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to them: What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? They say to him, "Of David." He says to them: How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying: 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand'? Do you see how David lives? For if he were not living, he would not have called him as a witness to his divinity. And he did not say, "How then did David in the Spirit call him Lord?" but, "calls him Lord"? to show that he is still present, and speaks through the scriptures. David once played the psalms, and we today with David. He had a lyre of lifeless strings; the Church has a lyre strung with living strings. Our tongues are the strings of the lyre, producing a varied sound, but a harmonious piety. For women and men, and old and young are divided by age, but are not divided in the matter of hymnody; for the Spirit, blending the voice of each, works one melody in all; as David himself also declared, calling every age and both sexes to this harmony and saying: Let every breath praise the Lord. Praise, my soul, 55.522 the Lord.

Why did he leave aside the flesh? Why does he say nothing to the body? Has he torn the living being in two? By no means; but he first rouses the craftsman. But that he did not separate the flesh from the soul, hear how he says elsewhere: O God, my God, to you I rise early; My soul has thirsted for you, how many ways my flesh for you, in a land. "But in hymns show me the flesh also being called," he says. Bless, my soul, the Lord, and all that is within me, his holy name. Do you see the flesh also sharing in the harmony? What is, "And all that is within me, his holy name"? The sinews, he says, the bones, the veins, the arteries, and all the inner parts.

3. And how can the things within us bless God? It has no voice,

it has no mouth, it has no tongue. For the soul can; but how can the things within, having neither voice, nor tongue, nor mouth, bless God? Just as "The heavens declare the glory of God." For just as the heavens have no tongue, no mouth, no lips, but by the beauty of their appearance, astonishing the beholders, they lead them through wonder to the praise of the one who made them; so also with the things within us, if you go over them all with your reason, if you see the difference of quality, of operation, of power, of harmony, of structure, of position, of number, of arrangement, you will utter that prophetic word: "How magnificent are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all." Do you see how the inward parts bless God without voice and mouth and tongue? For what reason then does he speak to the soul? So that while the tongue is speaking, it might not wander, a thing we often suffer both in prayers and in hymnodies; so that the harmony may be from both. For when you are praying, if you do not listen to the words of God, how will God listen to your petition? Therefore when he says, "Praise, my soul, the Lord," he means this, let the supplications be offered up from within, from the depth of the heart. For Paul also says: "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also."

The soul is an excellent musician, it is a craftsman; the body is an instrument, taking the place of a kithara and a flute and a lyre. Other musicians, therefore, are not always with all their instruments, but sometimes they take them up, and sometimes they put them down; for their time for melody is not continuous; therefore they do not handle their instruments continuously; but God, wishing to teach you that you ought to hymn and bless him always, has united the instrument to the craftsman continuously. For that one must praise always, listen to what the Apostle says:

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πρὸς αὐτούς· Τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ; τίνος ἐστὶν υἱός; Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Τοῦ ∆αυΐδ. Λέγει αὐτοῖς· Πῶς οὖν ∆αυῒδ ἐν Πνεύματι Κύριον αὐτὸν καλεῖ λέγων· Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου, Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου; Εἶδες πῶς ζῇ ὁ ∆αυΐδ; Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔζη, οὐκ ἂν ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν μάρτυρα τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Πῶς οὖν ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἐν Πνεύματι Κύριον αὐτὸν ἐκάλεσεν; ἀλλὰ, Κύριον αὐ τὸν καλεῖ; ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι πάρεστιν ἔτι, καὶ διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων φθέγγεται. Ἔψαλλέ ποτε ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἐν ψαλμοῖς, καὶ ἡμεῖς μετὰ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ σήμερον. Ἐκεῖνος κιθάραν εἶχεν ἀπὸ νευρῶν ἀψύχων· ἡ Ἐκκλησία κιθάραν ἔχει ἀπὸ νευρῶν ἐμψύχων ἐντεταμένην. Αἱ γλῶτται ἡμῶν νευραὶ τῆς κιθάρας εἰσὶ, διάφορον μὲν ἀφιεῖσαι τὸν φθόγγον, σύμφωνον δὲ τὴν εὐσέ βειαν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ γυναῖκες καὶ ἄνδρες, καὶ πρε σβῦται καὶ νέοι διῄρηνται μὲν κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν, οὐ διῄρηνται δὲ κατὰ τὸν τῆς ὑμνῳδίας λόγον· τὴν γὰρ ἑκάστου φωνὴν τὸ Πνεῦμα κεράσαν, μίαν ἐν ἅπασιν ἐργάζεται τὴν μελῳδίαν· καθὼς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδήλωσεν ὁ ∆αυῒδ, πᾶσαν μὲν ἡλικίαν, ἑκατέραν δὲ φύσιν πρὸς τὴν συμφωνίαν ταύτην καλῶν καὶ λέγων· Πᾶσα πνοὴ αἰνεσάτω τὸν Κύριον. Αἴνει, ἡ ψυχή μου, 55.522 τὸν Κύριον.

Τίνος ἕνεκεν τὴν σάρκα κατέλιπε; τίνος ἕνεκεν πρὸς τὸ σῶμα οὐδὲν διαλέγεται; ἆρα ἔσχισεν εἰς δύο τὸ ζῶον; Οὐδαμῶς· ἀλλὰ τὸν τεχνίτην πρῶ τον διεγείρει. Ὅτι δὲ οὐκ ἀπέσχισε τὴν σάρκα ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς, ἄκουσον ἀλλαχοῦ πῶς φησιν· Ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Θεός μου, πρὸς σὲ ὀρθρίζω· Ἐδίψησέ σε ἡ ψυχή μου, ποσαπλῶς σοι ἡ σάρξ μου, ἐν γῇ. Ἀλλ' ἐν ὕμνοις δεῖξόν μοι καὶ τὴν σάρκα καλουμένην, φησίν. Εὐλόγει, ἡ ψυχή μου, τὸν Κύριον, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐντός μου τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ. Εἶδες καὶ τὴν σάρκα κοινωνοῦσαν τῆς συμφωνίας; Τί ποτέ ἐστι, Καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐντός μου τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ; Τὰ νεῦρα, φησὶ, τὰ ὀστᾶ, τὰς φλέβας, τὰς ἀρτηρίας, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔνδον μόρια.

γʹ. Καὶ πῶς δύναται τὰ ἐντὸς ἡμῶν τὸν Θεὸν εὐλο γεῖν; Φωνὴν οὐκ ἔχει,

στόμα οὐκ ἔχει, γλῶτταν οὐκ ἔχει. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ψυχὴ δύναται· τὰ δὲ ἐντὸς πῶς δύναται, μήτε φωνὴν, μήτε γλῶτταν, μήτε στόμα ἔχοντα, εὐλογεῖν τὸν Θεόν; Ὥσπερ Οἱ οὐρανοὶ δι ηγοῦνται δόξαν Θεοῦ. Καθάπερ γὰρ οἱ οὐρανοὶ οὐ γλῶτταν, οὐ στόμα, οὐ χείλη ἔχουσιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ κάλ λει τῆς ὄψεως ἐκπλήττοντες τοὺς θεατὰς παραπέμ πουσι τῷ θαύματι πρὸς τὴν εὐφημίαν τοῦ πεποιη κότος αὐτούς· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὰ ἐντὸς ἡμῶν ἐὰν ἐπέλ θῃς ἅπαντα τῷ λογισμῷ, ἐὰν ἴδῃς τὴν διαφορὰν τῆς ποιότητος, τῆς ἐνεργείας, τῆς δυνάμεως, τῆς συμ φωνίας, τῆς διαπλάσεως, τῆς θέσεως, τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ, τῆς ἁρμονίας, ἐκεῖνο τὸ προφητικὸν ἀναφθέγξῃ ῥῆμα· Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε! πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας. Εἶδες πῶς εὐλογεῖ τὰ ἔγκατα τὸν Θεὸν χωρὶς φωνῆς καὶ στόματος καὶ γλώττης; Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν διαλέγεται; Ἵνα μὴ τῆς γλώττης φθεγγομένης ἐκείνη ῥέμβηται, ὃ πολλάκις καὶ ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς πάσχομεν καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὑμνῳδίαις· ἵν' ἑκατέρωθεν ἡ συμφωνία ᾖ. Ὅταν γὰρ εὐχόμενος μὴ ἀκούσῃς τῶν ῥημάτων τοῦ Θεοῦ, πῶς ὁ Θεὸς ἀκουσεταί σου τῆς ἐντεύξεως; Ὅταν οὖν λέγῃ. Αἴ νει, ἡ ψυχή μου, τὸν Κύριον, τοῦτο λέγει, ἔνδον ἐκ βάθους τῆς καρδίας ἀναφερέσθωσαν αἱ ἱκετηρίαι. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Παῦλός φησι· Ψαλῶ τῷ πνεύματι, ψαλῶ δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ μου.

Μουσικός τις ἄριστός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχὴ, τεχνίτης ἐστίν· ὄργανόν ἐστι τὸ σῶμα, κι θάρας καὶ αὐλοῦ καὶ λύρας χώραν ἐπέχον. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι μουσικοὶ οὐ διὰ παντὸς μετὰ πάντων τῶν ὀρ γάνων εἰσὶν, ἀλλὰ ποτὲ μὲν ἀναλαμβάνουσιν αὐτὰ, ποτὲ δὲ ἀποτίθενται· οὐ γὰρ διηνεκὴς ὁ καιρὸς αὐ τοῖς τῆς μελῳδίας ἐστί· διόπερ οὐδὲ διηνεκῶς τὰ ὄργανα μεταχειρίζουσι· σὲ δὲ βουλόμενος ὁ Θεὸς δι δάξαι, ὅτι διὰ παντὸς ὀφείλεις αὐτὸν ὑμνεῖν τε καὶ εὐλογεῖν, ἥνωσε τῷ τεχνίτῃ τὸ ὄργανον διηνεκῶς. Ὅτι γὰρ διαπαντὸς αἰνεῖν δεῖ, ἄκουσον τί φησιν ὁ Ἀπό στολος·