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how one must make war, but also what is the strength of man, and how great is the power of one who is mortal and made like unto vanity, to be able to stand against so great an array? Therefore You Yourself, O Lord, bow the heavens, and come down. By heavens he means the powers conceived in Him; just as a father condescends to infants, and a teacher to students. Send forth Your hand from on high. Send forth, says the psalm, the creative and protective hand of the universe to deliver and rescue me from many waters and from the hands of foreign sons; and it is possible to say that being rescued from many waters refers to the evil powers and the devil, the king of all such things; and to be delivered from the hand of foreign sons, the men who are energized by them; for he called the uprisings of temptations and of the impious "waters," as he also says elsewhere: Then the water would have overwhelmed us; and again: Save me, O God, for the waters have come in even to my soul; consequently, after the descent of God the Word, seeing the plot of the impious ... of him .. he utters the preceding things. I will sing a new song to You. He sings, and the new covenant is mentioned in the prophecies concerning the descent of God the Word; therefore this is indicated by the new song. And in saying "new," he has made the first one old, as 24.56 the Apostle says; concerning this song it has been said: Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth; but also, "I will play," he says, "on a ten-stringed psaltery," alluding to the active life that is worked through soul and body; there being five senses of the flesh, and five faculties of the soul, through which the senses of the body are moved. To Him who gives salvation to kings. He who taught the kingdom of heaven makes kings of those who are deemed worthy of it, to whom He gives salvation from Himself; at the same time as they achieve not being ruled by sin; And Christ is the one who says in Proverbs: Through me kings reign; knowing these things the Apostle wrote: You have become kings without us—and I would that you did reign, so that we might also reign with you; since, therefore, God bestows salvation on these, the oracle rightly suggests good hopes for David too, as one who will be redeemed from the sins into which he has ever fallen; for the descent of God the Word, among its other effects, has also become a benefit to David, since he ministered to His incarnate generation. Who redeems David His servant from the evil sword. The evil sword is the tongue of the godless, and the words of those who devise sophistries against God in order to slay souls; and the hand of foreign sons is the practice and the life of those who are estranged from the worship of God, whose mouth speaks vanity in mythical fabrications and in the errors concerning idols; and their right hand, that is, their more active power, is occupied with greed and plunder. Such also would be those from the former people, according to what has been said; from these, therefore, David now prays for a second time at present to be rescued, so that he may not be caught in similar sins. Whose sons are as young plants, established in their youth. The sons of the former people, not only they, but also of all who are estranged from the worship of God, are as young plants established in their youth; but the flesh of the righteous is weak, and his mindset is deadened; of these from the circumcision, the daughters too are adorned like harlots, as a likeness of a temple in which an evil spirit dwells; wherefore the prophet says concerning them: Because the daughters of Zion walked with outstretched necks and with winking of eyes, and so on; but the saints are a temple of God, and the spirit of God dwells in them; and of the one sort, their storehouses are full and overflowing, as they lay up treasures on earth; and they say, I will pull down my barns and build larger ones; but of the other sort, their treasure is in heaven; and of the one sort there is

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ὅπως χρὴ πολεμεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τίς ἰσχὺς ἀνθρώπου, καὶ πόση δύναμις τοῦ θνητοῦ καὶ ματαιότητι ὁμοιωθέντος, πρὸς τὸ δυνηθῆναι στῆναι κατὰ τῆς τοσαύτης παρατάξεως; διὸ σὺ αὐτὸς, ὦ Κύριε, κλῖνον οὐρανοὺς, καὶ κατάβηθι. Οὐρανοὺς δέ φησι τὰς ἐπινοουμένας ἐν αὐτῷ δυνάμεις· ὡς δὲ πατὴρ νηπίοις, καὶ ὡς μαθηταῖς διδάσκαλος συγκαταβαίνει. Ἐξαπόστειλον τὴν χεῖρά σου ἐξ ὕψους. Ἐξαπόστειλον, φησὶν ὁ ψαλμὸς, τὴν ποιητικὴν καὶ φυλακτικὴν τῶν ὅλων χεῖρα ἐπὶ τῷ ἐξελέσθαι καὶ ῥύσασθαί με ἐκ τῶν πολλῶν ὑδάτων καὶ τῶν χειρῶν τῶν ἀλλοτρίων υἱῶν· δυνατὸν δὲ τὸ ἐξ ὑδάτων πολλῶν ῥυσθῆναι εἰπεῖν τῶν πονηρῶν δυνάμεων καὶ τοῦ διαβόλου τοῦ βασιλέως πάντων τῶν τοιούτων· ἐξαιρεθῆναι δὲ καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς τῶν ἀλλοτρίων υἱῶν, τῶν ἐνεργουμένων ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἀνθρώπων· τὰς ἐπαναστάσεις γὰρ τῶν πειρασμῶν καὶ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὕδατα ἐκάλεσεν, ὡς καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν· Ἄρα τὸ ὕδωρ κατεπόντισεν ἡμᾶς· καὶ πάλιν· Σῶσόν με, ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι εἰσήλθοσαν ὕδατα ἕως ψυχῆς μου· ἀκολούθως δὲ μετὰ τὴν κατάβασιν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν τῶν ἀσεβῶν ... αὐτοῦ τῳ .. θεασάμενος, τὰ προκείμενα θεσπίζει. Ὠδὴν καινὴν ᾄσομαί σοι. Ἄδει, καὶ τὴν καινὴν διαθήκην ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῆς καθόδου τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου προφητευομένοις μνημονευθῆναι· διὸ δηλοῦται αὕτη διὰ τῆς καινῆς ᾠδῆς. Ἐν τῷ δὲ λέγειν καινὴν, πεπαλαίωκε τὴν πρώτην, ὥς 24.56 φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· περὶ ταύτης λέλεκται τῆς ᾠδῆς· Ἄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ᾆσμα καινὸν, ᾄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ, πᾶσα ἡ γῆ· ἀλλὰ καὶ, Ψαλῶσι, φησὶν, ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ δεκαχόρδῳ, τὸν πρακτικὸν αἰνιττόμενος βίον διὰ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἐνεργούμενον· πέντε μὲν ὄντων σαρκὸς αἰσθητηρίων, πέντε δὲ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς δυνάμεων, δι' ὧν τὰ αἰσθητήρια τοῦ σώματος κινεῖται. Τῷ διδόντι τὴν σωτηρίαν τοῖς βασιλεῦσι Ὁ διδάξας βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν, βασιλεῖς ἐργάζεται τοὺς καταξιουμένους αὐτῆς, οἷς δίδωσι τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ σωτηρίαν· ἅμα δὲ κατορθώσασι τὸ μὴ βασιλεύεσθαι ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίας· Χριστὸς δ' ἐστὶν ὁ ἐν Παροιμίαις λέγων· ∆ι' ἐμοῦ βασιλεῖς βασιλεύουσι· ταῦτα εἰδὼς ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἔγραφε· Χωρὶς ἡμῶν ἐβασιλεύσατε, καὶ ὄφελόν γε ἐβασιλεύσατε, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν συμβασιλεύσωμεν· ἐπεὶ οὖν τούτοις χαρίζεται ὁ Θεὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν, εἰκότως καὶ τῷ ∆αυῒδ ἀγαθὰς ἐλπίδας ὑπογράφει τὸ λόγιον, ὡς λυτρωθησομένῳ ἀφ' ὧν πώποτε πέπτωκεν ἁμαρτιῶν· ἡ γὰρ κάθοδος τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τῷ ∆αυῒδ εὐεργητικὴ γεγένηται, ἅτε διακονησαμένῳ τῇ ἐνσάρκῳ αὐτοῦ γενέσει. Τῷ λυτρουμένῳ ∆αυῒδ τὸν δοῦλον αὐτοῦ ἐκ ῥομφαίας πονηρᾶς. Ῥομφαία πονηρὰ ἡ γλῶττά ἐστι τῶν ἀθέων, καὶ οἱ λόγοι τῶν τὰ σοφίσματα κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ μελετώντων εἰς τὸ φονεύειν ψυχάς· χεὶρ δὲ υἱῶν ἀλλοτρίων, πρᾶξις καὶ ὁ βίος τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς θεοσεβείας, ὧν ἐν μύθοις ἀναπλάσμασι καὶ ταῖς περὶ εἰδώλων πλάναις τὸ στόμα λαλεῖ ματαιότητας· τούτων δὲ καὶ δεξιὰ, τουτέστιν ἡ πρακτικωτέρα δύναμις, περὶ πλεονεξίας καὶ ἁρπαγὰς ἀσχολεῖται. Τοιοῦτοι δ' ἂν εἶεν καὶ οἱ ἐκ τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ, καθ' ἃ εἴρηται· ἀπὸ τούτων οὖν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἤδη δεύτερον ὁ ∆αυῒδ ῥυσθῆναι εὔχεται, ἵνα μὴ ἁλῷ τοῖς ὁμοίοις ἁμαρτήμασιν. Ὧν οἱ υἱοὶ ὡς νεόφυτα ἱδρυμένα ἐν τῇ νεότητι αὐτῶν. Τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ οἱ υἱοὶ οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς θεοσεβείας ὡς νεόφυτά ἐστιν ἱδρυμένα ἐν τῇ νεότητι αὐτῶν· τοῦ δὲ δικαίου ἡ σάρξ ἐστιν ἀσθενὴς, καὶ τὸ φρόνημά ἐστι νενεκρωμένον· τούτων τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες ἑταιρικῶς εἰσι κεκοσμημέναι ὡς ὁμοίωμα ναοῦ ἐν ᾧ πονηρὸν πνεῦμα ἐνοικεῖ· διό φησι περὶ αὐτῶν ὁ προφήτης· Ἀνθ' ὧν ἐπορεύθησαν αἱ θυγατέρες Σιὼν ἐν ὑψηλῷ τραχήλῳ καὶ ἐν νεύμασιν ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· οἱ δὲ ἅγιοι ναός εἰσι Θεοῦ, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν αὐτοῖς· καὶ τῶν μὲν περιττεύει καὶ ὑπερχεῖ τὰ ταμεῖα θησαυριζόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· καὶ λεγόντων, Καθελῶ μου τὰς ἀποθήκας καὶ μείζονας οἰκοδομήσω· τῶν δὲ ὁ θησαυρός ἐστιν ἐν οὐρανῷ· καὶ τῶν μὲν ἔστι