the things happening to him, because they are painful, we do not receive them gladly, nor do we consider them to be mercy. Wherefore we say: Why have you forgotten me? But he who has understood that everything God brings, He brings for our benefit, will say no such thing, knowing that God does this, working out his repentance and benefit. But as we were saying, the repenting people asks of. God, why He has abandoned him, so afflicted and downcast. What is the cause of such abandonment? for it does not seem to be a trivial matter. However, the one saying, "Why have you forgotten me?" seems to be confident, as if he had done nothing for which God forgets. But it greatly grieves the just man when "Where?" is said of God, which is indicative of place. For it is of the utmost folly to think that God is in a place. For place co-exists with mass; but the Divine is free from mass. But these words of prayer also suit the people in Babylon. For always, he says, 17.137 having received your providence, and now being stripped bare, I lament, unable to bear my enemies—amidst blows and bonds and the crushing of my bones—saying: Where is your God? supposing that I suffer these things because of weakness. But more morally: When our enemies, the demons, through sin crush our bones, that is, the powers of the soul; then they deliberately slander God to us as being weak, so that, having made us abandon our hope in Him, they might take us captive and as slaves. And this they do every day, that is, continually. What then must be done? Not to fall into despair; but to hope in the mercy of God, as we are taught in what follows. PSALM 50. Verse 7. For behold, I was conceived in iniquities. Not only in the womb, but because the works of iniquity took hold of me, those of murder, and of the foreign bed which I unlawfully violated. Verse 8. For behold, you have loved truth. This is the meaning: You, he says, O Lord, being true and loving truth, wishing us to live in truth, will cleanse us from the ancient sin; and you will cleanse us so as to be made whiter than snow; and our cleansing will be by hyssop; and the energy of the Holy Spirit is likened to hyssop, warming and wiping away all the filth in us; for behold, I have renounced Sa tan. -You have loved. The wisdom of the Father is obviously the Word; but the unknown and hidden things of the Word, the Word of the incarnation; and in all these things, being negligent, I slipped and fell. Thus, he says, you will judge; and some you will punish, and others you will crown, since you love the truth; and loving the truth, and knowing the weakness of nature, grant pardon to those who ask for remedies; because having been trained sophistically in the contemplation of the truth; having known its greatness, he had a perfect love for it; for those not trained in falsehoods, having become more discerning, see the admirable beauty of truth; such as Moses and Daniel; for after being tested by sophistical arguments, having ascended to true wisdom itself, they received testimony from God as being perfect wise men; God having revealed to them the unknown and hidden things of His wisdom, so that nothing was unclear or overshadowed for them; David also happens to have this disposition ... through the preceding verse; For not only did you establish me on earthly thrones, but you also deemed me worthy of prophetic grace, and you revealed beforehand the things that would shortly come to pass, and what was secret to others you made clear to me, both the incarnation of your Only-begotten, and from there the salvation of the world. 17.140 PSALM 77. Verse 30. While the food was still in their mouths. Verse 31. The wrath of God came upon them, and killed the fattest of them; and fettered the chosen men of Israel. When the Hebrews saw the quail, they did not believe the promise of God, who promised to feed them to satiety for a month. But, fearing lest it might fly away or be consumed again, "They spread them out," he says, "for themselves all around the camp." And the meat was still in their teeth,

αὐτοῦ γινόμενα, τῷ ἐπίπονα εἶναι, οὐχ ἡδέως ἔχοντες, οὐδὲ ἔλεον εἶναι νομίζομεν. ∆ιὸ λέγομεν· ∆ιὰ τί μου ἐπελάθου; Ὁ δὲ διειληφὼς, ὅτι πᾶν ὃ ἐπάγει ὁ Θεὸς συμφερόντως ἐπάγει, οὐδὲν ἐρεῖ τοιοῦτον, εἰδὼς, ὅτι τὴν μετάνοιαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν ὠφέλειαν πραγματευόμενος ὁ Θεὸς, τοῦτο ποιεῖ. Ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἐλέγομεν, ὁ μεταγινώσκων λαὸς πυνθάνεται τοῦ. Θεοῦ, διὰ τί αὐτὸν ἐγκαταλέλοι πεν οὕτως ἐκθλιβόμενον καὶ σκυθρωπάζοντα. Τί τὸ αἴτιον τῆς τοιαύτης ἐγκαταλείψεως; οὐ τὸ τυχὸν γὰρ ἔοικεν εἶναι. Ὁ μέντοι λέγων· ∆ιὰ τί μου ἐπ ελάθου; θαῤῥεῖν ἔοικεν, ὡς μηδὲν πεποιηκὼς, δι' ἃ ἐπιλανθάνεται ὁ Θεός. Πάνυ δὲ λυπεῖ τὸν δίκαιον τὸ, Ποῦ; ἐπὶ Θεοῦ λεγόμενον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ σημαντικὸν τόπου. Τῆς γὰρ ἐσχάτης ἀνοίας τὸ ἐν τόπῳ νομίζειν εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Ὄγκῳ γὰρ συνυφίσταται τόπος· ὄγκου δὲ τὸ Θεῖον ἐλεύθερον. Οὗτοι δὲ τῆς εὐχῆς οἱ λόγοι καὶ τῷ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι λαῷ ἁρμόζουσιν. Ἀεὶ γὰρ, φησὶ, 17.137 τῆς σῆς προνοίας τυχὼν, καὶ νῦν γυμνωθεὶς, ἀποδύ ρομαι, μὴ φέρων τοὺς πολεμίους ἐπὶ πληγαῖς καὶ δεσμοῖς καὶ τῶν ἐμῶν ὀστέων τῇ συντριβῇ λέγοντας· Ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός σου; διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν ταῦτά με πάσχειν ὑπολαμβάνοντας. Ἠθικώτερον δέ· Ὅταν οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἡμῶν δαίμονες διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν συντρίψωσι, τουτέστι τὰς τῆς ψυχῆς δυνάμεις· τότε τὸν Θεὸν ἐπίτηδες πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὡς ἀσθενῆ διαβάλ λουσιν, ἵνα, τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλπίδος ἀποστήσαντες, αἰχμαλώτους καὶ δούλους παραλάβωσι. Καὶ τοῦτο καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, τουτέστι διηνεκῶς, ποιοῦσι. Τί οὖν χρὴ ποιεῖν; Μὴ ἐκπίπτειν εἰς ἀπόγνωσιν· ἀλλ' ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καθὼς ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς διδασκόμεθα. ΨΑΛ. Νʹ. Στίχ. ζʹ. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἐν ἀνομίαις συνελήφθην. Οὐκ ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ μόνον, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ παρέλαβόν με τὰ ἔργα τῆς ἀνομίας, τὰ τοῦ φόνου, καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀλλοτρίας κοίτης ἣν παρανόμως ἐσύλησα. Στίχ. ηʹ. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἀλήθειαν ἠγάπησας. Ὁ νοῦς οὗτος· Σὺ, φησὶ, Κύριε, ἀληθὴς ὢν καὶ ἀλήθειαν ἀγαπῶν, βουλόμενος ἡμᾶς ἐν ἀληθείᾳ διά γειν, ἀποκαθαριεῖς ἡμᾶς τῆς ἀρχαίας ἁμαρτίας· καὶ οὕτως ἀποκαθαρίσεις ὡς ὑπὲρ χιόνα λευκανθῆναι· ἡ δὲ ἀποκάθαρσις ἡμῖν δι' ὑσσώπου γενήσεται· ὑσσώπῳ δὲ ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐνέργεια ἀφο μοιοῦται, θερμαίνουσα καὶ πάντα τὸν ἐν ἡμῖν ῥύπον ἀποσμήχουσα· ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἀποταξαμένου μου τῷ Σα τανᾷ. -Ἠγάπησας. Σοφία μὲν τοῦ Πατρὸς δη λονότι ὁ λόγος· ἄδηλα δὲ καὶ κρύφια τοῦ Λόγου, ὁ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως Λόγος· καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν ἀμελήσας ὠλίσθησα καὶ κατέπεσον. Οὕτω δὲ, φησὶ, κρινεῖς· καὶ τοὺς μὲν κολάσεις, τοὺς δὲ στεφανώ σεις, ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἀλήθειαν στέργεις· τὴν δὲ ἀλή θειαν στέργων, καὶ τῆς φύσεως εἰδὼς τὴν ἀσθέ νειαν, μετάδος συγγνώμην τοῖς αἰτοῦσι τὰ φάρ μακα· ὅτι σοφιστικῶς ἕξει γεγυμνασμένος ἐπὶ θεω ρίᾳ τῆς ἀληθείας· τὸ μέγεθος αὐτῆς γνοὺς, ἀγάπην πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἔσχε τελείαν· οἱ μὴ γὰρ τοῖς ψεύδεσιν ἐγγυμνασάμενοι, διορατικώτεροι γεγενημένοι καθο ρῶσι τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ ἀξιάγαστον κάλλος· οἷός ἐστι Μωϋσῆς καὶ ∆ανιήλ· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ πειραθῆναι σο φιστικῶν λόγων, ἐπ' αὐτὴν τὴν ἀληθῆ σοφίαν ἀνα βάντες, ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ μαρτυρίαν ἔσχον, ὡς ὄντες τέλειοι σοφοί· δηλώσαντος αὐτοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ κρύφια τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ, ὡς μηδὲν αὐτοῖς ἀσαφὲς ἢ ἀπεσκιασμένον εἶναι· ταύτης τῆς ἕξεως καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ τυγχάνειν ... διὰ τοῦ προκειμένου στοί χου· Οὐ γὰρ μόνον με τοῖς βιωτικοῖς ἐνίδρυσας θώ κοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ προφητικῆς ἠξίωσας χάριτος, καὶ τὰ μικρὸν ἐσόμενα προδεδήλωκας, καὶ τὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀπόῤῥητα ἐμοὶ δῆλα πεποίηκας, τήν τε τοῦ Μονογενοῦς σου ἐνανθρώπησιν, καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐκεῖθεν τὴν σωτηρίαν. 17.140 ΨΑΛ. ΟΖʹ. Στίχ. λʹ. Ἔτι τῆς βρώσεως οὔσης ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν. Στίχ. λαʹ. Ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνέβη ἐπ' αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀπέκτεινε τοῖς πλείοσιν αὐτῶν· καὶ τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ συνεπόδισεν. Ἰδόντες τὴν ὀρτυγομήτραν Ἑβραῖοι, οὐκ ἐπίστευ σαν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπαγγελίᾳ, ὑποσχομένου μέχρι μηνὸς διαθρέψαι αὐτοὺς εἰς πλησμονήν. Ἀλλὰ, φοβηθέντες μήποτε ἀποπτῇ ἢ ἀναλωθῇ πάλιν, Ἔψυξαν, φησὶ, ἑαυτοὺς ψυγμοὺς κύκλῳ τῆς παρεμβολῆς. Καὶ τὰ κρέα ἔτι ἦν ἐν τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν αὐτῶν,