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we are grateful to those who remember it, and we consider such people to be friends; and yet Christ commanded the opposite, to forget one's good deeds, but to remember one's sins. And this He made clear to us both through what He advised His disciples, saying: When you have done all things, say, "We are unprofitable servants"; and through the parable of the Pharisee, preferring the tax collector to him. For just as the memory of his sins justified the one, so the memory of his good deeds destroyed the other. And to the Jews God advises these very same things, saying 51.307 thus: I am He who blots out your sins, and I will not remember them; but you, remember.

7. Such was the character of the apostles, such of the prophets and of

all the righteous. David, at least, constantly remembered his own sin, but never his good deeds, except when he was compelled. When, then, that barbarian war overtook Judea, and everything was full of dangers, being still young and inexperienced in wars, having left his sheep and come to the battle line, seeing all cowering and afraid and trembling, he suffered nothing human, nor did he become more fearful seeing his own people humbled; but by faith he surpassed all visible things, and looking to the King of heaven, and filling himself with much eagerness, he approached the soldiers and his brothers, promising to deliver them from the present danger. But when his brothers laughed at what was said (for they did not see God anointing him within, nor that noble soul, reaching to heaven and full of much wisdom), leaving them, he went away to others.

But when they brought him to the king, and he found him half-dead with fear, he first raised his spirits, saying thus: "Let not my lord's heart fail him, for your servant will go and fight with this foreigner." But when he disbelieved, saying, "You will not be able to go; you are a boy, but he is a man of war from his youth," being then at a loss, David was compelled to recount his own praises. For that he did not wish to, he showed by his previous actions, saying nothing of his own good deeds either to his brothers, or to the soldiers, nor even to the king himself, until he saw him disbelieving and agonizing and preventing the attack against that man. For what was he to do then? To be silent about his praises? But he would not have permitted him to go, nor to deliver them from the present dangers. For this reason, having been silent when he ought, when he saw the occasion compelling him to speak, he is no longer silent, but says to him: "Your servant was tending his father's flock, and when a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the herd, I went out after him and struck him and snatched it from his mouth, and I seized his throat and killed him; both the lion and the bear your servant struck; and this foreigner, this uncircumcised, will be as one of them." Do you see how he showed for what reason he spoke of his own good deeds? Then, indeed, then the king, taking courage, at last commanded him to go. And he went, and drew up for battle, and was victorious. But if he had not spoken his praises, the king would not have entrusted that single combat to him; and not entrusting it, he would not have let him go to the battle line; and not letting him, he would have prevented the good deed; and with the good deed prevented, neither would God have been glorified then, nor would the city have been delivered from the impending dangers. Therefore, so that so many absurdities would not occur, nor so great a dispensation be hindered, David was compelled to speak of his own labors. For just as they know to be silent when there is no necessity, so also they know how to speak when they see great force pressing upon them.

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μεμνημένοις αὐτὸ χάριν ἴσμεν, καὶ φίλους τοὺς τοιούτους εἶναι νομίζομεν· καίτοι γε ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ ἐναντίον ἐπέταξε, κατορθωμάτων μὲν ἐπιλελῆσθαι, ἁμαρτημάτων δὲ μεμνῆσθαι. Καὶ τοῦτο δῆλον μὲν ἡμῖν ἐποίησε καὶ δι' ὧν τοῖς μαθηταῖς παρῄνει λέ γων· Ὅταν πάντα ποιήσητε, λέγετε, ὅτι Ἀχρεῖοι δοῦλοί ἐσμεν· καὶ διὰ τῆς τοῦ Φαρισαίου παραβο λῆς, τὸν τελώνην αὐτοῦ προθείς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τοῦτον ἡ μνήμη τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐδικαίωσεν, οὕτως ἐκεῖ νον ἡ μνήμη τῶν κατορθωμάτων ἀπώλεσε. Καὶ Ἰου δαίοις δὲ ὁ Θεὸς τὰ αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα παραινεῖ, λέγων 51.307 οὕτως· Ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτὸς ὁ ἐξαλείφων τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου, καὶ οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ· σὺ δὲ μνήσθητι.

ζʹ. Τοιοῦτον τῶν ἀποστόλων τὸ ἦθος ἦν, τοιοῦτον τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῶν

δικαίων ἁπάντων. Ὁ γοῦν ∆αυῒδ τῆς μὲν ἁμαρτίας τῆς ἑαυτοῦ συνεχῶς ἐμέμνητο, τῶν δὲ κατορθωμάτων οὐδαμοῦ, πλὴν εἴ ποτε κατηναγ κάσθη. Ὅτε γοῦν ὁ βαρβαρικὸς ἐκεῖνος πόλεμος τὴν Ἰουδαίαν κατέλαβε, καὶ πάντα κινδύνων ἦν μεστὰ, νέος ὢν ἔτι καὶ πολέμων ἄπειρος, καταλιπὼν τὰ πρό βατα, καὶ εἰς τὴν παράταξιν ἐλθὼν, πάντας κατ επτηχότας βλέπων καὶ δεδοικότας καὶ τρέμοντας, οὐδὲν ἔπαθεν ἀνθρώπινον, οὐδὲ ἐγένετο δειλότερος τοὺς οἰκείους τεταπεινωμένους ὁρῶν· ἀλλὰ τῇ πίστει πάντα τὰ βλεπόμενα ὑπερβὰς, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Βασιλέα τῶν οὐρανῶν ἰδὼν, καὶ πολλῆς ἑαυτὸν ἐμπλήσας προθυμίας, προσῆλθε τοῖς στρατιώταις καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, ἐπαγγελλόμενος ἀπαλλάσσειν αὐτοὺς τοῦ κατέχοντος κινδύνου. Ὡς δὲ ἐγέλασαν τὸ εἰρημένον οἱ ἀδελφοὶ (οὐ γὰρ ἑώρων τὸν ἔνδον αὐτὸν ἀλείφοντα Θεὸν, οὐδὲ τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν γενναίαν ἐκείνην, καὶ οὐ ρανομήκη, καὶ πολλῆς γέμουσαν φιλοσοφίας), κατα λιπὼν ἐκείνους, πρὸς ἑτέρους ἀπῆλθεν.

Ὡς δὲ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα αὐτὸν εἰσήγαγον, καὶ εὗρεν αὐτὸν ἀπο τεθνηκότα τῷ δέει, πρῶτον αὐτοῦ διανίστησι τὸ φρό νημα, οὕτω λέγων· Μὴ συμπεσέτω ἡ καρδία τοῦ κυρίου μου ἐπ' αὐτὸν, ὅτι ὁ δοῦλός σου πορεύ σεται καὶ πολεμήσει μετὰ τοῦ ἀλλοφύλου τούτου. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐκεῖνος ἠπίστει λέγων, Οὐ δυνήσῃ πο ρευθῆναι· σὺ παιδάριον εἶ, αὐτὸς δὲ ἀνὴρ πολε μιστὴς ἐκ νεότητος αὐτοῦ, ἐν ἀπορίᾳ ὢν λοιπὸν ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἀναγκάζεται τὰ οἰκεῖα διηγεῖσθαι ἐγκώμια. Ὅτι γὰρ οὐκ ἐβούλετο, διὰ τῶν προτέρων ἔδειξεν, οὔτε πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς εἰπών τι τῶν αὑτοῦ κατορ θωμάτων, οὔτε πρὸς τοὺς στρατιώτας, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα, ἕως εἶδεν αὐτὸν ἀπιστοῦντα καὶ ἀγωνιῶντα καὶ κωλύοντα τὴν ἔφοδον τὴν κατ' ἐκεί νου. Τί γὰρ ἔδει πρᾶξαι λοιπόν; σιγῆσαι τὰ ἐγκώ μια; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν ἐπέτρεψεν ἀπελθεῖν, οὐδὲ ἀπαλ λάξαι τῶν κατεχόντων κινδύνων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο σιγήσας ἡνίκα ἔδει, ἐπειδὴ τὸν καιρὸν εἶδε κατ αναγκάζοντα εἰπεῖν, οὐκ ἔτι σιγᾷ, ἀλλά φησι πρὸς αὐτόν· Ποιμαίνων ἤμην ὁ δοῦλός σου ἐν τῷ ποι μνίῳ τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ ὅταν ἤρχετο λέων ἢ ἄρ κτος, καὶ ἐλάμβανε πρόβατον ἐκ τῆς ἀγέλης, ἐξηρ χόμην κατόπισθεν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπάτασσον αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐξέσπων ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκράτουν τοῦ φάρυγγος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐθανάτουν αὐτόν· καὶ τὸν λέοντα καὶ τὴν ἄρκτον ἔτυπτεν ὁ δοῦλός σου· καὶ ἔσται ὁ ἀλλόφυλος οὗτος καὶ ἀπερίτμητος, ὡς ἓν τούτων. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἐδήλωσε, τίνος ἕνεκεν εἶπε τὰ οἰκεῖα κατορθώματα; Τότε δὴ, τότε θαῤῥήσας ὁ βασιλεὺς λοιπὸν ἐκέλευσεν ἀπελθεῖν. Καὶ ἀπῆλθε, καὶ παρετάξατο, καὶ ἐνίκησεν. Εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐγκώμια εἶπεν, οὐκ ἂν αὐτῷ τὴν μονομαχίαν ἐκείνην ἐπίστευ σεν ὁ βασιλεύς· μὴ πιστεύσας δὲ, οὐκ ἂν ἀφῆκεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν παράταξιν ἀπελθεῖν· μὴ ἀφεὶς δὲ, διεκώλυ σεν ἂν τὸ κατόρθωμα· τοῦ δὲ κατορθώματος κωλυ θέντος, οὔτε ὁ Θεὸς ἂν ἐδοξάσθη τότε, οὔτε ἡ πόλις τῶν ἐπικειμένων ἀπηλλάγη κινδύνων. Ἵν' οὖν μὴ το σαῦτα γένηται ἄτοπα, μηδὲ οἰκονομίας μέγεθος κω λυθῇ τοσοῦτον, ἠναγκάσθη τοὺς οἰκείους ἄθλους εἰ πεῖν ὁ ∆αυΐδ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ σιγᾷν ἴσασιν, οὐδεμιᾶς οὔ σης ἀνάγκης, οὕτω καὶ λέγειν ἐπίστανται, ἐπειδὰν πολλὴν ἴδωσι βίαν ἐπικειμένην.