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When he had ministered to the Spirit, the things suggested by it were spoken beforehand, then the psalm having been given to one of the singers, it was recited by them to David. But in which of these two ways each of the things lying in the scriptures is, it is for the wise according to God alone to know †

17Ps 4,2b God gives room in affliction not by ending the distress, not

by overthrowing those who do evil, but by providing magnanimity to bear circumstances nobly. According to this thought one must also hear the verse, *Many are the afflictions of the righteous, and out of them all He will deliver them*, by granting endurance. But there are times when he also places outside of circumstances the one who stands magnanimously towards circumstances, as Joseph and Job, but also the very one about whom the present things are said. 18 Ps 4,3a Many such things are also found in scripture, of which one is *For a mortal is born of a woman*, and *Among those born of women there is none greater than John*. For these words are said instead of "men." 19Ps 4,4a Is not the holy one of God made wonderful when he bears magnanimously afflictions that seem to be beyond human strength, but also when, upon calling on God, he immediately has him assent, all of which things he who has a heavy heart, that is, a mind with malice, does not know? But if the word is said concerning Christ to the Jews on account of their heavy-heartedness, no longer sons of God but of men, for how did the Lord not make the holy one wonderful in him and through him, by fulfilling prophecies, by wondrous powers being performed through him, and moreover by his rising from the dead? But you will know when you cast off the heavy-heartedness and search the scriptures concerning the holy one; for to you who search, the newness of the spirit will be found. 20 Ps 4,5a The apostle, having taken this saying, added to it: *Let not the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.* He who accepts this apostolic exhortation, being angry does not sin, unlike the one disposed to anger who holds it persistently, whom it is customary to call wrathful. What follows confirms this thought; for it says, *What you say* (being angry, clearly) *in your hearts, be filled with compunction on your beds*, so that upon rising from sleep you do or say nothing of the things deliberated in anger in the heart. 21 Ps 4,7b It is possible to say that the Light of God's countenance is the express image of his substance and the image of the invisible God himself, which light from thence was marked upon us who have been formed according to it. It must not be ignored that some read *Who will show us good things?* thus: good things are not for many, but for one to show; and this is the only-begotten Son of God. For those who understand it thus, "Who" signifies that which is called a particular quality or individual and a substance one in number. They use as evidence *A certain nobleman*, for here too "certain" denotes the particular quality. 22 Ps 4,9 Even if these seemed to be multiplied by their own pleasures, yet I, expecting the age to come and the reward of a right life, having become free from all disturbance through hope, *In peace I will both lie down and sleep*, calling sleep and slumber the departure from life; giving the cause of having slept and slumbered in peace, he immediately added, *for you have made me dwell in hope*. And it is also said in Hosea to the soul from the person of God, *I will make you dwell in hope*. And God does this by proposing the hope of future divine goods to those made to dwell by him in intellectual and practical virtue and in dogmas of truth and ecclesiastical ordinances.

23 Ps 5,1a For the end, a hymn of thanksgiving is sung for the soul that is being led

or the church, into the divine inheritance prepared for the servants of God; for there is an inheritance for those who serve the Lord. And this is not corruptible and in

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αὐτοῦ διακονησαμένου τῷ πνεύματι τὰ ὑποβαλλόμενα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ προελέχθη, ειτα δοθέντος τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τινι τῶν ᾀδόντων ἀπηγγέλθη δι' ἐκείνων Τῷ ∆αυίδ· ὁποτέρως δ' εχει εκαστον τῶν ἐν γραφαῖς κειμένων, μόνου τοῦ κατὰ θεὸν σοφοῦ εἰδέναι †

17Ps 4,2b Πλατύνει δὲ ἐν θλίψει ὁ θεὸς οὐ παύων τὴν περίστασιν, οὐκ

ἀνατρέπων τοὺς κακοῦντας ἀλλὰ παρέχων μεγαλοψυχίαν γενναίως φέρειν τὰ περιστατικά. κατὰ ταύτην τὴν διάνοιαν ἀκουστέον καὶ τὸ Πολλαὶ αἱ θλίψεις τῶν δικαίων καὶ ἐκ πασῶν αὐτῶν ῥύσεται αὐτούς, ὑπομονὴν χαριζόμενος. εστι δ' οτε καὶ εξω τῶν περιστάσεων ποιεῖ τὸν μεγαλοψύχως πρὸς τὰς περιστάσεις στάντα ὡς τὸν ̓Ιωσὴφ καὶ τὸν ̓Ιὼβ ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν περὶ ου τὰ προκείμενα. 18 Ps 4,3a Πολλὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα φέρεται καὶ ἐν τῇ γραφῇ ων εν ἐστιν καὶ τὸ Βροτὸς γὰρ γεννητὸς γυναικός, καὶ τὸ ̓Εν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν ̓Ιωάννου οὐδεὶς μείζων ἐστίν. καὶ αυται γὰρ αἱ λέξεις ἀντὶ τοῦ ανθρωποι ειρηνται. 19Ps 4,4a Η οὐ θαυμαστοῦται ὁ οσιος τοῦ θεοῦ οτ' αν θλίψεις φέρῃ μεγαλοψύχως δοκούσας ὑπὲρ ανθρωπον ειναι ἀλλὰ καὶ οτ' αν ἐπικαλούμενος θεὸν ἐπινεύοντα εὐθέως εχῃ, απερ πάντα ἀγνοεῖ ὁ βαρείαν καρδίαν, τουτέστι νόησιν μετὰ κακίας, εχων; εἰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ειρηται πρὸς ̓Ιουδαίους ὁ λόγος διὰ τὸ βαρυκάρδιον οὐκ ετι θεοῦ ἀλλ' ἀνθρώπων υἱούς, πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἐθαυμάστωσεν κύριος τὸν οσιον ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ πληρώσας προφητείας, παραδόξων δυνάμεων γενομένων δι' αὐτοῦ ετι μὴν καὶ ἀναστάντος ἐκ νεκρῶν; γνώσεσθε δὲ ἀποβαλόντες τὸ βαρυκάρδιον καὶ ἐρευνήσαντες τὰς περὶ τοῦ ὁσίου γραφάς· ἐρευνήσασι γὰρ ὑμῖν ἡ καινότης τοῦ πνεύματος εὑρεθήσεται. 20 Ps 4,5a Ταύτην τὴν λέξιν παραλαβὼν ὁ ἀπόστολος ἐπήγαγεν αὐτῇ· ̔Ο ηλιος μὴ ἐπιδυέτω ἐπὶ τῷ παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν, μηδὲ δίδοτε τόπον τῷ διαβόλῳ. ὁ ταύτην καταδεξάμενος τὴν ἀποστολικὴν προτροπὴν ὀργισθεὶς οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει τοῦ κατ' ὀργὴν διακειμένου ἐπίμονον αὐτὴν εχοντος ον καὶ μηνιαστὴν εθος καλεῖν. βεβαιοῖ ταύτην τὴν νόησιν τὸ ἑξῆς ἐπιφερόμενον· Α λέγετε γάρ φησίν (ὀργισθέντες δηλονότι) ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, ἐπὶ ταῖς κοίταις κατανύγητε, ωστε ἀναστάντας ἐξ υπνου μηδὲν πρᾶξαι η εἰπεῖν τῶν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἐν ὀργῇ διεσκεμμένων. 21 Ps 4,7b ∆υνατὸν Φῶς τοῦ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν χαρακτῆρα τῆς ὑποστάσεως καὶ εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου θεοῦ εἰπεῖν, οπερ φῶς ἀπεντεῦθεν ἐσημειώθη ἐφ' ἡμᾶς μορφωθέντας κατ' αὐτόν. οὐκ ἀγνοητέον ὡς ἀναγινώσκουσί τινες τὸ Τίς δείξει ἡμῖν τὰ ἀγαθὰ ουτως· τὰ ἀγαθὰ οὐ πολλῶν ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἑνός ἐστιν δεῖξαι· ουτος δὲ ὁ μονογενής ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ υἱός. σημαίνει τοῖς ουτως ἐκλαμβάνουσι τὸ Τίς τὸ ὀνομαζόμενον ἰδίως ποιὸν η ατομον καὶ μίαν τῷ ἀριθμῷ οὐσίαν. συγχρῶνται μαρτυρίῳ τὸ Ανθρωπός τις εὐγενής, καὶ ἐνταῦθα γὰρ τὸ Τίς δηλοῖ τὸν ἰδίως ποιόν. 22 Ps 4,9 Εἰ καὶ ουτοι ἀπὸ τῶν ἡδέων αὑτοῖς εδοξαν πληθύνεσθαι, ἀλλά γε ἐγὼ προσδοκῶν αἰῶνα μέλλοντα καὶ μισθὸν ὀρθῆς πολιτείας, πάσης ταραχῆς ἐκτὸς διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα γεγονώς, ̓Επὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κοιμηθήσομαι καὶ ὑπνώσωμαι, κοίμησιν καὶ υπνον λέγων τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ βίου ἀναχώρησιν· ἀποδιδοὺς τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ κεκοιμῆσθαι καὶ ὑπνωκέναι ἐν εἰρήνῃ εὐθὺς ἐπήγαγεν οτι ̓Επ' ἐλπίδι κατῴκισάς με. ειρηται δὲ καὶ ἐν ̓Ωσηὲ πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ Κατοικιῶ σε ἐπ' ἐλπίδι. ποιεῖ δὲ τοῦτο θεὸς ἐλπίδα μελλόντων θείων ἀγαθῶν προτείνων τοῖς κατοικιζομένοις ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐν διανοητικῇ καὶ πρακτικῇ ἀρετῇ καὶ ἐν δόγμασιν ἀληθείας καὶ θεσμοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς.

23 Ps 5,1a Εἰς τὸ τέλος χαριστήριος υμνος ᾳδεται ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀγομένης ψυχῆς

ητοι ἐκκλησίας εἰς θείαν κληρονομίαν ἡτοιμασμένην τοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ θεραπευταῖς· εστι γὰρ κληρονομία τοῖς θεραπεύουσι κύριον. εστιν δὲ αυτη οὐ φθαρτὴ καὶ ἐν