoken of these. For the resurrections of the dead, the cleansings of lepers, the sight of the blind, and things similar to these, Jesus performs symbolically through them, manifesting the healings of his own humanity, which are always previously the will of God.

And if one calls virtues the will of God because he will do all my wills, he will say great works have been sought out for all the wills of God, namely the activities according to virtue. Ps 110:5,6: And indeed he gives food without exception to those fearing him with a certain paradoxicalness, just as Daniel found the best in the lion's den in Babylon; from Jerusalem, the transport of Habakkuk was brought to Babylon, carrying food to Daniel. But also, having commanded the ravens to bring bread in the morning and meat in the evening to Elijah (during a time of much famine), he nourished him who feared the Lord.

And of his old covenant, when the time of correction having been given, the end is taking up, he shall be remembered for an eternity during the age of the new covenant according to the gospel, which remains without a successor. Therefore also, to the people, he appropriated his own blood; through the bath of regeneration and the renewal of the spirit, Jesus gives the power of his works, making manifest to them what power he has commanded them to work, the people, and the words of the things that have happened. His covenant shall be remembered for an eternity.

He who partial hardening happened to Israel, the fullness of the nations has entered into salvation. But since God is good, not being satisfied with only the fullness of the nations entering into the pure and glorified inheritance, he is remembered for an eternity of the covenant toward the sons of Israel through their fathers. He will announce to the Israelite people the power he made his works, so that, having seen the power of the economy, they also might be saved, after the fullness of the nations has entered, receiving from God the inheritance appropriated and confirmed to the nations. Ps 110:7,8: Many of the divine sayings...

The Judgment as Rectitude and the Fear of God§207

207When calling the Father, we find the Lord, as 'The high hand has done all these things' (Ps 118:74). For the Word—through whom all things were made and in whom all things exist, which the Father made—is His hand creating the all. But also in a strong hand, having brought the people out of Egypt, God accomplished this in the same Son, as one of the apostles writes: 'Jesus, having saved a people once out of Egypt, twice destroyed those who did not believe' (Jude 1:5).

And since other scriptures also say that God has made all things by one hand, such as the one saying 'The heavens are the works of your hands' (Psalm 102:25), and the one announcing 'The hands did not create all the host of heaven' (Isaiah 45:12) (this is consistent with the one who said 'Your hands made me and fashioned me' Ps 139:13), someone might rightly seek and find the Holy Spirit being called the hand of God; from which it is shown that the Holy Spirit is creative, in the Son and Holy Spirit of the Father, having worked the heavens and having created the host of heaven.

Among these works of the hand of God in all the saints, truth and judgment are found, happening to be truth. For He gives through the Holy Spirit a practical power, and judgment is that which judges and, with examination, defines, so that one must choose good and flee evil; but truth is what Christ gives through the Holy Spirit, namely a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge. The knowledge of truth and moral virtue are works of the hands of God, being truth and judgment; therefore, following this, all His commandments were brought forth, not spoken so as to be believed merely, but because of the immovable and certain, as it is written, 'I will give you an eternal covenant, the faithful things of David' (Isaiah 55:3).

These faithful commandments stand for ever and ever because they are of God and cannot be overturned. Concerning them, indeed, the Savior says, 'Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away' (Matt 24:35). But do not err by thinking that the things set forth concern the commandments which are according to the shadow. For those passed away until a time of correction was given. For concerning the spiritual laws according to Him, it is necessary to hear the things set forth, as the coming thing teaches thus: 'Having been made in truth and rectitude.'

For they become understood in truth according to the doctrine of godliness. But they are also completed in rectitude with the best of guarding, as the work of the hands of the Lord, and these being found to be being accomplished in each godliness, are truth and judgment. But take hold of judgment for the sake of rectitude, to direct the soul toward practical and ethical virtue, and judgment is to be critical of things to be done and not to be done.

As God sent redemption to his people (Ps 110:9ab: He has sent redemption to his people; there is nothing else to the one saying), the Son of Man came to give his soul as a ransom for many. By the same precious grace of God, having tasted every death, we were redeemed from our ancestral vain conduct. For Christ has become to us as wisdom and righteousness and sanctification from God, and also as redemption, saying, 'I was sent to proclaim liberty to the captives' (Luke 4:18). For the redeemer and benefactor of all has released from captivity those held by the devil and by wickedness, forgiving the sins and impieties of those fleeing to him. But his goodness was not satisfied with merely redeeming the captives and their heirs, those of his own father, but he set them as co-heirs of himself, having enjoined upon them an eternal testament, so that possessing it with brevity and perfect readiness, they might receive an immortal inheritance according to the eternal and incorruptible promises.

His name, he says, is holy to the saints, but fearful to the unholy (Psalm 111:9; LXX 110:9c). For just as the fountain of holiness makes those participating in it become saints, so it is fearful to those who sin by bearing it.

As the doing of righteous things is the beginning of the good way (for this is the contemplation of truth) (Psalm 111:10; LXX 110:10), so the fear of God is the same beginning and introduction into the wisdom of God, which is called the same as the contemplation of truth, which to the practically righteous belongs. For as the doing of righteous things leads toward the good way, so this fear of God leads toward wisdom. The name 'beginning' can be here, not instead of an introduction, but as being a cause, since the fear of God is that which is called the cause and the beginning. And the struggle with this wisdom is understanding.

Divine Authority and the Virginity of Mary§208

208Goodness is not for those who have merely thought about doing it, but for those who are actually doing it. For those who practice understanding, no benefit will be other than that of virtue, from whose benefit they learn the goodness of it.

Regarding all that has been theologized in the present Psalm, it is said that the end of it is that his understanding remains. For this is a fitting end for those who theologize: to say that his understanding (clearly of the one theologized about) remains forever. Since the one being praised is immortal, it is necessary that his understanding also be without end, as it lasts for all the ages.

He who does not act for the sake of anything else, but through human glory, or to avoid falling into the punishment that entices sinners, or for reward, but by choosing and acting for the sake of the good itself—for such a one will truly be blessed (Psalm 112:1; LXX 111:1bc). The seed of the blessed man, who has the fear of the Lord, sows into the good land, his diligent and beautiful heart; it is possible for him to bring forth a hundredfold fruit (Psalm 112:2-3; LXX 111:2,3). For those sowing the seeds of evils sow into the flesh, which is their weak and earthly existence (and so they reap corruption from the flesh), but those sowing into the Spirit, the powerful seed, they sow and reap into eternal life. For each of the imperfect and sinful, the Word commands: Sow for yourselves into righteousness, reap for yourselves into the fruit of life. Glory and wealth in his cosmos.

He who has heard the words of Jesus and turned them into works builds his house upon the rock, laying down the foundations of his life, both in thought and action, upon the unshakable Word of God. Each one who fears the Lord has built such a house upon having willed to do what is in the commands of the Lord (that is, to have intensely willed the words of Jesus), filling it with the glory of the notions of truth and the wealth composed of every word, every knowledge, and every working good. Thus, the promise of his righteousness extends into the age of ages. Such imperfect houses they have built for themselves, having feared the Lord, so that they might not dwell in the [er...]

They wander halfway according to Isaiah, but they dwell according to the formed Jacob as a house. Others have also taken the things set forth according to the literal sense.

And the words ought not to be regarded as human. For the words of the stewards are not believed, as they are said. For indeed, one has been placed in advance by prophecy from God, Amos, who became upon the uncircumcised, and Solomon, stripping the matter bare: 'My words,' he says, 'if they are said by God.' Careless also is the divine Gospel, sometimes regarding the giver and sometimes the ministers; from the ministers he says, as Paul says, 'My Gospel,' but from the one handing it over, Paul again says, 'Just as we were approved by God to be believed to have the Gospel,' and 'That they are set apart for the Gospel of God'; and this is not a wonder. For it is the Holy Spirit that fills the holy men with divine things, sometimes of God and sometimes of those possessing it, as it is said in Luke 'The Spirit of the Lord has rested upon him,' and 'In Spirit and in Power' Acts.

But do not think because it is said chronologically, 'Until he goes against his enemies, he is not shaken,' that what is shaken after the destruction of the enemies is not the same. For how could he be moved, the one who, having the enemies removed, did not suffer this while threatening and looming over them? For it is customary in the Scripture to use such a way in many places; for regarding Mary, the Gospel says she remained a virgin until she bore her firstborn son, and so on. Since it is proper to show that the birth of Jesus came from a virgin without marriage, it fittingly speaks this way where there was room for doubt: had the virgin perhaps undergone corruption? He also said 'she conceived'; to remove this doubt, he says she remained a virgin until the childbirth. For if she is said to have been a virgin until she gave birth, then she did not conceive by a man the child she brought forth while still a virgin. In the same sense God says, 'I am, I am, and until you grow old, I am' (Isa 46:4).

He says, 'God is my horn.' For all the righteous say this, being confident: 'In you we horn our enemies.' And he who therefore blesses his enemies in the Lord, having horned his horn against them...

The Glory of God and the Sun of Righteousness§209

209wickedness and the impiety joined to it

To sing: for God says the Son glorifies the Father and the slave fears his lord; and if I say, 'I am lord,' where is my fear? and if I say, 'I am father,' where is my glory? (Malachi 1:6). Perhaps also regarding the sun of righteousness, if it is in some rises according to which it rises. These have a relationship (or are themselves) to the rises in which paradise is planted. If they have a harmony in these rises, it is fitting to praise the name of the Lord according to the rises by which it rises and the settings. For he was able for Israel, but he rose for the believing nations. Since not with unwise and unjust judgment he was able to rise for those also, having received providence's judgments everywhere and all things from the Lord: Praise his name; the Lord is high above all nations, his glory is above the heavens.

And the words being taken more simply declare that as God of all things he provides, being high above all nations as a king, and having his glory in the heavens ruling also the rational ranks there. But with a deeper mind, the Lord is high above all believing nations, being praised by them with pure life, practical and contemplative life. And upon the heavens, which no longer bear the image of the swine but the heavenly, his glory reaches, just as he announces it to his own disciples: for the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps 19:1). For certainly some declare it. If you are able to say the glory of the Lord, the radiance of his glory, the Lord and our savior, you would follow what was said to the one being illuminated: And the glory of God has shone upon you (Isaiah 60:1).

And through the coming words, foreseeing the God of all, we learn, regarding how incomparably the Holy One is compared to all created things, he says: Who is like the Lord our God? (Psalm 113:5-9; LXX 112:5-9). For there is no one like him, since he is alone.

The Soul as Mother and the Nature of Israel§210

210He is both maker and provider of all things. These things he says, not separating the Son from the Father or the Father from the Son; for the divinity is one, and there is no other God besides the Son and no other the Father.

In Isaiah, indeed, concerning the Father, it is said: 'In you is God, and there is no God besides you; for you are God, and we are not afraid' (Isaiah 45:14). For if there were another God in the Son who is beside him, how could he subsequently bring forth: 'And there is no God besides you?' and immediately: 'For you are God, and we are not afraid, the God of Israel is Savior'? Therefore, even concerning the Father, when it is said, 'Who is like our God, the Lord?' (Psalm 113:5), the Son has not been excluded; but even concerning the Savior, the Father has not been set apart from the one divinity of Father and Son.

Who says: 'Who is the Lord our God, the one dwelling in the heights and looking down upon the lowly things?' For all lowly creatures and works are toward God, not only those upon the earth but also those in the heavens. And he sees these lowly things providentially.

For he sees the poor man cast down upon the earth and the needy man upon the refuse, and he raises them up from those standing in evils of want and poverty; and not merely to raise and make stand, but strengthening their goodness, seating them with rulers, preparing them to be equal to them. And he will seat them not with simple rulers, but with the rulers of his own people. And a woman, formerly dwelling in barrenness, will become a mother having borne many children.

It can also be said concerning the people from among the Gentiles, for whom the prophecy is: 'For this the poor people shall bless you'. Therefore, having raised this poor and needy people from the lowly things and from the refuse of Greek customs, he will seat them with the rulers of Israel, being their people. And the apostles are the rulers of the Hebrew people, whom we say are sitting on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

And the church from among the Gentiles, formerly barren, is called into joy, saying: 'Rejoice, barren one who does not bear children; break forth and cry out, you who do not labor in childbirth; for many more are the children of the desert than of her who has a man' (Isa 54:1). For truly, the church from among the Gentiles has become very much with children, more than she who has a man.

The law of the man is the assembly of the Jews. Every soul, through chastity, is inhabited by God as a child in the church of the living God, a mother working out thoughts and words to rejoice in the offspring produced by the Word of God dwelling within her. This also happened according to the history of the Scripture. For instance, Anna, the mother of Samuel, is called a mother inhabiting the church, a mother having become such from children, rejoicing in children. And concerning Sarah and Rebekah and Elizabeth, and before this mother, the one born to Samson, someone says wisely concerning each of them what inhabited her: a mother of children, rejoicing (Psalm 113:9).

For the intellect: the mind, seeing God, becomes like the wing of the things opposed to the truth, withdrawing from the dwellings of Egypt so as to no longer 'Egyptize,' nor to be contained by Egyptian superstitions, but to implore God, who sanctifies the soul that confesses sincerely; and he shall have authority and the king shall hold the discerning one. For Judah is confession, but Israel is the intellect seeing God. Previously, it was not fitting to confess, but now, since one has become a sanctuary of God, and His holy temple is being constructed, thus, having been perfected through the vision of the truth, Israel shall be shown to have come under the authority of God in order to be able to reign under Him, about to experience blessedness, seeing God with a pure heart (Psalm 114:2).

'Where is their God?' the mortals say, when You, Lord, are doing us good. For they have local gods established in places, and they mock You by this, saying, 'Where is their God?' Perhaps they say this mockingly, thinking we have no God. But even if those wandering say this, we do not hold the precise opinion that our God is in the heavens above, but we think of Him not locally, but with a superabundance of majesty. For if He were in a place, He would be prevented from being elsewhere. And there is also a cause for all the heavens and upon the earth, since whatever He willed, He made, surpassing all things. Therefore, He is not contained by all things, but is also outside all things and exists in them according to the logic of creation and providence. For thus He fills the...

The Heavenly Heaven and the Trinity§211

211heaven and the earth. But if all the heavens and those in them, the earth and all that is in it, should come into being as the essence of God's will, some are very impiously thinking and suddenly snatching away the substance of the Son, the will of the Father, making him a will of those in the heavens who are substantial. But let the impious hear how creation alone was subject to the will of God. For it is fitting for the Maker that he wills to create (God and James agree in writing: 'Having willed, he brought us forth,' Rom 8:28 as he says in the word of God, a word of truth, so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his own creatures and works) that the will of God be the cause. But the Son is neither a creature nor a work; he is a generation not of essence, but of will. For if he were a son of will, he would be an image and a character of God's will; but the divine words say he is the exact imprint of his hypostasis and an image of the invisible God. If the Son is not the exact imprint of the hypostasis and an image of the invisible God, then it is fitting that the Only-begotten be a generation of the essence of the invisible God and of his hypostasis. For indeed, those being born by the word of truth, they are such; and the Word and the Truth himself is the Only-begotten of God. Since he is not brought forth by a word of truth, he himself is the will of the Father; for in the same way that wisdom and truth are, so also the will of God is. Indeed, it is the same in wisdom and in will to do all things.

All the perceptive race has the mind to see God (Israel signifies by chance the church of the living God) Ps 113:17 and hopes in the Lord, whereas all other men hope for nothing. And the one who is among those healing the divine, by chance being a priest, hopes in a greater Lord and in a hope witnessed by Israel; for of those who have ascended above by contemplation and practice, the hope is greater, asking more greatly to have him as a helper and a defender. But also all those fearing the Lord (these are not the proselytes and those added to the law from the Gentiles) hoping themselves in the Lord, call upon him to be a helper and a defender Ps 113:20-21. For God remembers all of those who have remembered him.

Remaining in memory. Therefore he says, 'Seek the law of your God, and I will seek you,' children of yours. For the one forgetting the divine law immediately forgets also that which was given to him; but when a god remembers something blessed, he immediately turns toward it, giving spiritual and heavenly blessings according to the proportion of the greatness of faith, just as he gives the other gifts. Stand firm, for it is necessary for the small ones to receive blessings along with the great ones, among those alone fearing the Lord, and upon all the mentioned ranks, so that you may not differ in these things, where some are great and others small.

Blessed are we by the Lord, who made heaven and earth (Psalm 115:15). For it is not that we observe the laws. Lest anyone think the divinations belong to another, Moses served; following this, the hierophant handed down the things concerning creation before the giving of the laws, through which he teaches that there is a God, but all the parts of the world and He himself are created. But he who wishes to contemplate these things more deeply will say that something is exceptionally said in the Scripture, a heaven characterized for God, in which God alone is; but I speak of God concerning the Trinity.

This heaven, far from being a place, is a property of essence for the created things, as these things are in the heavens. Take care lest, before the transgression, the devil, who finds himself below this heaven as in heaven, said, 'I will ascend into heaven, and above the stars of heaven I will set my throne' (Isaiah 14:13); for these things were said to him before he fell from heaven; indeed, this is also remembered as the cause of his fall. No one has ascended into this heaven except the one descending from heaven, since having been sent from there, he has come, saying, 'I have descended from heaven.' But also the Holy Spirit was sent from this heaven, which Peter says: 'Truly it has been announced to us through those who evangelized us by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven' (1 Peter 1:12). For the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are thus. But stand firm, lest you carry the thought concerning these things down to sensible things, supposing a local heaven and a movement occurring there by transport; for God's...

The Humility of John and the Eternal Truth§212

212The preceding description of the heaven mentioned signifies a superiority and a state of being, if one may say so. None of those deadened by sin praises God (for a beautiful praise is not in the mouth of a sinner, Psalm 115:17), nor do those descending into the tropical Hades become those who die the death following sin (for there is no one remembering God in death, Psalm 6:5), nor anyone in Hades confessing himself.

Therefore, since they do not praise Him, we who live and partake of eternal life praise Him, concerning which the Savior says, 'And this is the eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and whom you sent, Jesus Christ' (John 17:3). The Lord himself protects those who, according to the commandment of Jesus, are childlike in turning and becoming, so that enemies do not attack them before the time of struggle. Just as He protects those who are such children, He humbled me, having set me against a struggle, as if I had ascended far above the age of children, and instead of being tested by many strong things, He made me; and just as He humbled me, so also He saved me, having clothed me with a strength surpassing the struggle and an invincible panoply.

Regarding this word, the Apostle says to the Corinthians, 'Having this, we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written: I believed, therefore I spoke; and we also believe, therefore we also speak' (2 Cor 4:13). By saying 'spirit of faith,' he signifies the being which is near from it, the spirit provided by God to the one having faith. 'I believed, therefore I spoke' is in accord with the heart, for it is believed in the heart unto righteousness, but with the mouth it is confessed unto salvation; for he says, 'If you confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved' (Rom 10:9). For by this one is immediately brought to the heart, for it is believed in the heart unto righteousness, and the following. You will also receive this understanding, and 'If you do not believe, you will not understand' (Isaiah 7:9); for first one believes, if he understands, and after this he speaks, as the Psalm says, 'I believed, therefore I spoke.' When, having believed, I spoke exceedingly and great things, then, seeing nothing of myself, I was greatly humbled. Such is that which is said by John concerning Jesus.

Regarding the saying, 'That He must increase and I must decrease,' John was not diminishing in terms of actual magnitude, but was comparing himself to the superiority of Jesus's teaching and way of life (John 3:30). He who said, after speaking from the beginning, that he had believed, 'I have become exceedingly humbled,' did not suffer this by a subtraction of honor, but by seeing the greater and above himself. If even the death of many signifies God, those who die with Christ and carry His death in the flesh, and who recognized how well to give thanks, will receive the cup of such a saving death, and he who receives it will drink it blamelessly, if he calls upon the name of the Lord to drink it bravely.

If we have said of the lesser ones that they call upon the name of the Lord, let it not trouble you now to receive the Lord while not yet perfect; for the saints, being blind, give the lesser things to themselves that they possess. For Moses and Samuel did not say of themselves, 'We called upon the Lord,' but it is said of others. The word concerning salvation is not complete unless the memory of the saved is also taken up. For having said in that psalm as the end of the shadow approaching, 'I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving' (Psalm 116:17), he immediately calls all nations into eternity, just as these also offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving through the ages, after one nation and people has been cast away, since a sinful nation and people having become full of sins is tossed about. But after this nation and people has been cast away, the mercy of God has reached all, as a certain and strong thing for His mercy to become upon us. And because this has surpassed, 'The truth of the Lord remains forever' (Ps 117:2). For the truth accepted the shadow as an end and a lot, limiting it, but the truth itself, being eternal, will receive nothing that is nothing above it, but itself above all, in an incomparable excess. For indeed, as with a cause, He has given that the remaining truth remains forever. Sharing in the truth of the mercy which has been strengthened upon us, and many times these names, His mercy and...

Truth and Divine Mercy§213

213Truth is spoken of in the Savior and in the psalm where God sent His mercy and His truth and rescued my soul from the midst of troubles (Psalm 57:3). Thus truth and the hope of the nations are one; therefore, having shone upon the human race, it calls all the nations and all the peoples, teaching them to give thanks to the Father who strengthens His mercy and makes His truth remain unto the age.

Since God is good and wills the repentance of the sinner rather than his death, you who are responsible for sin, by performing confession through repentance upon him, you will have him forgiving those for whom you confess. For His mercy is found inseparable from Him unto the age, since it is always so; in His mercy, not only now but also formerly from the beginning, all those having experience of His goodness confess to Him.

A righteous man having become in affliction does not so much entreat to be outside of it, but how to bravely and cheerfully bear it (Psalm 118:5-9; LXX 117:5-9). For indeed the one being distressed in the stadium against opponents does not wish the contest to pass by him, lest he become exhausted, but entreats the trainer to cooperate with him, so that, enduring the things brought by the adversary with hope of victory and crown, the things through which the crown is awarded may seem gentle to him.

And it is possible to say different things concerning mortals, 'I shall not fear what man shall do to me' (Psalm 118:6; LXX 117:6), but concerning invisible enemies, 'I also shall see my enemies' (Psalm 118:7; LXX 117:7); for some enemies are even the men who rise up against us, waging war against us and setting themselves against us lethally. And if 'I shall not fear what man shall do to me' is also referred to the devil, on account of 'An enemy, a man, did this' (Matt 13:28)—for it is clear that he did the sowing of the tares—and 'But you are man and not God: visit' (Ezek 28:2).

'It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in man' (Psalm 118:8; LXX 117:8), and the following: it is not that trusting and hoping in the Lord is good only when compared with trusting in man and hoping in rulers. For this is simply and properly good.

But to trust and hope in man and ruler is not good; rather, such instruction is brought to those who are eager to trust in man and hope in a ruler, that they may learn to trust in the ever-abiding and strong and almighty God, and not in mortal man, easily corrupted.

And sometimes he is also double-minded in intention; for instead of helping, sometimes he will also greatly harm the one who trusts in him; therefore blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, remaining unashamed, according to 'In you, Lord, I hoped; let me not be ashamed unto the age' (Psalm 31:1).

Ps 117:10-13: If it is not said hyperbolically, what is promised is impossible; for how did all the nations surround one man dwelling in Judea, warring as they surrounded him, and he defended himself against them in the name of the Lord?

For it becomes weapon and shield and fortress to the one who wears it.

But consider whether it is not possible to understand the things set before us similarly to the 'In the mornings I slew all the sinners of the earth' (Psalm 101:8; LXX 100:8), by the serious man being surrounded by evil spirits suggesting the titillations of the flesh and the other passions with all the works of the flesh, and moreover godless words refuting with sophistic cleverness the doctrines of the truth.

But the well-strung and strong one, armed with the appellation of God, shall overthrow all the nations, turning them to flight, and sometimes even destroying them.

For the one who instead of weapon and sword used the name of God shall cut off the passionate impulses along with the troubled reasonings, but also loosing and overthrowing the [...].

Christ as Wisdom and the Eternal Dwellings§214

214Deceptive doctrines constructed sophistically. They have surrounded me like bees surround wax, and the following: the genus of wax-makers is similar to bees; for although they are greater than bees in size, they do not deceive the unreasoning ones as bees do; nor do they make honey or mold wax, nor do they have a sting to repel those attempting to harm the wax. But eating the honey from the opposite, they wage war against the bees, just as those having used their own sting to safely destroy the wax-makers as having defiled their fruit.

The honey-making and wax-molding bee is not an allegory, but the Church which has honored the wisdom of God, whose labors, though not of a precious or glorious kind, are offered by kings and laymen for health; even though she is weak in strength, her preaching is not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but she possesses the sting in the demonstration of the spirit and power of God, having the word of faith, just as she destroys heresies like wax-makers, dividing them by the reproof of the truth. And one is the bee that has honored the wisdom, but many are those that depart from honoring the wisdom of God—not bees, but those who are like bees; he is not sinning, saying they are wax-makers surrounding like wax to consume the honey and having been burned like fire in thorns. For those from the heresies and the fire of shameful things and desires escape, as Paul says, 'For what is shameful to speak of is made known by them' (Ephesians 5:12). And the Gospel interpreted the thorns as pleasures.

However, even if they surrounded the wise one like wax, bees, and were burned like fire in thorns, they did not defend themselves by the name of the Lord alone. For he did not only remain undefiled, but he also cast down all their sophistical reasoning, and every high thing boasting itself against the knowledge of God, since his works are not fleshly but are powerful in God, not being defeated by the approach of God. The Lord becoming salvation does not receive a beginning of being; for he is both eternal and everlasting. And he becomes for salvation according to the taking up of the relation...

Regarding those being saved, God submits to the mind these things said by the one declaring that all things have become Christ; for it has not become that God is Word, not truth, not wisdom, not Son, but he has become to us wisdom, not merely having become wisdom, but this himself to us is righteousness and sanctification and redemption. For the reference to these things having become to us simply and eternally is said according to the relation toward us; thus God has made him both Christ and Lord, Christ meaning king and priest to those who reign and to those for whom he offers the sacrifices, but also to those who wish to serve him as Lord, and in general, the things said concerning him are not thought to be impieties.

You will understand the dwellings of the righteous, which are alone with the Father according to the fulfillment of the promises, concerning which the Savior says: 'When Mammon departs' (meaning that), 'they will receive you into the eternal dwellings' (Luke 16:9). In these dwellings all the righteous are rejoicing; for they have attained the promised good things. Thus it is well said, 'A voice of joy and confession in the dwellings of the righteous' (Psalm 118:15; LXX 117:15b), with sorrow and sighing fleeing away. And if you say that even the bodies of the righteous, their dwellings, will be returned to them incorruptible and spiritual, you will not dispute that in these dwellings of theirs there will also be a voice of joy and confession. A voice of joy and salvation is brought forward, as the righteous rejoice in the aforementioned dwellings having received the eternal salvation, not different from eternal life.

He has thus made power for those partaking of him, as it is possible to say, 'I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me' (Phil 4:13). He thus lifts up and exalts the one partaking, as one having been strengthened by the right hand of the Lord more brightly and more greatly, and to say a second time, 'The right hand of the Lord made power' (Psalm 118:16; LXX 117:16). Therefore he says, 'I shall no longer die, he who follows the evil death, but I shall live' (Ps 118:17), partaking of the life opposite the evil death, in order to recount the wonderful works of God that have become in me. And his right hand makes power in everyone who thinks and acts according to the right, but also lifts him up as a second power in him of the former power, through which having obtained immortality, he says, 'I shall not die, but...'

The Gates of Law and Faith§215

215I shall live, and the following. The gates were formerly the law and the prophets through which Israel entered toward God (Psalm 118:19-20; LXX 117:19-20), but now the gate is faith, through which we are more closely brought near, being testified to by the law and the prophets. Into this understanding one should take also that which is said in Jeremiah: 'Stand in the paths and ask for the ancient well-trodden ways of the Lord, and examine what is the good way, and walk in it, and you will find cleansing for your souls.' For if someone stands here in the many paths—I mean the private virtues—he will examine those worn down from eternity by the saints, in order to know who, after this, according to the theory, is the good way; he who walks finds cleansing for his soul, having cleansed it through obedience to the truth.

Understand this (Psalm 118:18; LXX 117:18-20): he who is being educated by divine discipline and most profitably by the Lord does not fall into the death that holds those who sin. For death encounters those who are uneducated, but he who is being educated by the Lord, having excellent thought and practice, is not handed over to the death that receives those handed over to the passions of dishonor and unproven mind. When the name of righteousness is being accused against every moral virtue, its gates—the private virtues—must be spoken of, into which those who are through asceticism and care for them enter, knocking at them. And they enter upon confessing those things which they have done outwardly, being of the gates of righteousness. He says 'into them' and not 'through them'; for one must not bypass the activities of the virtues, but must travel through them. But having entered into the gates of righteousness and having confessed within them, another gate is shown to be superior and more honorable, the one according to the theory of the truth, into which those having perfected righteousness enter, so as to be called righteous as a nickname from it.

I will praise you immediately having opened to me the gates of righteousness, and I thank you that you heard me and received the petition and provided salvation (Psalm 118:21; LXX 117:21). For every day of sensation occurring under the sun, the sun may rise over the earth; the day shown under the sun of righteousness being the Lord was constructed, which they also, showing to one another, being illumined by the true light, say: 'This is the day which the Lord has made' (Psalm 118:24; LXX 117:24); hence let us rejoice and be glad in it, as walking becomingly in the day; for we are no longer of night and darkness but sons of light and truth, having the faith of Abraham who rejoiced to see the day of the Lord (John 8:56), and rejoiced at having seen it.

Ps 117:25-26a: The one who has a conception of God takes forethought for all things from him, and demands both to be saved and to prosper; for God is a God of saving, and by him the steps of a man are directed (Psalm 37:23; LXX 36:23).

Hence also in the first psalm the one being blessed prospers in all things whatsoever he does (Ps 1:3), using God as guide of the way leading to blessedness.

'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord' (Psalm 118:26; LXX 117:26). And the Evangelists took this voice to be a prophecy concerning Christ; for he is truly the one who comes authoritatively and in the name of the Lord.

Ps 117:26b-27a: Though all the men before him together with angels came as servants of the Lord—indeed each said 'Thus says the Lord,' and each of the angels says to the one to whom he comes, 'The Lord sent me'—yet this one who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed.

Hence each of those who announced his sojourn beforehand says: 'We have blessed you from the house of the Lord' (Psalm 118:26; LXX 117:26).

For the one coming is from the house of the Lord, from the Father's bosom.

For it is added immediately: 'God is the Lord, and he has appeared to us' (Psalm 118:27; LXX 117:27). For his coming is not to change place but to appear, previously unseen.

For existing invisible by being the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15), having taken the form of a servant (Phil 2:7) and become the Word flesh (John 1:14), he was seen, that thus manifested he might lead by this contemplation unto also beholding his glory, 'glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth' (John 1:14).

For those who have completed this initiation say: 'Even if we knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him no longer' (2 Cor 5:16).

And it is well said 'the one coming,' but not 'the one who came'; for he always comes and sojourns with the race of men, even if not through flesh; not moved nor changing place himself—for he is unchangeable and unalterable, filling heaven and earth with divine presence.

But with us approaching him by relation and disposition [...].

The Blessedness of Seeking God's Law§216

216Regarding His distance, some find Him coming near to them (Draw near to God and He will draw near to you Ps 117:27bc), while those who are distanced are not departing locally but, as I have previously said, by relationship; for God is far from the ungodly (Ps 117:27). And not in this way: they are pruning the shoots and the fruits just as they bear them.

In these things, not finding them, establish a feast extending until the horns of the spiritual altar, from which, having taken a coal with tongs, the other of the seraphim is sent to the prophet to cleanse him and to take away his iniquities and his sins. But to whom is it commanded to establish a feast—the teachers and priests? Perhaps you will even say to the angels. But to do what is necessary and to think the truth is a feast established according to the guidance of God. This has especially much room among those who have cast off oldness in order to become a new planting.

And since the Passover is fulfilled in the month of the new moons, it is possible to conceive that anyone passing from wickedness and the sensible things to virtue and the intelligible things, being renewed, prunes, so as to celebrate and to bring forward spiritual sacrifices, as those showing the altar to be royal by its horns. And if these things were said concerning our feast of the weeks, they would not be lacking truth (Psalm 118:27).

He who is thanking God through the Psalm for having made such great and so many blessings proclaims: 'You are my God, and I will confess to you; you are my God, and I will exalt you' (Psalm 118:28). Glorifying, theologizing you, I say: 'You have done wonderful things in me; for having exalted me and having made strength, so that I might not die but living, I might recount your works.' And second, I will confess that you heard my petitions and became my salvation. Having learned through experience your great mercy and your goodness, and exhorting others, I say to many, proclaiming: 'Confess to the Lord, what is good, what has mercy extending into the age, according to how he shows mercy by his much goodness' (Psalm 118:29). For if even the words of God were to testify to Him and to His truth.

Blessed then are those searching out his testimonies and seeking him with all their heart, turning away from all human haste and approaching him through good works and right understanding. But the blessing is not for those who have gone away, but for those who are going; even though those working lawlessness in his law have not gone, it is evident that they have never attempted to test the divine law as if it were among them; for whoever sins lawlessly, lawlessly he shall perish. Nor are they those who have never heard the divine teaching; for those who, after being initiated into this, stumble, are said to have sinned against the law and to be transgressors of it.

Then I shall not be ashamed in keeping all your commandments; not on one thing, but on all (Psalm 119:6; LXX 118:6). For according to those commandments I do not look, I shall be ashamed (Psalm 119:8; LXX 118:8b). For I am often abandoned for a little while for the sake of testing and my trial, having bravely endured circumstances to be benefited. But immediately, with your helping, having run the race, I shall be crowned; therefore, so that I may not be defeated by those striving mightily, do not leave me exceedingly. He who does not receive the words of God from above and hides them in his heart, so that having made his mind and purpose according to these, is without sin before God who sees the hidden, not only not committing adultery but not even reaching for the shameful thing (Psalm 119:11; LXX 118:11).

The Son also agrees with what is set forth: if, having received the word of my commandment, you hide it with yourself, your intellect will obey wisdom. So that I may not be glorified for nothing having had your judgments performed, repay me the divine and blessed life, so that living according to it I may keep your words; for after remembering them, to keep them following (Psalm 119:17; LXX 118:17). To this end you will take that which was said by Jesus: 'He who holds my commandments and keeps them' (John 14:21/21); for he who remembers them also keeps them, doing them as well. Another, saying 'judgments' instead of 'rights/statutes', did not explain it thus: 'God's rights always benefit, being truly good. Desiring them at all times, he has loved them, not wanting to do them out of grief or out of necessity, as those do...'

Defense of the Law and the Body of Christ§217

217They do these things through fear of falling into punishment, but with desire and longing. For from this it will happen to bear all things soberly and courageously, not only the pleasant things but also the painful and unpleasant ones, and to go toward every diligent task with eagerness.

Since some reproach and belittle me for seeking your testimonies (Psalm 119:22; LXX 118:22), you have removed the reproach and the belittling from me. How could these be removed? For the coming knowledge of the truth of those formerly reproaching and belittling me; and if this exists, they themselves will seek your testimonies.

Another scripture says, 'I have declared your ways' (Psalm 119:26; LXX 118:26), meaning: the ways that lead to you are not other ways of virtues, O Lord; I have declared them practically with diligent intention and in appropriate works, and you heard me; therefore, toward those who obey I say, 'Teach me your statutes' (Psalm 119:26).

He who will turn away from the way of unrighteousness and approaching the law of God wants to be perfected and established toward God, who brings the ends of good things (Psalm 119:29; LXX 118:29). For as one having hated ignorance has had a longing for the opposing knowledge, so one who has turned himself from ignorance and approached by faith asks the teacher: 'Turn ignorance away from me and have mercy on me by your knowledge.'

The voice is not one who is conscious of sin, but of one suspecting, as in 'From my secret things cleanse me' (Psalm 19:12). But I am confident in what you will remove, the suspected reproach, being convinced of what your judgments are, being full of kindness and love for mankind.

If it is possible to say all things about the spoken word, stand by; for he himself is both mercy and salvation of the Lord (Psalm 119:41-42; LXX 118:41-42). Therefore, it is necessary for us to seek the mercy of the Lord, the salvation according to his mercy. For having been shown mercy and having been saved...

We answer those who previously reproached us as lacking the mercy and salvation of God (Psalm 119:41).

I ask for insights, not merely such words; even if I sometimes fall into difficulties regarding providence and similar matters, I do not wish to give an answer that merely resolves the contradictions of those who wander, but rather, since you have opened my mouth with your own goodness, give me an interpretation of the truth through your word, so that the word of truth may not be entirely torn from my mouth, but that I may be able to speak somewhat regarding the unanswerable ones, saying: 'I have erred concerning your judgments, your examined and tested words; how do you judge and provide for men?' (Psalm 119:43).

Do not let the word of truth depart vehemently from my mouth. For indeed, keeping your law will not only happen in this age but unto the age, the words of Jesus not passing away. We therefore keep God's law according to the image of things, previously kept by the Jews according to a shadow, to be kept for us according to the future good things unto the age of ages (Psalm 119:44).

Regarding the heterodox who boast against the law by slandering it (Psalm 119:53; LXX 118:53), I was intensely occupied with its keeping, and how much I was shaken in my assent to it, not enduring the slander.

Since of the sinners some sin lawlessly, not even attempting the beginning of laws, and others transgress it while in law, discouragement seized me from the sinners who abandon God's law; for if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; and if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. And it is fitting to be grieved for our brothers who sin, what kind of people they are, and not to be divided against this holy one (Psalm 119:53).

The character of His subsistence is the face of God, as it has been said to us many times. Therefore, the one who...

Purity of Heart and the Ropes of Sin§218

218Fixing the heart upon this, he considers it having become pure, and through not staring intensely at it, he may be shown mercy according to the word of his teaching, if the spoken words are such. But how great is the one seeing the face of God. Jesus teach you, saying, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God' (Matt 5:8).

And what are the ropes, namely the evil thoughts and the evil powers that subvert these, which they undertake to cast down the standing against God? But the zeal of those surrounding the righteous with ropes is unceasing, those who with rapid zeal remember the law. The same circumstances occurring to the righteous through the sinners can also be ropes for them; but the righteous, bearing these patiently, does not forget the law of God. And those who entangle ropes into sin through deceptive words; but if one remains sober, he does not forget the law of God (Psalm 119:61).

Let us also consider the friend and companion, which says the Preacher, 'that if he falls, the one is to raise his companion' (Eccl 4:9-10). He does not at any time intend to say, 'I am a friend and companion to all who fear God and keep his commandments,' while he himself fears him and keeps his commandments.

If there is not kindness and severity concerning God according to the apostle, the kindness becomes for those standing in faith, but the severity for those having fallen away from it. Since the saint was confirmed in faith, 'Kindness, O God, you have done with your servant,' he says; but he says, wanting to present not as occurring by lot with someone the kindness of God, but with the one serving him, whoever this may be.

And the added 'According to your word' (Psalm 119:65; LXX 118:65) signifies that the Lord's kindness comes to someone with reason and rational cause.

Therefore also, wishing to know the rational and wise aspect of it, he deems no other worthy to become his teacher concerning it,

that with it he may also learn instruction and knowledge—calling instruction the ethical, and knowledge the intellectual virtue.

And in Proverbs the 'Take instruction and not silver, and knowledge above tested gold' (Prov 8:10-11) is to be referred to practical and theoretical benefit.

Ps 118:66b: Since rightly and wisely approaching your commandments I believed them so as to keep them, stretch out wisdom to me, having taught me kindness and instruction and knowledge.

In agreement with these is the 'If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord will grant her to you' (Sir 6:37).

Ps 118:67: For even if the manner of bringing such things is twofold—for to some through sin, to others for testing and manifestation they are brought—giving himself the lesser of these, he said he had transgressed.

But nevertheless, he says, I kept your word, that just as having transgressed I was humbled, so having accomplished and kept your word I may be released from humiliation.

Ps 118:68: Not looking to my worthiness (for I transgressed) but to your kindness, since being kind you have kindness, I deem it worthy to be taught by no other than yourself your ordinances.

Ps 118:69: With many deceivers despairing against your commandments and saying myriads of things seemingly for their slander and overthrow, much injustice has come upon me.

But even if the things they said seemed terrible, able to turn away the uninstructed from them, yet I, intensifying my zeal and desire for them, searched them out with my whole heart, so that having beheld their beauty from the much and intense searching of them, I might utterly condemn those who slander them.

And one oppressed and wronged by certain proud and powerful men in the affairs of life might also say these things; for 'from your commandments,' he says, 'I shall be able to learn that it is more worthless to wrong and deprive than to be wronged and deprived.'

Ps 118:70: For since, having been given to drink the rational and guileless milk by the instructors, they did not digest nor concoct it, curdled and hardened in them, their heart was curdled.

But even if those suffered this by themselves, I, having your law through meditation, was eager to understand it, with the understanding of it loosing not only the mist but also the thickness of the material disposition.

Ps 118:72: The law being twofold—the spiritual and unto the mind, and that ordained according to the letter and the shadow through angels in the hand [...].

Resurrection and the Spiritual Life§219

219Regarding the mediator, the prophet says to him that the law of the divine mouth is good above all the pleasures of the world, which he showed through thousands of gold and silver. For contemplation, it must be said that silver stands for the word, and gold stands for the mind; for many thousands of such silver and gold are found in those who philosophize about the things of the world and heresies. Above all these things, the law of the mouth of God is good to the lover of the wisdom and truth of God, for those who attend to it alone receive the proper benefit.

Psalm 118:74: 'Understand and not thus: those fearing God are perfect, they not lacking anything; and such are found good, they do not lack fear.' Therefore they desire all to progress and to have benefit, and they rejoice over those things pleasing to God, imitating those in heaven who rejoice over the benefit of the penitents. It is also possible to take the inferior understanding regarding 'they shall be glad,' as it says: 'They shall see and be glad,' where the mind of the things said is such. 'Hoping in your words, I desire to become completely one with you, I act and think according to your instruction'; and those fearing lest they fall into the punishment following the judgment which pursues sinners, they avoid evil. If those fearing you in this way are not able to see me, they shall be glad, no longer avoiding sins out of grief and necessity, but with zeal to take them up, hoping also themselves in your words.

Psalm 118:77a: Since the mercies of God are said to be not only here but also in many other places, one must watch lest the only-begotten and the Holy Spirit, the providers of life, are not seen as the mercies of God. And Father is said, according to the apostle's philosophy of the mercies.

Psalm 118:78a: Of a great man, he says: 'Unjustly I have transgressed against me.'

Psalm 118:81: 'My soul fails for the salvation of God, but the end of faith shall bring salvation'; for there remains no soul, setting aside the state through which the soul used to exist, but desiring the salvation of God and continuing in hope, the spirit and mind becoming one with his word. For the name of the soul does not declare its essence, but the relationship toward the communion of the body. But if it might pass over to incorporeal life and be uncorrupted...

Receiving bread and a spiritual body from a resurrection, the body which was formerly joined to it, corruptible and psychic in being possessed by a soul, shall become mind and spirit, leaving behind the divine salvation and being in spirit toward God through Him. And this is to deny oneself; for he who has denied himself will become one thing instead of another, not according to the underlying hypostasis but according to that which makes it, sometimes soul, sometimes mind. For even if the evangelical sayings are exhortations toward martyrdom, they are not to be understood according to the aforementioned mystical word.

The word of God is a spiritual dew (Psalm 119:83; LXX 118:83a), since dew and rain are often called; it cools my unbridled flame from passions and makes my flesh weak, as to bear the death of Jesus in it. Many attempt to interpret the divine writings of the Church and those outside it, both heretics and Jews and Samaritans (Psalm 119:85; LXX 118:85), but not all speak well; for rare is the one possessing the grace from God for this, speaking of many things promised, but living not well and unlawfully. If they say anything, it is wandering and babbling; for a word cannot be vigorous, strong, and salutary in an unlawful soul.

Those pursuing righteousness and the teaching of Christ will healthily speak the aforementioned word (Psalm 119:87; LXX 118:87a), and all the prophets also. And to be accomplished is in the earth, not the common dying, but that which was called into the material existence as earth, to come to an end in order to be done according to it. To live according to the word of God is to live with piety (Psalm 119:88; LXX 118:88), not simply this sensory life. For having obtained this, he will be in well-being, as to guard the testimonies of the mouth of God testified and demonstrated by the word of God, which are in His mouth.

The day remains by Your ordinance (Psalm 119:91; LXX 118:91a), as to circle regularly and uniformly according to the annual cycles, the day not deviating, never having toward night an ordinance of inequality or inequality. Just as from a great sickness, through certain medical helps, one has taken up health steadily and certainly through him of...

The text ends abruptly mid-sentence.

The Law as Light and the Progression of Knowledge§220

220those who followed him

Turn away from evil and do good; for he who turns away from evil from every wicked way restrains his feet, so that having done good, he may guard the words of God (Psalm 119:101).

The law is a lamp to those walking in the night before the rising of the sun of righteousness (Psalm 119:105); just as the night has passed and the day has approached, they are illuminated not by a lamp but by the sun of the true light, so that it is possible to walk decorously during the day.

And to set it here and to define firmly signifies to stand fast, and to swear is not merely to name God, but to set this thing unchangeably and to guard it without transgression, performing the work of an oath by power (Psalm 119:106).

Not as if, not having attained the petition, he approaches it again, but as having learned the ordinances of God according to a prior worthiness; as one who is spending time with them, desiring to contemplate them more greatly, he needs and always does this, so that he may reach the goal of their understanding (Psalm 119:125; LXX 118:125).

Since, however, regarding the learning of the ordinances, various things are becoming different, I will say this also concerning the knowledge of the testimonies: that through progress, their knowledge is always becoming ascended for the one spending time with their comprehension (Psalm 119:125).

'Your mouth's law is more precious to me than ten thousands of gold and silver' (Psalm 119:72), and 'Take instruction and do not forsake knowledge, which is tested above silver' (Prov 8:10); for wisdom is more excellent than precious stones, and every precious thing is not of equal value to it. Therefore it is also said to companions concerning it to Job: 'The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equaled to it' (Job 28:19).

But these things are not said by comparison, but with respect to men's choice.

He who has come to fulfill the law and all the prophets, making manifest the words contained in them (Psalm 119:130; LXX 118:130), does this by fulfilling the prophecies, and does this by uncovering the law, so that it is seen no longer as letter and shadow but as spiritual. For thus the manifestation of the divine words that has occurred will prove the prophet intelligent, and will enlighten those called after Israel from the nations, babes, because late and at last they received the birth from faith.

But even if before the descent of the one who fulfilled the [...].

The Truth of God's Testimonies§221

221The wise one announced the law and the prophets, saying, 'The revelation of your words makes me understand'; but he did not see these things in a prophetic spirit, for whoever possesses their understanding desired that which was to be revealed before the coming of Christ.

He is worthy to see and learn the shining forth of the Savior this time, saying to the Savior about it, 'Let your face shine, so that whoever seeing you may see you' (Psalm 119:135; LXX 118:135). For he himself says about himself, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9). For since this exists, he says, it will be possible for me to learn your ordinances. And to learn that is to walk in them, not according to the flesh but according to grace.

Therefore your judgment is straight, because you are just, judging all those who received your judgments straight according to the canons of righteousness, since I commanded truth and righteousness intensely (Psalm 119:137-138; LXX 118:137). For I commanded your divine writings to men, not only the new ones but also the old ones, being just according to ethics and truth, that is, being precise according to the view of things according to which I commanded us to make judgments, so that we might judge the great and the small, judging a just judgment intensely, they are truth and righteousness (Psalm 119:138; LXX 118:138).

Therefore that word so ignited is made to him intensely loved by something, making him a servant of God burning in the spirit (Psalm 119:140; LXX 118:140). Such a person, when the Scriptures are made clear by Jesus, is amazed in heart, as saying according to the Road to Emmaus, 'Did not our heart burn within us when he opened the Scriptures to us?' (Luke 24:32).

For he is unswerving and unchangeable, never having or not having righteousness, being the source and generator of it (Psalm 119:142; LXX 118:142); and his word is truth, being truth to those hearing for all eternity, not being such a human word; for the word of human wisdom, to become in glory...

Being false, after the truth has been revealed, he will be convicted of being false (Psalm 119:144; LXX 118:144). I have given you testimonies not for a short time, but they prove to be useful righteousness for eternity, justifying the one who possesses them by drawing near to them.

First, in an unseasonable time—that is, what is called night in this present age, often called day as if for the coming age, according to 'The night has passed, and the day is near' (Romans 13:12)—but the perceptive powers of his eyes, acting as eyes, reach forward toward the righteousness coming from the rising of the sun. Therefore, having been enlightened and finding himself in the light, he meditates on the commandments of God, which cause him to fly to be lifted up and to approach the true light nakedly, so that he may find himself no longer in an unseasonable time, but in a peak and midday light.

Another scripture says: 'And all your ways are truth' (Psalm 119:151; LXX 118:151), clearly meaning those paths leading to Him; for the end of all these ways is He who said, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life' (John 14:6). He who has reached the goal of these ways is in truth, having both it and its Father within himself. And since He also approaches the sinners in another way, He is near to them; and all His ways are truth, for as one travels them, He performs the examination and judgment of their affairs.

The testimonies were established by God so that no one would be able to shake or overturn them; for your word is wisdom, and your Son is their foundation. Therefore, presenting their unassailable and unshakeable nature, He says, 'My words will never pass away, even if heaven and earth pass away' (Matt 24:35).

Often, when 'the beginning' is taken in a certain sense, we say the beginning is the truth of the words of God, as that which is first. For to make it known...

The Practical and Contemplative Life in Psalm 118§222

222The legal and prophetic writers and even the words of God's new covenant are given naked of types. For, exercising themselves through them and being led according to their spiritual will, we reach the point of meeting face to face with the truth. If the beginning of those bearing them is the truth itself and they become so because of it, and if God's words also bear toward the truth (for they are spoken because of it), it is rightly said that their beginning is the truth. Since also that which exists in some is called a beginning by another meaning, and truth exists in God's words, they are themselves true by that, and because of this they are called their beginning. Similarly, the true state is held to be upon the true words, by which the divinely-breathed scriptures—which are the words of God—are said to be from self-truth. And because of this, it is right to say that the truth is the beginning of God's words.

And what is it? Since the Lord says, 'I am the truth,' the word of God is also that itself; he says to the Father, 'Your word is truth,' who becomes with each prophet. And likewise: those established according to the truth, being truth-receivers, become the beginning of God's words. Just as the truth was the beginning of your words, so all your judgments of justice are found indestructible and shown forever (Psalm 119:160).

Cowardice is twofold: one part is the irrational regarding the emotional part of the soul, the other is the logical established regarding the heart and the intellect, not of reason, and perhaps it can pertain to the same divine fear. Throughout his life, the righteous man, being enlightened, will be in a perfect day not intercepted by night and will praise God sevenfold (Psalm 119:164; LXX 118:164), having become transcendent to be separated from the world that has become in days of exile, even having been in God's paradise, having contemplated the word of God's creation and providence, will confess the judgments of the justice of God, according to the judgments of each varied creation and providence. If he also awaits the Savior, as it is said, 'All flesh shall see the salvation of God' (Psalm 119:166; LXX 118:166), following this he loves the commandments of God.

And he has expected salvation, so that both his practice is pure and his expectation is contemplative, always expecting and contemplating that God has come to seek and to save the lost.

He prays for such a worthy condition to be tested, certain and unshakeable, as if to enter before the Lord. 'And I will know if my worthiness enters before you, if I am rescued by you according to your word and your wisdom' (Psalm 119:170; LXX 118:170). For He, being above all passions, irrational and the evils working from irrationality, having departed from them, is rescued by God according to His word.

'Oh that you would teach me, so that I might act from it and know them clearly; I would bring to you a thankful hymn from my lips, O Lord, of your man' (Psalm 119:171; LXX 118:171). If the impulse of hymnody to God is clearly the beginning of its nourishment, it constitutes full theology.

'Your various commandments are instructions; they all possess the virtues of those who are wise, the general virtue being to follow the particular virtues, as one possessing the one perfectly possesses all' (Psalm 119:172; LXX 118:172). 'I utter your word with my lips toward your man' (Psalm 119:172). But the word concerning righteousness is uttered principally not by voice alone, not by merely bringing it forth, but also by works and by practical intention, being corrected according to the right word.

'Let your hand be done to save me' (Psalm 119:173) does not signify here the generation of it according to essence, but the relation toward the ones being saved. The same thought is carried in 'Become for me a protector toward God'. The path of the one longing for the salvation of God is the one who has the study of the law as his desire, pre-sounding his arrival here. By 'law' he calls here the ancient and divine Scripture.

'Since remembering your judgments and being set apart, I turn away from the death that follows sin' (Psalm 119:175; LXX 118:175). Not merely sinning, but performing those things, which follow the living of the soul and the praising of you thankfully, through which you provide it with immortal life. Since remembering your judgments, I turn away from the death following sin by not sinning; my soul shall live, having worked out those of life and praising the thankful ones, through which you provide it with immortal life.

The Ascent to the Temple and the Kingdom§223

223Having lost a sheep from the hundred, the Savior comes seeking it, having left the ninety-nine in the wilderness; the human race has gone astray through Adam's transgression. The human race is the lost sheep from the hundred, while the rational things that do not stumble remain part of creation in the desert, staying high in virtue and truth, except for man who has gone into error.

Therefore, like the sheep, but rather a part of it, the Psalmist says: 'I have gone astray; seek me, your servant; for you came to seek and save the lost; seek me so that you may find me ready for this; for I have longed for your commandments' (Ps 119). It is to be understood that he in the Jerusalem temple has fifteen steps, and standing on each of them, those appointed to sing hymns were saying an ode. Therefore, the number of odes coincided with the steps. The arrangement concerning the odes and those singing them on each step of the temple lies in the Chronicles.

You shall understand the temple of God to be a holy, intelligible, and spiritual thing—the theology—and the steps to be the stages of progress. He who has ascended to the second step of the temple begins to be transformed into perfection, no longer thinking of something lowly. Therefore, he says he has lifted the eyes of the intellect toward the height. Thus, the ode of the second step has attained a familiar number. For the one hundred and twentieth limits the perfection of human life.

Indeed, it has been said concerning men after the flood: 'Their days shall be one hundred and twenty' (Gen 6:3). Thus also Moses, the great hierophant and servant of God, having perfected human life into one hundred and twenty years, describes his own life, setting forth his own life as a pattern for those under him who receive the laws. It can also be strongly understood regarding the exodus: the exodus of God guarding from evil for one turning away from evil, and likewise the exodus of one guarding the doing of the good, an exodus from the sensible toward the intelligible and spiritual. He who...

He who stretches himself forward toward those before him does not forget them, nor does he run back again. For he who hastens toward the prize of the higher calling goes toward the higher things. Therefore, having begun the ascent toward the temple, he does not return after having traveled; having ascended to the third degree, he does not even depart from the flight of the soul, but, having received a vision, he hastens toward that which he is being urged to lead the entrance of, being in good spirit.

Those having firmly established the feet of their own souls previously in the courts of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:2; LXX 121:2–4), have a desire also to ascend to the temple. And the most sharp-witted theology is the temple, while the partial contemplations are the courts of the vision of peace, the specific virtues that occur. The vision of the aforementioned peace, having begun to be transformed, becomes as a city built by the Lord, and its participation consists of the same aforementioned courts, in which the feet of the firm ones are standing. And it is not a low-lying thing, but exists in some height, so that the citizen who wishes to become of it does not descend, but ascends toward it.

And indeed, the various ranks of the saved, having the choice of confession, ascend there as watches of the Lord, having been well testified by the Lord to ascend and having confessed, and they increase in zeal and progress, doing these things, Israel. David the savior has said many things (Psalm 122:5; LXX 121:5); therefore, because it is from the seed of David, it is according to the flesh, and because it is sufficiently by hand, it is so; for David is interpreted as being 'capable by hand.' For how is he not capable by hand, he who performs wondrous powers? This is the church of David, in which thrones are seen for judgment, upon which the apostles sit judging the twelve tribes of Israel. For the faith and the citizenship of each apostle is a throne of his kingdom, judging and condemning those who have not conformed to what is prophesied in the divine scriptures, nor believed in those whom he made and taught with words.

And according to contemplation (Psalm 122:6-7; LXX 121:6-7), he who bears spiritual fruit because of loving Jerusalem will be in much prosperity and well-being, bearing not only the acts of virtue but also the contemplation of the truth. And 'In your power it is possible toward the...

Stability of Faith and the Heavenly Zion§224

224Jerusalem, because she reigns with power, has become peaceful, having previously been at war with enemies whom she overcomes by her might, finding tranquility in her high towers. For the great towers in the walls are being constructed for the purpose of watching for the coming enemies. For among the Syrians, large houses are called heavy dwellings, and some, having taken height upon the walled cities, having their position, are called high towers. Therefore, Jerusalem, having used her own power which is from God, has subjected those who oppose her; she will make peace, and tranquility will follow in her high towers.

If, however, in allegory, the high towers are those who, through the height of the commonwealth and the vision of the truth, not only watch for the enemies coming for war but also cast them down from on high in reproofs. According to the vision, he who is born from God, doing righteousness and believing that Jesus is the Christ, has brothers who perform the same things and believe, and neighbors who approach through the doing of righteousness and the faith of Jesus Christ.

But since of both these ranks, of his brothers and of his neighbors, I say that Jerusalem, who is to be given, says she speaks peace and is peaceful (Ps 122:8,9), I wish for them, both the brothers and the neighbors of the fatherland, but since they seek the goods of the Lord their God, seeking the truly good things for Jerusalem. For he says concerning the one who began to ascend (Ps 122:2), since seeking the good things for Jerusalem, the keeping of the divine commandments and the right understanding of the true faith.

It is possible for slaves having eyes to take into the hands of masters the nations which are being managed under the angels, according to how the nations stood according to the number of the angels of God; but the circumcision assembly having eyes, a little girl into the hands of the mistress, a little girl because she is called a spirit of slavery; but her mistress, calling the unblemished and spotless church of God, no one stumbles. But we do not have our eyes in the hands of those masters, but we approach to the Lord our God for mercy.

And it shows mercy to us (Ps 123:4a). The Ara does not speak in a way that is merely formal, but in a way that is collective. An unsubstantial gift is one that is possible to receive without Christ sustaining it. If someone signifies evil as an unsubstantial gift, it must be said that evil is called unsubstantial because it lacks essence and its own hypostasis; for it does not exist as a substance in those who are acting, not having its own nature.

Just as the mountain of Zion is unshakable and immovable (for the Word of God is it), so also those trusting in God have an immovable standing, imitating Him as they hasten to be. For the upcoming text is not said regarding the sensible mountain, similarly to all those mountains that are steadfast, but regarding that mountain about which the Spirit commands the prophet, saying, 'Ascend upon a high mountain, O you who preach Zion.' For Zion, being interpreted as the watchtower of the holy Church's contemplation of good things, is the high mountain; and regarding the mountain of the heavenly Zion, it is said, 'But you have come to the mountain of Zion and to the city of the living God, Jerusalem the heavenly' (Hebrews 12:22). Let us therefore establish the trust toward God, so as to chance upon both blessedness and the other promises, as the prophecy exhorts us: 'And having trusted in the Lord, He will lift you up upon the good things of the earth' (Isaiah 58:14). For the beginning of being lifted up upon the good things of the earth of the living and gentle ones is to have trusted in Him.

As for the Church, it is seen being enriched in the 'Shine, shine, Jerusalem, Jerusalem built as a city.' Therefore, he who thinks perfectly and genuinely that the things of the Church will dwell in it forever will not be shaken, nor will he be removed from this habitation, having received the things to be practiced and thought about with certainty and immovability. And it will be said specifically that he dwells in it forever, the living one and the believing one in the Lord, who shall not die forever, having here received the pledge of eternal life. But if he should ever become negligent, as if it were possible through attention and desire for the good, the habitation will be moved; for this reason it says in Proverbs, 'A righteous man will not be moved forever' (Proverbs 10:30). Regarding the mountains, it is said of the intelligible Jerusalem...

The Circle of the Lord and the Stability of Jerusalem§225

225High doctrines of truth, distinct laws and ecclesiastical canons, and with these all the saints—not only those before the epidemic but also those after it—for each of these is a circle concerning the church, so that from all of them a continuous and inseparable circle has come to be in the midst of the church.

And with these the announcements can be made, placing around those who fear the Lord the mountains that surround Jerusalem. But greater than the security of the mountains exists for the people dwelling in Jerusalem, through whom especially the one dwelling in it is not shaken for ever, the Lord becoming a circle around him. And the Lord becomes a circle not locally and bodily enclosing some within, but being participated in by them and being with them over all, not only in the present age but also in the coming one.

Regarding the rod, indeed there is a purpose to strike, to stretch out the hands of the righteous against lawlessness; but the will of the Lord is for the righteous to stretch out their hands toward righteousness, lifting them up piously without anger or inner deliberation (Psalm 125:3; LXX 124:3). Good are those who have been benefited in mindset by virtue, and upright in heart are those who truly and rightly think the things of piety.

And these differ not in hypostasis but in conception.

For those dwelling in Jerusalem unto the age, unshaken, being at once practical and knowing, are good and upright in heart.

And God does them good, giving good things to those who ask him—an addition of faith and of the remaining virtue, with participation in divine gifts, furnished for leading them also into the heavenly promises and the kingdom of heaven.

Ps 124:5a-b: 'He shall lead away' means 'he shall hand over': those who chose to have desires unto uncleanness and unto passions of dishonor and unto a reprobate mind, to do the things not fitting.

And he also said in the psalms: 'And I sent them away according to the devices of their hearts; they shall walk in their devices' (Psalm 81:12).

He shall lead away, then, those who turn aside into crooked ways with the workers of iniquity, that it may be shown openly who they were, being hidden—seeming not to do iniquity, though disposed according to it.

The blameworthiness of crooked ways is also shown in the prophet, with God saying to the one coming to fast: 'Loose the bonds of violent contracts' (Isa 58:6),

that he may perform it rightly and with the due disposition.

Ps 124:5c: But the peace surpassing all mind (Phil 4:7), given with divine grace by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be to everyone and only to the one having a mind, being Israel, with the hymnist praying.

Ps 126 title: Eighth song of ascents; riddling the mysteries of the resurrection of the Lord in the ogdoad, it is inscribed to Solomon—to the one born from the seed of David according to the flesh, the truly peaceful one.

For he is our peace, of us who are being saved, saying: 'My peace I give to you' (John 14:27).

To the one bringing about the dissolution of every enemy and foe, making peace, and founding and building the house of God—whose symbol Solomon, born of David, bore, who built the temple of God in Judea, much peace having come in his days.

Ps 126:1: Not less than the other scriptures, the verses set before us also posit the Lord as provider of all, with human pursuits becoming vain if they do not obtain the fitting end from God;

hence, doing anything, let us not give the whole to ourselves, but to the perfecting God, nor, having left all to him, let us end up inactive.

For the verses set before us declare both—then from us and from God—saying vain is the one who builds without God, not the one who does not work at all.

Ps 126:2: And understand thus: those who are torn to pieces by the [...].

Fruit of the Womb and the Arrows of the Soul§226

226Those who seek to care for life give the bread of pain to those with them, eating it constantly. Therefore they are deprived of the beloved of God, those who advise moderately that reaching the Lord is the end and providence.

If the beloved of God, those raising themselves toward piety, do not despise this, but instead a spirit becomes a source of quiet rest for them, having been turned and having changed from this life, while maintaining watchfulness in the common way of life, then those previously mentioned eat the bread of pain. All their striving is done in vain, rising and standing up after sitting, and having sleep, sitting, standing, and rising up become to them useless. For they were not able to do these things not in vain, nor to eat the bread of pain, if they had given attention to the beloved of God before receiving the spirit from God.

And those who seem to go toward godliness, if they thought they were being enlightened by themselves, rise in vain; for it is not fitting that it be said of those who do not say, 'My spirit rises to you, O God, through the night.' But they also rise in vain for the energy of good things, sitting and resting again, thinking they are doing this not from God but from themselves. But the one who confesses this is from God says to the Lord, 'You have known my seat and my rising.' And it is necessary to have joy and gladness, eating the bread that supports the heart of man; they eat it with pain from grief and necessity, but not approaching its use cheerfully. Therefore, they are altogether incomplete and do all things in vain.

And the former inheritance of Israel was made; for a portion of his inheritance is Israel; he was the firstborn son of God, saying, 'Israel is my firstborn son' (Exodus 4:22). And all were sons by chance through a concordant and united will according to one law of life. But second after them are the sons concerning whom it was said by the Father to the Savior, 'I will make you heirs in my place, and I will give you an inheritance.' And from both of the two inheritances, one has become, which the Spirit says, showing it in the Son, 'Behold, the inheritance of the Lord is the Son.'

Indeed, all possess the spirit of adoption and are born from God to practice righteousness. And a reward is this, being the fruit of the womb of the Lord who has come to visit.

For it is said to her by Elizabeth, 'Blessed is the fruit of your womb' (Luke 1:42). And 'fruit of the womb' is the name for that which is not from a man, but from Mary alone, through the Holy Spirit having come upon her and the power of the Most High having overshadowed her. For those who have received seed from the fathers are those fruits; for it is said to David, 'From the fruit of your loins I will set someone upon your throne' (2 Sam 7:12), teaching him that his kingdom shall not fail like that of Saul, but that this shall be directed from his succession. And if the Son can also be the fruit of the father's womb, it follows, as it is said, 'From the womb before the morning star you were born, visit them.'

Who is the powerful one, the Savior, who is able to send the arrows of wisdom and truth sufficiently to wound for love? For it has been written, 'Your arrows are unavailing' (Psalm 45:5). Similarly, those who are born of the sons of the stretched-out ones, those born of the holy men, are archers. And those who are stretched-out do not consist of all the dust of material things and soil, having sent forth by a rational movement a discerning soul capable of following the sequence of the dogmas.

And because of this, the Word, seeing peace and exhorting toward it, entreats, saying, 'Shake off your dust, Jerusalem.' Since the young ones, being stretched-out in the ancestral tradition of the Hebrews, are called and are capable for war, as we learn from Ezra, it is fitting that those who have put on the new man should stretch out the old man from themselves through his deeds, becoming imitators of the Powerful through their deeds, and through their hands being called to the word, they possess the arrows to strike the unavailing words. And the sayings of Ezra concerning the stretched-out ones are thus: 'And it came to pass from that day that half of those who were stretched-out were doing the work, and half of them were resisting, with spears and shields and bows and breastplates, and the leaders behind all the men of Judah who were building on the wall, and the...'

The Spiritual Meaning of the Blessed Man§227

227Next, through the spoken words, we understand that the sons of those stretching themselves out to build the house of the Lord hold stones and swords and other weapons, as with one hand doing the work of the building, and with the other throwing stones to hinder those wishing to stop the construction of the divine house.

For the divine teachers strive in each soul being educated to build for God and to fight against thoughts and evil powers attempting to obstruct the growth of the building. He blesses the man who, because he has preserved that which remains according to the image of God, has had his desire fulfilled from the arrows of the Mighty (Psalm 127:5; LXX 126:5). For having been directed toward the desire of good things by them, he has been shown blessed. And possessing unashamed and undaunted boldness in the gate of the beneficial entrance, he speaks without being shamed by the enemies, who were striving to be obstacles to the fulfillment of desire and to the building.

And it is no wonder that he has blessed a man singularly; he has blessed in the plural, that those speaking in the gate shall not be shamed; for the word is not about one, but about everyone who has fulfilled his desire from the arrows (Psalm 127:5). And in another way, if they nourish their own soul with virtue, so as to be according to God, desirable foods and joyful for the soul. He who does not fear the Lord eats the labors of his fruit, but he who loves him as perfect will eat the bread, the heavenly one, according to 'Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of heaven' (Luke 14:15). And he says 'fruits' here, so that it might be in some way 'He shall eat the labors of your hands,' that is, of the practical powers.

The word is indeed somewhat shorthand, smoothing these promises to be given to the one fearing the Lord, as if they were complete, but not to the one loving him with all heart and all soul and strength; for 'Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, nor has it come up upon the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him' (1 Cor 2:9). To the one fearing the Lord, a gift of God is given, a partner and a companion, not a woman by chance, but one grafted into the true vine.

Who can find a woman of worth, a good wife, and a woman of manly strength? Such a thing is more precious than costly stones. Just as the opposite of evil is good, and the wrath of God is a spouse in a harsh manner, so also sons from God are given to the one fearing the Lord; they are not like many sons, but like young olive shoots surrounding and crowning his table. You will also understand these from the perfection of the one saying, 'But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God' (Ps 52:8). For the offspring of such an olive tree are called like young olive shoots. If anyone says that those not fearing the Lord often possess much in the property of children and in the prosperity of a wife, we will say that the present beatitude does not simply promise a wife and children, but all of this is depicted as a woman in a vineyard and children as young olive shoots; such things are not the lot of the ungodly.

From there: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, since the wife accompanying you is fertile, finding herself like a vine rejoicing with fruits (Psalm 128:3). But also your offspring are not weak or female, but strong sons being around your table, bearing the food of light like young olive shoots. And your spiritual table exists, full of all those who nourish mind and soul. Be having in these things a blessing from the Lord; no one else, but the God-fearing shall receive from the Lord. This is shown through 'the Man' and 'every man.' Therefore, regarding the present things, one ought not to take them as being about a sensible woman and bodily children, since many having obtained the fear of God have possessed neither wife nor children. If, then, the things of the word are not entirely literal, the spiritual sense of the things expressed must be sought by every one existing in piety.

By ascent you will understand thus: those being captured by the enemy in a single blow would not say this, but the one alone, driving the enemies into flight anew until old age, becoming always a victor and a triumphalist over them (Psalm 129:1-4; LXX 128:1-4). And he brought forward the proof of having fought them many times: 'For even I was not able; for He was strengthening me, the Lord, who crushes the enemies.' Regarding those being announced with boldness, not the one happening by chance, but the one seeing God...

The Harvest of Iniquity and the Sifting of the Wicked§228

228He calls him a witness of the mind. And they show what is 'from my youth' (Psalm 71:5), and that having dared to speak from the womb and being drawn up for godliness, he opposes the devil and his allies and bodyguards, who are arrayed against him and fighting against him, and by no measure was he defeated by them.

The 'from my youth' is able to show that he is strong and being strengthened by Christ, from whom I have cast off old age, having cast away the old man with his deeds; having clothed himself with the new man, fighting against the aforementioned enemies, he was never overturned by them, but conquering unceasingly and steadily, and turning them to witness for Israel.

And the boast is not small, to be fought against by the devil and those around him, who do not possess this strength; for they are his friends and obedient ones. And everyone alone says, 'For indeed you were not able to trample upon me, having received authority from the Word of God, upon the lion and the scorpion, and to trample the lion and the dragon' (Luke 10:19). For having escaped all such things, the God crushing Satan under his feet, he says, 'Many times they have fought against me from my youth, and indeed they were not able; but I was able against them, being strengthened by the Lord. The sinners have stretched out their necks upon my back, they have lengthened their lawlessness' (Psalm 129:1-3).

It is a stain and very dangerous to have the enemies before one's face, having them sufficiently according to thought, and to harm and destroy them merely through seeing and through the senses, those whom we have perceived of them; it is proper to always turn away from them, casting them upon the back. For he who hastens toward God and virtue turns away from wickedness.

For if the sinners have stretched out their necks upon the face and before one, they have harmed the heart, timely casting it into evil thoughts, and the sight through destructive spectacles, and the other senses harming through those things belonging to them. But he has the sinners behind, the one forgetting those behind, and stretching out himself toward those before, and going behind the Lord God; but he who follows the interpreted sinners turns away from the Lord, as to say God, 'They turned their backs upon me and not their faces' (Jeremiah 2:27). Mis—

For they have cast your instruction behind them, following the demons who are lovers of their heart. The lengthening of their lawlessness reveals the persistent wickedness of sinners who weave a series of sins like a rope, and by adding to those who have already received, they lengthen their lawlessness. The word weighs such people down: 'Woe to those who pile up sins,' as with a long rope and as with a heavy yoke, subduing their lawlessness. For their hands weave injustice, and as adding sin upon sin, they lengthen their own lawlessness. The Lord is righteous and has cut off the necks of sinners. The righteous Lord cuts off the neck of those who do not submit to his good yoke. But he makes this addition good for those who, having cast off their inclination and strength toward worthless things, submit to the Lord, who is all naked and bowed down.

And the wise of this world are themselves like stubble, having only their promise until this present life; and they are a heap of roofs for those who through them act and think that they have surpassed all. Therefore, it is a dried-up stubble, not casting its roots into the soil (that is, the sensible things), nor hastening toward a spiritual planting instead of stubble. Before they are even cut, they dry up, not filling the hands of the one harvesting this stubble, because they have unbelief. For the ungodly shall not rise in judgment, and 'he who does not believe is condemned' (John 3:18). Not only hands, but even the bosom of himself the harvester of this stubble will not fill, by not receiving them first into the bosom of Abraham, and then thereafter into the bosoms of the harvesting angel; for the Savior interpreted the harvesting angels as the harvester wielding a sickle in the prophet: 'Therefore I have cast away your prophets' (Hosea 6:5). He himself also cleanses his threshing floor, having the winnowing fan in his hand to gather the wheat into the granary, but the chaff to burn with unquenchable fire. And who are those who hate Zion? They become not stubble, but like stubble, the weeds sown among the good seed by the evil one and being burned in the future.

The Cry from the Depths§229

229the grass of the roofs are those who have leaped over

Not as one ascending, but finding no one able to help, he cries to God. Along with confessing where he has fallen, he says, 'Out of the depths I have cried to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice; for having heard, you will raise me up from the depth of wickedness and the deepest pit' (Ps 130:1-4). This expression agrees with what is said by him later: 'If iniquity be observed, Lord, Lord, who shall stand?' (Psalm 130:3).

It is possible even for one dwelling in the earthly place, through human life, to send up this prayer, feeling himself far below both heaven and God; for heaven is high and earth is deep. It is also possible for the one praying to be holy according to what was previously stated. For he does not send up the prayer concerning small and earthly things, but large and heavenly things. He does not send up the prayer from a psychic discourse concerning them, asking for them, but being enlightened by the Spirit, searching all things, and knowing and contemplating the depths of God. Following the one searching these things by the Spirit, it is necessary from these depths to cry to God, deeming himself worthy of having his voice heard. And from these depths he cries, seeking not the non-sensible but all intelligible things and the Holy Spirit itself.

It is equal to 'Let your words be done' (Luke 1:38) for those attending to 'Incline your ear to my voice'. Since our voice does not reach the heights, and because there is a great difference in the nature of your words. And from here we learn, having understood, that they are not always the same, but 'Let it be done' also signifies a certain relation. For the words of God do not simply become, but become worthy of attending to Him. Following this, one must also understand what was said concerning Christ: that He became to us wisdom from God (1 Cor 1:30), and that God made Him both Lord and Christ, and such things. Since from you is the propitiation (Psalm 130:4), the one being propitiated and, having forgiven sins, is Savior, not—

The Spiritual Zion and the Davidic Promise§230

230Observe, examining iniquities; for if he were to do this, no one would stand. For all have strayed, all have sinned. Therefore, since no one stands before the judgment from you, there is need of the propitiation from you, being propitiated for the salvation of all.

And what is the propitiation, the Savior? John writes: 'And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, a righteous Lord Jesus Christ' (1 John 2:1); and he himself is the propitiation for our sins, not only concerning ours but also concerning the sins of the world. But also Paul: 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation through faith in his blood' (Romans 3:23-25), and the following. A symbol of this propitiation was constructed in the law, concerning which also now the one praying to God says: 'That from you is the propitiation'; from you, as a generation from the only good Father, is the propitiation. Not every rational creature needs, not with a god to be upheld, observing the iniquities of each of the created ones.

Always and at all times it is necessary to hope in the Lord, not only the one standing openly but also the one standing in gloom. From the morning watch, the one with the bright things present, and until night, the one with the dreary and darker things surrounding; and what is from the morning watch, the rising of the true light and making the beginning of a mental day, the discerning mind, Israel, called by the Hebrew voice, let him hope in the Lord (Psalm 130:6-8; LXX 129:6-8), expecting from him an addition of the bright things and a deliverance from the gloomy things, what is from him as in a fountain and from him the mercy which those hoping in him need; but also much redemption from him, the propitiation from him is not another; for he himself from all iniquities will redeem him. For even if the iniquities of Israel are many, from all he will redeem him.

David, having perfected gentleness, says the following: 'Remembering me,' he says, 'upon these things you will give me an inheritance, the land of the gentle' (Psalm 132:1; LXX 131:1). And those with these priests, not by chance, but they shall rejoice, they shall rejoice, of the only perfect and from the beginning rejoicing, from the most perfect rejoicing of this thing. And it is possible that the...

The person and the saint are the same, though distinguished by relations, for one is priest and the other is a saint of God, for the underlying subject to be one in hypostasis. Who is the cause of them putting on righteousness and rejoicing? It is David, the holy one, who is capable by hand. For the Lord brought forth for David his servant. He who became God's servant according to the flesh from the seed of David, having taken the form of the servant, emptied himself.

Understand thus Ps 131:10b: intending by your grace to shine upon men the face of your Christ, O Lord, do not turn it away, so that they may remain unhidden from his appearance, having been benefited. The cause of the certain fulfillment is the one having brought forth, saying, 'The Lord swore truth to David and will not deny it' Ps 131:11.

The 'certainly shall be' regarding what was sworn in truth to David, concerning the coming of the Lord, is that the fruit of the womb of David shall sit upon his throne Ps 131:11. He will fulfill it as he swore; for the oath of God is truth, according to what was said by Gabriel to Mary concerning him being genealogically from David: 'And God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever' Luke 1:32; Ps 131:12-13.

If someone takes the earthly Zion, how could he understand 'that my resting place for ever and ever' Ps 131:14, since passing to the end of this age, the heaven and the earth pass away? For if the whole earth passes away, then the Zion which is upon the earth will also pass by. Regarding the spiritual Zion, concerning which it is written, 'Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion' Ps 87:1, that is the most holy Church, which he desired for a dwelling place for himself, he who said, 'I will dwell, what I have desired' Ps 131:14.

Another text instead of 'the widow' says 'the huntress' and says: 'The unprotected and the brave guardian they do not have, I will bless all the poor to whom he provides an abundance of bread,' he says, 'I will fill her poor with bread' Ps 131:15, since each of such poor people, being the seed of the righteous, is not diminished by bread. It is carried in copies as 'Blessing her huntress, I will bless.' And being blessed with the blessing of the Lord, she was a huntress hunting on every high mountain and...

The Anointing and the Spiritual Dew§231

231The sent-out fishermen and hunters in the crevices of the rocks are a symbol of those dwelling in the village of the hunters, for all dwell in Bethsaida, which is taken to be the village of hunters (Jeremiah 16:16). 'I will clothe the priests of this Zion with salvation' (Psalm 132:16). Christ has come as salvation for all, to seek and to save the lost (Lk 19:10). Regarding the presence of salvation and the clothing of it, it is written: 'Let my soul rejoice, for you have clothed me with a garment of salvation; they shall rejoice, and those who are holy of him shall rejoice in divine joy' (Isaiah 61:10).

There, in Zion, I will cause a horn to rise up for David (Ps 132:17). This horn of the kingdom is raised up by God in the house of David, according to what was said by the righteous: 'Raise up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David' (Ps 132:17). Prepare for this horn, Christ, who is found as a lamp, the Father running forward with his divine law for his visitation, for it is written: 'Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths' (Ps 119:105). And John, until the law and the prophets, is a lamp being prepared for his own Christ, concerning that Savior. There is that lamp which is kindled and shines: 'Did you not desire to rejoice at the right hour in his light?'

These things being theologized concerning the one who came from the seed of David according to the flesh, his enemies shall clothe themselves in shame, desiring, if they were consumed by fire, to say 'that a child was born, a son was given to us' (Isa 9:6), not recognizing the beginning of his time, mocking shame more, saying 'what he embraces with other men does not have a life that has ascended far above.' Therefore also upon him his holiness shall blossom, as it is said in Isaiah: 'And a flower shall ascend from the root' (Isa 11:1), following which the flowers of the earth shall appear in our land; such flowers being present toward the blossoming of the holiness by the Lord. For this blossoming sanctifies those passing by it, which is the very holiness of God, a flower, or rather to say, 'I am a flower of the field, a judge of the valleys' (Song of Solomon 2:1). If the flower and the judge of the field and of the valleys do not do these things, it is not fitting that flowers should appear in our land, once God has caused his holiness to rise up upon the enlightened and those approaching the...

A blessed and spiritual feast. The beard is a symbol of manhood. The oil descends from the beard of Aaron onto the shoulder of his garment (Psalm 133:2; LXX 132:2). Aaron represents the shadow of priesthood. His head, the original, is filled with the divine oil of the name of Christ, regarding which it is said, 'Myrrh, your name.' This oil descends upon the beard of each who is able to say, after surpassing the shadow, 'I have become a man,' opposing the infant. Such a man becomes an imitator having become like Him, regarding which it is written, 'Behold, a man, whose name is Dawn, and a man comes after me' (Zechariah 6:12).

However, even if the oil descends upon Aaron's head, it does not descend upon a random beard but upon the high-priestly one, and from there onto the shoulder of the high-priestly garment. Aaron's tunic does not merely bear a type, for it is the Lord's body, born of the Holy Spirit, according to what was said concerning the Virgin: 'For that which was born in her is of the Holy Spirit' (Matthew 1:20). Regarding the mountains of Zion, you shall perceive the divine and universal Church, which is the high doctrines of truth, the ornaments of the soul, having seized the being of Mount Zion (Psalm 133:3; LXX 132:3).

Upon these mountains descends a spiritual dew, regarding which Moses said, 'And I will come down as dew' (Deuteronomy 32:2), and in the prophet, 'For the dew from you is its essence' (Isaiah 26:19). From this heavenly dew, the habitation of the blessed shall be from heaven. This spiritual dew does not descend from random clouds, but from the celestial light of the one saying, 'I have come as light into the world' (John 12:46). For this light both dews and shines from above, and makes things to become in most piercing brightness.

All the servants of the Lord bless the Lord (Psalm 134:1; LXX 133:1), not having stepped far from Him but approaching Him through wisdom. Therefore they have stood in the court of the Lord, firmly established in Him. And they have stood in the courts of our God. The courts of God are where those who fear Him stand, the God-breathed writings and the doctrines of truth.

The Nature of God and Divine Participation§232

232It is not a temple for those ascending into it to follow the songs of the ascents and praise God joyfully. Therefore also 'Alleluia' is written upon the psalm, the superscription signifying that the living God must be hymned (Psalm 135:1-3; LXX 134:1-3).

How will it not be that all those having ascended the ascents with songs and hymns will stand in the house of the Lord with right thought and unassailable practice, being His servants in the house of the Lord, and hymning Him in the courts of our God? But the courts of God are the old and new Scriptures, the theologies according to their parts, or the many dwellings in the promises in the house of the Father. And to praise first according to the introductions His name, so that they might serve the Lord and serve Him sincerely.

And toward allegory, if there are certain spiritual clouds, they signify a mental and invisible rain flowing. And these rise from the end of the earth, since the Gospel does not call those from great, rich, philosophical, oratory rulers, but from men thought to be the lowest, the unlettered and the laypeople. But He has also made the bright flashes of theories and the justices into a rain, to enlighten and to water those asking for these things in harmony with what is set forth. And He brings forth winds from their treasuries, which some signify better breaths and intellectual, transcendent natures.

This memorial is from the former generation of the Hebrews as a generation of the calling of the Gentiles, concerning which it is written, 'The coming generation shall declare to the Lord' (Psalm 135:13-14; LXX 134:13b-14). And these things shall remain, as God has mercy on His people and calls upon His servants. For having responded to the intercession and the appeal of His servants on behalf of the people and themselves, being sent up, He was comforted, that is, He granted the appeal. Therefore also He has mercy on His people.

According to an upward leading, if in Israel there are those perceptive and seeing God with a pure heart, and in Aaron those who serve Him perfectly and priestly-wise continually, not day by day (Psalm 135:19-21; LXX 134:19-21); and with these, the Levites are inferior to the sacred things, those being in the temple and the services being imposed in the...

Those who perform the service of the 251st God Psalm 135 will not be newcomers to God, being brought into justice; and all those from foreign nations are added by the fear of the Lord. However, even if all bless, not each one will do this according to the proportion of power.

But those previously mentioned do not merely bless, but he is also blessed, not from a chance place but from the heavenly Zion, dwelling in the city of God, who gives the heavenly Jerusalem and the church which has no house or wrinkle, unlike Jerusalem, to see the peace which Jesus gives, saying, 'My peace I give to you' (John 14:27). But even if he is blessed in Zion by another thought, God is not thus in it and from it. Let these things also be said concerning the soul through knowledge and perfect virtue, being called Zion and Jerusalem.

The present psalm, being called forth for thanksgiving, commands to confess to the Lord, who does much in kindness and goodness (Psalm 136:1-3; LXX 135:1-3). Therefore, in every verse, a hymn-like phrase is selected: 'For his mercy is unto the ages.' For since he neither ever has mercy nor ever does not, but always has mercy, it is fitting that those who hymn say, 'For his mercy is unto the ages.'

Of what gods is he, concerning whom it is said? If he is not God to them, then the Word of God did not become toward them according to the scripture saying, 'I am God'. For this one truly it is fitting to be called God; so do not worry even about those who are called gods around Abraham (Exodus 3:6; 'God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob'; for this one truly it is fitting to be called God). According to this, the meaning of divinity and angels and divine powers is said to be 'gods,' as the apostle says, 'As there are many gods and many lords in heaven and on earth' (1 Cor 8:6), so all those called gods with the Trinity are such by participation of divinity.

But the Savior is not thus, but is God by essence; therefore he makes gods of those who partake of him. He has been said to be the only-begotten God; for he himself alone is the true God from the true God, being God according to the same nature as the Father, being consubstantial with the one who begets him.

The Allegorical Exodus and the Sea of Passions§233

233If he is God of gods and Lord of lords, he is of those in heaven and on earth having a relationship to the holy principalities and powers and lordships (Psalm 136:2-6). For it was written that he alone does wonderful things; for the Father, remaining in the Son, does the works. But also, while making the heavens in understanding and strengthening the earth upon the water, it must be confessed again. And what is set forth agrees: God in wisdom founded the earth, and prepared the heavens in prudence. Understanding and prudence are through which the heavens are prepared and strengthened; who is like the wisdom through which all things came to be, concerning which the theologian says Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For also those bearing the image of the heavenly become intelligibles, being heavens. Such things are prepared in the revealed understanding and prudence of God. And the earth is strengthened upon the water, receiving the seed cast under Jesus in order to bear fruit. For in the flowing and temporary things of life, they allegorically strengthen and provide firmness upon the water to bear fruit most fully (Psalm 136:5-6).

Having made great lights alone, by saying: 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven'; he arranged the sun for the dominion of the day and the moon and the stars for the dominion of the night, just as it is said in the creation to have become the sun for the beginnings of the day and the moon for the beginnings of the night and the stars. And these things contribute not a little to us for the order of life and for life itself: the elements nourishing fruits, without which one cannot live; showing us seasons, marking hours, representing the courses of day and night, guiding the travelers of earth and sea, providing ten thousand other uses. If you see how unto the age is his mercy (Psalm 136:7-9). And towards diani-

Regarding what belongs to the tropical Egypt while the world exists around the earth, these things, appearing to be firstborn, are struck down by God for the benefit of Israel. For when these are struck down, the mind seeing God is led out from it by God. And God leads Israel out from the middle of the allegorically called Egypt through His word and His wisdom, which is named His arm and His mighty hand. And these things are said concerning Christ, since according to the Epistle of Jude, Jesus is the one who saved the people out of Egypt. A mighty hand and a high arm should be said to express His paradoxical energy and power.

God divided the Red Sea into not one division but into many, so that it might be driven out from the middle of it by God, while Israel walked as on dry land (Psalm 136:13; LXX 135:13–15). It is given into twelve divisions according to the twelve ways, so that each tribe of Israel might have its own passage to pass through.

And these things are indeed according to the literal sense; but for the intellect, the life of man is often like a sea placed before us, filled with waves and much saltiness and turbulence, yet the word of God provides us a way through, rising up and piercing the storms laid upon us from passions, so that we might have a way through once the moisture of all those passions has been dried up by God, while the intelligible Pharaoh and all that from demons and unclean spirits are being sunk in it, his power being fulfilled as if he were scattering them like the most worthless dust into the sea of God.

Happening to be deceived by those prepared in a sophistical manner, since the Amorites are interpreted as those who provoke and the king of them, Sihon, as a temptation or an incitement (Psalm 136:17-22; LXX 135:17–22), and since it was necessary to provoke others and to act as those who speak through sophistry...

The Prayer of the Just and the Glory of God§234

234Are they undermining the words, those enemies of the truth, intending to speak and to shout in order to deceive, to test and to provoke, having such a purpose?

But also, since Babylon is interpreted as a symbol of that which brings shame upon those doing evil, accordingly the king of this Babylon will be struck and killed along with the king of Zion among the Amorites, so that the land may be given to Israel. They ruled it badly through sophistry and through a wearying life, meddling in the nature of things and appearing to rule it; but their interpreted land being taken away, it is given as a possession to Israel to inherit it, becoming a true servant of the cause of all things. (Ps 135:23-24: And when we were brought low through misfortune, he remembers us and redeems us.)

Let my confession be upon your mercy and your truth, since, having been often shown mercy and having seen the truth which was enlightened in me by you, I was rescued from all evil and from its related deception, you providing remission of sins through your mercy and keeping me from all wandering through your truth. (Ps 137:2: Let my confession be upon your mercy and your truth...)

But since you have magnified the word given to me by you, depending on it through your presence as if it were your own wealth, I will worship toward your holy temple and I will confess your name, giving thanks that your word is being magnified in me; for then it is magnified in me, and since I am progressing by it, I hasten toward its perfection. (Ps 137:2d: Another scripture is brought forth saying, 'That you have magnified your holy name above all.')

When is this fulfilled? When every knee shall bow in the name of Jesus, both heavenly and earthly and under the earth, every tongue confessing what the Lord Jesus Christ is, to the glory of God the Father, announcing to his brothers who have come to be the Son's likeness the greatness of the Father's presence; for he has not come alone in the name of the Father, so that the holy name of God might be magnified above all. We learn to say in prayer, 'Hallowed be your name.' But just as the hallowed name of God does not become holy from something profane, but is shown to be such, it is not magnified by increase as...

To become great from something small, but with his greatness being made manifest. The one who prays unceasingly and performs this by spirit and mind: 'I will pray, saying, by spirit, and I will pray also by the mind,' having God as a listener on each day, concerning whom it has been written, 'and the ears of the Lord are toward the righteous, and to their supplication' (Psalm 34:15). For one possesses God as a guardian who does not delay nor despise him, but watches over him in his provident power.

Because of setting the mind on earthly things and seeking the lower and temporal things, making a profit, the peoples of the earth—about which the prophecy says here—the reason for wanting all the words of your mouth that you spoke in the law and in the prophets concerning their calling is this: for even if they are not hearers of your oracles, it is not by their power that their faith was foreknown. Therefore also I desire to reach them with diligent and musical recitation in your ways, namely, the Scriptures, so that one traveling through them by continuous study and reading might diligently proclaim the meanings from them. And if someone speaks of the virtuous ways of the Lord, and someone traveling diligently through these ways sings triumphal hymns against the wickedness that of old was working in them; if someone diligently speaks the word of virtuous activity concerning each of the ways of the Lord, having sent forth a diligent voice through the actions according to them.

All these things shall be made perfect, since also the glory of the Lord which performs these things is great, concerning which it is said toward Jerusalem: 'And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God' (Isaiah 60:1), since the glory of the Lord shall be seen. And who then is this, the savior, being a radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his hypostasis? It is brought here instead of 'Peoples' as 'Kings': 'Let all the kings of the earth confess to you, O Lord' (Psalm 138:4). And both expressions have harmony with the concept of being called to reign, the peoples confessing to the Lord being set as a royal priesthood and a holy nation (Ex 19:6); and toward some of them it is written, 'And you have reigned, so that we also may reign with you' (1 Corinthians 4:8).

The Inaccessibility of Divine Wisdom§235

235Not only concerning the Father, but also concerning the Son, these things are to be spoken, since He holds all things that were made through Him and in Him they consist, and above all things He is. Thus also the almighty rule is ordered upon Him, as in the prophet Zechariah (Zech 4:6). Even if the High Lord sees someone among the lowly, He is high to the heavenly and is of a nature that has ascended far above, but He does not only know these things from a distance as being far from Him by a change of existence.

In this way, the apostolic word is like it: 'Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but give place to the wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord' (Rom 12:19; Deut 32:35).' That is, do not hand us men over to invisible enemies intent on killing us. By which I press forward toward the front, until I reach the prize of the high calling (Ps 138:7).

And it is nothing wonderful if He knew all things concerning me, He says (Psalm 139:5; LXX 138:5); for knowing all things, He does not merely observe them, but also the beginnings and the ends of them, and the causes by which they came to be, and what will be about them after the cosmic variety. Having formed me possessing the knowledge of all things, You placed Your hand upon me, which is said first. Having placed Your hand upon me, and having formed me from dust and clay as a man, it is as if one of the wise said this: 'Your hands made me and formed me,' and likewise, 'Remember what clay You formed me from.'

And it is also not so; having formed me, You were not satisfied with having made me, but You also placed Your hand upon me in order to improve and guard me and to lift me up by it. Therefore, let him who understands this gift and advises others be careful, saying, 'Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may lift you up in due time' (1 Pet 5:6), so that, being secured by it, you may not have any insolence or scheme occur. For no one snatches from the hand of the Father; for the invisible enemies only tear apart those who have been cast away from it. Having understood how You have knowledge of all things, I have come to a marvel. But even if, having understood, I marveled at Your knowledge, it is not that my will understands it on my behalf, having been made by You.

It has been strengthened so that I might not be able to reach it. This is consistent with what is in Ecclesiastes: 'I said, I will be wise, but wisdom has departed from me, and it was made far from me, beyond my reach; who can find it?' (Ecclesiastes 7:23-24). And also Paul left the same voices, saying: 'O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and untraceable are his ways!' (Rom 11:33). And he himself says this, since he is not able to reach the knowledge of God having been strengthened beyond him.

It is also possible for that which is near me to show that your wisdom, which is wonderful, was not revealed to me, because once it is strengthened, I will no longer be able to oppose or strike at it. And if even concerning the knowledge of God, the saint himself has words about it as one who is grasping it, discussing the things set forth, having visited it. Having theologized about the things concerning the foreknowledge of God, that He is, and has the knowledge and understanding of all things, he moves on to say that He is everywhere.

He indeed says toward the one being theologized about: 'If your spirit has filled the inhabited world, where shall I go from it? But since your face also observes and looks upon all things, where shall I flee from it? For ascending into heaven, with you present, I receive a vision; if I become in Hades, I see you present' (Psalm 139:7; LXX 138:7-12). And if in heaven and in Hades your presence is known, and in the intermediate places it is evident that you are there; 'Do I not fill the heaven and the earth?' says the Lord, as the prophet says (Jer 23:24). But also in the sea itself, he manifests himself to those seeking him, as the following word presents.

Therefore also, one of the theologians says to one of those listening: 'And he shall know by intellect what God is in the heaven above and on the earth below, and there is nothing besides Him.' But He presents Himself everywhere, not locally dwelling, but creatively and providentially entering into all things. For he says concerning the only-begotten Word that all things consist in him; and if all things have been established in him, nothing of those established in him is left out from him. And we learn also from the things set forth the theologized Trinity. For the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, has often been demonstrated to be a person, his only-begotten Son being an image of him.

The Illumination of the Night§236

236It is said to be the being of the invisible God, and also the exact imprint of his hypostasis. From this we learn that the Spirit of God is not a creature, but is joined to the God himself and to his person. For it has often been demonstrated that he is never with the creation, but always is joined to the Father and the Son. Only this is presented as a contrast: that it becomes my case to pass locally and ascend, while it is your case to be present and to be established there, in having made him and turning him, and also to descend into the sea similarly passing, by your presence of providence there.

Therefore, God is not in a place; for if he is everywhere, not passing from one place to another, nor being limited by each one, nor being circumscribed by all the places, it is evident that by a creative and providential presence he moves through all, upon all, through all, and exists in all, according to apostolic philosophy (Psalm 139:9-10; LXX 138:9-10). 'I searched,' he says, 'whether by using the wings of thought I might have become far beyond the sea and the ocean itself at the ends, whether I would be able to go from your spirit and flee from your face, and there also to have seen your active and providential hand, and that very right hand of yours surpassing, working; as this very thing, that to have dwelt with me, would be established for me in a predicted sequence at the ends of the sea, your hand guiding me and holding me with your right hand.' For even if the ocean is boundless, yet even the worlds with it are driven through by the commands of the Lord; for all things having been made toward him, whatever they ever are, are straightened for me by the commands of his own providence (Psalm 139:9-10).

Since, having been enlightened by the knowledge of the Lord, to have become in the morning at the beginning of the day, I meditated on glories with the intellectual wings through which every rational nature is lifted up to be far off and beyond the ocean, he also knew this very thing: not to be able to go from the spirit of God and the following, to seek another way, by which to go from the spirit and flee from the face of God who is, lest perhaps by darkness...

I will be able to speak this having happened. Therefore I say, 'Alas, darkness will tread upon me,' that is, it will cover me. For just as the floor that is being trodden upon is hidden, not being hidden underneath, if the darkness happens to tread much around me and upon me.

If indeed the glory is a luxury regarding the attainment of what is labored for, immediately even the night and the gloomy darkness is illumination, nothing of that darkness being darkened by God illuminating it just as also all other things. For among us, those using the distinction see the difference between night and day, and those seeing in the day, but in the night they neither see nor are seen; but with God, the night is illuminated as the day, seizing for himself those in darkness and night as those in light and day, since the night is illuminated as the day by God himself.

The righteous man applies all these things to himself, having intended to teach those having wrong opinion about God that it is not possible to flee from God. For are those thinking these things about God, to say even the God himself, 'Will someone not be hidden in secret places, and I will not find him?' (Jeremiah 23:24), for God is approaching all, and I am not God from a distance. Cain has become a father of this ill-reputation, having said to God, 'If you cast me out from the face of the earth today, and from your face I will be hidden' (Gen 4:14).

And another, through surpassing foolishness, sinning in a dim and gloomy place and night, says, 'Darkness covers me from every side, and the walls cover me; who sees me?' (Sirach 23:18); 'The Most High will not remember my sins' (Sirach 23:18), saying only once, 'Since in darkness and in the midst of the gloom I sin, with no one present, I elude everyone, and even the Most High would not know my sins.'

But stop, for if someone becomes further than the word concerning darkness, he will be able to behold mysteries, if the division of the things being said is such: 'Will I indeed be able to flee from God, having become evil and trivial, as to become under the darkness and to be trodden upon by it?' But having thought this, he immediately knew that even the night is illuminated in the day, that is, in the luxury of the rational animal; for illumination from virtue and knowledge is truly and appropriately a luxury for the rational animal.

Divine Knowledge and the Unworked Creation§237

237Lest I become a son of night and darkness, having striven to be a son of darkness through whom I act and think wickedly; rather, since the darkness is not darkened by it, God who illuminates all things says: The God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who shone in the hearts of men for the illumination of the knowledge of Christ, says night shall be as day, of the one passing from ignorance and wickedness saying, 'I am not a son of darkness and night but of light and day.'

For this reason night shall be as day, since its darkness is not so, nor its light. For since darkness is held by choice and not by nature (for no one is evil by creation), so also it holds virtue; and finding no place of flight, having turned to himself, he says: It is no wonder that, having become evil, I cannot be far from you, since I have even possessed my own kidneys, God who examines kidneys and heart; for if you are a knower of my hidden things, having possessed even my kidneys, in whatever part of the world I may be, you have knowledge of my presence; for if you even took hold of me from my mother's womb, having formed me in the belly and laying your hand upon me. Since, because of all the aforementioned things, you were fearfully wondered at (for with fear I have marveled at all things concerning you), I say, turning toward thanksgiving: I will confess to you what I fearfully wondered at (Psalm 139:14-15; LXX 138:14b,15).

God has possessed the kidneys of the one who has accomplished purity in temperance. He, therefore, being idle in celibacy, having inscribed his own kidneys to God, says: You have possessed my kidneys, Lord; with the achievement of knowing all his wonderful works of creation, providence, and paradox, he says: 'Wonderful are your works,' and my soul knows it intensely. The 'intensely' refers to the knowledge of the soul or to the wonders. And the. Text ends abruptly....

He says: 'You have done in secret so that no one knows the combination of this; nothing of it is hidden from you' (Psalm 139:15). For how can those who are your handiwork not be like the soul of the body? And it is said also to those discussing the nature and generation of animals that the transformation of blood into bone is invisible and incomprehensible, even though I say that others observing the generation of flesh and nerves see how they are.

And the scripture of Ecclesiastes establishes this, not saying 'as a bone in the belly of the pregnant' (Eccl 11:5), but 'you shall not know the works of God.' And my hypostasis was not hidden from you, having reached the lowest parts of the earth; for neither the soul having been created in water, nor even the body having been decomposed and dissolved into the earth, escapes your vision.

Through these things extended, having theologized with prophetic eyes, he says he has seen the Lord's visitation, that it has come from the virgin. For having been born from the virgin Mary, the birth is unworked, not composed from a studied combination of labor, but existing from the Holy Spirit. Some understand this as what was said in Daniel concerning the stone being cut out without hands (Dan 2:45).

This being made manifest unworked, subsequently salvation for all shall come to be, as if it were written of them in the book of God to become worthy. But since that also can be unworked—being of a nature to receive labor yet not having had it—it is possible to speak concerning all those who are about to exist, the Maker of God, and especially concerning the resurrection of the dead, of which the said thing is the anchor. Since my hypostasis is in the lowest parts of the earth, and not to always have such a thing, I say I have pre-conceived this with faith and hope, that the resurrection of the dead will be: 'Your unworked thing my eyes have seen, and upon your book all are written' (Ps 94:4).

The Nature of God's Enemies and the Deception of the Tongue§238

238They shall be written: all things happening to them in all things, and all darkness, and all grief, and pain, and the sighing happening from the feet, but in a bright day they shall shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their own Father. For it is said, 'They shall be made as the Day' (Ps 139:16), so that they are no longer in the darkness of their creation, being sown in corruption and in dishonor, but in light and in a day standing together, being raised in incorruption and glory.

But since they are not made such as the day, and since all things happening in all things are written in the book of God, God will be in them, and there is no one among them of the evil ones or worthy of being despised. Perhaps the multitude and the 'who' and the 'no one' will vanish; for because of a great perfection and for the sake of oneness and identity, having restored the number, there shall no longer exist a 'who' or a 'no one' among them, having understood all things into the unity of the Spirit. The 'who' and the 'no one' shall no longer be among them.

A scripture is brought forward: 'My unformed eyes saw you' (Ps 139:16). And let this itself be understood likewise: 'You understood my thoughts from afar,' instead of 'the unformed of my thoughts'; before anything is accomplished, your eyes, seeing all hidden things, are full. And the Gospels are full of such things. They are friends of God, having come to be from faith and virtue. For it is said concerning Abraham: 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God' (Gen 15:6); and concerning Moses it says: 'God spoke to him mouth to mouth, face to face, as if one were speaking to his own friend' (Exod 33:11). But even the greatest of the prophets has not become such a friend of God. And toward the apostles, indeed (they possess this friendship), Jesus says: 'I say to you, my friends' (Luke 12:4).

And these rulers, receiving authority from the King Christ over more than ten cities or more than five cities, are very strong as they co-reign with Christ. And it is said also by another meaning: their rule is strong because the reasons for it are friends of God. For those who are highly honored, friends of God, through a multitude of contemplations and good activities which they have, shall be multiplied beyond the immaterial, that is, beyond the sensible and the bodily. For since the companions of the material things regarding the immaterial are under this as the foundation of the house...

Their path, having fallen easily upon this, is established or fortified under this; which carries a symbol: the Egyptian, having been struck down by Moses after being seized by error, is necessarily taking a super-cosmic disposition, being worthy to be numbered by God despite the error (Psalm 139:21-22; LXX 138:21-22). Regarding the same, it is to accept and honor the friends of God and to hate those who hate him, and to count as enemies the impious and those who think foolishly concerning God. For how are those who turn the deceived away from the truth not enemies of God, since God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)? And perfect hatred exists against such people, not for the sake of another, but because one hates them as enemies of God. And just as someone has perfect love toward the good, not for the sake of another but desiring it for its own sake, so the one hating those diverse from God does so not for the sake of another but because they are enemies of God, raging against them according to the one saying the prophet, 'I have envied with zeal for the Lord Pantokrator, whom the sons of Israel have forsaken' (1 Kings 19:10).

An evil man is a treacherous and deceiving man; but an unjust man is one who has ascended above this in wickedness, as if through craftiness and mischief, hastening the rational nature from virtue into wickedness, attempting to transfer it by some craft. Desiring to be saved from both, the one declaring the things set before him prays to God, since they reckoned iniquity against him, hiding it in their own heart, so that through remaining hidden, what such people are, they might be able to ensnare him, standing hostilely and against him for the sake of the duration of his life. Therefore, if it is said, 'All the day they prepared wars,' having no time of peace and rest, instead of a sword they have sharpened the tongue of themselves upon the deceiver, and being able to wound, they utter a word imitating the serpent who corrupts in his craftiness. And under their own lips, that is, their speech, they have thoughts made to be cast into them by evil powers because of the harmful and venomous nature of what are called 'darts.' And it is possible also concerning the devil and the other invisible enemies to grasp these things.

The Power of Salvation and the Battle of the Mind§239

239For a man is often called an evil one and an enemy, the devil. But also one serving his purpose may be called an antichrist. Ps 139:5,6: The hand of a sinner, the sinful practice, prays to be guarded from by God acting as a watchman. And besides this, it is worthy that he also be rescued from men who intend to do wrong by their choice, since they have reasoned through deceptive words and thoughts to trip up the steps of those walking toward progress in greater things.

It is possible in these things to catch the sinner, the devil, and unjust men, or rather his evil angels, or those who work men toward iniquity of soul. For they possess a deceptive wisdom, which they do not bring forth openly but hide like a snare under their sophistical words. But also their complex ropes of wickedness, which are composed and entwined by their sophistical words, stretch out to catch the feet of those walking rightly, calculating through these ropes to trip the steps of those who unthinkingly follow a path that someone has worn down.

Obstacles and stumbling blocks are, if they are thoughts, being cast against those intending to walk well and according to virtue. But he who has known himself, that he is not self-sufficient to remain harmless before so many dangers, flees to God and requires power; therefore he also announces those surrounding him. Ps 139:7,8: He who is mastered by practice and thought will say practically to Him, 'My God, are you?' and it is worthy that he asks how his voice of petition might be heard, receiving it unto his own. For he truly says, 'O Lord of all, and You are my Lord, and I am your servant; therefore You are the power of my salvation.' For of the truly and attainable salvation of yours, man's power exists to have an impossible salvation if he has not become in you. And my salvation is the likeness according to the image and the likeness that has become yours, to partake of your holiness through which also salvation exists. And that very gospel is the power of God unto salvation, as it is written by the apostle regarding the one becoming in the gospel...

One possesses the power of salvation by living and acting according to the Gospel. The power of my salvation, O Lord, has overshadowed my head on a day of war, specifically my mental head. I am convinced, therefore, that nothing is difficult against the invisible enemies during the day, that is, during the temporal extension of this life. The testimony that the head is mental is found in 'The blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the righteous' (Proverbs 10:6) and 'The eyes of the wise are in his head' (Ecclesiastes 2:14).

The sinful devil takes those who perform sin, making them his instruments. It is not clear, however, if one is mastered by a certain shameful desire. For if someone is drawn from desire into practical sin, he immediately becomes the devil's instrument; but if, having looked at a woman with desire, one stops in thought to prevent the fulfillment of the desires, he will not become the intended sinner. Therefore, one prays to the Lord that from desire alone, without being drawn into the action of the desire, he may not be handed over to the sinner, nor proceed further being conquered by it, but rather always be prevented by the better thought from You. It is also said: since all good desire is present to me as a righteous man, let me not be such as to fall from such desire and be handed over to the sinner having acted sinfully.

‘Lest through many of my thoughts I may be able to sin, do not leave me, guarding me in the shelter of your wings and under your strong hand’ (Psalm 140:8), so that no one may seize or lift himself up arrogantly against me as one caught by him. A fighter and a slanderer is one who is accustomed to speaking with a wagging tongue. For no one of such a kind is able to be directed in a good disposition, always turning away from the fighter; for they are lovers of sinning through rejoicing in battles, insults, and slanders. Therefore, it is not possible for such a person to be directed by virtue. And he who is always trivial in everything is called unrighteous. Perhaps he speaks of the hand that operates the corruption in those who frequently perform many evil deeds.

The Sacrifice of Praise and the Discipline of Silence§240

240Punishment is corruption, appearing from the corruption. 'With your corruption, O Jerusalem, who will help?' (Hosea 13:9). And also the hand-operated disposition will be corrupted because of uncleanness; it will be corrupted by decay, as it is shown by 'Evil conversations corrupt good habits' (1 Corinthians 15:33).

He says 'judgment' is the examination of deeds and intentions, and 'justice' is the repayment according to merit. And even if the same subject is signified by both words in a parallel way, examine it yourself. The same must be said concerning the poor and the needy; for indeed, both names applied to the same thing must be taken according to different matters, such as being 'poor' if one has fallen greatly from wealth (for the rich have become poor and hungry), but 'needy' being one who has the necessary things for living through toil rather than through property.

The righteous confess either that they have not fallen into such things themselves, or that those who disregarded them and caused them much harm were subjected to such burdens by the judgment and justice of God. Regarding the confession of the righteous, the upright—others of the righteous—will dwell in the face of the Lord; those who confessed by the name, the righteous, confessed. Others of the righteous, the upright, if not entirely in hypostasis, but in thought only, being righteous in one who performs moral virtues, and upright in one who has possessed the contemplation of truth.

Perhaps one who sometimes performs praiseworthy things may be called righteous, but while the practical man of the righteous confesses by the name of God, the upright one has acquired a city and a house through contemplation, dwelling in the face of God. For the exact imprint of the hypostasis has been shown to be the face of God, Him dwelling in this face, concerning which it is said everywhere, 'If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation' (2 Cor 5:17).

And if the 'upright who will dwell with your face' is to be explained, not thus: 'that your face they will dwell in, the upright, not going out from the face of the Lord God like Cain (Gen 4:16), or fleeing from it according to those things said concerning him, "And Adam and his wife fled from the face of the Lord God" (Gen 3:8).' But not thus: 'You are found upright, saving the image and likeness of you, having become conformed...'

They dwell in the likeness of the image of your Son, so that your Son may be found in them, the fulfillment of what the Savior said concerning such things: 'I am that I am, and they shall be with me, to behold my glory.' And this is to be heard not locally but in a God-befitting manner.

Ps 140:2b This sacrifice is offered by one who, having hurried to complete it, reaches the evening, while the one sacrificing in the morning offers according to the law the sacrifices that present the sensible things. But at noon, after this, he who has learned what is said by the Lord, 'You desire sacrifice, not burnt offerings, but the knowledge of God' Ps 140:3. And above all, an evening sacrifice is to be heard, the offering of the hands previously mentioned.

Ps 140:3-4 If the lips of the prophet approach with crushing, and a smooth-tongued man will not be directed upon the earth. May I also not fall into these things, O Lord; a guard to my mouth and a door of restraint around my lips. For I have set all things upon myself, having obeyed the exhortation of the one saying, 'With your words make a weight and a balance' Prov 16:11. For it is not advantageous for all to speak, nor even to be silent; for to the one able to open the mouth with the word of God, silence is not fitting, but to the one who brings forth a word that is idle and to those condemning words, silence will be for good. But those who practice silence differ from the one saying, 'He who keeps silence is found wise,' and 'He is keeping silence, for he has no answer,' and 'He is keeping silence, knowing the time.' For the one possessing the knowledge of the time to speak and the time when it is not necessary to speak, would ask that a guard and a door be present to his mouth and his lips from God, so that he might not bring forth anything unseasonably; and let the one who is not called to answer the questions being put forward be requested to remain silent, so that, having been shown to be unbridled toward God, he might not answer rashly instead of others; for indeed, let the one found wise through silence seek confirmation from God by that silence through which he is found wise. And since men who work iniquity make excuses, defending themselves ostensibly on behalf of those on whose behalf they work wickedly, I, having entreated you much, O Lord, deserve to be heard, that I might also entreat on behalf of not coming into such a disposition, or of having a heart flowing into words of wickedness upon the...

Pretexts for Sin and the Victory of the Word§241

241Men make excuses for their sins alongside those who practice lawlessness. For if my heart were kept by your guarding, I would not be joined with the chosen ones among men who practice lawlessness. And these chosen ones are those who use pretexts upon which they act wickedly, being worse than those without pretexts who lawlessly act without covering. For these are not like those who sin while knowing, who seem to hold ignorance or weakness as a pretext, but like those who lawlessly act while knowing. If, through the things set forth, the one praying says, 'No cause, O Lord, should exist, as if through ignorance, or force, or weakness, that my heart should be turned toward words of wickedness through any pretext upon which one sins,' how might he not also avoid being joined with the chosen ones among men who practice lawlessness? (Psalm 141:4). In this, the ruling principle, as if the head of the soul, must be considered to signify the head.

Understand also this: what else are the chosen ones who practice lawlessness but those in good will, or false doctrines and evil dispositions, whom you would deem worthy of having your own prayer become a means to be exposed and cast out? (Psalm 141:5; LXX 140:5c–8a). For in these things his prayer becomes nothing other than a request to God for their overthrow and destruction. Therefore, regarding his worthiness, manage the matter. For the strong ones among the men practicing lawlessness, being the same as their chosen ones, were crushed, as the divine Scripture has often interpreted the Word of God approaching them as a rock. And a symbol of having conquered is to swallow up; for it is said, 'Death was crushed into victory,' and 'That the mortal might be swallowed up by life,' but also 'Aaron's rod swallowed up theirs'; it says the rods of the sophists and the vainglorious, by the victory of the scepter of divine truth.

the scepters of the phalanx

The Deception of the Enemy and the Flight from God§242

242It is said. If these things are accomplished well while praising God, he says, 'Lord, Lord, who is like you?'; but if they should sin and turn away through which sin works according to malice, casting away all harmony and unity, they are scattered not just anywhere, but in the place of the dead souls.

But this has not arisen from inattention alone, but it is also possible for the eyes of the soul to be lifted toward the Lord, who is able to gather together into himself the things scattered by the adversary, interpreted as 'bones to each one,' and as the Scripture says, 'to each one' giving back to its own harmony. And also, to speak in the plural regarding the dispersion (for 'our bones were scattered'), while the saving thing is spoken of in the singular; for it is not said, 'O Lord, Lord, our eyes are toward you,' but 'my eyes.' For when the spirit of unity is toward the Lord for those seeing toward him, but malice and the dispersion of the bones is a multitude, those experiencing these things say.

Compare this also to the first commandment of God toward Adam, which had the singular regarding the command and the plural regarding the prohibition: 'For the Lord God commanded Adam, saying, From every tree of the garden you may eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die' (Gen 2:16-17). And if in the Decalogue both the commands and prohibitions were expressed in the singular, the things spoken of are not invalidated; for these things will find their own proper interpretation in due time.

Toward you, O Lord, are my eyes, hoping in you; therefore do not let my soul fall, lest it fall down to the pit (Psalm 141:8; LXX 140:8). For even if the bones of each of us were scattered by the adversary, yet I do not hope that you will gather and restore them to their own concord and harmony; if it does not happen by your goodness, not only will my soul not be destroyed, but it will be saved, you guarding me from the snare in which he established it for me. And not from this alone, but also from the stumbling blocks of those working lawlessness, guard me. And perhaps one snare being set for me is the deception of the wicked according to pseudo-orthodoxy, and the other is the stumbling block of those working lawlessness.

And moral wickedness, for the one stumbling in uncertainty, sees many more acting lawlessly; the testimony of this is 'For when iniquity has increased, love will flee' (Matthew 24:12), and the proof is also that the trap set deceitfully, the pseudonymous one, is known from the fact that they 'strengthened themselves with a word of evil' and narrated how to hide traps.

If it is spoken concerning the devil, the explanation will be this: the enemy of our race holds a two-edged sword, woven from his various thoughts, all of which are terrible for the purpose of deceiving, which surrounds men and brings them into a fall through sin, so that they are immediately proven sinners, except for those alone who escape him. For we do not ignore his thoughts; indeed, he has caught many and is making them god-makers with nets, which he used as a snare and incense for the two-edged sword for the hunting of the deceived, as it is written in the prophet. But even if sinners fall into his two-edged sword, I, having withdrawn from all material things, am alone, so that when I pass through this timely life, I may escape the multitude of evils and be joined to the Lord, to be with Him in spirit.

No one recognizes the wise of material things and the foolish, since concerning the wise and wisdom they do not even have a concept, but only the wise recognize themselves and their neighbors. 'Since,' he says, 'no one recognizes me,' I have perceived into the right things which I previously looked upon, having had a perception of them, that since something more wise than I has come to be, my heart would come into the right side, perceiving nothing sensible but all things intelligible.

And since everyone who sins flees from God, as it is presented that one who is after transgression is said to 'flee from the face of God,' both Adam and his wife (Gen 3:8); but he who no longer sins but having been made upright speaks 'Flight has perished from me,' that is, wickedness has perished from me, in which those fleeing from God hide. Therefore also there is no one seeking my soul, having been revealed to God and having stood before Him. And 'searching out' indicates an intensification of the search: 'the one searching out'—the lost is sought and is being sought. The same thing is to have perished and to have fled. And he who has come to be in wickedness does not even repent.

Justification through Faith and the Nature of the Soul§243

243having joined my prayer

By the grace through the faith of Jesus Christ, having the righteousness that was revealed apart from law, being testified to by the law and the prophets. Perhaps, since the one believing in him is not judged, he receives from him perfect faith so that he might happen not to be judged. For judgment comes to those who loved the darkness more than the light or to those who do evil works. Surely, if God listens to someone in his own righteousness, he does not enter into judgment with him; for he happens to be his servant, doing all these things commanded to him (Ps 142:3b–4a).

To be brought low to the earth is to have the life of someone observing the things below and thinking the things upon the earth. Just as the life of those having their heart in heaven is tossed about and lifted up, so the one hoarding on the earth and having his mind about sensible things is brought low, having his life toward the earth.

He says, 'In the dark ages' (the rulers of this darkness rule there), 'as the fallen one, to be made like the dead of the age.' But those called sons of this age are not, except the one having stripped himself of these things, not a dead of the age, but having become as a dead of the age. Therefore also the spirit called the spirit of man, being with him, despaired for the sake of help. For since he has encountered the man helping him among those things, it is fitting that he despaired and was angry only upon knowing the things of the man.

This parched earth and the adjacent souls, parched places, the unclean spirit does not pass through, finding no rest or repose with them. But even if they happen to be parched by the drying up of foul waters, they do not pursue the Lord to find him on the straight path, who will also rain upon them as a preceding rain and as a dry rain. Therefore they shall be in waters, having springs in them of living water changing into eternal life.

And since the Holy Spirit does not remain where sin is, having said, 'The enemy pursued my soul' (Psalm 143:3; LXX 142:3), and the following, let him be careful not because of these things to abandon him then as a spirit present with him, as it is the same as the one proposed: 'Turn not your face away,' and the Holy Spirit.

Learning the Divine Will§244

The Nature of Man and the Revelation of the Father§245

The True Theology of Abraham§246

246Many waters are brought forth in vain, through which the impious and godless contend. For they wish to imitate through them the one who said, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink, and whoever drinks of the water I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up to eternal life' (John 4:14). And indeed, in these things Jesus gives as if it were one water; this is the Spirit which those believing in him are to receive.

The waters of the heterodox, through which they imitate the quenching given by the Lord, are many, because they are diverse and discordant and do not lead to a single end; for both the ends and the beginnings of their mindsets are different. 'Send therefore,' says the Psalmist, 'your poetic and protective hand, to bring me out and to rescue me from many waters and from the hand of strange sons' (Psalm 144:7; LXX 143:7). For the strange is commonly to be taken both in terms of sons and of waters. And it is possible to say that to be rescued from many waters means from the evil powers and from the devil, the king of all those in such waters; and to be rescued from the hand of strange sons means those working through men.

The ten-stringed psaltery is composed and joined by the energy of the ten commandments; for each of the ten commandments is a string musically composed in the whole instrument. 'And kings, he says, you shall perceive, and those who rule perceptibly the nations and the inhabited world' (Psalm 144:10; LXX 143:10). For if a king is not saved by much power, the kings being saved by God possess the kingdom. And also it is said of giving salvation to kings. Since they always have it from the one being saved, he did not cease to give salvation, but always has given, and will give, and gives. And the same applies concerning the one redeeming and not having redeemed and the one about to redeem.

Be useful to those destined for the turning away of the world (Psalm 144:12; LXX 143:12). For concerning the women of the church, Paul writes how they, praying with modesty and self-control, adorn themselves with the works of godliness, but not with the laying down of gold and pearls and elaborate hairstyles (1 Tim 2:9). Consider these things said and apply them to the heterodox. For their word is struck like swords.

Regarding the devouring and the stripping away of those who have not put on the armor of God. Those previously mentioned as speaking vanity, who are alien sons, use this evil sword. The divine thoughts may be their sons, having strength in youth but not in perfection, being like their daughters, whose words are beautified and trimmed with a smooth composition and the elegance of phrasing.

Therefore, they are a likeness of a temple but not a temple; for they do not have within themselves a divine mind like the words of the divine Scriptures; for a temple is where God is found in them who encounter them rightly. He exalts God, the one theologizing rightly and truly, uttering great and high things concerning God (Psalm 145:1; LXX 144:1). He says regarding the faith set forth of him who became a child of Abraham through works and faith, that the God of all causes is not his God, but he confesses toward him, 'I am your God.' But he, having become a man of God by serving his God, fleeing every evil kingdom, is ruled by this God himself, and so he will be able to say, 'You are my king and my God.' Having the soul say immortal, he says, 'I will bless your name for ever and unto the age of ages.' And he blesses the name of God and his king, the one doing to wear it and saying and thinking the things belonging to the divine calling upon him, beginning to bless from the present age unto the doing of it as of the age; for if now, knowing in part and participating partially in the good, he blesses the name of the benefactor, much more he will bless when he approaches the perfect good and the face-to-face knowledge of God.

And it shall be said also concerning those from the circumcision and from the Gentiles who have believed: 'Generation and generation shall praise your works' (Psalm 145:4; LXX 144:4), being rightly worthy of praise by his own word, just as he has seen the divine Creator with a divine gaze to be very beautiful. The holiness of God is not another of the Savior; for he himself is the sanctification who sanctifies those approaching God, to whom it is said, 'You shall be holy, as I am holy' (Lev 11:44). The glory of this holiness is majestic.

The Kingship of God and the Justice of His Son§247

247It is. Therefore, those who have been instructed in the holiness of God and also in his glory, they are transformed and they hymn him magnificently, not by bare speech, but before this by works and right disposition, thinking, acting, and speaking holily, gloriously, and magnificently.

The glory of the holiness of God is able to be: 'He will glorify' (that is, the Paraclete), what he will take from me and declare to you. Therefore, also those who hear him declaring, in giving the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge, they speak of this holiness. And toward this they will recount his wonders, not merely what the holiness is, but penetrating the mystical word of his wonders, which occur at various times and are occurring, with precision and keen contemplation.

It is fearful to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31), and 'Shout to God with a voice of joy' (Psalm 145:6; LXX 144:6), what the Lord is most high and awesome; they will say this in practice and through right understanding (for through this fear of God and exceeding reverence, they will say to him the power of his awesome things). And if they have been benefited, they will fear his greatness with virtue and sinlessness, and they will not say 'the power of your awesome things' but they will recount it after having known what is without experience and without limit; for they do not recount it as having described and limited it to the intellect, but as surpassing every human apprehension.

For only the Son knows who the Father is, and the Father who the Son is; but even if the Son reveals the Father as he wills, not as it is possible for humans to see according to analogy, anyone who has it before preparation will make him manifest. Since a perceptible trembling becomes a fullness (for having been filled with food, he sends out spirits bringing breath, according to the quality of the things eaten), it follows that one must say that he who has eaten the words concerning the goodness of God, having been filled from these spiritual foods, intensely stirs up the memory of the goodness of God, of the goodness capable of being good. But since it is advantageous toward knowing God for the good, also his justice...

And the mind judges them, so that the memory of your goodness shall be searched out, and they shall rejoice in your justice. The justice of God can be the only-begotten offspring of Him, upon which those having obtained the Wisdom born to us from God—justice and sanctification and redemption—rejoice.

For what was sent to proclaim to the captives the goodness of God has become redemption for those being set free from captivity, who, remembering the goodness of God that happened to them, search out its memory; but also having perceived how they were justified, it having become for them the work of the one redeeming and of the justice from God, they rejoice in this justice of God. And those who are to receive both all practical virtue and the justice having come through the faith of Jesus into all those believing are made manifest in the present word. Ps 144:13 All those whom God has made through his word and his wisdom, God holds and reigns; therefore God is almighty.

Since, therefore, even the ages, being part of all things, have come to be through God by means of the Savior according to the Scripture saying, 'Through whom also he made the ages, and over all of them he reigns,' and since the thing theologized by Paul agrees with these things: 'To the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God' 1 Tim 1:17. For to reign over all the ages and to be the King of the ages is the same thing.

Consider if it is said of the Son, 'Your kingdom is the kingdom of all the ages,' reigning over Jacob, that his kingdom has no end; for reigning over all those having come through him, he holds and reigns for the ages. Therefore, just as the others who belong to the Father, so also the Almighty shares in the approachability. If not the Father is the King of the ages and the Son's kingdom is the kingdom of all the ages, it is fitting that his kingdom is also without beginning and without end, both before the ages and while reigning with them; for 'the Lord reigns for an age and for ever and ever' Ps 10:16, and 'our God is King before an age,' that is, before every age. Accordingly, his lordship also extends to the kingship...

True Calling and the Divine Will§248

248He rules over all generations, being Lord of those within time and generation, but reigning over those who have ascended beyond the temporal by looking at the unseen and eternal things. 'But God is faithful in all his words' (Psalm 145:13; LXX 144:13a). It is said not that they offer something from faith or by faith, but that it is fitting for the one who believes.

Indeed, everything he says becomes according to what is written: 'He said, and he will not do or speak, and he will not remain' [The text is damaged here.]. For it is said, 'Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away' (Matt 24:35). Regarding being faithful in his words and holy in all his works, imparting to them the holiness from himself: just as one is holy among those participating in his holiness, and the Savior is wise among the wise according to him, so the Lord is holy in all his works becoming holy through communion with him.

Perhaps those who are in desires and bad thoughts without practice fall; but those who sin actively are shattered. However, he helps both sides, supporting some and restoring others. How does he support? By commanding each one, 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife' (Ex 20:17), and the following, and 'Do not let beauty's desire overcome you' (Proverbs 6:25) by advising through a wise man. Those falling are those sinning in morals while being encompassed by Christianity, but those shattered are those turning away from it; those falling are those sinning in practice, but those shattered are those who embrace impious heresies of the ungodly.

In all his ways he causes to walk, providing and governing, judging, benefiting, granting, punishing; righteous he is found (Psalm 145:17; LXX 144:17a); 'for God is faithful, and there is no injustice' (Ps 144:17). If someone says his ways are the virtues (for those traveling practically and intellectually bring them to him), and in these he appears righteous. No one living earnestly and according to virtue blames providence, but if someone has stood foolishly outside his ways: 'A man's folly ruins his paths' (Proverbs 19:3), yet he blames God in his heart. Regarding the saying of 'ways' and those given from him in...

If one dares, the righteous man will be known, having matched them in power to those who have received grace. But he who says that nature is an unproven virtue in men, or that fate is forcing them into sin, does not rightly say that God is in the ways He has legislated (Psalm 145:17).

It is said that He is near to those who call upon His name. Therefore, those making progress pass on to calling upon Him in truth; for calling upon the name of the Lord is more introductory for those who are perfecting themselves in calling Him. For Moses says, and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those calling His name, they called upon the Lord, and He himself heard them—those doing this sincerely and not by chance.

It is possible to say that those living according to the letter of the law call upon the name of the Lord, whereas those following the novelty of the Spirit call upon Him in truth, appropriately worshiping Him in spirit and truth. Each of those having a pious disposition, having denied human will, wishes to have the will of God, saying, 'Teach me to do your will, O my God, for You are God' (Psalm 143:10). Therefore, he who does the will of those fearing Him transforms his own will into action, he who wishes to have God as his will, revering Him.

And there is no difference, in the plural or the singular, between 'wills' and 'the will'; for His wills are the virtues according to each kind, but His will in general is the universal and common virtue. He who wishes to be guarded by Him, so that by no means the evil one may deceive him, let him love God with all his heart and soul and strength. To those thus guarded by Him because they love Him, the things promised without falsehood are made favorable, concerning which it has been said, 'An eye has not seen and an ear has not heard, nor has there risen upon the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him' (Ps 144,19a).

He says 'mouth,' not the sensible but the intelligible, as also in another psalm toward God: 'I will open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praises.' Yet, when His praises are being spoken, all flesh having heard Him shall bless His holy name.

The God of Jacob as Helper and the Truth of His Promises§249

249That which is called upon her, the disciples of Jesus do not understand, praying to others saying, 'Hallowed be thy name.' And all that flesh blesses his holy name; concerning this it is said, 'Hear my prayer; unto thee all flesh shall come' (Psalm 65:2). And all flesh shall see his salvation. These things are not said concerning sensible flesh, but concerning the existing analogy to the fleshy hearts, concerning which God says, 'I will take away from them the stony hearts and I will put in them fleshy hearts,' in which the spiritual law has been inscribed, Paul saying about this, as it is not written on stone tablets but on fleshy heart tablets (2 Cor 3:3).

The hymn is not being sent up to God by those happening to be celebrating, but by the one who celebrates God through doing the necessary things and remembering him with proper and pious speech. For 'Angaios' is a feast, and 'the memory of God' are the interpretations of Zechariah. Everyone who does not work the practical virtues unceasingly, not even one but many feasts, is named Angaios in the Hebrew tongue; but also everyone who has suffered well through all things and has been benefited by the goodness of God, remembering him, is called Zechariah according to the Hebrew voice, interpreted as the memory, that is, of God.

Praise, O my soul, the Lord. But when will this happen and how will you always do it? How does the release from sins approach through virtue and the rectitude of the knowledge of truth? For praise is due to the upright, not to the beautiful word in the mouth of a sinner. I will praise the Lord in my life; for as long as I live (and I live always the eternal life), I will praise. It is shown through the things set forth that no one possessing death, every soul sinning, is able to praise the Lord. I will sing to God my God, as long as I exist. And it is often interpreted that to sing according to virtue means to act. Therefore, a harmonious practice is promised to the Praise. And the 'as long as I exist' means to submit the mind...

Such a thing is not possible: for as I possess a share in the one who says, 'I am the Being,' I sing with the one who has the desire for me, for no one can sing being separated from the existing God and not becoming a being.

It is also not possible to divide trust thus: 'Do not trust in rulers who are of this age, nor in other evil powers (for they are falling and do not have the beginning), nor even in the sons of men; for salvation is not for them, they do not become salvation for mortals; for they are not able to provide it, nor do they have salvation from where they are, but they receive it from God' Ps 145:3.' For the Savior alone is the cause of eternal salvation, saying, 'Salvation is not from me.'

But he is blessed not simply as God is a helper, but as 'God of Jacob is a helper' Ps 145:5-7b, being helped by the God who shakes the rulers and the authorities and the cosmic rulers of this darkness. For he who has the struggle against these, having shaken them regarding what has happened to them, is helped by the God of Jacob, the son of Jacob who is so called according to practice in his doing his works. Thus being helped, he has hope in the Lord God who in the beginning trusted the heaven and the earth, the sea and all things in them. For he did not only those things, but also all things in them he himself made. And if his works endure, much more he himself is enduring and powerful.

Therefore, take courage, for the truth of both his words and the promises in the holy letters is confirmed, and he preserves his own promises for the whole age, so that his word and promises do not fail, as he promised to his own people. And what is the truth of the word? It is the coming judgment and the vengeance for those being wronged in the present life. For do not think, he says, that the pious are overlooked, nor that the blood of God-beloved men goes unavenged. For he is truthful who, having promised to perform their vengeance.

The Inclusion of Gentiles and the Protection of New Believers§250

250And they hunger and thirst for the things of this life, and He gives eternal food to those who are suffering, according to the Beatitudes: 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall themselves be filled' (Matt 5:6), and according to the prophetic word saying, 'Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall hunger' (Isaiah 65:13).

If one wishes to perceive these things sensorially: He gave manna to those hungering in the wilderness, and nourished five thousand hungry men; and He gave also to Elijah and Daniel, the one through ravens, the other through the prophet Ambakum. And He made judgment for those being wronged: Joseph by the Egyptians, Susanna by the judges of Israel, and David being wronged by Saul and others more; the Scripture is rich with these examples. (Dan 13)

Those being broken are the same as those who are humbled, differing only in thought; for they are hindered from acting and from running toward the truth, laid low by wickedness, they fall from the height of virtue and happen to be broken. It must be said that those laid low and broken are those sinning in practice, being blind ones who cast away the seeing of the intellect, so that they do not see the beauties of the dogmas of the truth.

Just as he released the laid low and straightened the broken, desiring the forgiveness of sins, so he enlightened the blind, having opened the eyes of their hearts, he himself about whom Paul writes: 'The God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in your hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God' (2 Cor 4:6).

Since the word spoken refers to the memory of the righteous among the converts: those loved by the Lord are called righteous, those having been pleasing to him according to the Old Scripture; but converts are those called from the Gentiles upon the teaching of the Gospel. And what the intellect questions, it is to be heard from the Savior saying, 'Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and to hear what you hear' (Luke 10:24). Among these righteous ones is Abraham, concerning whom it is written: 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness' (Gen 15:6). And concerning the Gentiles as being converts, it is to be heard from Paul saying, 'Therefore remember...'

You used to be of the Gentiles, and once you were separated from the commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:12). But now, you who once became distant, have become near in the eye of our Lord Jesus Christ; for He is our peace. Furthermore, you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph 2:19), having been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph 2:20).

Concerning these proselytes, Moses said to Israel, saying, 'If you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, the proselyte who is among you will be above you, but you will be below' (Deuteronomy 28:43), through the changing of circumstances. Indeed, before the coming of the Savior, those of the Gentiles who hurried to worship God approached Israel being instructed and obeying them; but now, those who wish to approach the faith of Christ from the Israelites are setting aside the evangelical commonwealth, approaching as sacrifices among those of the Gentiles who have believed.

In addition to this, take care lest the proselytes who are coming now through godliness—though those who have passed through and been perfected in it are called righteous—should be lost; for God loves the righteous, but He guards the proselytes. For those who have arrived immediately by the word of truth, lest they may not be strong and firm, need the guarding of the Lord so that they may remain unhurt, whereas the righteous are made members of Him and loved by Him through perfection.

He will take up the orphan and the widow (Psalm 146:9)—not any widows, but those continuing in purity and reverence. Such is Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, whom the Gospel remembers (Luke 2:36). The Lord will take up such a widow through incorruptible prudence, along with her well-endured orphanhood, lifting them up and raising them by virtue, so that He may also lead them into the heavenly blessings.

It is possible to say of orphans being taken up that they are the godly who leave behind parents; such as Abraham, going out from the land and kindred and the house of his father at God's calling of him (Gen 12:1); and also James and John, having left Zebedee their father through the invitation of Jesus (Mark 1:19). Following these things also...

Allegorical Interpretation of Psalm 146/147§251

251You say that widows are taken up, those having been separated from men in perfect prudence, by the mutual consent of both, the man and the woman, for the same purpose as those who dissolved the marriage. But more allegorically, the souls that cast off the one who became their father, the devil, are orphans and widows being taken. Once these are taken, the way of the sinners, which is nothing other than wickedness, shall be destroyed by God (Psalm 146:9).

Zion, the watchful and examining one of the truth, is the perfect soul, the church of the living God; your God shall reign forever (Psalm 146:10), the end of the kingdom shall not be delayed, his rule extending from generation to generation. It is said in this psalm before this, concerning his unending kingdom extending through all ages and how he rules from generation to generation. Therefore, being satisfied with those, as they apply them also to the present words, we shall say nothing more.

Since the psalm is good and beneficial to the user, praising its honor, announce to him that in praising this psalm, there is no difference from that one, especially since the one who sings with spirit and mind and with the heart is not different. If, however, to sing signifies to act in practice, it is advised to those who have perfected this good psalm to also praise Christ through theology, so that, having been perfected in practice and thought, they may rejoice in God; for he says, 'A sacrifice of praise shall glorify me' (Psalm 50:23), and the Spirit commands to bring it forward, as those who say, 'Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.'

He also takes up the meek (Ps 147:6), lifting them up to where they inherit the land. But that land they inherit is high above. Therefore it has also been written, 'He will bring you up upon the good things of the earth,' and 'He will lift you up to inherit the land.' He takes up the meek, but he humbles the sinners as those who carry the image of the earth, thinking of low things and those upon the earth. Just as Paul, the meek one, was taken up to the third heaven (2 Cor 12:2) and to be a participant in unutterable things as if in paradise. And all those who call upon their names upon their lands, being in the flesh and not having the Spirit of God, having departed from God upon the earth, are written down.

For thanksgiving, awakening those who have received so many good things. 'Begin,' he says, 'in confession, hymning and glorifying him for those things on which he worked' (Psalm 147:7-8). And allegorically, his divine word surrounds the heaven with noetic clouds pouring down a noetic rain: for the heaven above rejoiced, and the clouds (surrounding him) rained down righteousness. From these noetic clouds he prepares rain for the earth, which Jesus spiritually sowed to bring forth fruit divided into one hundred and sixty and thirty, bringing up grass in the deserts for the great-souled and providing for the soul a fresh green clover to be found upon the slavery of men to be fed as food.

But the slavery of men is the irrational animals. This is said concerning the things destined, as we saw in the hundred and third Psalm; let us see them further. He brings up and gives food to the simpler sheep and cattle of those having believed in Christ, which are being saved apart from men. But he gives food not only to these, but also to the high-flying ones, for he commanded the young ravens to call upon him. God gives food to these, since they call upon him, according to the perfect men, concerning whom it is said, 'They called upon the Lord, and he heard them' (Psalm 99:6). And you will understand the young ravens to be those from the nations who have believed and because of this call upon the Lord, so that he may give them spiritual food. For the raven is unclean and gloomy. Such are the evil demons and those who have added to impiety, of whom they were formerly sons, but having believed they obtained the heavenly food.

The gates of Jerusalem are the introductory teachings, with the destructive words lying upon them, or the representing ranks of Jerusalem, having the capacity to silence those who contradict (Psalm 147:13). 'For he has blessed your sons in you,' those who will act and will possess the capacity of thought; for because they become such sons of her, being blessed in her, they never cease to act, having learned to turn to the house of the Lord all the days of their lives. And the word interpreting it as the one who blessed the...

The Snow and Mist of Divine Word§252

252He brings her children within her, he who sets your borders in peace, with all war having fled from her borders, against the wars that crush, the Lord setting the borders of the city in peace. By saying peace, he imparts to her spiritual food.

And if you wish to say that the educational words of God are fire (not that they are something by which one is filled?), you do not err. For it is said in the prophet, in the face of God toward the false prophets, 'What is chaff with grain?' Thus are my words, says the Lord; the words of himself are indeed grain, but theirs are chaff through the word. Just as the wisdom from God is not earthly, nor psychic, nor demonic, but descending from above Him, so also His word, not being from the earth, is sent into the earth, becoming for each of those able to serve Him the same thing as the word given by the Lord to those preaching the gospel with much power. If this thing given, being distributed, runs swiftly to more souls, the word of God, being fulfilled, 'Their voice has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the inhabited world' (Psalm 19:4). Truly his taking up has happened, and immediately the evangelical word passed through all the earth, to everyone under the heaven.

Regarding the things said before, it appears to us that these things have been set forth in a parabolic manner, by placing the works of the cosmic creation alongside the economy concerning the church by way of likeness. For just as snow is a layer covering a place, and after this a thaw occurs and water pours out, so the divine word, having dwelt among the Jews first, after this pours out upon all. Therefore also the mission of the word and the blowing of the Spirit are well indicated through the cosmic works: that just as the word comes into the world and the Spirit breathes, the word of the holy and saving teaching went out from Jerusalem to all the inhabited world. If one is to take this also up in allegory, since it stands forth spiritually regarding His running word: for indeed, 'You will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow' (Ps 51:7), one should not think in terms of sensible snow...

How can the soul be made whiter than snow, which is beyond sensation, if it is not a participant in the brightness of the rational nature through the whiteness of the snow? To this thought the saying, 'If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow' (Isaiah 1:18), contributes; for one cannot conceive of sins being whitened like physical snow.

Perhaps the most beautiful word cast upon the earth by the Lord is like wool, a garment to be fashioned for the soul, this wool being produced by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Similarly, you will perceive those cast down like crystal flakes and the mist passing like ash. Farmers need snow and mist; for these, when they come upon the offspring, increase them. Just as even upon the good earth of the soul, if the seed has fallen, it is necessary that rain and dew fall, so too snow and mist must come upon our offspring, so that we may bear fruit being nourished by all these.

You will perceive the snow, the crystal, and the mist as temptations brought upon the saints for testing. For they are not being chilled in the love within them by opposing powers, just as 'as a pit cools, so does its wickedness cool' allusion. In the face of this cold, who will endure, if not he who, like Peter, Paul, Job, and James the speaker who said 'I became' (Genesis 31:40), is joined with the heat of the day and the frost of the night?

Toward these things you will also take the things said by Moses: 'Let my speech drop as the rain, and my words descend as the dew, as the gentle rain upon the tender grass, and as the snow upon the herb' (Deuteronomy 32:2). For by the word, the sayings of Moses are made like these; by this word, the word sent to the land of God is logically divided into all things spoken. And what is this cold that no one can endure from its presence, to be seen as worthy? Perhaps his word, being fiery, is compared to fire, warming and making to boil those who have been chilled by wickedness, whose love was cooled by the abundance of lawlessness; again, against the souls being burned by the flame of pleasures and passions, the cold of God is called, not according to...

The Abyss, Dragons, and the Creative Word§253

253No one will be able to withstand those who are burned by passions, since their hearts have been kindled like a furnace, like the light of fire, since all are committing adultery and are being burned by lawless desires. To these things, the coming of pain from the storehouses and cold from the heights, as carried in Job, is appropriate.

The provident Word of God, being sent, will melt the snow and those counted with it, but also when He breathes, His spirit will flow (for He says the south wind), turning into these things the ones forenamed of the snow and those near it (Psalm 147:18). And it is necessary even spiritually to hear these things: the clarifying Word of God, having been sent with concealment, will melt the mist, the crystal, and the snow, making them like a drink upon the watering place, but by His spirit, the spirit of this God breathing; but also the Word of God, being sent into the heart of those receiving Him, will melt the trials and make them invisible, those who, warming by the spirit, will courageously undergo such trials, will dissolve them.

To the one who has trampled and supplanted the rulers and the authorities and the cosmic rulers of this darkness, mystically called Jacob, He sends His word, which is salvific and creative, in order to make all the true doctrines of piety clear to him (Psalm 147:19-20). And after the victory having been achieved through insight and Israel having been shown to see by intellect God, His requirements and His judgments, He sent the Word to work all things determined and just. And upon these things, the greatness of the God's gift existing to the mortal, manifesting, He says: He did not do thus to every mortal, but only to Israel He performed the foretold things before the arrival of the Savior; however, the coming of Christ, the High Priest of truly good things, all mortals are filled with the divine Word (Psalm 147:20). But—

Someone might say regarding this, as the very words show, that calling the multitude of the waters an abyss (for the Lord walked upon it) is as if there were another beginning: 'The gates of death open to you in fear,' and the following. If he says that the dragons were also named appropriately with the abysses, being more terrible than the creeping things upon the earth; and in another psalm, being called waters, it was said that dragons were in them, not other than the abyss named here. For it is also written in the seventy-third Psalm: 'You crushed the heads of the dragons upon the water,' and 'You crushed the head of the dragon.

It must be understood that evil powers are signified by these, as the Word of God crushed them, and through time has descended even unto the abysses. But observe, he says, how very strongly the Word does not command the dragons in the abysses to praise, but simply mentions them; for they are not worthy to praise God. They are called by necessity to obey the hymn being lifted up by all creation to the Lord, King, and God: fire, hail, snow, ice, wind of a storm, which do His Word (Ps 148:8).

All these things, existing around the air, were necessarily mentioned as parts of the whole cosmos and as subsisting through the Divine Word and serving Him. For apart from the creative Word, the whole cosmos would be moving aimlessly and without presiding over its days; neither snow, nor fire, nor ice, nor storm, nor wind would ever subsist, nor would they ever act apart from His will. Thus, these things doing His Word should not be heard as acting independently.

It is also possible to say of kings and rulers and judges, those living loftily and approaching things critically and investigatively, and the lower peoples who have believed.

The Two-Edged Sword of the Saints§254

254The only-begotten Word of God is the horn of the people, to whom the holy ones, when they call out, say: 'We gore our enemies with you.' Therefore also the Word was named one-horned, according to the glory of being one-horned. Concerning this it is said: 'There I will cause a horn to rise up for David, I have prepared a lamp for my Christ' (Psalm 132:17; LXX 131:17); for he demonstrated that the Christ, who is to be born according to the flesh from the seed of David, is a horn, and he ordains it not as the sun and light to rise again. This, therefore, the horn says, will lift up his people, so that having been lifted up, it may become manifest to all the nations.

But it is for the holy alone to sing, not for the sinners, since: 'Not a beautiful song in the mouth of a sinner' (Sirach 15:9); for praise is due to the upright. And who are the holy whose song it is, or the discerning sons of Israel who have God in their mind, or those who are called the people approaching God? Those having an enlightened mind and a pure soul approach God by relationship and disposition, being near the exhortation of the one who said: 'Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you' (James 4:8). And it is not by chance that this is so; for it is said concerning the hierophant Moses, what alone approaches God.

Only those having clothed themselves with the new man are able to attain the newness of mind and to do the things of the new covenant, serving by the newness of spirit and not by the oldness of the letter. These same also fulfill the assembly of the holy, accomplishing the faithful and holy things of David and having the most holy righteousness toward God; therefore also the praise does not attain the newness in the assembly of these.

The holy ones, having accomplished this, will rejoice in the glory that is to come and is eternal, even as they are called by that name from it (Psalm 149:5). For we reckon, as the apostle says, that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy of the glory that is about to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18). And it is possible to hear of the glory in which the holy ones boast, concerning which it is said: 'The glory of the Lord shall be seen' (Isa 60:1), and 'The glory of your God has risen upon you' (Isa 60:1), not any other than the radiance of the glory of...

Of God. Therefore it is also written, 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.' Sleeping together with this glory and wisdom, the holy ones shall boast; for it is said, 'Whenever you sleep, let wisdom be with you'; appropriately to these things you say, 'Honor her, so that she may embrace you.' He who sleeps together with this is without fear and without care, and rejoices at his bed. Therefore all the souls of his holy ones, his brides, being joined together with God the Word, as a bride to the bridegroom of every rational nature, rejoice at their beds (Psalm 149:5).

The elevations of God, demonstrated through them and through theology, in the noetic throat of the holy ones, happen to be lifting up His name to the same degree. For praising with much truth, they glorify and highly exalt Him, having in their hands two-edged swords, although they are not killing according to men, but are ready to avenge every disobedience, since the weapons of their warfare are not fleshly but are powerful through God, by which they cleanse every seductive fortification through the utterance of high words being raised against the knowledge of God.

And it is also possible to call the two-edged swords in their hands 'two-mouthed'; for the holy ones do not possess each word as two-mouthed, but according to the living and active Word of God, they are more two-mouthed than any sword. Therefore also those using the words of truth do not only cut away the false and the superfluous by loosening sophisms, but they also wound the hearers into the questions of the truth. It is possible to call both types of two-edged swords in the hands of the holy ones found in these practices. And it is possible to call even an exhortatory word a two-edged sword, doing both: rebuking the one who receives it unto repentance, and avenging and punishing the disobedient unto the end.

He does not say that the holy ones make vengeance that leads to destruction upon the Gentiles, but rather the vengeance that happens well upon them, just as the Gentiles and idolaters happen to be, so that, having cast off the life of the nations, they might become fellow-citizens of the saints and become members of God. Therefore

The Power of the Word and the Trumpet of Resurrection§255

The Breath of Life and the True Voice§256

256Likewise, the minds of God are carried forth by the same instrument. Praise him with psaltery and lyre. What is the psaltery and the lyre, and what difference is said to be held between them in what was said before? God is to be praised, singing in spirit and mind; for this is the psaltery; for the spirit and the mind are held together from above by God through the loftiness of dogmas. And he is to be praised also with lyre; through every power of the soul and sensation, with strings stretched, they are struck in order. For the soul was given as a lyre in those things previously read. If, however, through every activity of each member, it is struck as an alien lyre, no one would err in praising God through every action of the body.

Those carrying about the death of Jesus in the body, through which the flesh was killed, praise him with a timbrel (Ps 150:4). It has been interpreted before that the timbrel is that which was destined to be the one among the young women, the timbrel-players. For this is the body, which the soul will take up at the resurrection; it is a young woman playing the timbrel in announcing the minds of God in the standing of the heavenly ones with the myriads of the celebrating angels, as this is made manifest through the approaching word sounding, 'Praise him with timbrel, and also with dance'; for the soul dances with the powers and with all the higher creation after the resurrection, instead of a corrupt and weak and dishonorable and psychic body, having taken up an incorruptible, powerful, glorious, spiritual body. And the praising with strings and instrument is able to be the same as the praising with psaltery and lyre; for perhaps the lyre is strings, and the psaltery is the instrument.

I think it is made manifest through the praising him with loud cymbals (Ps 150:5) that it is necessary also to commemorate the Lord with voice according to utterance through theology. And there appears to me to understand this from the word of the apostle writing thus: 'I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal' (1 Cor 13:1); for if he says, 'If I speak not with mind but with tongue,' not interpreting the things said by the tongue for the understanding of the listener...

Having only a voice without possessing thought, so that the one speaking seems to be a barbarian, having sense of voice and sound only, he becomes to himself a bronze clanging or a resounding cymbal, striking and only making a noise in his hearing. Let us therefore glorify God, and imitating the perfect and righteous men in speech. For it is said concerning each of these: the discourse of a pious man is wisdom throughout; likewise, the mouth of the righteous shall meditate on wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment, the law of God being in his heart; that is to say, he praises God also with mind and tongue and mouth.

But the cymbal sounds well if it has a careful and well-modulated voice clearly signifying things. But he says the same cymbal is driven forth with a loud noise according to the falling and becoming under the feet of the enemies. When God becomes all in all, the foretold word shall be fulfilled. For assisting our weakness, He imparts to us the notion of divine breath, just as it has been written concerning the first man: He breathed into his face the breath of life, and he became a living soul (Gen 2:7). For life and the fountain of life is the one who said, 'I am the life' (John 14:6), and concerning life it has been said to the Father, 'From you is the fountain of life' (Psalm 36:9).

This breath of life, which makes blessed and sanctifies, coming into the man, shall prepare his soul to live, or to say thankfully, 'My soul lives in him.' This gift alone all shall enjoy who has received the word of Jesus and has believed in the one who sent him to the Father. For the Savior says, 'The one hearing my words and believing in the one who sent me has eternal life' (John 5:24). God offers this breath to those who have ascended far above the sensible things and tread upon them, called His people, just as the prophet says concerning him: 'Thus says the Lord God who made the heavens and established the earth, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who tread upon it' (Isaiah 42:5); it is evident what is the earth. And it is said also toward something ancient: 'And the breath of the Almighty is the one teaching me' (Job 32:8).