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The word has contemplated a certain good, through which blessedness comes to us from God, according to a certain consequent order of the goods contemplated in each, always raising the soul to what is higher, until it arrives at the highest of goods. And this is the praise of God being fulfilled in all the saints, as the last psalm contains, saying "Praise God in His saints," where the firmament of power signifies the unchangeable nature of the good, and the mighty acts of God indicate that our nature is no longer ruled by evil, when at last human power is able to offer praise according to the multitude of His greatness, 5.66 no longer uttering small things, but now surpassing the trumpets in loudness. for it says "Praise the Lord with the sound of the trumpet," when it also imitates the harmony of the universe with the varied and multifaceted nature of the virtues, having become an instrument in rhythmic melody to God. And the word, through a certain tropical meaning, names this both psaltery and harp; after which, having put away everything earthly and deaf and mute, in the loud sound of the timbrels it joins the sound of its own strings to the heavenly choirs. And the strings stretched on the instrument would be the unyielding and unslacking quality in each virtue against vice. Through which comes the beautiful symphony of the cymbal mixed with the strings, when the sound of the cymbals arouses eagerness for the divine dance. This seems to me to interpret the union of our nature with the angels, in what it says, "Praise the Lord with well-sounding cymbals." For such a union, I mean of the angelic with the human, when human nature is led back to its ancient lot, will produce that sweet sound of thanksgiving through their coming together with one another; and through one another and with one another it will perpetually praise the thanksgiving offered to God for His love for mankind. For this the coming together of cymbal with cymbal shows; one cymbal is the super-cosmic nature of the angels; the other cymbal is the rational creation of men. But sin separated the one from the other; when, therefore, the love of God for mankind again joins both to one another, then the two, having come together, will sound that praise, as the great apostle also says, that "Every tongue shall confess, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, that Jesus Christ is Lord, 5.67 to the glory of God the Father." When this happens, the sound of these cymbals will shout a victory-cry, arising through their common symphony at the destruction of the enemy. And when he is completely destroyed and reduced to non-existence, the praise will be unceasingly and with one accord fulfilled in every breath to God forever. For since "Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner," and there will be no sinner then, since sin will not exist, every breath will praise the Lord for all eternity. So then, such a path to the blessed life has been shown to us by this great philosophy in the psalms, always hastening those who are guided through these things to the height, toward what is greater and higher in the journey to virtue, until one reaches that measure of blessedness, beyond which the mind has no capacity to comprehend by any conjectures and suppositions, nor does reason find what comes next in sequence. But also the movement according to hope, which everywhere leaps ahead and runs before our desire, whenever it approaches the unimaginable, remains idle, and what is beyond this is better than what is according to hope, as the philosophy according to the psalter itself also testifies through the order that has been contemplated, having opened up for us in its first words, as a kind of door and entrance to the blessed life, the withdrawal from evil. For this the first utterances of the psalter teach, saying that the beginning of blessedness 5.68 is the alienation from evil. Then, having offered guidance from the law to those who are wandering, and having promised through such a life a likeness to the ever-flourishing tree, and the gloomy things of those who turn to the opposite way

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ἴδιόν τι ἀγαθὸν ὁ λόγος ἐνεθεώρησε, δι' οὗ γίνεται ἡμῖν ἐκ θεοῦ ἡ μακαριότης, κατά τινα τάξιν ἀκόλουθον τῶν ἐν ἑκάστῳ θεωρουμένων ἀγαθῶν, ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ ὑψηλότερον τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπερτιθείς, ἕως ἂν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀκρότατον ἀφίκηται τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ὁ αἶνος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν πᾶσιν ἁγίοις ἀποπλη ρούμενος, καθὼς περιέχει ὁ τελευταῖος ψαλμὸς λέγων Αἰνεῖτε τὸν θεὸν ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ, ὅπου τὸ στερέωμα τῆς δυνάμεως τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἀμετάπτωτον διασημαίνει, καὶ αἱ δυναστεῖαι τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ μηκέτι ὑπὸ κακίας δυναστεύε σθαι τὴν φύσιν παραδηλοῦσιν, ὅτε χωρεῖ λοιπὸν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη δύναμις κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς μεγαλωσύνης αὐτοῦ ποιεῖσθαι 5.66 τὸν αἶνον, οὐκέτι μικρὰ φθεγγομένη, ἀλλ' ἤδη παριοῦσα τῇ μεγαλοφωνίᾳ τὰς σάλπιγγας. φησὶ γὰρ Αἰνεῖτε τὸν κύριον ἐν ἤχῳ σάλπιγγος, ὅτε καὶ μιμεῖται τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἁρμονίαν τῷ ποικίλῳ τε καὶ πολυειδεῖ τῶν ἀρετῶν, ὄργανον ἐν ῥυθμῷ μελῳδίας τῷ θεῷ γενομένη. ὀνομάζει δὲ τοῦτο διά τινος τροπικῆς σημασίας ψαλτήριόν τε καὶ κιθάραν ὁ λόγος· μεθ' ὃ πᾶν τὸ γεῶδές τε καὶ κωφὸν καὶ ἄναυδον ἀποθεμένη ἐν τῇ τῶν τυμπάνων μεγαλοφωνίᾳ ταῖς οὐρανίαις χορείαις συνάπτει τῶν ἰδίων χορδῶν τὸν ἦχον. χορδαὶ δ' ἂν εἶεν τῷ ὀργάνῳ ἐντεταμέναι τὸ ἐν ἑκάστῃ ἀρετῇ πρὸς κακίαν ἀνένδοτόν τε καὶ ἀχάλαστον. δι' ὧν γίνεται ἡ καλὴ συνῳδία τοῦ κυμβάλου ταῖς χορδαῖς μιγνυμένου, ὅταν ὁ τῶν κυμβάλων ἦχος εἰς τὴν θείαν χοροστασίαν ἐπεγείρῃ τὴν προθυμίαν. ὅπερ μοι δοκεῖ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἀγγέλους τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν διερμηνεύειν συνάφειαν, ἐν ᾧ φησιν Αἰνεῖτε τὸν κύριον ἐν κυμβάλοις εὐήχοις. ἡ γὰρ τοιαύτη σύνοδος, τοῦ ἀγγελικοῦ λέγω πρὸς τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, ὅταν ἐπαναχθῇ πρὸς τὴν ἀρχαίαν λῆξιν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, τὸν γλυκὺν ἐκεῖνον διὰ τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους συμπτώσεως ἦχον τῆς εὐχαριστίας ἀποτελέσει· καὶ δι' ἀλλήλων καὶ μετ' ἀλλήλων τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ εὐχαριστίαν τῷ θεῷ γινομένην διὰ παντὸς ἀνυμνήσει. τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ τοῦ κυμβάλου πρὸς τὸ κύμβαλον ἐνδείκνυται σύνοδος· ἓν κύμβαλον ἡ ὑπερκόσμιος τῶν ἀγγέλων φύσις· ἕτερον κύμβαλον ἡ λογικὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κτίσις. ἀλλὰ διέστησεν ἡ ἁμαρτία τοῦτο ἐκείνου· ὅταν οὖν πάλιν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ φιλανθρωπία συνάψῃ ἀλλήλοις ἀμφότερα, τότε ἠχήσει τὸν αἶνον ἐκεῖνον τὰ δύο μετ' ἀλλήλων γενόμενα, ὥς φησι καὶ ὁ μέγας ἀπό στολος, ὅτι Πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται, ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς 5.67 εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός. οὗ γενομένου ἐπινίκιον ἀλαλάξει ὁ τῶν κυμβάλων τούτων ἦχος διὰ τῆς κοινῆς συνῳδίας ἐπὶ τῷ ἀφανισμῷ τοῦ πολεμίου γενόμενος. τούτου δὲ παν τελῶς ἀφανισθέντος καὶ εἰς τὸ μὴ εἶναι περιελθόντος ἀδιαλείπτως ἐν πάσῃ πνοῇ ὁμοτίμως πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὁ αἶνος εἰς ἀεὶ πληρωθήσεται. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ Οὐχ ὡραῖος αἶνος ἐν στόματι ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ἁμαρτωλὸς δὲ τότε οὐκ ἔσται, τῆς ἁμαρτίας οὐκ οὔσης, πᾶσα πνοὴ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος αἰνέσει τὸν κύριον. Ἡ μὲν οὖν ὁδὸς πρὸς τὸ μακάριον τοιαύτη παρὰ τῆς μεγάλης ταύτης τῆς ἐν τοῖς ψαλμοῖς φιλοσοφίας ἡμῖν ὑπεδείχθη, ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ μεῖζόν τε καὶ ὑψηλότερον τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν πορείας ἐπείγουσα τοὺς διὰ τούτων πρὸς τὸ ὕψος ὁδηγουμένους, ἕως ἄν τις ἐπ' ἐκεῖνο φθάσῃ τὸ μέτρον τῆς μακαριότητος, οὗ τὸ ἐπέκεινα οὔτε ἡ διάνοια χωρεῖ στοχασμοῖς τισι καὶ ὑπονοίαις ἀναλογίσασθαι, οὔτε λόγος δι' ἀκολούθου τὸ ἐφεξῆς ἐξευρίσκει. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ κατ' ἐλπίδα κίνησις ἡ πανταχοῦ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἡμῶν προεξαλλομένη τε καὶ προτρέχουσα, ἐπειδὰν ἐμπελάσῃ τοῖς ἀνεικάστοις, ἀργὴ μένει, τὸ δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦτο κρεῖττον ἢ κατ' ἐλπίδα ἐστίν, ὡς καὶ αὐτὴ διὰ τῆς θεωρηθείσης τάξεως ἡ κατὰ τὴν ψαλμῳδίαν φιλοσοφία μαρτύρεται, οἷόν τινα θύραν καὶ εἴσοδον ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις τῶν λόγων ἐπὶ τὸν μακάριον βίον τὴν τοῦ κακοῦ ἀναχώρησιν ἡμῖν ὑπανοίξασα. τοῦτο γὰρ αἱ πρῶται φωναὶ τῆς ψαλμῳδίας διδάσκουσιν ἀρχὴν μακα 5.68 ριότητος λέγουσαι τὴν τοῦ κακοῦ ἀλλοτρίωσιν. εἶτα τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου χειραγωγίαν τοῖς πλανωμένοις προτείνασα τήν τε πρὸς τὸ ἀειθαλὲς ξύλον ὁμοίωσιν διὰ τοῦ τοιούτου βίου ὑποσχομένη καὶ τὰ σκυθρωπὰ τῶν τὴν ἐναντίαν τρεπο μένων